You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
They're probably talking about the solo and alliance event rank rewards. Lots of top players will farm points in plat before trying to compete in GC because they can maintain a high winrate in plat and get more bang for their elders marks than if they tried doing the same in GC
Which is how they fixed that with seeding. Plat2 is the barrel full of fish, people who made it to GC start in Plat1.
Last season, we saw Cavs somehow making it to Diamond. Also the power difference in paragons is absurd. A whale has a high chance of winning even if the other opponent has a r5 and a lot of r4s.
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
@BringPopcorn You 're point is a valid one and I agree that players shouldn't ignore the other content that was designed to help them get more diverse rosters. I was coming from a standpoint that if the purpose of the game mode was getting people to play, then why not have two sets of BG's so that the game experience would be one that encourages advancement without having to face accounts that are far more advanced. The tokens that are earned for the store are already tailored to their progression level, so what's the point of including everyone in the same track to begin with?
The rewards for reaching GC are pretty much a bonus on top of what we get for progressing through the tiers, so they can modify those rewards for the lower tiered players. At the moment, we have some higher tiered players that wait until the final week of BG's to do their push so they have an easier go to get to GC. Keep the VT as for the TB and below and then their GC is also tailored for them. For Paragons, their is enough disparity between the top and bottom that it should disperse the players more evenly than with the system the way it is now.
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
They're probably talking about the solo and alliance event rank rewards. Lots of top players will farm points in plat before trying to compete in GC because they can maintain a high winrate in plat and get more bang for their elders marks than if they tried doing the same in GC
With seeding, I really don't see this as a problem. Also, it ignores the fact that they're forfeiting as many matches as they win so it would end up balancing itself out.
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Because a Paragon gets 7* shards and others can't, and higher mats which is non sense.
Is not the matchmaking is the bugs and the non working controls what makes BG frustrating to play plus the scoring system that does not makes any sense at all
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Because a Paragon gets 7* shards and others can't, and higher mats which is non sense.
It's not nonsense. The prices are also different. That means it's not the "same" Rewards.
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Because a Paragon gets 7* shards and others can't, and higher mats which is non sense.
It's not nonsense. The prices are also different. That means it's not the "same" Rewards.
Its nonsense, well I guess UCs should get the same deals as Paragons for 4th of July then, cause a dollar is a dollar.
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Wrong. Prices are directly linked to rewards. The store is the reward, tokens are worthless without the store.
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Because a Paragon gets 7* shards and others can't, and higher mats which is non sense.
It's not nonsense. The prices are also different. That means it's not the "same" Rewards.
Its nonsense, well I guess UCs should get the same deals as Paragons for 4th of July then, cause a dollar is a dollar.
That makes no sense at all. The argument is they're playing for the same Rewards. They're not. Aside from the Relic Shards. The Rewards from the VT are scaled via the Store, and linked to progression. Which is conveniently ignored when the subject comes up.
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Wrong. Prices are directly linked to rewards.
Is there a price to get to the next progression? No its a choice, so the player chooses the price to pay for the items he buys. That has nothing to do with the store, the game mode or the rewards. Look at OPs profile, is it strong enough to get to TB?
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Because a Paragon gets 7* shards and others can't, and higher mats which is non sense.
It's not nonsense. The prices are also different. That means it's not the "same" Rewards.
Its nonsense, well I guess UCs should get the same deals as Paragons for 4th of July then, cause a dollar is a dollar.
That makes no sense at all. The argument is they're playing for the same Rewards. They're not. Aside from the Relic Shards. The Rewards from the VT are scaled via the Store, and linked to progression. Which is conveniently ignored when the subject comes up.
They play for the same exact rewards which are trophies, seeing a price or progression gate should be incentive enough to push foward, build a competitive roster and compete; but no they want to get to GC and get those extra 10k trophies to keep on buying "subpar" rewards.. makes no sense at all. You guys claim the rewards are not the same, they are lower but thet want more currency to buy those lower rewards.
