The official Twitter for Marvel Rivals has just gone ahead and given one of their “official tips” on ranking up in the game. The reaction of the community? Well, let’s just say it was negative, totally negative. The official account gave a very terse message: a link to the guide or video with the hashtag #MarvelRivals. The replies are something else.
Players have gone straight for buying, with many of the comments describing it as totally out of touch with the real working of the ranked system. One of the major complaints is the game actually penalizes players who do try to flex and fill roles for their team. Anthony, who goes by the name DNAHalo25, put it flat out: “Flex players get less points and rank up slower than someone who would play their main or a damage dealing character.” And he is for sure not alone.
The whole sentiment goes something like this: lock in a DPS character, stat-farm, and that’s the fastest climb win or lose. _CutestBrownie explained that: “More like Just lock in DPS cause you wont get penalised as much regardless of your performance.” That’s…not so great for a team-based game, right?
That is when the matchmaking complaints arrive. Could anything be better for complaint, “courses” than explaining the complaint of matchmaking? Many complain that it is against them. Kaden Luce, aka EightApollo4190, said: “Matchmaking is purposely rigged. Don’t matter if you solo q or team comp, the game will throw you into matches that are impossible to win.” And that statement was backed up some minutes later by Tommy (SoyElTommy), who said that the matchmaking kept him from grinding the game, which he’s “honestly happy about.”
All this created a strange dynamic whereby support mains are allegedly getting screwed out of the ranking system. Tommy said that when he dpses, even if he’s just mediocre, he gains points far faster than when he supports. “No wonder everyone wants to dps in this rigged matchmaking,” he said. Consequently, if everyone is frustrated with going damage for comfort, that is not a good sign for the long-term viability of the game.
Then there have indeed been discussions, deep into math, about the rank system. Here’s a back-and-forth from Major Phaggat (lordgay420) to Luis Lobo (ellobofreak26) concerning whether individual performance is greater than winning. Phaggat does some computation concerning point gains and losses, arguing stat farming can climb you faster, even with a half-track win rate. Lobo counters that because you lost, it doesn’t matter how much better you did on your own.
One can almost feel the frustration in every response. xAndrei (MLFhunter101) points to the obvious: “No matter how good you are, you cannot carry a 5v6 match in Marvel Rivals.” Which is a fair point. Next is the instead of “skill issue” comment by Dante (Dante___Sparda_) that almost perfectly encapsulates a large portion of the gaming discourse today.
What marks an interesting point is that some players note that ranked may be fine at a higher level, but it’s “way too forgiving” in the low ranks. PhilInstigator believes that giving out the base points currently introduced at platinum ranks has to start way earlier in bronze, so people start learning to flex properly before placing higher.
The general vibe coming back from the community was that the official advice doesn’t match up with how Marvel Rivals is actually climbed. Players feel incentivized to play selfishly rather than play as a team, whereas matchmaking appears to be designed for the formation of unwinnable games, and support players come up short on ranking progression. Not a great environment for a competitive game.
While this is one of the instances in which the developers are going to have to earnestly look at their ranking system and matchmaking, because when your own community is telling you your official advice and the system don’t go together… that has got to be an obvious sign that needs to be fixed. It’s still early, of course, so that’s some hope for adjustments. But for now, let’s just say there is no fun being had in the leaderboard play in Marvel Rivals.
