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2.0.4 FAQ: Unranked, Bonus Pool, Leave League - Page 4

Forum Index > SC2 General
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Galacus
Profile Joined February 2013
Poland4 Posts
March 04 2013 15:50 GMT
#61
On March 02 2013 01:42 Excalibur_Z wrote:

Show nested quote +
On March 01 2013 18:26 Dakota_Fanning wrote:
Is the portrait border visible/displayed when I start a ranked game and the map is being loaded? What about unraked and team games? Can we see based on this the league of our opponent?


It always shows your 1v1 Ranked position. If it's supposed to reflect the mode you're currently queued for, it's not doing that now.



I don't think it's supposed to reflect your current mode. Besides informing you and others about your current 1v1 league, I see it also as a kind of reward and in current UI design you constantly see your portrait, level and border in lower left corner of the screen (except in-game). It would be quite confusing to change it depending on your current mode, and what to display in vsAI/arcade/FFA menus/loading screens? Probably there should be no border in these situations - doable, but again, somewhat confusing and less of a reward.

But what is more interesting for me is this - I believe in HotS you will be able to play in 2 1v1 leagues: HotS and WoL (for compatibility with players who didn't buy HotS), so which border will be displayed?
Kambing
Profile Joined May 2010
United States1176 Posts
March 04 2013 16:04 GMT
#62
On March 05 2013 00:50 Galacus wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 02 2013 01:42 Excalibur_Z wrote:

On March 01 2013 18:26 Dakota_Fanning wrote:
Is the portrait border visible/displayed when I start a ranked game and the map is being loaded? What about unraked and team games? Can we see based on this the league of our opponent?


It always shows your 1v1 Ranked position. If it's supposed to reflect the mode you're currently queued for, it's not doing that now.



I don't think it's supposed to reflect your current mode. Besides informing you and others about your current 1v1 league, I see it also as a kind of reward and in current UI design you constantly see your portrait, level and border in lower left corner of the screen (except in-game). It would be quite confusing to change it depending on your current mode, and what to display in vsAI/arcade/FFA menus/loading screens? Probably there should be no border in these situations - doable, but again, somewhat confusing and less of a reward.

But what is more interesting for me is this - I believe in HotS you will be able to play in 2 1v1 leagues: HotS and WoL (for compatibility with players who didn't buy HotS), so which border will be displayed?


Precisely the league/game variant that you are queued up for. If you are GM in WoL and masters in HotS, you should get a GM border when you queue up for WoL and masters border when you queue up for HotS. If you queue up with a team, you should see the border earned by the team. Solo team queue, your solo team queue rank, etc.

This is all what should be displayed in the loading screen/score screen of a particular game, so the league/game variant context exists. It's not clear what should be displayed when you are sitting outside of a game (e.g., the max of all your current leagues?), so for now it's showing only your 1v1 rank.
o29
Profile Joined November 2010
United States220 Posts
March 04 2013 19:56 GMT
#63
On March 05 2013 01:04 Kambing wrote:
Precisely the league/game variant that you are queued up for. If you are GM in WoL and masters in HotS, you should get a GM border when you queue up for WoL and masters border when you queue up for HotS. If you queue up with a team, you should see the border earned by the team. Solo team queue, your solo team queue rank, etc.

This is all what should be displayed in the loading screen/score screen of a particular game, so the league/game variant context exists. It's not clear what should be displayed when you are sitting outside of a game (e.g., the max of all your current leagues?), so for now it's showing only your 1v1 rank.


But why? It makes more sense to me to just have it display 1v1 ranking. As far as I'm concerned, a player's 1v1 rating is more indicative of their actual skill level than the league of some arranged 2v2 team they happen to play in. And the point of the border seems to be primarily be to communicate a rough idea of your opponent's skill level. The "reward" of having a "cool border" on your portrait should be secondary.
crms
Profile Joined February 2010
United States11933 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-03-04 20:17:34
March 04 2013 20:15 GMT
#64
Q: Can Unranked players play against Ranked players?
A: Yes. Ranked and Unranked players are part of the same pool


Can someone more experienced in playing with these changes explain this to me? This seems AWFUL. Since unfortunately ladder anxiety is a real thing to people, I assume many players will shift to the unranked ladder. Now, since you're still matched with ranked players, doesn't this hurt the integrity of the ranked league? I can't imagine those playing on unranked will play as seriously... they will likely use unranked as a training ground either to practice new builds, try corny off the wall stuff, or just troll around due to having no real consequence. Doesn't this change hurt those using the ladder as a competitive outlet?