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Because a Paragon gets 7* shards and others can't, and higher mats which is non sense.
It's not nonsense. The prices are also different. That means it's not the "same" Rewards.
Its nonsense, well I guess UCs should get the same deals as Paragons for 4th of July then, cause a dollar is a dollar.
That makes no sense at all. The argument is they're playing for the same Rewards. They're not. Aside from the Relic Shards. The Rewards from the VT are scaled via the Store, and linked to progression. Which is conveniently ignored when the subject comes up.
They play for the same exact rewards which are trophies, seeing a price or progression gate should be incentive enough to push foward, build a competitive roster and compete; but no they want to get to GC and get those extra 10k trophies to keep on buying "subpar" rewards.. makes no sense at all. You guys claim the rewards are not the same, they are lower but thet want more currency to buy those lower rewards.
That's an argument that really doesn't hold water. We're not talking about "will be" the same. We're talking about "is" the same. The more people make the argument that they could wait and spend them later, the more I'm starting to think their goal isn't what's best for BGs, it's to stop people from progressing. That would be entirely self-serving, wouldn't it?
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Because a Paragon gets 7* shards and others can't, and higher mats which is non sense.
It's not nonsense. The prices are also different. That means it's not the "same" Rewards.
Its nonsense, well I guess UCs should get the same deals as Paragons for 4th of July then, cause a dollar is a dollar.
That makes no sense at all. The argument is they're playing for the same Rewards. They're not. Aside from the Relic Shards. The Rewards from the VT are scaled via the Store, and linked to progression. Which is conveniently ignored when the subject comes up.
They play for the same exact rewards which are trophies, seeing a price or progression gate should be incentive enough to push foward, build a competitive roster and compete; but no they want to get to GC and get those extra 10k trophies to keep on buying "subpar" rewards.. makes no sense at all. You guys claim the rewards are not the same, they are lower but thet want more currency to buy those lower rewards.
That's an argument that really doesn't hold water. We're not talking about "will be" the same. We're talking about "is" the same. The more people make the argument that they could wait and spend them later, the more I'm starting to think their goal isn't what's best for BGs, it's to stop people from progressing. That would be entirely self-serving, wouldn't it?
I never said they can hold it, they should use it to make their roster stronger to work on the next progression level, not to make a stronger deck for BGs, because at that pace they will never catch up. The trophy ammounts are the same for everyone, you decide how much you pay for an item by pushing the next progression level or not
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
They're probably talking about the solo and alliance event rank rewards. Lots of top players will farm points in plat before trying to compete in GC because they can maintain a high winrate in plat and get more bang for their elders marks than if they tried doing the same in GC
Which is how they fixed that with seeding. Plat2 is the barrel full of fish, people who made it to GC start in Plat1.
Last season, we saw Cavs somehow making it to Diamond. Also the power difference in paragons is absurd. A whale has a high chance of winning even if the other opponent has a r5 and a lot of r4s.
Last season seeding was not implemented though
I think we will see more Cavs in GC now that seeding has been implemented though. I just made it to Vibranium 3 and we're still on week one, last season I made it to Vibranium 3 on week three.
Ive worked hard for my account to get it where it is i dont need to be getting matched accounts like this
No offence u onky saying this becsuse u can make it to glad curcuit its not fare for lower accounts like me who will never get glad curcuit thats a fact even thou i know people who have made glad curcuit and have really low accounts and i mean below 700k base team rating but i know they have cheated to get there if it isnt bad matchmaking its cheaters doing there stuff and thats never gonna be fare for people like me
Everyone has "worked hard" to get their account to where it is, so based on your logic everyone deserves GC rewards? In that case, why even have battlegrounds to be fine with?
I guarantee there are players who have put WAY more time and effort than you in the game who are finishing far lower in BG rating and getting lower rewards than you all because weaker players get "handicapped" matches until plat 2, which stronger players don't get. This means those who have spent several years longer than you building up their accounts are finishing lower than you but you think you deserve GC because you put in "effort"?
