Originally Posted by
SirCowdog
So I watched the video, and here's what I think:
The point that Preach seemed to be making was that the silver proving grounds was stopping people from progressing, and as a result, normal mode dungeons were acting as a kind of chokepoint that players couldn't get past because of the sheer quantity of bad players. And that heroic difficulty was actually easier because the quality of good players who passed the silver barrier.
There are a few things to consider before dismissing the idea of ranked matchmaking:
There a fairly significant difference between a hard barrier that literally prevents you from accessing content, and a ranking system that simply places you in a difficulty of content that your skill/gear warrants. One is a static, arbitrary barrier that has nothing to do with the actual content being played, and stops progress, the other is a dynamic scale that constantly sorts players into groups of similar progress and ability using the very same content that the ranking applies to!
Secondly, WoD had only two difficulties of dungeons: Normal and heroic. Modern wow has M+ that scales up in difficulty across 10-20 settings. In truth, normal and heroic dungeons almost serve no purpose, and should really be replaced entirely by the M+ system, with appropriate adjustments to the early levels to accommodate entry-level players. Done properly, even a low ranked bad player would still be playing the content and more accurately being rewarded based on their ability over time.
Again, there's a few very important differences you should consider carefully.
First is that the ranking system is already effectively part of the game and social dynamic. RaiderIO is almost required at the high end of M+, and has a bleeding edge further into the middle ranks as people begin to emulate the elite.
Second is what I mentioned earlier in the thread. The main problem with a system like RaiderIO is that it's influenced by the very players that use it. This causes the elitism and entitlement that you mentioned, where players demand ridiculous skill or ability that far outpaces what's actually required.
However, if the ranking and matchmaking is out of the community's hands, then more fair groupings will happen. You might still have elitism and entitlement in pre-made groups for unranked runs, but when using ranked matchmaking every player in your group would actually be there because they deserve it. Players would be less able to inflate their rank through carries, and completely unable to demand unreasonable requirements for matchmaking groups.
Also, I don't see how this would "segment the players". Can you expand on that?
All in all, the problems you're describing seem to already effectively be in the game. A ranked matchmaking system would only serve to streamline it and cut down on abuse and toxicity while grouping with randoms.
Is it needed? No. Very few addons or QoL features are strictly needed,a as Classic shows. But would it do the PUG community good? I believe so, especially the way things have steadily been getting worse lately, with more and more tanks taking themselves out of the pool to play only with friends or guildies.
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Well, if I was still playing, I'd help you out. I work nights on the west coast, so most of my game time matches up perfectly with oceanic players.