First and foremost: I want to specifically differentiate the Battle Rank System and the Merge. The merge had to occur as the more areas that were added in the old system, the more the playerbase would get split. It also simplified the progression, though the Tech Tree as implemented could absolutely be better.
Secondly, I know the below is a wall of text: as such a TLDR:
New Player Matchmaking Needs to Be Expanded to the Completion of Tier I (9/9) and add NPM focused challenges with an event squad for completing them all.
Events need to be evened out where all 4 factions are represented AND use event tokens to claim the one you want first to avoid player stacking that week. TT additions need to be added with more care of interest / draw that they will bring. Join any team needs to be changed to a multi-faction selector to be more effective at dealing with player stacking. Preferences need to be a hard rule, not a soft rule.
OK, what is the Battle Rank system as it stands?
Currently we have a soft rule that will match you either 1 up or 1 down in BR equipped, and if there are not sufficient players it resorts to the old BR 1 - 3 and 3 - 5 Match groups.
What are the current issues with the battle rank system? I see 2 main issues:
It does not properly protect new players from seal clubbing. New player matchmaking is sorely insufficient in its current form to introduce players to the game’s mechanics.
It does not properly (and arguably at all) do anything regarding the longstanding issue of the susceptibility of player faction stacking. Player stacking also impacts desertion rates.
While some want skill or rank based matchmaking I do not. Enlisted at its core is a casual experience … implementing such matchmaking will severely hamper those that play with varied skill or rank. The rank structure itself is, IMO, a horrible way to base matchmaking. Its appearance on the scoreboard and kill feed only confuses and makes people angry due to them not knowing it does not impact matchmaking.
So, how do we fix these too issues?
Well firstly, let’s take a look at New Player Matchmaking. Currently it last 1 - 3 games, depending on how much you do in those games. Due to the shortness of this, it does not allow new players to gain enough resources to gain a relative competent loadout to use. It also does not allow new players experiment with class types.
What I would do is expand NPM to the completion of Tier 1 (9/9 *remember you start at 3/9). The question lies in should NPM be individual of faction where each faction has their own set, should NPM be until you complete one of them to 9/9, or should it last until you complete all of them? Personally, I think that NPM should be all to 9/9 as that will give the best chance at a new player experimenting and learning the game. What I would also do is triple the silver gain while in NPM (you don’t have anything at the start). I am undecided whether join any team should be enforced, but if it is not enforced, I feel that join XP where you get a % of RP copied to other 3 factions when you play is something to consider until 9/9 is reached. If a player in NPM joins a party with a non NPM valid player the game will use standard matchmaking as it does now … but if all partied members are NPM valid, then it will use NPM.
There should also be some NPM challenges to complete. Completing all of the challenges should net you a new event squad (recommend an event engineer squad with customizable weapons - coming with a solid BRII rifle). These challenges should also be open to all players but focused on new players. These should not expire until completed.
Hopefully by expanding NPM and introducing challenges that reward tasks the promote good gameplay (unlock certain classes, perform actions like building rallies and ammo boxes … getting rally uses … etc.) … it should promote better players, and by keeping in NPM longer, new players should gain more resources to setup solid BR I squad before starting in full matchmaking.
Next up, the susceptibility of player stacking. This is the trickiest to solve without removing player choice. Each option without removing that option does not guarantee removal but mitigates and minimizes it as much as possible.
Things such as XP bonus for join any team will help, but I feel too many are overestimating the amount that this will help. There are many that do NOT want to play a certain faction, a certain map, a certain game mode, etc. Now we know we will have preferences coming, but if the preferences are too soft, it may not impact enough. Personally, the thought is on the right track though.
XP Bonus for join any team is good, but replacing join any team with a faction multi-select will be better with a increasing XP bonus for each additional faction is selected. This should solve the issue for those that say do not want to play a certain faction.
We then need to see reduction in the event / new item draw of certain factions. New stuff needs to be even across factions in terms of interest and draw. Giving one or two factions something more than others only draws out player faction stacking. As such events going forward should ALL have representation of ALL 4 FACTIONS (like the current Rocket Artillery Event). Events should also return to event tokens, where we can choose which one we get first on our own. This removes the issue of one week X faction gets their squad … causing a bump in that faction.
New gear adding to the tech tree is harder to do. Especially when some are less full than others. As such, some factions may just need more to fill their TT out more. As such, some factions may need to get more items, but other factions that don’t will need higher quality items if quantity is not able to be done.
Preference options need to be more than just map, but mode too. If it is soft, then these will lose effectiveness. The preference option should be hard in this case. It should warn however that the stricter you make it the longer your matchmaking may be. If it is made so that I can pick which factions I want, which maps I want, and which modes I want, and I don’t get any I don’t select, the game will reduce early game desertion a ton, this will balance matches more.
In addition, adding a surrender function for lopsided matches under certain circumstances will help drastically. These should be enough to resolve the desertion issue enough through incentives and stats that penalties are not needed.
