Revamp Ranked

Game Suggestions & Feedback
1

Here are my current issues with Ranked…

Killer is too general. I’m either devouring everyone around me (I know that I’m NOT that good) or I’m being destroyed by Kyle level veterans who live off their one million + YouTube subscribers and Twitch streams. These people are in a whole other tier.

The one thing that I really liked about the old Ranking system (albeit one of the few things I liked), was that when you achieved a Rank, it REALLY felt like a promotion. The biggest flaw with the old system was that it was WAY too easy to get deranked. You could spend an hour ranking up, just to get deranked by a smurf within a few minutes.

I think Killer should have its own tiers.

Once you get to top 32, you ascend to a new tier where you fight other top 32s. This allows skilled players to have priority to play other top skilled players versus playing matches you can sleep through.

I like my sleeper fight every once in a while, but I’m sure people get tired of being mutilated by me as well.

I just think Ranked, right now, has a lot to be desired.

2

It’s a perfectly good suggestion. But I think the top 32 might get tired of fighting only each other. Also, not to beat a dead horse, but no ranked system in the world is going to make up for it if there aren’t enough people playing to make a smooth bell curve for matchmaking.

3

The issue I’ve been having just recently is a few things into play. I just got ranked into bronze and currently standing in Apprentice sub-tier of bronze. My last 3 games after facing other bronze have been : Gold, Killer, Silver. In succession. of which I lost to them all. I was facing other bronzes before that all and racking up mostly wins and some losses. So tell me, why I’m getting ranked against whole other tiers ahead of me? Was I gaining points way too fast or somthing?

4

I expressed an idea in a topic I opened some days ago. It was regarding how to change the ranking system. From what I’ve read, my idea will be a mix of the actual and the old matchmaking. Here’s the entire part:

RANKING SYSTEM

In the last few days I’ve read a topic about how more than someone weren’t happy about the actual ranking system. I played the game and I know what’s the problem: the lack of bronze and silver players with a huge concentration of killers and gold, ruining the experience to newcomers that are forced to fight veterans ready to open axes.
So how do you solve this situation? A solution is possible and that is to make sure that everyone, and I mean everyone, isn’t going to be safe n’ sound on their proper rank when the end of the month comes. A kinda of rank resetting, with the difference that you go backwards depending on your position in the current ranking season. To be clear as water, it should work like this:

KILLER GRADE
•the first quarter of killers (1 - 25%) at the end of current season will start in KILLER rank in the following season
•the second quarter (26 - 50%) will begin the next season in GOLD with 750 points
•the third quarter (51 - 75%) will begin the next season in GOLD with 500 points
•the last quarter (76 - 100%) will begin the next season in GOLD with 250 points

GOLD GRADE
•the first third of “golders” (1 - 33%) at the end of current season will start in GOLD rank in the following season
•the second third (34 - 66%) will begin the next season in SILVER with 500 points
•the last third (67 - 100%) will begin the next season in SILVER with 250 points

SILVER GRADE
•the first half of “silvers” (1 - 50%) at the end of current season will start in SILVER rank in the following season
•the last half (51 - 100%) will begin the next season in BRONZE with 500 points

BRONZE GRADE
•nothing new

If this system is going to be implemented, as example, that means a KILLER that placed at the end of August as 15000th out of 40000 will begin as a GOLD with 750 points during the month of September. This would help not only to secure a part of white horses, the pros, but also to refresh some ranks that wouldn’t have enough players to face with.
But this isn’t the only modify necessary to render the ranking system as accurate as possible. In fact other changes need to be made:
• POINTS RESCALING: The actual system is rewarding too much the newcomers. In fact, expecially in bronze, with one victory and 2 - 3 defeats, you’re still up. And I’m talking about matches done in the same rank. So it’s mandatory to rescale points by giving a little bit less wherever it deserves and to punish more a loss of higher grades against low-ranked (a gold can’t lose only 25 points against a bronze when you lose the same amount even against a silver).
• DEMOTION RISK: This is optional. Not talking about KILLER and BRONZE rank, people that decided to taking part in the matchmaking are looking for a challenge. A demotion risk in SILVER and GOLD, with the spectre of going back, is a good challenge. After losing a certain amount of matches when your score is 0, you have to face a demotion match: losing it is the equivalent of being downgraded. The way of introducing it and how to settle it is up to the developers, but I need another thread to talk about that.