WTF do they keep letting these players into Plat so easily?
Maybe they should just make the game mode for Paragon players.
That'll teach him to complain about fairness. 😆
But in all honesty, the only way to lower the amount matchmaking complaints like these is like you said, paragon only. Or have 2 separate battlegrounds with 2 separate rankings and 2 largely different set of rewards.
But I still see the lower bracket complaining about why the paragon bracket gets better rewards. So, IDK.
Rewards have always been different. Only Paragons have access to Paragon store in BG which accounts for the bulk of the rewards. @Ironman3000 and @DNA3000 conveniently ignore this, because it doesn't fit their competition narrative. No real world competition has differential rewards based on the player's status outside the competition.
Just like the game economy requires rewards to be gated, player experience and participation requires some compromise on matchmaking. It is not that they don't understand this, they just don't like to acknowledge this because it doesn't fit with their view on the game mode.
2. You're wrong about real world competition as well. In Battlegrounds, the currency is the same, but the value of that currency differs to the competitors because of the avenues they have to spend it. This is an effect that does in fact happen in real world competitions. Most global competitions with cash prizes denominate that prize in a single currency, Euros, say. However, the value of that prize can have radically different magnitude depending on the home country of the competitors. Someone who wins a million dollars in a contest and goes home to the Philippines is likely to have a much different experience spending that prize than someone who goes back home to Switzerland.
3. Not only am I aware of the need for participation compromises for Battlegrounds, to the best of my knowledge I was the first one to bring it up, both in the original closed beta, again in the open beta, and after the game mode launched. I enshrined it as a foundational principle in my Battlegrounds Manifesto. The problem isn't that some players want a compromise and the game refuses to give it to them. The problem is they want the mode to hand them a neutered competitive environment that would be ludicrous to give to them. If you just want to fight hand-picked enemies calculated to be approximately your strength, grind arena.
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Because a Paragon gets 7* shards and others can't, and higher mats which is non sense.
It's not nonsense. The prices are also different. That means it's not the "same" Rewards.
Its nonsense, well I guess UCs should get the same deals as Paragons for 4th of July then, cause a dollar is a dollar.
That makes no sense at all. The argument is they're playing for the same Rewards. They're not. Aside from the Relic Shards. The Rewards from the VT are scaled via the Store, and linked to progression. Which is conveniently ignored when the subject comes up.
They play for the same exact rewards which are trophies, seeing a price or progression gate should be incentive enough to push foward, build a competitive roster and compete; but no they want to get to GC and get those extra 10k trophies to keep on buying "subpar" rewards.. makes no sense at all. You guys claim the rewards are not the same, they are lower but thet want more currency to buy those lower rewards.
That's an argument that really doesn't hold water. We're not talking about "will be" the same. We're talking about "is" the same. The more people make the argument that they could wait and spend them later, the more I'm starting to think their goal isn't what's best for BGs, it's to stop people from progressing. That would be entirely self-serving, wouldn't it?
I would like to ask you a question, doubt you will answer it; but i will give it a go anyway. You have recently become a Paragon, around a month ago, if I am correct. Did Kabam give you less rewards or was it your personal choice to stay TB and pay more for some items, and not be able to access other items? If the answer is that it was your choice, they reward you the same, you just decided to spend them differently.
