[2021] Ranked is still very broken

You got it right in your edit, that your hidden MMR is higher then silver.

To pull back the curtain a little, almost all(I say almost because I can't confirm) ranked systems use some form of skill/win based match making. If we just let you stomp on silvers, then stomp on golds, then stomp on plats, then stomp on diamonds, in order to figure out your immortal(or whatever rank) it would cause ranked chaos. Stomping on a silver doesn't prove you are plat, going toe to toe with plats and maintain an even win/loss ratio in doing so does. If our match maker thinks you are plat, it can start testing you there to confirm it.

It's also a slightly unique problem to Valorant, compared to lots of other popular games that have big ranked queue populations. Because it's easier for a player to carry in a tac-shooter, compared to a Moba, it makes us have to be more sensitive about match fairness and quality.

That being said, how other people do it aside, right now we believe this is the best way to maintain a very healthy competitive queue. The match maker has an idea of where you belong after placements, but it could be wrong. We want to make ranks, and their prestige, matter. So instead of putting you exactly where we think you belong, after only 5 games, we put you slightly below. Then the match maker tests you, and you prove you belong at that rank, and you get moved there.

If you are being tested at a higher rank, you will lose less for a loss and gain more for a win. So no matter what, if you maintain a 50/50 win loss ratio you will climb. If you don't, your MMR will drop and eventually will converge with your actual rank. No matter what, after about 20-30 games, you will have convereged with your MMR.

This system also helps us combat boosting, weather players playing your account or group boosting. It helps us get smurfs out of low ranks quicker, etc. At the end of the day you won't improve stomping silvers, and those silvers won't have a good time getting stomped. You will get better by playing opponents at your skill level and then beating them. This is the most healthy way to maintain fair match making, ensure you are given the best environment to improve, and try to make it so players actually earn the rank they deserve.

That being said we will always be trying to improve the system. I've probably typed a response like this on here or twitter dozens of times now. So clearly there is a perception issue, and I understand why there are frustrations with being silver but feeling like you belong at a higher rank. We've already planned a handful of changes, and will be continuing to improve ranked.

If you stomp on silvers, we don't know your rank is my point. We just know you are better then silvers. Stomping silvers doesn't say you're gold, plat, diamond, or immortal. It only means you are better then a silver. Why would we let you ruin a players game, when we already have an idea where you belong?

Even tho we may have an idea, we are often wrong in your early matches. Almost all Elo systems need 1000+ games to know your actual "Rank" or Elo, in those systems. Arguably that's the same, and even worse, in our system. Because we have way more things changing, like maps, agents, etc. I think it's fair to say we put you where we think you belong quickly and test you to see if you belong there.

On the point of getting better, it's just one of many reasons we do this. We also aren't slowing your process to your true rank, we are actually finding your true rank faster. Making you play low rank players would just be a barrier, not an assist, in finding your rank. Remember as much as you would be "proving" yourself by beating lower ranked players you would also be effecting those players as well. You, and every player that needs to be higher rank, would be artifically pushing those players down. You could have a match in silver where you are beating a plat level player, because you're immortal, but that plat level player is being held down because they are randomly getting paired against players above them. But that's happening in silver.

This is already a complaint that people have, even in this system. Feedback that this post is complaining about. "I'm silver but I'm going against plats" - You wouldn't fix that by making you play against all ranks, to climb. It would just be less visable on the skill of the opponent your playing. Then the complaint wouldn't be about playing opponents that are visibly above your skill, the complaint turns into "I ran into a smurf in my game." and the perception of smurfing becomes worse.

Also, you have to remember you are only going to be trying to swing upwards at opponents above your rank for a handful of your first matches after placement. Either you prove that, after your placements, you actually belong higher rank. Then you will gain more for a win, less for a loss, and get pushed to the rank it's testing you at. Or you fail, lose some, and your MMR drops, and it also converges at the rank you are at(or somewhere in between).

