The Ranked System Is Broken.

We all know this. We have played games which should have been a 1 arrow in either direction, but end up being 3. We have felt the frustration, and we have tilted over being hardstuck. We need a ranking system which ENGAGES the audience, and which drives IMPROVMENT in your skills.

Cue the probability promotion system.

This system was built using the following tenants:

1. Clarity over Ambiguity.
2. Rewarding Progress.
3. Teamwork.

THE SYSTEM:

One day, Cypher decides to try the competitive game mode. He plays his placement matches, and ends up in Iron 3. Not a bad place to start for a new competitive player. Once ranked, he plays a match - and loses. He keeps on rolling, and wins the next two. Loses two. Wins one. Loses, wins, loses, wins.

A week passes. He is still in Iron 3, and decides he'd rather not play competitive - he was just going to stay in the same rank anyway, right?

BUT WHAT IF...

Cypher checks his career tab. He sees that glistening Iron 3 rank, complete with 3 shimmering stars. What's this below it though?

The little yellow line tells him that NOT ALL IS LOST - he is gaining towards his next promotion. He isn't close to being demoted. Cypher decides to practice his skills - he researches more, finds mentors, and finally earns his promotion. Throughout the process, he goes on a losing streak. His bar ends up looking like this:

But he is not discouraged - a win moves that bar towards his goal, and he can show his progress. His BEST MATCH is highlighted - something for him to progress beyond.

[ Green - Increase Percent \\ Red - Decrease Percent \\ Yellow - Promotion ]

(*Side Note: I didn't want to remake or copy the act rank tab, but yes that would still exist)

CALCULATIONS...

• Valorant is a team tactical shooter. Your individual performance factors in to the calculation, however it's only about 30% of the equation.
  • 30% Individual Performance + 70% Team Performance
    • Note: The rank calculations could also be determined on a queue basis - are you in a five stack, or are you solo queuing? Five stacks would be expected to perform better as a team, whereas solo queuing would weigh individual performance heavier. The reason this is only a note is the notion of competitive integrity
• Team Performance includes:
  • Rounds Won vs. Rounds Lost
  • Group Economy - are buy requests being fulfilled, how many assists do you have, etc...
  • Team Aces, Thrifty, etc....
• Individual Performance includes:
  • Economy Rating
  • K/D Ratio + are you killing someone of a higher or lower skill
  • Aces, Clutches, etc...

THOUGHTS..

It is impossible to assign a specific value to each of the up and down arrows. Three arrows - a variety of scenarios. In this model, there's a simple + next to a win, and a - next to a loss. This indicates whether you increased your probability, or decreased it. Each game would show how heavily you impacted the score within the details screen.

"Probability" is used rather than "Progress" very intently. Progress would indicate that you're X percent away from the rank, when in reality the game is more complex than that. You are never a specific percent away from a rank - you are a performance away. PROBABILITY indicates the percentage that you would rank up in your next game. In the instance above, there is a 48% chance, meaning that it is unlikely that you would promote, but it is not impossible. Your progress is indicated by the percentage.

Rather than having a negative percentage for a promotion, there's also a demotion percentage. This indicates how likely you are to be demoted in the next game.

While it is unlikely that it would ever be 0%, it would have to be notated as "Probability to Rank Change: 0%" or something similar - as you would have absolutely no chance to promote, and no chance to demote. When you promote, you're also moving the bar towards the rank after, so it should never get to 0% - but it is possible.

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WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Please spam me with questions below.

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Disclaimer: I am not a game developer, I am simply a player who can think critically about what I'd like to see - I know Valorant devs look at this subreddit, and hopefully this will add to their creative juices in fixing the competitive system. GLHF!