I coukdnt care about the seeding thing tbh matchamiing was bad before and its still the same has im proved here and there by when u hit plat its no longer a fair game its onsided match ups people like me and other with bearly a mill in team rating going up against rank 5 6* and rank 2 7* paragaon accounts u dont stand w chance at all no one can tell ke im wrong because for the past three seasons when ive hit plat thats it im facing countless accounts that i dont stand a chance against i yeah i do get wins when its a fair match up btw in plat for past three seasons for me i might get two decent and fair match ups out of 60 fight thats not even close to being even all i wish is that u get more fair even match ups becsuse at this rate me and countless other players will NEVER reach glad curcuit
becsuse at this rate me and countless other players will NEVER reach glad curcuit
Although there is some truth to this: everyone isn't supposed to get to GC, any more than everyone can't get Masters rewards in AW. The GC is intended to be the top tier competitive bracket for BG. This is something players keep struggling to wrap their minds around. In the PvE parts of the game, most players should win most of the time. But in competitions, most people won't be at the top, or near the top, or anywhere within the same zip code as the top. GC has reward tier brackets for the top 8500 players or so, and a catch all bracket for everyone below 8500. That strongly suggests that the design intent is for something close to the top 8500 competitors to reach GC at all. If a few more get there, even a few hundred more, that's fine, but if several thousand players are getting there above that, that probably suggests it is too easy to reach.
There are on the order of 250k players that play at least one match of BG. The top 8500 represents something on the order of the top 3% of players or so. Which suggests that the game mode is tuned for about the top 5% of players, plus or minus, to reach GC. Maybe 10%. So yes, countlesss other players will never reach GC. Because they are not supposed to.
Not everyone wants that, and it's dismissive to imply that. Some Players want that. Most want something they have a decent chance at competing in. Not a "Git gud." setup that is staked before they even try because just like AW and AQ, people take the same placements they take every Season, and no one else progresses over time. The entitlement comes from all sides. The Top feel entitled to rank higher and squash lower Players because they've "put the time and effort in", and the bottom feels entitled because the Matchmaking system is placing them in Matches they can't win. The thing about true compromise is it can't make everyone happy, but it shouldn't be 90/10.
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Because a Paragon gets 7* shards and others can't, and higher mats which is non sense.
It's not nonsense. The prices are also different. That means it's not the "same" Rewards.
Its nonsense, well I guess UCs should get the same deals as Paragons for 4th of July then, cause a dollar is a dollar.
That makes no sense at all. The argument is they're playing for the same Rewards. They're not. Aside from the Relic Shards. The Rewards from the VT are scaled via the Store, and linked to progression. Which is conveniently ignored when the subject comes up.
They play for the same exact rewards which are trophies, seeing a price or progression gate should be incentive enough to push foward, build a competitive roster and compete; but no they want to get to GC and get those extra 10k trophies to keep on buying "subpar" rewards.. makes no sense at all. You guys claim the rewards are not the same, they are lower but thet want more currency to buy those lower rewards.
That's an argument that really doesn't hold water. We're not talking about "will be" the same. We're talking about "is" the same. The more people make the argument that they could wait and spend them later, the more I'm starting to think their goal isn't what's best for BGs, it's to stop people from progressing. That would be entirely self-serving, wouldn't it?
I would like to ask you a question, doubt you will answer it; but i will give it a go anyway. You have recently become a Paragon, around a month ago, if I am correct. Did Kabam give you less rewards or was it your personal choice to stay TB and pay more for some items, and not be able to access other items? If the answer is that it was your choice, they reward you the same, you just decided to spend them differently.
BGs helped me because I earned R4 Mats. My issue is I'm slow with Story. Always have been. The Rewards were not the same because what I have access to and in what quantity is different now that I'm Paragon. You keep referencing my pace as if I'm supposed to be somewhere because of the amount of time I've been here. There is NO mandate on how fast people grow, and there are as many variations of skill levels and paces for growing as there are people playing.
That makes no sense at all. The argument is they're playing for the same Rewards. They're not.
To be precise, the argument is, or at least should be, that they are competing for literally the same rewards. As in literally. The argument is not that they are competing for the same opportunity to exchange reward currencies for other things.
The VT and GC tiers are rungs on a competitive ladder. That's not just me deciding to stop using sports and restaurant analogies. BG is a competitive ladder in the game design sense. It is how the devs themselves describe it. The ladder has rungs with prizes attached. In the GC, those rungs have limits. Every player who gets the rewards for Uru 1 displaces someone else who can't. Players are literally competing for the same rewards in the sense that if one player takes them, someone else loses them.