I guess in the end ladder shouldn't be as serious as I'm portraying it in this post. Just seems odd you can have people trolling about without risking anything (precious ladder points) while others are putting their MMR/Win Rate/Points on the line.

Ranked player: I wager 10 ladder points, 2 ranks in my division and 15 hidden MMR!

Unranked player: I wager nothing! GL HF!

O_O
http://i.imgur.com/fAUOr2c.png | Fighting games are great
Capped
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom7236 Posts
March 04 2013 20:28 GMT
#65
On March 05 2013 05:15 crms wrote:
Q: Can Unranked players play against Ranked players?
A: Yes. Ranked and Unranked players are part of the same pool


Can someone more experienced in playing with these changes explain this to me? This seems AWFUL. Since unfortunately ladder anxiety is a real thing to people, I assume many players will shift to the unranked ladder. Now, since you're still matched with ranked players, doesn't this hurt the integrity of the ranked league? I can't imagine those playing on unranked will play as seriously... they will likely use unranked as a training ground either to practice new builds, try corny off the wall stuff, or just troll around due to having no real consequence. Doesn't this change hurt those using the ladder as a competitive outlet?

I guess in the end ladder shouldn't be as serious as I'm portraying it in this post. Just seems odd you can have people trolling about without risking anything (precious ladder points) while others are putting their MMR/Win Rate/Points on the line.

Ranked player: I wager 10 ladder points, 2 ranks in my division and 15 hidden MMR!

Unranked player: I wager nothing! GL HF!

O_O


I thought the same untill i read your post and then it clicked into place.

Your MMR and his Troll MMR are similar, he isnt bronze level trolling you when your masters level (well...this is what blizzard hopes to achieve) so basically he will be doing his batshit crazy stuff at a level that is challenging for you.

The thing is, this is provided the player has played a decent enough amount of unranked games for his unranked MMR to slot into place with his level of "unranked skill" so there will be a ton of people just playing the odd unranked for trolly purposes and bolstering ranked players points.

Also it sorta brings about the "anti-smurf" people who bolster their MMR up high then go troll mode it all the way down again in unranked.

Its a flawed system. In theory it works, IF everyone played their (lets say) 25 unranked games and didnt fuck about abusing the hidden MMR. but 1) people wont play their 25 games and WILL troll and 2) people love to fuck about with shit, Hidden or not.

So..yes and no, depending.
Useless wet fish.
Nerski
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States1095 Posts
March 04 2013 20:38 GMT
#66
On March 05 2013 05:15 crms wrote:
Q: Can Unranked players play against Ranked players?
A: Yes. Ranked and Unranked players are part of the same pool


Can someone more experienced in playing with these changes explain this to me? This seems AWFUL. Since unfortunately ladder anxiety is a real thing to people, I assume many players will shift to the unranked ladder. Now, since you're still matched with ranked players, doesn't this hurt the integrity of the ranked league? I can't imagine those playing on unranked will play as seriously... they will likely use unranked as a training ground either to practice new builds, try corny off the wall stuff, or just troll around due to having no real consequence. Doesn't this change hurt those using the ladder as a competitive outlet?

I guess in the end ladder shouldn't be as serious as I'm portraying it in this post. Just seems odd you can have people trolling about without risking anything (precious ladder points) while others are putting their MMR/Win Rate/Points on the line.

Ranked player: I wager 10 ladder points, 2 ranks in my division and 15 hidden MMR!

Unranked player: I wager nothing! GL HF!

O_O


I would imagine if you play an unranked player you wouldn't gain or lose points, it'd just be a game. Now if there is a significant portion of players playing unranked and many ranked games end up being unranked it could become a problem.

