very well said, I think calling Eric and the devs "ignorant" may not be accurate, I think they actually hate ranked PVP players, they want to make fun of us , slap us on the face and kick us out of this game. This patch is so on purpose of getting rid of most pvp players, they have been waiting for years for this special moment of screwing all of us up.

7.2 is a wake up call to us, this game is done and we need to move on

why isn't old season rewards going away like you mentioned multiple times before? now you are giving it to anyone with grinding you might as well change the name and put them on CM to earn some quick $$$? 🤢

Reminds me of a time I got vote kicked from a PvE group for wearing Max Level Expertise gear back in the day FeelsBadMan

The matchmaking system is flawed in many ways and needs a lot of changes/additions or a complete overhaul. The playerbase is simply too small and no small change or addition is going to magically bring back the needed population to make current matchmaking work. I will say though that the cross faction queue was an amazing change and should not be reverted back to separate faction queues as that would again allow queue syncing for inflated rating. There are some decent ideas already in this thread but I'll share my pragmatic thoughts. Top 3 Titles Anyone can get up to the tier 1 Ranked PvP rewards simply by playing a lot and getting tokens so it seems like most of the frustration is tied to these (meaningless Top 3 titles due to easy manipulation and flawed mechanics). Top 3 titles also seem to be the major motivating factor for many people that abuse the system. Reasons why they hold no prestigious value: *No Cross Server Queue (Problems: Rankings based on uncomplete/tiny ELO Pool, Queue dodging, Throwers, Win Traders abusing the system during offhours which is not the fault of the developers but due simply to keyword: SMALL POPULATION) Possible Solutions: *Implement Rating Decay Why? It will prevent players from putting in minimal effort to attain maximum reward at the end of the season. Play the whole season just like any professional athletic team and get rewarded for outstanding performance. It will also make it much more difficult for the win traders to maintain their ill-gotten rating. *Either completely remove Top 3 titles from Solo Ranked (potentially making Team Ranked thrive again in the process) or grant the Top 3 titles based on and to every server because we all know you won't be implementing cross server. Is it possible Devs are doing their job and resetting ALL of the actual blatant cheaters to the scope of their extent? Possibly, but unlikely since there is no real reason Devs can't be transparent with us in how they deal with cheaters. However, it is also possible there are players blowing things out of proportion who are paranoid and deluded into making false reports simply due to the nature of the top 3 titles and for validation on their own shortcomings. While it certainly does happen that a certain player throws/cheats, out of the thousands of Ranked Arena matches under my belt, it is very rare to see obviously. One cannot always make a clear proven distinction from a complete noob or an ELO booster thrower/bot. And as someone previously mentioned, Timezones play a role for when one might be able to queue. *This is why emphasis needs to be placed on bringing in enough population for Both Ranked modes to make the current system work with the above mentioned changes or scrapping it altogether for a new one. Possibly implement 1v1 Ranked? Probably unlikely due to role balancing issues and no participation from all role types. A points system is also an option I support that some others have already discussed in previous threads on this PvP Forum. Lets face it. This is a company and at the end of the day, its sole purpose is to make money. In fact, they might lose more money giving permabans to cheaters in ranked and spending resources on actual PvP Enforcement, which is why they probably don't and choose not to implement proper countermeasures. You can feel our frustrations. But we all see talk and no walk. Better than cross server? But really though, we all want to see this game succeed and that's why we're still here. Well some of us.....

Let's take a look at 3 possible scenarios that are all prevalent in today's current ELO system regarding Top 3 rewards. Player A.) Has friend(s) throwing matches for them on the other team but trying when they are on the same team or using other methods such as bots and queueing at off-hours that win traders use in order to achieve high rating for a top 3 with minmal effort and work put in. Player B.) Is a skilled player, gets lucky with their 10 first placement matches and manages to secure a top 3 spot with less than 20 wins over the course of a couple nights. Player C. ) Is also a skilled player but was unlucky and had Disconnects and throwers on their team during their first 10 placement matches placing them below the average placement score. They end up climbing to to a high rating from their low placement rating with many matches played and many weeks of queueing to secure a top 3 spot. Which player would you want to reward? Is player B more deserving than player C because "skill"? The points system will eliminate possibility "B" in addition to make it much harder to execute if not completely negate possibility "A" due to the increased participation in ranked if such a system was put in place. The "more skilled" player will naturally have more wins, which as a result means they won't have to play as much as a "less skilled" player that would have to grind and put in a lot more effort just to reach them. Should professional sports team only have to win a few matches in a row in order to reach the championships/finals/top? No, they should play all scheduled matches A.K.A the entire season to maintain and reach top status. If a team can't attend the match, I believe that is called a forfeit.

I would be all for this and agree this would be a change much for the better. The ELO system in place simply does not work for such a small Ranked PvP population. If the population was much larger it might work, but it isn't and it is extremely easy to manipulate. Adding in a (3 - 5 points for a Win/0 - 2 points for a loss) points system would alleviate a lot of problems and complaints players may have about Ranked. For a season that is intended to last 3 Months, something like achieving 150 points for Bronze, 300 points for Silver, 500 Points for Gold, etc as an example would encourage more people to queue in both Ranked modes and remain active during the whole season. Let's not forget that rating decay isn't even a thing in our current ELO system and is necessary if you want to be "truly competitive" but that is another issue entirely. In addition to the win trading that is/has been going on, me and a lot of the Ranked PvP community can agree that having a top 3 title, gold flair, etc. almost has ZERO to no prestigious value simply due to the fact that "luck" also plays a major factor in determining your rating as the first 10 ranked matches in your placements grant the largest amounts of ELO. You can try to argue "skill" with the current system, but most people that queue ranked know who the real skilled players are. I want to see blood, sweat and tears poured into achieving the TOP rewards. This is how it SHOULD be. Just my 2 credits from a long time player that has earned 10 "Top 3" titles since Season 2.

Well I wasn't sure, which is why I said "if." You stating "decent merc" makes it seem as you are implying they weren't good enough to begin with. Of course if I were to repeat, it would have to be a decent merc and obviously not a bad one. Just be careful with what words you decide to use, especially over text which is gonna be easy to misconstrue anywhere online not just these forums. The point of the video wasn't to impress, but to prove a point. Yes merc has a lower skill ceiling and is easier to pickup, but people QQing about it isn't going to change anything. Deal with the cards you have been dealt with and try to improve or remain to be mediocre and blame it on class/spec.

Sure find me a "decent merc" to face if you are trying to claim those mercs weren't good enough. I'll gladly stream/record the duel as Lightning

Play sorc the right way and maybe you can imagine how to beat mercs 1v1. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/354332681

Etudez Assassin 8v8 Overall Damage: 5,698,801 DPS: 8821.67 http://i.imgur.com/p5sHRbL.jpg

Sign up Pewtude for dank 360 heatseeker missiles