The only benefit I see from making you climb through each rank is the perception that you are playing against all the same ranks, while playing in that rank. Which wouldn't be true, because players are always on journeys up or down in rank. The cost of that change would be extremely unfair match making, less accurate skill determination, and a system that would take a lot more time to actually find your rank.

Yes, having a rank and getting to a rank you think is of your skill(or a goal you have) is very important. But ranked is not only about just giving you a rank, it's also about competitive matches in Valorant. If you want the most fair, competitive matches, which will determine your true skill after short time invested you play ranked. We aren't making a system for you to stomp low ranks, or create non-competitive matches just to give you a badge. Playing the game is the fun part, getting a representation of your rank is the reward.

The system actually is better for low MMR players just as much as getting smurfs out of your matches. I understand it sucks getting above where you belong and not being rewarded as much for a win.

The reason you don't belong at a higher rank is because you aren't playing at that skill level, or winning enough to get there. There probably is a small number of players, and we are checking to see if we need to fix this, that some how got above their MMR and their MMR may not be increasing fast enough. But there are also players who group up with friends, and get wins they may not deserve, pushing them in ranks higher then they should be.

In lower ranks your skill MMR means more then it does in higher ranks. You could be winning matches, but your skill is below players of the ranks you are getting pushed into. Ranked isn't ment to be a system you grind and just climb, you have to actually have the skill to belong at that rank.

Again, I'm concerned there may be issues where players may deserve higher ranks but somehow are getting forced down. But so far it seems more that a player was some how boosted above their rank by grouping, or got a lucky chain of wins but never actually improved so the system is slowing down their progression. My best advice is that if you are truly winning games, and are actually above the rank you are playing in, you will climb. The system isn't holding you back artificially, it tests you and if you prove yourself you will climb.

Thanks for engaging! I don't want to dismiss your concerns at all. Just because we think we are doing the right thing doesn't mean you aren't frustrated. Even tho we may be happy with where we are at now, we need to keep improving the system.

This is just the beginning, we all just want the game to keep getting better!

You actually have two MMR's. You have a win/loss MMR, and a skill MMR. In lower ranks your skill MMR is a bigger factor in climbing, in higher rank it's your Win/Loss MMR. In immortal+ it's only win/loss MMR.

The skill MMR is actually pretty impressive. It looks at ability usage, if a smoke helped take a site, if a flash got a teammate a kill, if you are an entry fragger, etc. It also knows if you should have won a 1v1(by comparing the skill MMR of your opponent, and skill advantages of the 1v1 when you try to take the duel). Because the system looks at so much, it's actually pretty difficult to game the system. Plus even if you were good enough to manipulate the system, at some point that would just be playing good enough to climb ranked. When a player is that skilled, it turns into winning/lossing as what determines their rank.

I guess maybe there is some way to manipulate it, we haven't been able to think of. That being said usually just winning and playing your best will make you climb the most. If you are trying to farm lower MMR opponents in your match, you won't climb as much as beating higher MMR opponents.

We've talked about showing MMR. The problem is that your MMR doesn't really mean much aside from knowing you are being pushed towards it. It swings pretty wildly sometimes, so our concern is that players would focus too much on MMR even tho what the system is doing is trying to figure out where you belong. But I also understand there is a level of faith with showing MMR that the community may benefit from. The other concern is maybe people can figure out exploits easier, if they see how MMR is changing. Right now we have bigger issues we want to solve, but we've definitely thought about it. Thank you for the feedback!

I think the first thing you have to accept, in any ranked, is that there will be smurfs, afk's, toxic teammates, tilted teammates, etc. The thing about that is you are the constant factor in all of your ranked matches. I understand people are frustrated, and like to assume that someone who is destroying in their match is a smurf, but realistically they aren't as common as I think the community believes. So no matter what, yes you will have games with smurfs or AFK's, but realistically you should play enough matches where those matches are a small factor in your overall ranked history.