If points are gained or lost for the ranked player playing the unranked player, then this system is entirely a dumb idea.
Twitter: @GoForNerski /// Youtube: Youtube.com/nerskisc
crms
Profile Joined February 2010
United States11933 Posts
March 04 2013 20:41 GMT
#67
On March 05 2013 05:38 Nerski wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 05 2013 05:15 crms wrote:
Q: Can Unranked players play against Ranked players?
A: Yes. Ranked and Unranked players are part of the same pool


Can someone more experienced in playing with these changes explain this to me? This seems AWFUL. Since unfortunately ladder anxiety is a real thing to people, I assume many players will shift to the unranked ladder. Now, since you're still matched with ranked players, doesn't this hurt the integrity of the ranked league? I can't imagine those playing on unranked will play as seriously... they will likely use unranked as a training ground either to practice new builds, try corny off the wall stuff, or just troll around due to having no real consequence. Doesn't this change hurt those using the ladder as a competitive outlet?

I guess in the end ladder shouldn't be as serious as I'm portraying it in this post. Just seems odd you can have people trolling about without risking anything (precious ladder points) while others are putting their MMR/Win Rate/Points on the line.

Ranked player: I wager 10 ladder points, 2 ranks in my division and 15 hidden MMR!

Unranked player: I wager nothing! GL HF!

O_O


I would imagine if you play an unranked player you wouldn't gain or lose points, it'd just be a game. Now if there is a significant portion of players playing unranked and many ranked games end up being unranked it could become a problem.

If points are gained or lost for the ranked player playing the unranked player, then this system is entirely a dumb idea.



I don't think as the ranked player you know if your opponent queued unranked or ranked, you get points just as you would a standard opponent.*


*this could be wrong I haven't played HOTS in a long time.
http://i.imgur.com/fAUOr2c.png | Fighting games are great
Mendelfist
Profile Joined September 2010
Sweden356 Posts
March 04 2013 20:55 GMT
#68
On March 05 2013 05:15 crms wrote:
Now, since you're still matched with ranked players, doesn't this hurt the integrity of the ranked league?

Perhaps, but it also improves the integrity of the unranked league for those wanting serious practice and competition without the burden of ladder points.
Excalibur_Z
Profile Joined October 2002
United States12240 Posts
March 04 2013 20:58 GMT
#69
On March 05 2013 05:38 Nerski wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 05 2013 05:15 crms wrote:
Q: Can Unranked players play against Ranked players?
A: Yes. Ranked and Unranked players are part of the same pool


Can someone more experienced in playing with these changes explain this to me? This seems AWFUL. Since unfortunately ladder anxiety is a real thing to people, I assume many players will shift to the unranked ladder. Now, since you're still matched with ranked players, doesn't this hurt the integrity of the ranked league? I can't imagine those playing on unranked will play as seriously... they will likely use unranked as a training ground either to practice new builds, try corny off the wall stuff, or just troll around due to having no real consequence. Doesn't this change hurt those using the ladder as a competitive outlet?

I guess in the end ladder shouldn't be as serious as I'm portraying it in this post. Just seems odd you can have people trolling about without risking anything (precious ladder points) while others are putting their MMR/Win Rate/Points on the line.

Ranked player: I wager 10 ladder points, 2 ranks in my division and 15 hidden MMR!

Unranked player: I wager nothing! GL HF!

O_O


I would imagine if you play an unranked player you wouldn't gain or lose points, it'd just be a game. Now if there is a significant portion of players playing unranked and many ranked games end up being unranked it could become a problem.

If points are gained or lost for the ranked player playing the unranked player, then this system is entirely a dumb idea.


You earn points based on your points versus opponent MMR whether that opponent is Ranked or Unranked, it doesn't matter.

The ladder should be more serious and I think that's why Unranked was added in the first place, so that serious players could play Ranked and the ladder could become more competitive. However if there are a lot of Unranked players who aren't playing seriously and who can play against Ranked players, then that would seem to go against this goal to an extent.
Moderator
crms
Profile Joined February 2010
United States11933 Posts
March 04 2013 21:01 GMT
#70
On March 05 2013 05:55 Mendelfist wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 05 2013 05:15 crms wrote:
Now, since you're still matched with ranked players, doesn't this hurt the integrity of the ranked league?

Perhaps, but it also improves the integrity of the unranked league for those wanting serious practice and competition without the burden of ladder points.

I would ask if that's worth it? Is it good to sacrifice integrity of your only built in ranking mechanism so that your 'practice' more 'casual' game mode can be more challenging?

It's very strange to have one person queuing up while putting it all on the line (dramatic sorry) and another queuing up with nothing to lose.

