Today, January 9th, the first season of ranked play was released on Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Season 0 had been in effect since the release of the game and took minor game setting changes into consideration. The polished version of the system was expected to be released today, yet it is anything but polished.
Ranked play features CoD esports rules, as determined by Major League Gaming. It is supposed to be a competitive platform where gamers can play against similarly skilled opponents. The majority of players in the ranked play playlist are involved in the competitive community, but there are still plenty of flaws.
I’ve compiled a list of complaints:
- Parties entering ranked play glitch out. Most people don’t want to go in alone because randoms either aren’t good or quit out, leaving you by yourself to defeat the other team. However, there is a glitch that breaks up parties as they attempt to find a match. This is currently occurring about 50% of the time.
- All guns and equipment are not unlocked. As opposed to league play on Black Ops II, the guns and equipment you have available are the ones you have unlocked in public matches. If you want certain attachments on your gun after prestiging, you better be using the stock version for a while!
- Special guns are still available. Competitive Call of Duty is about a fair playing field for all. Some people have Magnitude ASM1’s and Inferno BAL’s, and others don’t. Those guns melt and should NOT be allowed. They aren’t allowed in MLG Variant gameply, so why are they available in ranked play?
- No clear way to tell what rank other players are. It’s nice going into a lobby and knowing what you are up against. While ranked play is supposed to match you with similarly ranked opponents, how do we know if we can’t see the ranks? All you can see are the public match prestige ranks.
- THERE IS NO PENALTY FOR LEAVING! Why? There is no incentive to stay in the game, except for the loss of a few points on the ranking ladder.
Suggested penalty for leaving:
- Progress in current rank reset.
- Timeout from ranked play.
Once the rules are set to actual MLG eSports rules, we may have a great ranked play system that is meaningful. Until then, we just have to tough it out and try not to get melted by special guns.
Are there any other problems you think I left out? Let me know in the comments.
