[2020] I love Valorant and I've played it several hours a day since 7th April. I just wish there were distinguishing aspects of the game that you can be proud of that aren't otherwise purchasable.

As it stands, you can acquire everything in Valorant if you're willing to pay for it - there's nothing to grind for that isn't already purchasable which means there simply isn't anything rewarding for skill or time spent. This is a problem especially when you consider that the ranking system doesn't reward skill or time spent either (if they continue with their plan of dynamic queue and win/loss margin counting for MMR swings).

This game needs content and exclusive features that is only accessible to those that are dedicated to the grind so they can feel rewarded for time spent - even the "whales" need something to grind for.

Exclusive Gun Buddies, Sprays, Player Cards, Weapon Skins, Titles can be awarded for things like X amount of bomb plants, defuses, Aces, total kills, clutch round wins, revives, Agent specific rewards like kills with ults or enemies spotted/hit with dart, enemies revealed. These things you can't buy and they show that you have put in the time - that is worth showing off because it's specific to you and you earned it.

There's way too much emphasis on pay walling content and not enough emphasis on player retention long term and rewarding skill/time spent.

Also, make ranked something worth a damn. That also needs to be something you're proud of.

Edit: A couple of examples are games like CSGO with the badge system, I like this one as its discreet, you can always display it and it can be something you're proud of.

Another example is Call of Duty' weapon camo completionist. This is very rewarding to some people and often a large reason for logging in every day. I don't necessarily agree with a system like this in Valorant by promoting unorthodox play styles to complete challenges but I do like that there is a way to 'show off' something that you have put time and effort into. A better way to implement this system is by maybe total wins which fits and doesn't alter play styles for challenges.