- fifthderelicte
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Posted by: Dropship dude
The ranking issue is definitely one which needs adjusting. The Halo 2 ranking system was, in my eyes, the best ever made. You could estimate how many more wins you needed to rank up, how close to or from a level you were, etc. The majority of players were around the 20s in terms of their highest rank, with very, very few people at the top end (45+), who weren't modders/cheaters.
Seeing as I could barely muster a 30 in Halo 2, I was surprised to reach level 40 so quickly, and then after, was surprised to see so many 50s. In Halo 2, to see a 50 was to see a truely great player, and to play alongside them was somewhat of an honour. Now, playing with a 50 is just commonplace. The only people I remotely respect are my fellow Big Team players, and people with the "grade 4" EXP titles - not for their rank, but for their dedication to the game.
I feel the same way in some regards. I got to a 40 pretty quickly even though I had considerable lag all the time. I stopped there because I was in awe and didn't want to blow it. But as time progressed, I realized how off things were. I struggled to get a 32 in H2, though cheaters helped to hamper that. I liked the ranking system set on a bell curve. However, I don't think H2's system was all that great either, for reasons listed below: (taken from HERE.
Halo 3's ranking system would have worked fine if people had patience and didn't try to make new accounts and mess with all the data. However, that was one problem with it.
Likewise, H2's system was not perfect. Why do you think they changed it for H3? In H2 you had huge issues with derankers as well as new accounts who boosted their way up by playing with better friends. In fact, boosting was actually easier in some ways in H2.
That being said, H2's system did a great job of creating a skill gap. While you could get boosted up to your friend's level, it was really hard to get higher than you should be. Only the best made it into the 40s, and only the most amazing got the symbol by their name at 45 and above. But I think part of that skill gap wasn't only the ranking system, but the weaponset allowing for more of a skill gap.
If we bring back the H2 system, we'll have a few problems you need to address:
1) Boosting with friends. In H3's system you can boost with negative experience or setting your stats over with a new account, but partying with friends can actually hamper you because it's data that's off the normal scope. But in H2, partying with friends meant you played higher levels, giving you more exp. for a win and conversely, making those you played against go down significantly (win/loss over a much higher/lower opponent was factored). At least in H3 if you're a new player, your sigma/mu didn't affect the people you played too much, or yourself.
2) Deranking is a huge issue with this. At least now people have to pay money to start a new account or waste a free one, and they don't ruin the fun of others on their way down and then back up. At least now they only ruin fun on the way up through the lower ranks.
3) Once people got to a high rank, if they were boosted with friends or if they didn't trust in their skill and consistency, they quit out. You need to add long term goals to the system.
4) People complain that H3's system goes too much on win/loss and it doesn't factor in anything else. H2 was just as bad, if not worse in that aspect. For those who enjoy playing and don't go in with friends, their actual rank versus their theoretical rank can be extremely skewed. Of course they can go in with friends and of course wins/losses matter. But the system isn't really innovative or visionary in terms of its accurate portrayal of true skill or rank.
5) Rank loss was extremely fast in H2. If you lost 2-3 games, you dropped. While I'm not saying you shouldn't drop for losing, a system that requires more consistency would be nice, both on the way up (tougher to get higher levels. You have to prove yourself) as well as on the way down. It's what true skill tried to do until everyone started resetting their data.
I'm sure there are more issues. Those are the ones off the top of my head.