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According to a post on Epic Games’ official forums made by executive producer Rod Fergusson, the ranking system in Gears of War 2 may be getting overhauled. The proposed change would add RPG-like rankings to the game. As of now, rankings are tied to Microsoft’s proprietary TrueSkill system. While TrueSkill is a great way to produce competitive matchmaking, it is discouraging for gamers to see their ranking fluctuate depending on the nearly incomprehensible TrueSkill algorithm. The new ranking would allow players to advance up to level 99. There is no word on whether players will be rewarded with any unlockables for rising in rank. However, it was mentioned that if such a system was implemented, future Achievement points could be issued once new DLC is made live. Looking at all the positive responses on the forum, it seems like the new ranking system will get the nod. Below you’ll find the entirety of the Rod Fergusson post as published on the GearsForums .
Blog Posting: Hey all, So we’ve been looking at all the feedback on our skill ranking system and we completely understand why simply making your TrueSkill level visible can be frustrating. The algorithm is complex, so it’s not always clear how your rank will be affected by a particular match and your rank is based on the team’s outcome and not necessarily your individual performance. So we’re looking to make a change. What if, instead of skill rank, we instead showed your experience level. You would gain experience through your individual performance in Public multiplayer matches – the higher your score at the end, the more experience you acquire. Of course the experience gained across the different match types would be balanced so you couldn’t just grind on the respawning game types to try and level faster. The experience requirements for each level would grow with each level gained (like a typical RPG) and we’d have 99 levels of experience for you to show off your leetness. Generally speaking your level will always go up since you’re always acquiring more score, hence experience, with each completed match. The only exception to that would be people quitting. Players that quit would gain an experience penalty that could cause them to be demoted. At the end of every match you will be able to see how much experience you’ve gained and how much further you have to go till the next level. Since I know what one of the first questions is going to be, initially we wouldn’t have achievements for gaining experience levels because of Xbox LIVE rules that require all post release achievements to be tied to new DLC content. But when new DLC is released, it’s a whole new ball game then. So, what do you think? Thanks, Rod |
