Marvel Rivalshas had its first rank reset with the launch of Season 1 on January 10. With the truncated Season 0 over, wherein every player began their journey at bronze, players have received new rank starting points as they enter into Season 1’s competitive mode. The system for placing players into a starting rank, however, has created ranked matches with a crystal clear imbalance in player skill levels.
As expected from Season 1’s competitive mode, without the implementation of a thought-out system such as placement matches, the beginning ranks ofRivalsare full of games where sweeps are more common than truly competitive experiences. The current implementation ofMarvelRivals’ranked system has a major flaw that, while left unresolved before Season 1’s start,must be sorted out in time forMarvel Rivals' next rank season.
How Marvel Rivals Sorted Players Into New Ranks
How Player Ranks Were Decided For Season 1
Most PvP games with a competitive game mode will run into a level of rank imbalances at its launch. As everyone shared a starting point, players with experience in hero shooters could blast through the ranks, leaving a wake of imbalanced matches on that journey. While this was unavoidable in Season 0, as player ranks needed to settle,Marvel Rivalshad the opportunity to reduce this frustration with Season 1’s launch. WithRivals’ever-increasing player counts,the issue has been further exacerbated by the games' own success, which has undoubtedly drawn players of all experience and skill levels into competitive matches.
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Competitive games will often have a system for re-placing players based on their performance in the previous season. This could be in the form of placement matches, automatic sorting, or a variety of other systems.Rivals' attempt at this was a simple one:every player had their previous rank reduced by seven tiers. For instance, players in Platinum Three saw a new rank of Bronze One, while players that ended Season 1 in Gold Two and below have been placed within Bronze Three, the starting rank ofMarvel Rivals.
Bronze Through Gold Has Become Extremely Volatile
Skill Disparities Have Reached Worrying New Heights
To understand the full impact of this system, it’s important to note that the typical restriction for queuing with teammates is that their ranks need to be within three tiers. For example, a Diamond Three player could queue with a Platinum Three player, butthere is an addendum to this rule for Bronze through Gold. There is no restriction for these ranks: any player within them can play with any other player in the same set of three.
With this in mind, it’s entirely feasible for former Grandmaster players to be in lobbies made up of Bronze players. Grandmaster Three players saw their rank reduced to Gold One, meaningthey’re able to play with the vast majority of the player basewho have been placed in the Bronze to Gold ranks.
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These players would certainly be able to climb their way out of the less restricted ranks. However, this can be harder than it appears. With such a diverse range of skills present,the blatant imbalance of matches makes it more difficult, or at least less consistent, to grind through for players of every skill level.
This is without mentioning players who may have achieved their top season rank from Bronze through Gold. While higher-ranked players can feasibly push past Gold, with the match volatility in mind, players whose skill more accurately reflects their rank will likely feel much more tension within their competitive matches. In no world is a ranked match with a Bronze Three player and a former GM acceptable. Players play ranked, beyond climbing a ladder alone, to experience close, competitive matches. With such an imbalance, for the foreseeable future,these nail-biter matches may appear much more rarely.
This issue is a compounded one. The interaction betweenRivals' chosen placement system and the flexibility of lower rank restrictions have created an issue that needs to be resolved to maintain a consistent competitive experience.
Rivals Needs A New System For Its Next Ranked Reset
Season Launches Are Headed Towards Continued Chaos
For the sake of all players, a new system needs to be put in place for Season 2. The core idea of ranked mode is to have players able to experience competitive matches. Of course, player skill should play a role in these matches. If someone is placed lower than their skill deserves, they should be able to feel their skill having an impact on the outcome, butthe current disparity is currently far too extreme.
One of the easiest solutions would be toreduce the rank degradation. Changing seven tiers to something like three or four would go a long way in more appropriately re-sorting players each season. Another option is adding the standard, three-tier restriction to queuing with teammates for Bronze though Gold. If both are implemented, the balance would likely be fairly consistent across all ranks.
However, there is a fine line here. Ultimately, players should be able to experience competitive mode with their friends. Ideally,the flexibility in Bronze through Gold should remain inRivals, as it allows players who are starting the game to more easily queue with their friends in ranks where skill differences are more arbitrary.
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Removing both features feels like a band-aid solution to the core problem, which is that, with the current degradation system,Bronze through Gold simply holds an extreme level of skill diversity. Even if this system was reduced to three tiers, it would still permit platinum players to enter into bronze lobbies at the season’s start.
Placement matches may be exactly whatMarvel Rivalsneeds. It would fast track players to ranks that reflect their skill, reducing the number of imbalanced matches dramatically. The bronze through gold flexibility would be perfectly fine, as those ranks would more accurately represent the intended skill. While there is always some level of chaos that comes with a rank reset,NetEase needs to prioritize implementing a system that can reduce the likely unintended level of volatility that players are currently experiencing.
Similar to Season 0, the ranks will eventually stabilize. However, a new season, and the rank reset that comes with it, should be exciting. New characters, likeMr. Fantastic and the often hilarious options he provides, and new maps should be fun twists to the previous three-month experience. Yet, if no changes come toMarvel Rivalsin Season 2, this issue will repeat once more,leaving players feeling frustrated and hesitant to enter the ranked playlist at a season’s release.