I don't think this will effect the highest tiers, but all the middle ground maybe from gold to mid master seems like a disaster. Unranked players just joining games doing stupid builds with nothing to lose.
http://i.imgur.com/fAUOr2c.png | Fighting games are great
crms
Profile Joined February 2010
United States11933 Posts
March 04 2013 21:05 GMT
#71
On March 05 2013 05:58 Excalibur_Z wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 05 2013 05:38 Nerski wrote:
On March 05 2013 05:15 crms wrote:
Q: Can Unranked players play against Ranked players?
A: Yes. Ranked and Unranked players are part of the same pool


Can someone more experienced in playing with these changes explain this to me? This seems AWFUL. Since unfortunately ladder anxiety is a real thing to people, I assume many players will shift to the unranked ladder. Now, since you're still matched with ranked players, doesn't this hurt the integrity of the ranked league? I can't imagine those playing on unranked will play as seriously... they will likely use unranked as a training ground either to practice new builds, try corny off the wall stuff, or just troll around due to having no real consequence. Doesn't this change hurt those using the ladder as a competitive outlet?

I guess in the end ladder shouldn't be as serious as I'm portraying it in this post. Just seems odd you can have people trolling about without risking anything (precious ladder points) while others are putting their MMR/Win Rate/Points on the line.

Ranked player: I wager 10 ladder points, 2 ranks in my division and 15 hidden MMR!

Unranked player: I wager nothing! GL HF!

O_O


I would imagine if you play an unranked player you wouldn't gain or lose points, it'd just be a game. Now if there is a significant portion of players playing unranked and many ranked games end up being unranked it could become a problem.

If points are gained or lost for the ranked player playing the unranked player, then this system is entirely a dumb idea.


However if there are a lot of Unranked players who aren't playing seriously and who can play against Ranked players, then that would seem to go against this goal to an extent.


This is exactly what I think is going to happen. With active ladder participants going down every season since release (correct me if I'm wrong), I think unranked will bring a lot of people back. While more people playing is better, having all of the players in the same pool seems incredibly short sighted and nonsensical. I believe the only reason they would group them up is fear over queue times. They must really lack confidence in how many people will be ranked ladder only and fear the queues will spike to levels higher than blizzard would like. They must not think there are enough active players in both leagues (ranked/unranked) to sustain both 'ladders'. That's the only reason I can think of for grouping them together. I know that's the justification they gave in beta, but in beta it made sense. For release? I am really against this.
http://i.imgur.com/fAUOr2c.png | Fighting games are great
Mendelfist
Profile Joined September 2010
Sweden356 Posts
March 04 2013 21:11 GMT
#72
On March 05 2013 06:01 crms wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 05 2013 05:55 Mendelfist wrote:
On March 05 2013 05:15 crms wrote:
Now, since you're still matched with ranked players, doesn't this hurt the integrity of the ranked league?

Perhaps, but it also improves the integrity of the unranked league for those wanting serious practice and competition without the burden of ladder points.

I would ask if that's worth it? Is it good to sacrifice integrity of your only built in ranking mechanism so that your 'practice' more 'casual' game mode can be more challenging?

It's very strange to have one person queuing up while putting it all on the line (dramatic sorry) and another queuing up with nothing to lose.

I don't think this will effect the highest tiers, but all the middle ground maybe from gold to mid master seems like a disaster. Unranked players just joining games doing stupid builds with nothing to lose.


If it's worth it depends on the number of unranked players and how many of them that just want to fool around. It may be better to dilute the unranked players into the larger ladder pool than to keep them separate and turn unranked play into a useless monkey house. That would turn inexperienced players away (and those with the now somewhat worn expression "ladder anxiety"). The latter is a big reason for the implementation of unranked play I think.
Integra
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Sweden5626 Posts
March 04 2013 21:12 GMT
#73
Allot of people seems to misunderstand what ranked and unranked is, and their difference between them. Ranked and unranked are the same as if you would have two accounts with their own ladder rank with the only difference that one of the accounts wouldn't show your actual ranking or the amount of points you would gain or lose for each played game. And that's basically it, Blizzard has given you a "mini" account inside your main account.
"Dark Pleasure" | | I survived the Locust war of May 3, 2014
crms
Profile Joined February 2010
United States11933 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-03-04 21:24:42
March 04 2013 21:17 GMT
#74
On March 05 2013 06:12 Integra wrote:
Allot of people seems to misunderstand what ranked and unranked is, and their difference between them. Ranked and unranked are the same as if you would have two accounts with their own ladder rank with the only difference that one of the accounts wouldn't show your actual ranking or the amount of points you would gain or lose for each played game. And that's basically it, Blizzard has given you a "mini" account inside your main account.



