Guild Wars 2

I’m the guy you don’t want in ranked pvp… and I’m playing in ranked pvp. I’m not competitive. I’m erratic in my performance. Sometimes I do everything right and am a statistically significant factor in the success of my solo queue team. Sometimes I make the mistake that costs my team the match (I would argue that many of us do; such is human).

Currently I’m a couple pips away from legendary. I imagine I’ll get there. I’m one of those obstinate folks that won’t stop when I’m so close, but I should never have been playing in the leagues. I don’t know how else to say this: Why am I playing in leagues? Because I was given the opportunity to get achievement points and other shiny stuff. I mindlessly took it.

Before I go further, I will say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being competitive in video games. It makes for some interesting entertainment, and gives some folk the opportunity to shine in this ginormous world, to feel good about the effort and diligence they have put forth in an endeavor. Also it is a really good mechanism for pointing out some game balance issues.

I shouldn’t be playing with/against these folks that are competitive players. I’m drunk a good half the time I’m playing, and I am right now. But here I am, mindlessly pursuing the shiny stuff that has been thrown in my face, and the list is expansive: Achievement points, gold, dyes, an ascended necklace, and oh yeah, a legendary backpack. So like… all the other legendary items in this game are literally a grind. Why am I putting myself in this environment to get an item that has traditionally been a grind.

My question for competitive folks: Would a title not be enough? Perhaps based more accurately than the level of your performance rather than a binary legendary/nonlegendary achievement status? Would it not be a better measure of skill to have a cooler title based upon the legendary tier you achieved before the season ended?

Take out all the other shiny nonsense, and you wouldn’t be stuck playing with people whose priorities are not the same as yours. The biggest barrier, of course, is that the participation in leagues might not be robust enough without all the shiny stuff, but I challenge that’s a balance and marketing issue.

Tangentially, I won’t play in leagues again after this season. This is my apology to those who I’ve irritated with my lackadaisical approach to the game. Unranked ftw. It’s my fun, and I should have stayed there.

Hope this game is better for us all in the months to come, and I really hope unranked queue times aren’t exuberant because we’re all in ranked queues.

Well at least finish getting your backpack before you stop you sound like you’re so close.

Ennui.1597:

Because I was given the opportunity to get achievement points and other shiny stuff.

That’s pretty much why I participated.

If WvW had been given the same kind of attention that PvP does I’d HAPPILY have made the switch.

Ennui.1597:

The biggest barrier, of course, is that the participation in leagues might not be robust enough without all the shiny stuff

Which given how Season 2 played out is possibly true. Someone got stuck in MMR hell so the rest of us could progress. I doubt the people with losing streaks played because it was fun.

Ennui.1597:

I won’t play in leagues again after this season.

I might play a little, but I doubt I’ll push for legendary again. I really just don’t enjoy PvP conquest enough to play for that level of prestige.

Ennui.1597:

My question for competitive folks: Would a title not be enough? Perhaps based more accurately than the level of your performance rather than a binary legendary/nonlegendary achievement status? Would it not be a better measure of skill to have a cooler title based upon the legendary tier you achieved before the season ended?

There has been a % of higher level players that were more interested in farming lower divisions and getting multiple accounts into legendary than playing more reasoned, balanced games. Chaith had this to say about it:

Chaith.8256:

Can’t speak for those that do, this season, but like most things in life, to each their own. Perhaps more incentive to queue in Legend would curve the issue, such as actual rewards, not counting the 2 dye and 5g.

So perhaps a title isn’t enough.

I shouldn’t be playing in ranked either, but what choice do we have?

I started playing in unranked, it was fun at first, but very quickly it turned into farm mode. losing blowout after blowout. Getting pushed back to spawn and ganked as we exit. Tardmates that doesn’t listen, charges solo into 3+ enemies, no rotating etc.
My team would very seldom get over 100 pts.
The only times I won, was when I had the off chance of getting on the winning kitten team.

So.. I was forced into ranked simply to get a closer to leveled playing field.
Sadly, that doesn’t exist in this current game because of the imbalanced core vs p2w.
But at least ranked is closer to balance than unranked.
With unranked I know i’m going to get farmed, with ranked I at least know there’s a slight chance at victory. Even if it’s quite minimal.

I wouldn’t say the rewards of ranked is the only shiny thing for people to go there.
As a solo queuer, the slightly more balanced teams is the only incentive I have in PvP and ranked is at least a bit closer.

Honestly it’s not your fault but it’s a design fault.

It’s too easy for people who play badly to reach higher divisions.

That’s all.

At the same time there is no incentive to improve your gameplay because if you continue to grind, you ’ ll arrive to legendary before the end of the season.

And at the same time there are not enough tools to help people to improve their skill or game knowledge. This is pretty evident in Legendary where there is a hug gap between games, from a trash tier to good tier, basically depends on many esl players are in the game.

