Let your rank mean something!

[Kimera757]

Where is your proof of that?

Well, I went here and then followed the link to here where it said this:

In the future, there will be a "Pro League" composed of the top players in the ladder. Players will be invited to the "Pro League" using the same methods that determine current promotions between leagues. This league will not be divided by divisions and will have a set number of participants each ladder season. For the best players, this will be where they can see exactly how they compare to the other top competitors.

Emphasis added by me.

(Of course, the quote is also on the wiki page, because said forum post will inevitably vanish at some point. You can also see that stored at SC2pod, since they have a massive stack of blue posts there, automatically cataloged by computer.)

Blizzard is a really poor communicator. I remember how ticked off I was by them when they made StarCraft: Ghost, since I thought (and much of the community thought) it was delaying StarCraft II. Of course, I didn't spew rage and write useless petitions...

[Todie]

I'm assuming that the ranking system uses the same equations, so that skill "bounds" are the same for every silver division, and that separating divisions is just for the sake of not showing the player that he's at rank 9679567969567 of the silver division, that would discourage everyone.
It would be stupid if the skill required to be in one silver division was different somehow from another silver division. That would suck balls.

Unfortunately, as Blizzard is applying the "keep garbage under the carpet" system, instead of showing everyone exactly how the system works, it's difficult to tell what's happening under the carpet.

what they arnt keeping under the carpet is what the ranking within divisions goes by: it goes by number of points gathered up.
now all im telling you is that there is no way the same position in any division will require the same exact number of points - for the same points you may get a quite different position in other divisions.

the only thing keeping lower level divisions somewhat even amongst each-other is the algorithms that make sure players that dont belong get promoted or demoted...

dont get me wrong: divisions within the same leagues will probably be roughly equally competitive, but not to the point where division rank translates with precision. we cant achieve that when its all made out of individuals who play different amounts and change/improve on their game differently. especially not when initial division placement is randomized.

even at lower levels #points earned is a more reliable skill measurement than rank. (i find it confusing to call points earned "rating" as someone did above)


there is still merit to the idea behind the system, but i think divisions could use a twist, to make us know each other within them - you might be stuck for a month among the same players in a division, -players with similar skill level - similar experiences from the game. yet, you'll never know them unless you initiate personal contact....

[SlickR]

There is a simple solution. Add global ranking and make it optionally to view.

So you know you are 5th in platinum division 20, but you can now also check your global ranking based purely on total accumulated points. So you are not for example 2157th in the global rank.

Why not just make it two-ways.
divisions still stand, which is good and I like it, but also have global position for those of us who like to see out global position.

I'm not a really great player, since I don't play so much, at least not for the last few years, but for my playing time I'm better than most gold players.
So I'd like to see how I rank overall and not just in my division.

It doesn't mean anything to me if I'm 10th out of 100, but if I'm 5000th and with more playing I come down to 4000th than it means I'm advancing.

Going from 10th to at least 3rd in your division is not that hard and you really have no idea of how good or bad you really are, compared to all other players.

[Triceron]

With that many players, you get way more fluxuation.

Sure, you know your progress if you're 5000th and you slowly climb to 4000th, you're advancing. The reality of it however is that you're going to be bouncing around ranks depending on how many games you win/lose and how much time you DON'T spend playing. You'd going to be dropping 200 ranks per day of idling, 100 from losses, gain 200 from wins, etc.

It's even harder to gauge your skill or rank because you're not going to be 4000, 3994, 3986 etc. You're going to be 4000, 3725, 3443 etc.