You're forgetting the most important part. While the 'mini' account inside your main account won't show your rank or effect your displayed points etc., you WILL be effecting someone elses 'real' account. So while you try new builds, maybe play less serious or off race on your 'mini' account you will be giving free points or taking points from peoples 'main' accounts while risking nothing yourself. You're playing stress free when you queue unranked, while your ranked opponent is more likely to be trying their very hardest to win because they have something at stake. That's the entire debate. I think we all understand how the modes work. We are arguing the merits of having unranked and ranked players being able to match each other on ladder.


The krux of this issue for me seems to comedown to playerbase. Blizzard must have determined the playerbase wouldn't be large enough to sustain two independant leagues. Otherwise, I see absolutely no reason to merge the two. For an analogy, Valve added 'Team Match Making' to dota 2, it's an entirely seperate MMR and ladder than the standard match making. You won't queue with your TEAM and get 5 friends who queued together for the normal ladder. It's completely seperate. You will only match against other TEAMS on the TEAM ladder. How awkward would it be to get pub players, or random groups of friends that give you +ranking when you're playing on your TEAM ladder? Same concept really. Having the entire popluation in the same pool where x% are playing for rank and x% are playing for whatever is bad design. Moba games (eww bad term) have always had seperate ladders, ranked, unranked, public, easy mode, etc., and they never crossed each other. I fail to see why a 1v1 game would need to do so.
http://i.imgur.com/fAUOr2c.png | Fighting games are great
Integra
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Sweden5626 Posts
March 04 2013 21:22 GMT
#75
On March 05 2013 06:17 crms wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 05 2013 06:12 Integra wrote:
Allot of people seems to misunderstand what ranked and unranked is, and their difference between them. Ranked and unranked are the same as if you would have two accounts with their own ladder rank with the only difference that one of the accounts wouldn't show your actual ranking or the amount of points you would gain or lose for each played game. And that's basically it, Blizzard has given you a "mini" account inside your main account.



You're forgetting the most important part. While your 'mini' account inside your main account won't show your rank or effect your displayed points etc., you WILL be effecting someone elses 'real' account. So while you try new builds, maybe play less serious or off race on your 'mini' account you will be giving free points or taking points from peoples 'main' accounts while risking nothing yourself. You're playing stressfree when you queue unranked, while your ranked opponent is more likely to be trying their very hardest to win, they have something at stake. That's the entire debate. I think we all understand how the modes work. We are arguing the merits of having unranked and ranked players being able to match each other on ladder.

You are risking your own MMR just like any other on ranked, if you play bad and do stupid stuff you get punished by getting your unranked MMR lowered and you will face worse opponents. MMR still decides what opponents you meet. And regardless if its hidden for you or not you will notice if you are mostly being matched against Masters or just gold players.
"Dark Pleasure" | | I survived the Locust war of May 3, 2014
korona
Profile Joined October 2009
1098 Posts
March 04 2013 21:24 GMT
#76
On March 05 2013 06:11 Mendelfist wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 05 2013 06:01 crms wrote:
On March 05 2013 05:55 Mendelfist wrote:
On March 05 2013 05:15 crms wrote:
Now, since you're still matched with ranked players, doesn't this hurt the integrity of the ranked league?

Perhaps, but it also improves the integrity of the unranked league for those wanting serious practice and competition without the burden of ladder points.

I would ask if that's worth it? Is it good to sacrifice integrity of your only built in ranking mechanism so that your 'practice' more 'casual' game mode can be more challenging?

It's very strange to have one person queuing up while putting it all on the line (dramatic sorry) and another queuing up with nothing to lose.

I don't think this will effect the highest tiers, but all the middle ground maybe from gold to mid master seems like a disaster. Unranked players just joining games doing stupid builds with nothing to lose.