Phil.8901:

Honestly it’s not your fault but it’s a design fault.

It’s too easy for people who play badly to reach higher divisions.

I guess people will feel less forced to get to diamond or legendary if the Achievement do not tied to division crossed. Right now all the time gated stuff will keep people coming back even if they know they aren’t enjoying it. An unhappy player don’t perform well which lead to toxicity in game.

Interesting thread indeed, I don’t know what to make of it.

Dyze.1580:

I shouldn’t be playing in ranked either, but what choice do we have?

I started playing in unranked, it was fun at first, but very quickly it turned into farm mode. losing blowout after blowout. Getting pushed back to spawn and ganked as we exit. Tardmates that doesn’t listen, charges solo into 3+ enemies, no rotating etc.
My team would very seldom get over 100 pts.
The only times I won, was when I had the off chance of getting on the winning kitten team.

So.. I was forced into ranked simply to get a closer to leveled playing field.
Sadly, that doesn’t exist in this current game because of the imbalanced core vs p2w.
But at least ranked is closer to balance than unranked.
With unranked I know i’m going to get farmed, with ranked I at least know there’s a slight chance at victory. Even if it’s quite minimal.

I wouldn’t say the rewards of ranked is the only shiny thing for people to go there.
As a solo queuer, the slightly more balanced teams is the only incentive I have in PvP and ranked is at least a bit closer.

I find the opposite true for me, I can win in unranked because its a noob team vs a noob team usually so I can carry most of the time when that’s the case. In ranked though its always noob team vs non noob team and I get put on the noob team since I have low mmr now so I can never win in ranked anymore at least not during this season so I stopped trying. But unranked is pretty easy to win in since both teams have noobs as long as you don’t run into a premade on the opposite team that half way knows what they’re doing.

Ranked is too rewarding to not play it, a reward with every tier, with every division, not to mention generally better matchups then unranked ever had.

I hate to weigh down serious business PvPers with my mediocrity, but I am not going to screw myself out of the shinies ranked gives over unranked.

LONGA.1652:

Phil.8901:

Honestly it’s not your fault but it’s a design fault.

It’s too easy for people who play badly to reach higher divisions.

I guess people will feel less forced to get to diamond or legendary if the Achievement do not tied to division crossed. Right now all the time gated stuff will keep people coming back even if they know they aren’t enjoying it. An unhappy player don’t perform well which lead to toxicity in game.

Diamond and Legendary should be leagues where people come naturally if they’re good.
People not good enough shouldn’t play in diamond/legendary

So forcing players to improve their gameplay is a good thing but unfortunately leagues don’t reflect skill very well so it’s only a matter of time to reach diamond/legendary.

It’s a design fault.

Phil.8901:

forcing players

That, is never a good thing.

Nobody wants to be ’’forced’’ to do things in a videogame, that’s what real life is for.

Ennui.1597:

I’m the guy you don’t want in ranked pvp… and I’m playing in ranked pvp. I’m not competitive. I’m erratic in my performance. Sometimes I do everything right and am a statistically significant factor in the success of my solo queue team. Sometimes I make the mistake that costs my team the match (I would argue that many of us do; such is human).

You make it sound like competitive players don’t make mistakes that cost their team the match, or always play the same way.

I’ve seen leeto on his way to legendary, not using his heal when he was half dead (and ended up dying) or not preventing a burst with RS when he had it coming, dying far from points, all sorts of mistakes, you name them. It’s only normal. We are all humans, and the guy plays so much he is bound to commit mistakes unless he can keep his concentrarion for 20 hours, which nobody normally can.

I play leagues to have fun, because there’s no point in competition if you don’t care about the outcome. The grind comes from repeating an activity on auto pilot. PVP leagues cannot be efficiently played in auto pilot. You have to win THIS match. You hate it if you lose THIS chance to advance division. That’s where the fun is. The other team may be the greatest ever, but i have to beat them nonetheless, or i lose my precious PIPs. There’s a real challenge. There’s real competition. There’s of course frustration and salt if all goes wrong.

Embrace it.

Or quit.

Aenesthesia.1697:

Ennui.1597:

I’m the guy you don’t want in ranked pvp… and I’m playing in ranked pvp. I’m not competitive. I’m erratic in my performance. Sometimes I do everything right and am a statistically significant factor in the success of my solo queue team. Sometimes I make the mistake that costs my team the match (I would argue that many of us do; such is human).

I play leagues to have fun, because there’s no point in competition if you don’t care about the outcome. The grind comes from repeating an activity on auto pilot. PVP leagues cannot be efficiently played in auto pilot. You have to win THIS match. You hate it if you lose THIS chance to advance division. That’s where the fun is. The other team may be the greatest ever, but i have to beat them nonetheless, or i lose my precious PIPs. There’s a real challenge. There’s real competition. There’s of course frustration and salt if all goes wrong.

