The main aim I had when designing ppv2 is to allow players to progress forward. Up to a point, newbies should be able to continue increasing their ranking as they improve. The problem is, just like pp(v1), there is a cap. This cap generally matches the player’s skill, which is correct behaviour, but it also doesn’t give a player direction as for how they are to improve.I used to play a lot of Starcraft 2. There was a ladder season every few months. But when I hit a skill plateau, one of the reasons why I never got farther than that was that I was chasing after ladder points and not the individual skills + coordination that make you a better player (Unit control, strategy, macro). The randomness of winning and losing streaks clouded my judgment on whether I was getting better or worse. There is some randomness in how well you perform, the type of map, how much you've practiced it, and the opponent. Just because you're on a winning streak doesn't mean you're a better player, but it feels like that, and vice versa.
I hope to change the way competitive play is seen in osu! over the next couple of months. I would like to create something closer to what we see in other competitive games, with ladders that are bound to a certain duration, and reset at the end, with distinct winners. To allow players to challenge others directly in order to usurp their position on the ranking. To give clear goals as to where they are heading and how to get there.
This is not a complaint against ppv2. I can see how making a challenge ranking would intensify competitive play at all levels. I mean, I could see myself forgetting about ppv1 ranks in a month or so and queing up for ranked versus matches like an excited kid on Christmas. But while the ladder system makes it exciting to improve, it doesn't give you any feedback on how to improve other than "My opponent keeps getting higher combo then me".
Tp, for the few flaws that I'm aware of, and the many more that I'm not, is the only metric out at the moment that gives feedback to player about these skills.