If it's worth it depends on the number of unranked players and how many of them that just want to fool around. It may be better to dilute the unranked players into the larger ladder pool than to keep them separate and turn unranked play into a useless monkey house. That would turn inexperienced players away (and those with the now somewhat worn expression "ladder anxiety"). The latter is a big reason for the implementation of unranked play I think.

But in the viewpoint of ranked player the shared matchmaking pool is awful (of course user base of WoL will crash after release of HotS so it may be ok for WoL, but future HotS user base should be large enough so queues would not become too long). Since patch I have played 57 ranked games on EU server & 44 on NA server and even with such a small sample many of the abuse scenarios I anticipated are happening commonly (my earlier post, note that it is written before I knew about unranked MMR):

Some unranked players seem to use their ranked main race but with considerably lower unranked MMR than their ranked MMR to get easy wins. Some unranked players are leaving games for various reasons: they want to play certain match-up --> leave immediately, mess their build order --> leave when happens, something outside the game happens where you would normally pause --> leave, get behind but not yet decisive --> leave. Also amongst unranked people there seems to be more BM:s. I feel sorry for people in lower leagues, as the change is likely more visible there (high ranked players dropping their unranked MMR to low leagues to smurf without affecting their ranked MMR & visible stats).
JDub
Profile Joined December 2010
United States976 Posts
March 04 2013 21:26 GMT
#77
I like having unranked and ranked in the same queue. I don't think most people playing unranked games will be totally monkeying around, and if they do their unranked MMR will fall to a level where the games will still be close.

I like it because:
1) Shorter queue times
2) Integrity of unranked games. Let's say I want to try out a new build on ladder, but I don't want to have it tank my real MMR while I'm getting used to it. I'd like to be able to play regular games, but not risk my rank on a build I'm unfamiliar with. With this set-up, I can queue unranked and get good practice in.

From my perspective, I'm not to worried about beating up the occasional player who is monkeying around doing crazy stuff. I have found on the HotS beta that the players I play against who queue unranked are still trying hard to win, and that it has worked out just fine (I'm mid-masters for reference).
crms
Profile Joined February 2010
United States11933 Posts
March 04 2013 21:28 GMT
#78
On March 05 2013 06:22 Integra wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 05 2013 06:17 crms wrote:
On March 05 2013 06:12 Integra wrote:
Allot of people seems to misunderstand what ranked and unranked is, and their difference between them. Ranked and unranked are the same as if you would have two accounts with their own ladder rank with the only difference that one of the accounts wouldn't show your actual ranking or the amount of points you would gain or lose for each played game. And that's basically it, Blizzard has given you a "mini" account inside your main account.



You're forgetting the most important part. While your 'mini' account inside your main account won't show your rank or effect your displayed points etc., you WILL be effecting someone elses 'real' account. So while you try new builds, maybe play less serious or off race on your 'mini' account you will be giving free points or taking points from peoples 'main' accounts while risking nothing yourself. You're playing stressfree when you queue unranked, while your ranked opponent is more likely to be trying their very hardest to win, they have something at stake. That's the entire debate. I think we all understand how the modes work. We are arguing the merits of having unranked and ranked players being able to match each other on ladder.

You are risking your own MMR just like any other on ranked, if you play bad and do stupid stuff you get punished by getting your unranked MMR lowered and you will face worse opponents. MMR still decides what opponents you meet. And regardless if its hidden for you or not you will notice if you are mostly being matched against Masters or just gold players.


That isn't a real risk. When someone is risking their position on the ladder (likely their only real competitive outlet) and you're risking a match making rating that is never displayed and entirely hidden, you're effective risking nothing. There is an impact if you lose 60 points (50 mmr for argument sake) and 15 ladder ranks in your division. There is no impact in losing 50 mmr on your unranked account other than you might get a few easy games until you reach your appropriate mmr again. I'm not sure why you don't get this.
http://i.imgur.com/fAUOr2c.png | Fighting games are great
JDub
Profile Joined December 2010
United States976 Posts
March 04 2013 21:30 GMT
#79
On March 05 2013 06:24 korona wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 05 2013 06:11 Mendelfist wrote:
On March 05 2013 06:01 crms wrote:
On March 05 2013 05:55 Mendelfist wrote:
On March 05 2013 05:15 crms wrote:
Now, since you're still matched with ranked players, doesn't this hurt the integrity of the ranked league?

