“It is not as rewarding as we would like for players. Frankly, we know we can do better.” It will all start with a complete reset.
No placement matches and everyone goes back to Bronze 4, whether you’re an Apex Predator or a Platinum player. “The first point we focused on is trust,” said C4. Respawn aims to rebuild this trust with transparent scoring.
At the end of a match, players will know exactly how many RP (yes, they have abandoned the PC) they have earned and what factors contributed to this result, whether it’s team eliminations, encounters with higher ranked players, assists, or placements. “We want to create a system that provides concrete feedback,” C4 said. “When players finish a match, they can take a look and easily understand how to improve.”
Combat, placement, and bonuses all have a breakdown, as well as tooltips that explain in more detail where the points come from. This is a step in the right direction. In addition to this, Respawn has reworked the way RP is awarded.
“It’s a combat-centered game, so we’re creating a combat-centric scoring system,” explained C4. According to C4, in the past, Respawn has focused too much on placement or kills, but this new ranking system should refocus on the objective. In addition to points for kills and placements, there is now a Good Game (GG) point, which can be consecutive wins, consecutive top-five placements, or wiping out an entire squad, for example.
Kills, assists, and participation have different values depending on the placement, so you can get more from a hard-fought victory than a first-place slide. Along with the new evo enhancement system and changes to replicators for Season 20, Respawn is taking giant steps to encourage combat. How does all this work with matchmaking?
Instead of using hidden MMR, players will be matched based on their RP value. If you show up in a pre-made team, the game will take the highest rank of your trio and match you based on that. There will also be a bit more of this (heck, we mean) around mid-season, because divisions are coming back.
Respawn claims this was done to support mid-season play, giving players who have fallen behind a reason to enter ranked even if they missed the first few weeks. Additionally, new players will be able to get into Ranked faster, as the account level to access it will be reduced from level 50 to level 20. When the split happens, all players will be demoted by up to six divisions.
You will also be able to know who you are fighting against, as visible Ranked badges will return in the kill feed and banners. This should give you more information about whether or not to push a fight. It’s all about knowing what’s happening and why it’s happening (you’re dying because you suck).
So, yes, here’s another thing happening: promotion trials are about to disappear. We are quite happy about this: we liked the concept, but sitting at the top of a rank, coming second, and failing the trial was like getting a headbutt from Fuse. “We’re re-evaluating it to make it more fun and celebratory,” said C4.
We did not have a chance to verify the Ranked mode during a recent playtest, but Respawn is saying all the right things: along with the rest of the changes, this should make the game more active and exciting. *Written by Kirk McKeand for GLHF*
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