[2023] 11th Dev Journal

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.

Hello Lumia Island Survivors!
Today’s Dev Journal will cover changes to Ranked System.

Ranked System will be changed from the existing ELO-based relative score system to a method more similar to an evaluation.

Players will now use Ranked Points as an Entry Cost depending on their Ranked tier, start a Ranked Match, and now get points based on their number of kills and placements. Up until now, your point gain and loss were calculated based on the relative difference between your rank and the average rank of other players in the match, and only the final calculated score was displayed. Now, your accumulated score will be shown in real-time and it will clearly indicate how many points you can earn for each additional kill.

Of course, this new scoring system won’t be totally absolute, point gains and losses will still take consideration of the lobby rank to an extent. If there are no adjustments or corrections made for the lobby at all, there is a significant risk that top players may take advantage of the system. If there were no adjustments, top players could decide to only play during less populated hours to take advantage of a lobby with wider MMR lobby gap differences. So, while there will be similar adjustments to those in the current system, the biggest change will be the transparency of the scores during the game.

The higher your tier is, the more expensive the Entry Cost gets. In the lowest tiers, you can move up even with an average performance, but players in the highest tiers must perform well to match their higher Entry Costs.



Overall, Ranked Points are determined by your number of kills and placements - but not all kills have equal value. Kills on the Battle Zone have a relatively low value, similarly to kills that can be reverted through revival.

<Placement/Kills Score Sample> (The numbers below are just an example and the actual data is subject to change.)




The main goal of the new Ranked System is to provide feedback on your performance in real time. These ranked scores will highlight the most essential mission that players in Eternal Return face: kill and survive. And they provide immediate feedback on how well you've done in fulfilling the said mission.

Also, when you start a Ranked Match, you will start with a negative score because you paid the Entry Cost. But don’t worry! You’ll see your current Ranked Points in the top corner of the screen later on.



The score will increase as you get kills. You may see your score raise even more after a kill if the kill moved you up in placement.

Additionally, being able to see your score on the screen may set the atmosphere of the game. For example, if you're currently at -3 points and you can see that, you’ll know that you need only one more kill to get a positive score. In this case, you may feel stronger emotions during and after the next fight.



Or, let’s say your Ranked Points are still very low even after having played for some time. In this case, you may need to perhaps take a more aggressive push for scores or maybe even play for first.



One of the systems that will see the biggest changes with this new feature is Escape. Instead of using a separate formula to recalculate the score, now extra points will be added to your score upon a successful escape. The number of extra points isn’t that significant so the more kills you get before escaping, the better! However, if you are struggling to get an extra kill, you can escape and finish with a few extra points on top of what you've accumulated during your match. But keep in mind that if you have a very low score, below 0, taking a more adventurous approach might work better for you than just escaping as the latter no longer guarantees an LP gain.



Moreover, the Rootkit can now be purchased from Transfer Console, making it easier to escape. We’ll discuss this in more detail in the Dev Journal regarding Credits. Now, with this change, if someone tries to escape, teams can easily call in an Escape Kit to chase after the first team, meaning there's a higher chance of a fight in the Abandonded Dock.



The result screens will display your score (gained or lost) based on the adjustments from the lobby average. If the average tier of the players you matched with is much higher than yours, you'll earn more points, and if it’s much lower, you'll earn fewer points. Since you will now be able to see your score while you're playing, you can get an approximate estimate of the lobby average ahead of time.
Given that now your real-time Ranked Points will be visible, Placements will be removed. If you're a new player in Ranked Matches, you'll start at 0 points in the Iron Tier, which is easy to get through since it doesn’t have an Entry Cost. At the start of a new season, there is a soft reset, so high-ranking players from the previous season begin at a higher tier. Even skilled new players can be placed quickly to their fitting tier if they are able to perform well.

Additionally, the Promotion and Demotion System will also be changed. There will no longer be promotion matches. Instead, you will now be immediately promoted when you earn enough points to reach a higher tier. Bonus points will be awarded when you successfully move up a tier, preventing you from demoting right away on your next game. If you are demoted from a tier, you will have a one-time demotion protection, which means your score will drop to 0 points. But, if you obtain a negative score again, you will then be demoted. Having visible Ranked Points during the game can be tense enough when Promotion or a Demotion Protection is at stake.



Today, you’ve seen some of the changes that will be made to the Ranked System. But it should be noted that these changes won't solve all the problems with matchmaking and ranked at once. We took inspiration from successful Ranked Systems in other games, which are also constantly experimenting and changing each season. Similarly to those games, by taking them as a reference we will also have many trials and errors due to the differences in game styles.

However, the intense missions and feedback provided by the Ranked Points displayed in real-time in the new system will make the Battle Royale experience even more exciting and immersive!

Next Dev Journal will focus on changes to Mastery and Crafting! Hope to see you then!

Thank you for reading!

You can get WP from the Dev Journals on our {LINK REMOVED}web event page. Web Points(WP) are event points that can be obtained and used throughout the Season 9 web events