I've seen the other thread that talks about the 1-50 ranking system. I am in full support of a Halo 2 style system combined with Reach's xp system. However, that isn't the point I want to make in this thread.
The whole point of a ranking system is to keep noobs playing with noobs, average gamers playing with average gamers, and pros playing with pros.
In Halo Reach, there was a truskill system but it was really bad. My friends and I would rarely ever get a "good" match. We would either dominate (50-14 matches) or we would get dominated (14-50 lol). I don't know how the invisible ranking system worked in that game but it was BAD. On occasion, you would narrowly beat an opposing team (say...50-48). The next match, you would be taking on people that have have played the game over twice as much as you have (check the kill count) and they would lay the smack down on you. This did not make for a fun gaming experience.
Halo 3's ranking system was better but still not perfect. There was some inconsistancy in the way that you achieved 50. IMO, it was way too easy. I never actually achieved it myself but many of my friends who were of less skill managed to get it. However, it did achieve the purpose of matching you against people who were of similar skill. Matches mostly ended with around a 15 point difference or less (50-35).
Halo 2's system was by far the best. However, it was plagued by the rampant modding and standbying. Achieving a rank past 37 was nearly impossible without having someone bridge host (and even then, modders still had some powers when off host).
Nevertheless, the ranks fit perfectly with the community. Casual players mainly stayed below the rank of 15 and only faced the occasional new account player (or a-hole deleveler), ranks 15-25 held the slightly better than average players, and 25+ held some really competitive players.
My numbers there might have been off but you get the point.
Rank's #1 goal is to seperate players of difference skill. As a BONUS, a bonus in which many think is the most important aspect of rank, is bragging rights.
I love the bragging rights and it is very important for the competitive aspect of Halo to have a system in which a player is rewarded for doing good and punished for doing badly. But most importantly, it is to keep most matches from being completely 1 sided.
For all the casual players that want Reach's ranking system only and not 1-50, I made this thread to show you why rank is important ways other than being something to show off. You would benefit from this system because I am sure that there were many (and still are many) times in which you completely get dominated by a group of hardcore gamers. Wouldn't you rather play against people of your own skill.
Wouldn't that make a better game experience?