I want to add also that somebody was perplexed about the time to give for ranked to stay safe. Considering that I was able to reach 2 ranks in less than 10 hours (from bronze to gold) and I played very little, I don’t think an expert player needs ages to reach the higher grades, even with a points rescaling. Tell me if you like this kind of revamp

5

IMO all ranked needs is the ability to get demoted for losing and point multipliers for win streaks. People would repopulated to lower ranks and the top 32 would become less about who plays more (no offense to any of you top 32 people.)

6

Aside from demotions, they need a system that avoids players in bronze being pit against Silver, Gold, and Killer. Last night I had a major losing streak against those players that would be maining Saberwulf or Glacius in these tiers. I’m Bronze maining Jago how am I supposed to compete?

7

I met different Sabrewulfs in the days I tried KI and it was the easiest character I was against with. The tactic is to go aerial attacks. Just one hit in air and you can start a combo once you touch the ground. Considering Sabrewulf, from what I’ve seen, is starting his combos by mid/low attacks, it suffers from high quote attacks. Also zoning might be a decent idea.
His only dangerous counter aerial attack he owns is the 180° rainbow scratching attack, but if he dodges to counter you with that, he’s yours.
Against Glacius: I had difficulties with this strategy, expecially because of his long high quote kick that occupies all the screen by his width. But I noticed staying close to him would help a lot.

Notice these typs are good just to rank up from bronze to gold. Against killers, this strategy has some flaws (expecially against Jago, Sadira, Glacius and perhaps against Cinder and a well skilled Maya) but has its strong points (against Riptor, Orchid and Sabrewulf because of the lack of some efficient anti aerial).
I tried to do this even in gold rank, but it worked less than in silver and bronze. It’s a good start to test different alternatives of fighting.

Last thing regarding your first sentence: this problem is due to the fact of the presence of few people online as a constant base. Only with more and more people playing the matchmaking will be filled enough to garantee fair matches. Adding a demotion and a monthly assignment to ranks, the ranked system will be almost perfect.
That’s why I’m with a real free-to-play system that would attract more and more players in this game, with a huge opportunity in increasing the profits in the mid - long terms of time.

PS: The aerial tactic has been tested with 4 characters, even with the previous ranked system, and worked a lot: Jago, Riptor, Thunder and Tj Combo. I also tested Spinal, but it’s not so effective.

8

People keep suggesting that a demotion system will make rank better, but the biggest complaint is that people want to fight others of similar skill. A demotion system isn’t going to help that.

9

Ki has the best online ranked mode ive ever seen in a fighting game. It doesn’t need anything drastic. The population will spike when S3 and the PC version releases so they’ll be new players and players more similar too you.

10

The demotion is actually helping it, despite not as much as a bunch of new people incoming. But the real deal of the demotion is to fill constantly the ranking system, so you have an incentive. For demotion I mean the monthly reassignment, not only the demotion from gold or silver.

The real question is: how many PC players will come up? The answer might be a bunch, of not a lot as you expect. Perhaps, because of hype, the first month will be ok, but after that I think the stable PC community in KI will be so little that you won’t notice the difference. This would be also because of an incorrect f2p system, seen also the previous reactions to games that used a similar system and of the same genre (Rise of Incarnates).
But the fact you said it’s the best online ranked mode and that doesn’t need anything drastic, actually it’s halfway correct. It has a really well made ranked system but he needs changes, like for example the reassignment. Without that, you can simply reach Killer grade just by grinding without huge efforts.
I won’t be tired to repeat this, but if I, a noob, was able to get gold rank in 10 hours divided in 2 different days distant 2 weeks one from another winning less than 50% of my matches, just imagine someone with better skills.