Perhaps, but it also improves the integrity of the unranked league for those wanting serious practice and competition without the burden of ladder points.

I would ask if that's worth it? Is it good to sacrifice integrity of your only built in ranking mechanism so that your 'practice' more 'casual' game mode can be more challenging?

It's very strange to have one person queuing up while putting it all on the line (dramatic sorry) and another queuing up with nothing to lose.

I don't think this will effect the highest tiers, but all the middle ground maybe from gold to mid master seems like a disaster. Unranked players just joining games doing stupid builds with nothing to lose.


If it's worth it depends on the number of unranked players and how many of them that just want to fool around. It may be better to dilute the unranked players into the larger ladder pool than to keep them separate and turn unranked play into a useless monkey house. That would turn inexperienced players away (and those with the now somewhat worn expression "ladder anxiety"). The latter is a big reason for the implementation of unranked play I think.

But in the viewpoint of ranked player the shared matchmaking pool is awful (of course user base of WoL will crash after release of HotS so it may be ok for WoL, but future HotS user base should be large enough so queues would not become too long). Since patch I have played 57 ranked games on EU server & 44 on NA server and even with such a small sample many of the abuse scenarios I anticipated are happening commonly (my earlier post, note that it is written before I knew about unranked MMR):

Some unranked players seem to use their ranked main race but with considerably lower unranked MMR than their ranked MMR to get easy wins. Some unranked players are leaving games for various reasons: they want to play certain match-up --> leave immediately, mess their build order --> leave when happens, something outside the game happens where you would normally pause --> leave, get behind but not yet decisive --> leave. Also amongst unranked people there seems to be more BM:s. I feel sorry for people in lower leagues, as the change is likely more visible there (high ranked players dropping their unranked MMR to low leagues to smurf without affecting their ranked MMR & visible stats).

But people do the same stuff in ranked ladder in WoL. There's nothing stopping people from trolling lower ranked players, from doing coinflippy builds, from leaving games randomly, etc. in ranked ladder. I think the goal here is to just provide the same ladder experience but without the ladder anxiety. Trolls will be trolls regardless of how it is set up.
Integra
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Sweden5626 Posts
March 04 2013 21:31 GMT
#80
On March 05 2013 06:28 crms wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 05 2013 06:22 Integra wrote:
On March 05 2013 06:17 crms wrote:
On March 05 2013 06:12 Integra wrote:
Allot of people seems to misunderstand what ranked and unranked is, and their difference between them. Ranked and unranked are the same as if you would have two accounts with their own ladder rank with the only difference that one of the accounts wouldn't show your actual ranking or the amount of points you would gain or lose for each played game. And that's basically it, Blizzard has given you a "mini" account inside your main account.



You're forgetting the most important part. While your 'mini' account inside your main account won't show your rank or effect your displayed points etc., you WILL be effecting someone elses 'real' account. So while you try new builds, maybe play less serious or off race on your 'mini' account you will be giving free points or taking points from peoples 'main' accounts while risking nothing yourself. You're playing stressfree when you queue unranked, while your ranked opponent is more likely to be trying their very hardest to win, they have something at stake. That's the entire debate. I think we all understand how the modes work. We are arguing the merits of having unranked and ranked players being able to match each other on ladder.

You are risking your own MMR just like any other on ranked, if you play bad and do stupid stuff you get punished by getting your unranked MMR lowered and you will face worse opponents. MMR still decides what opponents you meet. And regardless if its hidden for you or not you will notice if you are mostly being matched against Masters or just gold players.


That isn't a real risk. When someone is risking their position on the ladder (likely their only real competitive outlet) and you're risking a match making rating that is never displayed and entirely hidden, you're effective risking nothing. There is an impact if you lose 60 points (50 mmr for argument sake) and 15 ladder ranks in your division. There is no impact in losing 50 mmr on your unranked account other than you might get a few easy games until you reach your appropriate mmr again. I'm not sure why you don't get this.

Of course it is a risk, unranked is still putting a grade on your performance and lowers or increases it accordingly to your skill, just like ranked. The only valid argument I can find from you is that people now have two rankings and therefore can discard the other but what about people who has two accounts or the fact that they can play on more than one server, won't they inflict the same kind of damage? Your statement is to general and can be applied unto many things.
"Dark Pleasure" | | I survived the Locust war of May 3, 2014
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