Our egos definitely get in the way of how we feel about online ranks in games. A rank in a video game isn’t and shouldn’t be reflective of you as a person. There’s way more to life than some status held in a video game. Just because you have a low rank doesn’t mean you can’t get better and beat someone with a higher rank and a higher rank shouldn’t make you feel untouchable. There’s always something to learn and as long as you’re having fun, then that’s all that matters.
I've had several friends who burned out on FGs because the rank makes them feel like they are just not good enough to play these games, and I can't imagine they are the only ones. As much as I don't like the way Strive handled ranked, maybe turning it into something abstract, like "10 floors + Celestial" did a good job of making people care less about the rank. Not to mention it feels like most people progressed to top floors quite easily from what I recall. Don't expect other fighting games to do this however, but maybe they could do something like DbD. They have a system where your MMR is completely separate from rank. Your MMR fluctuates, but it's almost impossible to derank. Instead it's a monthly grind where you're almost guaranteed to make it to the top as long as you play enough. So like, maybe if you win in a clean 2-0 you get lots of points, but if you get 0-2'd you get way less, but still get rewarded. There is still an incentive to perform well, but not really any punishment for losing.
Character levels already doing the same thing. (Only like, tekken doesn't have character levels now. And can earn titles in street fighter) Do character levels matter? I don't know, maybe first few do.
@@TheOblomoff I wouldn't compare the two. You could have character levels alongside this system, but this is more about having a monthly (or any X period of time) climb that rewards dedication without punishing people who have low winrates.
I feel figthing games at their true first nature is meant to be played offline. Online is a nice way to practice and get experience but most of the time you will learn better offline than online. Online will practice you for matchups and your gameplay but wont prepare you for dealing with irl/tournament nerves. From my experience, getting that offline experience and feedback made me improve x100 faster than just grinding ranked all day. It is mostly a way to get more fair skill match than lets say quick/unranked matches. Ranks/tiers should be seen as a bonus more than a goal or ultimate endgame cause otherwise there will be no fun playing at all
Great video and great topic! I love the detailed look into it and it is really crazy! When I lose to the AI in towers it almost never makes me angry but when I lose to someone with lower rank than me in Kombat League I sometimes get really mad and it's not becuase he is lower rank but because the fact he is lower rank it means it will deduct more points from me.
Yesterday I reached Demi God which is my goal for this season as I'm new to fighting games and haven't reached it yet and the 1st match I got was against a Warrior which is like 3 ranks below which means I will get back to the lower rank if I lose and this really puts a pressure on you. Otherwise the rank doesn't mean anything someone can be the 1st rank if they haven't played but he could actually be 3 times better than you.
I'll expand to say that playing other genres helps you to appreciate the one you play the most. Never feel like you have to stay attached to FGs alone. There are hundreds of other games you may like that aren't fighters. Just play what you like within reason, explore at your own leisure, and remember....ranks don't define skill like they used to.
I'm in a discord for Fighting games and the most annoying part is people crying about how they dont have the rank they want. And the worst part is it never stops. one annoying dude finally got master, and how hes crying about his MR
Considering fighting games don't have a bunch of unlockables to get as you play online like Call of Duty or other multiplayer games, rank is a big motivation to play online.
I think rank matters when you are trying to play better comp. Top rank you attract top players and or they’ll see you are near or on the same level make it easier to refine your skills
maybe its the same problem and only another sign of it but for me the ranked system makes no sense because over the years i noticed that so many experts in fighting games have the lowest rank which would not even be possible after 1-3 wins - dont know how they still keep their rank so low
Yeah, only SF6 really avoids this because they have placement matches. Strive does too to some extent but it's not as nuanced. Virtually every other game is not interested in proper placement, they care more about having you go from bottom to top.
To me, as long as the matchmakong is good and i can play in public lobbys against top players, im fine. Saying im god of destruction supreme omega will never be as satisfactory than sharing the clip of a funny moment, cool play or a nice round
Rank doesn't really determine if you're good or not but still it's fun and competitive but it does get to your mind sometimes and I my self get really angry sometimes especially if I got beaten by a dumb play style which is not that rare there are people that play really strange and dumb but still if you can't figure a counter play they will beat you.
Also you can reach the highest ranks if you just play long enough there are people that play like 500 matches per season and reach higher rank but that doesn't mean they are good they just played a lot.. Your win ration is more determing for your skill
I burned out from GGST because of its stupid floor system, and 9-10 floors are the true definition of choke. I think they need to change it to classic ranks as in any other modern fighting game It's not really about the status for me, it feels more like a sound of progress. The higher the rank, the harder I worked for it
I don't care either way. It's mainly for people(youngins) who have no real accomplishments and elitists to lord something over others. True skill matters more, and there's always gonna be someone better.
You can find out what's your skill when you watch pro players play and see how many of the things they are doing and reacting is something you do regularly.
And then games introduce artificial rank floors, you can't fall below. And other junk like getting more points for a win than for a loss. It hurts my soul. Because all those unnatural limitations, even making you reach your real rank longer than you should - those hinder the possibility of fair matches happening. Yes, it's all to stop you from feeling bad about losing your rank, by preventing it in the first place. And maybe it works for most. But for me it doesn't work. I just can't not think about - if I got winrate of less than 30%, then maybe I should not be there. (I want to add that - yes, everybody is playing under the same constraints, under same ranked system. And even the most weirdly designed system should eventually float and sink people to their appropriate skill levels. But, it doesn't feel like I'm getting proper fair matches. Some are near-impossible to win, while the next one I should fall asleep to lose. Maybe it's the result of actual in-game systems. But it's certainly not ideal, where my experience is.) And I got a problem with rank names. Ladder kind of starts with bronze, silver, gold. Where do you go up from there? When in real competitions third place, bronze, is already an awesome achievement. I am perfectly happy if I were to play in 'gravel' rank, but against equal gravel ranks.
Yeah lets see what will happen if a new MK or SF or a new Tekken game doesnt come with a ranking system... Everybody will be pissed. Even these guys right here will upload a video talking about it. Ranks rules
