The word comes from Valorant’s game director, Joseph Ziegler. Ziegler posted a message on Twitter regarding Riot’s plans for Valorant’s ranked mode on Thursday, seemingly unprompted. In the short message, Ziegler says that Riot is “currently analyzing the ranking system top to bottom.” This is the action that Valorant players have been asking for since ranked first launched. There’s the potential for massive change in Valorant’s ranked system going forward.
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That said, there’s no reason to believe that changes are coming any time soon. Ziegler’s message on Twitter goes on to say, “We’re looking into changes that will improve many aspects of competitive, but have not committed to any solutions yet.” Basically, Riot is in the process of analyzing the system, or is at least beginning to, but deciding on and agreeing what needs changed is another matter entirely.
Ziegler’s statement is likely to be met with as much frustration as excitement. The lack of specifics regarding planned changes does take away from the sincerity of the post, given Valorant players have made several specific requests for ranked changes since the game launched. While no one expects Riot to deliver exactly the changes that fans want, they can still be addressed directly. But this certainly isn’t that.
Specific requests have included a visible ranking number or a ranked solo queue that removes the competitive imbalance of teaming. The heart of the issue being a ranking system that esports-minded. A system that provides a clear measurement of individual player skill, as well as a structure that encourages improvement based on that skill. Many Valorant players call the current system arbitrary and meaningless due to its different ranking thresholds being so broad.
For the time being, Valorant fans hoping for changes can at least be hopeful that changes are coming. But at the same time, a healthy taste of skepticism regarding whether Riot will be implementing the changes players really want is also important. These changes likely won’t be coming soon, though, so Valorant players will likely keep the pressure up until these changes manifest.
Valorant is available now on PC.
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