Simply makes the game more competitive instead of just casual.
Vertical progression (PVP will never be a horizontal progression) – the progression in PVP is the growth of your skill. The best way to determine that is through legit ladders and leagues. If there are seasons, then you get to challenge yourself every season to get better. Every season can make PVP seem almost new again.
Matches will be more exciting because your rank/reward is on the line. Each match would feel more glorious.
There will be reasons for people to practice and play for hours.
Leagues just makes it feel awesome. How cool is it to say your a Diamond League Necromancer.
Leagues can make a person confident once they reach a certain rank. This can lead to teams forming and participation
Seasons can be a farm for teams. Players will be more competitive, less casual and they will start forming teams depending on what league they are in. A platinum player might want to seek other platinum player to form a team. This way it is less deceptive since they are playing with people around the same skill level.
I played Starcraft 2 years back when Diamond League was the highest. The game was hard and I was a beginner. So I played my games and started off in Bronze, but I did not have to feel bad since I was a beginner. I practiced and played for hours because I wanted to improve my skill and get into Silver. That sole reason was what made me actually practice. And when I made it to Silver it felt like a small sense of achievement. Every game was intense because my rank was on the line. Eventually I got to Platinum and each rank up felt fun and accomplished. All this sounds so “scrubby”, but its an underdog’s perspective. I am sure all beginner PVPers would love to climb to feel the sense of progression, as well as veterans.
Obviously leader board needs to be fixed. The first team queue leader board seemed to be working, but solo queue was flawed. The number of players playing actually might be the issue. Leagues, Seasons, etc. can solve that by bringing people in to play and actually practice. The worst part of the old leader board was people climbing the ladder by not playing (due to mmr decay and such). And of course I think that is the total opposite of what people want. You do not want people to be deceive by the flawed leader board because it doesn’t give them the correct gauge of their skill. Hopefully its not about casual or “everyone in the game is special” philosophy.
I don’t even want to write about the leader boards right now.
Seasons – 3 months long – each month you need 90 games played to stay on the leaderboard (Total 270 games to stay on leaderboard and to reach rewards) Very minimal decay.
All rewards need to be exclusive to leader board position so people have to practice and play to earn them. All leagues will be competitive. The goal is to keep people playing.
League Players Title Pet #Gear/Weapons
Bronze 50k-25k Dragon Egg 1 0
Silver 25k-10k Surviver of the Mist/Arena Whelp 2 0
Gold 10k-5k Scout of the Mist/Arena Drake 3 0
Platinum 5k-1k Hero of the Mist/Arena Flying Drake 4 1
Mithril 1k-250 Commander of the Mist/Arena Dragon 5 1
Diamond 250-50 King of the Mist/Arena Flying Dragon 6 2
Flawless-
Diamond 50-1 Legendary King of the Mist/Arena 6 2
Finishers should be rewards too, but they should also be exclusive to leader board position. This way people will actually play and practice to earn these rewards.
Rank 1 can get GOAT finisher.
Titles should last only a season. Removed when new season starts.
Back piece is the permanent cosmetic that shows how high you got on the leaderboard/league. Each league’s back piece can have variations of glow or particles.
You can leave the same rewards for 2 or 4 seasons so less skilled players can have a chance to complete their set of gear. Gold league will only get 3 pieces of gear, so maybe next season he/she can get Gold again to complete the set. Top players can get sets for light, medium, and heavy so they are not earning the same rewards.
It can be risky, but you have everything to gain if you bring season into PVP. It all leads to a the growth of Esports. Of course it should after Heart of Thorns and one big balance patch. Maybe seasons rewards can just be backpieces and titles if it is all too much.
Also in game scoreboard doesn’t give enough information which actually hurts to the players because they can’t gauge exactly how they did and how to improve.
Lastly, I want solo queue back. PLEASE