The last rung of GC and the VT rungs do not explicitly have limits, but they implicitly do. There are design intentions for how many players should live at each rung, relative to the total participation. The devs extended VT specifically because in their opinion too many players were reaching GC, implying it was too easy to reach. So while there is no literal cap on Uru 3, that doesn't mean everyone can get those rewards. In a larger sense, when a bunch of UC players get to Uru, they are displacing other players who won't, because if enough of them reach it, the devs will just make VT longer to rebalance the effort vs reward scale.
The intent of the BG competition is to do what all competitions do: sort the competitors from the worst to the best. BG matches are supposed to do that, so that players end up sorted among the VT and GC tiers from worst to best, and thus their rewards, pinned to those tiers, will be appropriate for their competitive performance. When we let low progress players go higher, it doesn't look like they are pushing anyone else lower, but they are. It just happens invisibly - unless you understand game design balance. And then it becomes extremely obvious.
Every UC and Cav player who gets to GC is a Paragon who won't. If that's because those UC and Cav players did, or would have beaten that Paragon in a match then that's what's supposed to happen. But when it is because someone gave them an A for effort and let them in above other players who would have beaten them head to head, that's a competition failure.
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Because a Paragon gets 7* shards and others can't, and higher mats which is non sense.
It's not nonsense. The prices are also different. That means it's not the "same" Rewards.
Its nonsense, well I guess UCs should get the same deals as Paragons for 4th of July then, cause a dollar is a dollar.
That makes no sense at all. The argument is they're playing for the same Rewards. They're not. Aside from the Relic Shards. The Rewards from the VT are scaled via the Store, and linked to progression. Which is conveniently ignored when the subject comes up.
They play for the same exact rewards which are trophies, seeing a price or progression gate should be incentive enough to push foward, build a competitive roster and compete; but no they want to get to GC and get those extra 10k trophies to keep on buying "subpar" rewards.. makes no sense at all. You guys claim the rewards are not the same, they are lower but thet want more currency to buy those lower rewards.
That's an argument that really doesn't hold water. We're not talking about "will be" the same. We're talking about "is" the same. The more people make the argument that they could wait and spend them later, the more I'm starting to think their goal isn't what's best for BGs, it's to stop people from progressing. That would be entirely self-serving, wouldn't it?
I would like to ask you a question, doubt you will answer it; but i will give it a go anyway. You have recently become a Paragon, around a month ago, if I am correct. Did Kabam give you less rewards or was it your personal choice to stay TB and pay more for some items, and not be able to access other items? If the answer is that it was your choice, they reward you the same, you just decided to spend them differently.
BGs helped me because I earned R4 Mats. My issue is I'm slow with Story. Always have been. The Rewards were not the same because what I have access to and in what quantity is different now that I'm Paragon. You keep referencing my pace as if I'm supposed to be somewhere because of the amount of time I've been here. There is NO mandate on how fast people grow, and there are as many variations of skill levels and paces for growing as there are people playing.
There is NO mandate about how far a person can get in BGs either, yet they had to create a matchmaking shelter for small accounts, and even that seems like its not enough. Why is the complaint only about BGs? Why are Cavs not complaining about not having access to TB lvl EQ? Cause they would die to much and spend consumables? Why aren't they complaining about being able to do the highest SQ? It seems that the only game mode that they can't swallow is BGs, everything else that would cost them energy, time, units, consumables they understand their rosters are low for it, but BGs a PvP mode where your adversary's purpose is just to mess with you and is basically free to parcitipate and doesnt cost anything if you lose they got a problem with. That seems pretty entitled to me.
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Because a Paragon gets 7* shards and others can't, and higher mats which is non sense.
It's not nonsense. The prices are also different. That means it's not the "same" Rewards.
Its nonsense, well I guess UCs should get the same deals as Paragons for 4th of July then, cause a dollar is a dollar.