Exactly. My point was more about me coming into leagues with a very casual mindset and thus being a little more casual in my gameplay. It’s one thing for top players to make mistakes, but it’s another for someone like me to come in all “easy come, easy go” when my teammates are there to win. I let myself get dragged into leagues because it was new and shiny, but it’s probably not the place for me to be, which is okay, but in the future I should really respect competitive players’ territory. Monster of a run-on there, but you get my point.

Phil.8901:

Honestly it’s not your fault but it’s a design fault.

It’s too easy for people who play badly to reach higher divisions.

That’s all.

At the same time there is no incentive to improve your gameplay because if you continue to grind, you ’ ll arrive to legendary before the end of the season.

And at the same time there are not enough tools to help people to improve their skill or game knowledge. This is pretty evident in Legendary where there is a hug gap between games, from a trash tier to good tier, basically depends on many esl players are in the game.

I’ve been grinding all season – am not near legendary at all !

Ennui.1597:

Aenesthesia.1697:

Ennui.1597:

I’m the guy you don’t want in ranked pvp… and I’m playing in ranked pvp. I’m not competitive. I’m erratic in my performance. Sometimes I do everything right and am a statistically significant factor in the success of my solo queue team. Sometimes I make the mistake that costs my team the match (I would argue that many of us do; such is human).

I play leagues to have fun, because there’s no point in competition if you don’t care about the outcome. The grind comes from repeating an activity on auto pilot. PVP leagues cannot be efficiently played in auto pilot. You have to win THIS match. You hate it if you lose THIS chance to advance division. That’s where the fun is. The other team may be the greatest ever, but i have to beat them nonetheless, or i lose my precious PIPs. There’s a real challenge. There’s real competition. There’s of course frustration and salt if all goes wrong.

Exactly. My point was more about me coming into leagues with a very casual mindset and thus being a little more casual in my gameplay. It’s one thing for top players to make mistakes, but it’s another for someone like me to come in all “easy come, easy go” when my teammates are there to win. I let myself get dragged into leagues because it was new and shiny, but it’s probably not the place for me to be, which is okay, but in the future I should really respect competitive players’ territory. Monster of a run-on there, but you get my point.

believe me, if you are a few pips away from legendary, you are not nearly as casual as you think you are…

Ennui.1597:

Aenesthesia.1697:

Ennui.1597:

I’m the guy you don’t want in ranked pvp… and I’m playing in ranked pvp. I’m not competitive. I’m erratic in my performance. Sometimes I do everything right and am a statistically significant factor in the success of my solo queue team. Sometimes I make the mistake that costs my team the match (I would argue that many of us do; such is human).

I play leagues to have fun, because there’s no point in competition if you don’t care about the outcome. The grind comes from repeating an activity on auto pilot. PVP leagues cannot be efficiently played in auto pilot. You have to win THIS match. You hate it if you lose THIS chance to advance division. That’s where the fun is. The other team may be the greatest ever, but i have to beat them nonetheless, or i lose my precious PIPs. There’s a real challenge. There’s real competition. There’s of course frustration and salt if all goes wrong.

Exactly. My point was more about me coming into leagues with a very casual mindset and thus being a little more casual in my gameplay. It’s one thing for top players to make mistakes, but it’s another for someone like me to come in all “easy come, easy go” when my teammates are there to win. I let myself get dragged into leagues because it was new and shiny, but it’s probably not the place for me to be, which is okay, but in the future I should really respect competitive players’ territory. Monster of a run-on there, but you get my point.

Dude you payed for this game just the same as those who think they’re elite and better than everyone else (even though most are delusional about that and get carried by a premade team or get put with all the best teams cuz of high mmr which you get from pure luck nothing else) You belong in ranked if that’s where you wanna be its matchmakings fault its not fair. If you’re new to pvp you should get put against teams that also are new to it but you’re not and you probably have to face a lot of premades which are a lot more organized than solo player teams so yea not your fault its like that its matchamakings fault but if you like ranked keep playing ranked you deserve to as much as anyone else does.

That’s why all the newcomers to pvp are not gonna stick around, once this league thing ends pvp will probably be more dead than it ever was before because it ran off a lot of the veterans and its not fun for new people either they just want the rewards once that’s over I really don’t see them sticking around since it isn’t that fun for most people these days with the way things are.

+1 to OP. One of the few honest posts I’ve read for a while. Absolutely right about PvP league just being another grind like any other part of the game. This myth held by some people that only the best players reach the higher divisions is false. I know because last season I got to Diamond through pure grind queuing solo. People playing approximately the same amount time with a similar skill ending up in very different divisions just shows how bad the league is at determining individual skill level.

getting to legendary is not skill based, it’s about how long can you endure before you stick a pen in you eye while laughing maniclly.