I am posting this for my friend, for he is afraid of negative view by the community. Any posts I make in response to this are his words, however I am posting them.
What I’ve found in this community as of late is a lack of competitiveness.
Because what does being #1 really mean right now? What does being in the top #100 mean? That you had the most time to farm maps?
The state of the osu!standard ranked ladder reminds me of League of Legends after dynamic queue was introduced. For those of you that don’t play, League is a 5v5 PvP MOBA game, and so happens to be among the top played PC games in the world. Solo queue was the ranked ladder that’s purpose was to determine the skill of the individual. However, Riot Games, the company that owns League of Legends, decided to combine all ladders with “Dynamic Queue,” a ladder in which you could play as a team of 5, as a group of 2-4, or as an individual.
The fundamental issue, in this case, was that groups against groups was not 100% the same. So an individual player and a group of 4 could play against a team of 5.
What ultimately happened was that, in the early season, the ladder meant nothing for the best players. Being #1 on the Dynamic Queue ladder wouldn’t yield you much other than community recognition, if that. No professional teams would pick you up unless you were unearthly good.
As a result, Riot Games changed the rules in the highest levels of gameplay, only allowing for duo and solo queueing in Diamond (roughly top 2%) and only solo in Masters/Challenger (top 0.05%).
Because the ladder was flawed, competition in the higher levels was stifled, and there was little motivation to become better. There was still competition because League is one of the top played PC games of all time, but osu is not league. And this brings me to my point.
The osu!standard ladder is not an accurate representation of players’ individual skill. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. Is Riviclia, a phenomenal EZDT mouse only player with nearly 1600 hours, really not as good as Zirba, an HDDT player with 900? Are most of the people in the top #100 really the most accurate, precise, and consistent players across multiple skills? I don’t think so.
This leads me to ask the following question: What is the point of the osu!standard ladder? The goal of ladders in general is to determine individual skill, and to be able to say that one player is better than another based on rating. But you can’t, because right now, the ladder is flawed. Most decide to abuse the system to get higher, for the sake of getting higher. If you ask me, this is not how ranked ladders are supposed to function.
So what does this mean for the game? It means that there is no motivation to become a better player. There is little competition, because who cares, right? So what if rustbell set a breathtaking score on Axion, that was only 242pp. Angelsim just farmed a 600pp score on yet another one minute anime song with HDDT.
Imagine osu!standard where the ladder was a real representation of players’ overall skill. Of their talent. Think about how different the game would be, how much more interesting it would be, and how many more players would be recognized for their greatness. How much more inspiring it would be to watch the highest ranked players. Think about tournaments, and how osu!standard could be recognized as a legitimate eSport.
I long for the days when everyone in the top #100 will deserve their spot, and will be recognized for it. I hope that one day, the most efficient way to climb the ladder will not be farming maps as almost everyone does. I hope that we, as a community, can fix the system from being abused. Because as the days pass, it becomes more and more obvious. Why do we have to vote for the best players every year? Isn’t that what the ranked ladder is supposed to do for us in the first place?
This is why I say the following: If we, as humans, can seemingly dodge every obstacle, travel to space, prevent disease on a massive scale, and have a working ladder in so many other competitive video games – why not osu?
I encourage you, the player, to come up with a new algorithm. I propose that we make a new system, as it is long overdue.
But for the sake of this forum post, I propose that the devs come up with a new system.
What I’ve found in this community as of late is a lack of competitiveness.
Because what does being #1 really mean right now? What does being in the top #100 mean? That you had the most time to farm maps?
The state of the osu!standard ranked ladder reminds me of League of Legends after dynamic queue was introduced. For those of you that don’t play, League is a 5v5 PvP MOBA game, and so happens to be among the top played PC games in the world. Solo queue was the ranked ladder that’s purpose was to determine the skill of the individual. However, Riot Games, the company that owns League of Legends, decided to combine all ladders with “Dynamic Queue,” a ladder in which you could play as a team of 5, as a group of 2-4, or as an individual.
The fundamental issue, in this case, was that groups against groups was not 100% the same. So an individual player and a group of 4 could play against a team of 5.
What ultimately happened was that, in the early season, the ladder meant nothing for the best players. Being #1 on the Dynamic Queue ladder wouldn’t yield you much other than community recognition, if that. No professional teams would pick you up unless you were unearthly good.
As a result, Riot Games changed the rules in the highest levels of gameplay, only allowing for duo and solo queueing in Diamond (roughly top 2%) and only solo in Masters/Challenger (top 0.05%).
Because the ladder was flawed, competition in the higher levels was stifled, and there was little motivation to become better. There was still competition because League is one of the top played PC games of all time, but osu is not league. And this brings me to my point.
The osu!standard ladder is not an accurate representation of players’ individual skill. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. Is Riviclia, a phenomenal EZDT mouse only player with nearly 1600 hours, really not as good as Zirba, an HDDT player with 900? Are most of the people in the top #100 really the most accurate, precise, and consistent players across multiple skills? I don’t think so.
This leads me to ask the following question: What is the point of the osu!standard ladder? The goal of ladders in general is to determine individual skill, and to be able to say that one player is better than another based on rating. But you can’t, because right now, the ladder is flawed. Most decide to abuse the system to get higher, for the sake of getting higher. If you ask me, this is not how ranked ladders are supposed to function.
So what does this mean for the game? It means that there is no motivation to become a better player. There is little competition, because who cares, right? So what if rustbell set a breathtaking score on Axion, that was only 242pp. Angelsim just farmed a 600pp score on yet another one minute anime song with HDDT.
Imagine osu!standard where the ladder was a real representation of players’ overall skill. Of their talent. Think about how different the game would be, how much more interesting it would be, and how many more players would be recognized for their greatness. How much more inspiring it would be to watch the highest ranked players. Think about tournaments, and how osu!standard could be recognized as a legitimate eSport.
I long for the days when everyone in the top #100 will deserve their spot, and will be recognized for it. I hope that one day, the most efficient way to climb the ladder will not be farming maps as almost everyone does. I hope that we, as a community, can fix the system from being abused. Because as the days pass, it becomes more and more obvious. Why do we have to vote for the best players every year? Isn’t that what the ranked ladder is supposed to do for us in the first place?
This is why I say the following: If we, as humans, can seemingly dodge every obstacle, travel to space, prevent disease on a massive scale, and have a working ladder in so many other competitive video games – why not osu?
I encourage you, the player, to come up with a new algorithm. I propose that we make a new system, as it is long overdue.
But for the sake of this forum post, I propose that the devs come up with a new system.