Before I burn myself, we have AFK penalties incoming. We are definitely aware how awful having an AFK teammate is in ranked.

To answer your first question, all the players in your match are of the same skill(or atleast the match maker thinks so). So you really shouldn't be playing actual immortals in silver, unless that immortal player is being tested(has their MMR) at silver. This is how you also prevent players from getting carried or boosted into higher ranks. You can have a 5 stack carry a player all the way to immortal from silver(it would be extremely difficult the ranked rating gains would work against them), but if that carried player never raised their skill MMR they will still just be silver. They will get matched against silvers, play like a silver, gain nearly nothing for a win, but lose a ton for a loss. The system will push them to silver, and they won't ruin immortal level players matches because the match maker is making them play against players it believes is at their skill. If you think of the system more as testing you at a rank, then pushing you to that rank, that's exactly what it is doing. The nice thing is that the system keeps players where it thinks they belong in skill, and while you are progressing in rank it corrects until you converge with your MMR.

No matter what, you can't stop it, your Rank and MMR will converge. You play placements, the system says "Hmm I think this player is gold" then you get placed probably in low gold or silver. If you keep performing well in your gold level matches, you will keep getting more Ranked Rating per win, and less per a loss, until you are gold. If you start to underperform, the system will drop and say "Opps I was wrong, this is a silver player" and after a few matches you will be at whatever silver tier you are suppose to be at. It usually takes 20-30 games tops to converge with your MMR.

So in a sense, during your first 20-30 games your forward facing rank is probably wrong. But that's true about any ranked system you play in. No ranked system you ever play in will give you, or know your true rank in your first few matches(even after placements). In fact the Elo system used in chess takes 1000's of matches to determine true rank, and that's for a game that doesn't have changing rules like we do(new maps and characters). So you could argue ranks are never correct, and you are never at your actual rank until you've played 1000's of matches. If we wanted to go really far down the rabbit hole, technically every video game ranked system you play defines who is what rank. For example, we decide how many players to let into Radiant, what MMR you need to be immortal, what MMR is diamond, etc. That's how we ensure that "Top 2% of all players are X rank". Because we know, generally, where the MMR of the entire player population sits. We could say 50% of the player base is now diamond, etc. Someone, in every game you play, is deciding what your MMR means as a rank.

I think there is a big misunderstanding, or at least there is a perception the system is broken, when people are silver and see a diamond rank in their lobby. That player may have a different forward facing rank, but they are just on their journey to find their true rank. If you are a silver player, with Plat MMR, and you get paired against plat players then those plat players are at their MMR(but you aren't). So you are a silver player, tested to be a plat, and to join the ranks of players that have already converged at their rank. Those plat players are trying to get better, because the only way they will climb is by winning more then they lose in the plat skill level games they are playing in. The system cares about putting you in fair matches, to test you. It also creates the best competitive environment, because we don't put you in artificial matches that are made just for you to grind them. If we made you grind through all the ranks it's meaningless if you aren't playing matches that are testing your actual skill.

Whew that was super long. Thanks for reading! I love talking about these things, and it's a very confusing topic so let me know if I didn't explain it correctly. Also thanks for engaging with me on the topic, learning how people think about this(that aren't like me and work on it all day all the time) helps a ton. Gotta keep making the system better!

Based on those numbers you are only like maybe a sub-rank ahead of your MMR.

So you converged, but there is always a chance you can pull away from your MMR by grouping up or if you are winning but not increasing your performance MMR.

Technically you have two MMR's, performance and Win MMR. Low ranks factor in more performance, high ranks use more win MMR - when you get to upper immortal it's only win MMR. So there is always a chance that you go on a win streak(or lose streak) and you deviate slightly from your MMR. We let you deviate because if you prove yourself and keep winning your MMR will adjust and converge to your new rank. Essentially keep winning and you will be fine and reverse your RR gains/losses :)