That makes no sense at all. The argument is they're playing for the same Rewards. They're not. Aside from the Relic Shards. The Rewards from the VT are scaled via the Store, and linked to progression. Which is conveniently ignored when the subject comes up.
They play for the same exact rewards which are trophies, seeing a price or progression gate should be incentive enough to push foward, build a competitive roster and compete; but no they want to get to GC and get those extra 10k trophies to keep on buying "subpar" rewards.. makes no sense at all. You guys claim the rewards are not the same, they are lower but thet want more currency to buy those lower rewards.
That's an argument that really doesn't hold water. We're not talking about "will be" the same. We're talking about "is" the same. The more people make the argument that they could wait and spend them later, the more I'm starting to think their goal isn't what's best for BGs, it's to stop people from progressing. That would be entirely self-serving, wouldn't it?
I would like to ask you a question, doubt you will answer it; but i will give it a go anyway. You have recently become a Paragon, around a month ago, if I am correct. Did Kabam give you less rewards or was it your personal choice to stay TB and pay more for some items, and not be able to access other items? If the answer is that it was your choice, they reward you the same, you just decided to spend them differently.
BGs helped me because I earned R4 Mats. My issue is I'm slow with Story. Always have been. The Rewards were not the same because what I have access to and in what quantity is different now that I'm Paragon. You keep referencing my pace as if I'm supposed to be somewhere because of the amount of time I've been here. There is NO mandate on how fast people grow, and there are as many variations of skill levels and paces for growing as there are people playing.
There is NO mandate about how far a person can get in BGs either, yet they had to create a matchmaking shelter for small accounts, and even that seems like its not enough. Why is the complaint only about BGs? Why are Cavs not complaining about not having access to TB lvl EQ? Cause they would die to much and spend consumables? Why aren't they complaining about being able to do the highest SQ? It seems that the only game mode that they can't swallow is BGs, everything else that would cost them energy, time, units, consumables they understand their rosters are low for it, but BGs a PvP mode where your adversary's purpose is just to mess with you and is basically free to parcitipate and doesnt cost anything if you lose they got a problem with. That seems pretty entitled to me.
Yes, they created a level playing field to start out on. Of all the complaining people do on here, complaining that people can't take a Top Tier Paragon Account and match with a new Cav in Bronze is about as entitled as it gets.
People are complaining that a Paragon is stuck fighting other Paragons in Gold (which I get first-hand), and arguing that a UC and Cav Player should be facing them. The irony of that is not lost.
You are just wrong on this. Kabam's matchmaking is artificially boosting some low players and stalling some mid to high players. It's a fact, not an opinion.
It is also a fact that those stalled high players are getting a lot more in BG rewards every season than the artificially boosted players you are talking about. That is the context you should use to evaluate this scenario. That is the compromise the game chose to balance participation and game experience for a broader set of players.
How, exactly, are players who are finishing in lower tiers "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than those who finish in higher tiers? You're gonna have to show your work there.
Unless you think 7-star shards and high end rank up material are worthless, isn't it obvious? A Paragon in Sliver or Gold is getting access to rewards from BG which a UC/Cav can't even if they hit Diamond or Vibranium. Within BG, what exactly are they doing different to justify this spread?
Wrong.
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
Because a Paragon gets 7* shards and others can't, and higher mats which is non sense.
It's not nonsense. The prices are also different. That means it's not the "same" Rewards.
Its nonsense, well I guess UCs should get the same deals as Paragons for 4th of July then, cause a dollar is a dollar.
That makes no sense at all. The argument is they're playing for the same Rewards. They're not. Aside from the Relic Shards. The Rewards from the VT are scaled via the Store, and linked to progression. Which is conveniently ignored when the subject comes up.
They play for the same exact rewards which are trophies, seeing a price or progression gate should be incentive enough to push foward, build a competitive roster and compete; but no they want to get to GC and get those extra 10k trophies to keep on buying "subpar" rewards.. makes no sense at all. You guys claim the rewards are not the same, they are lower but thet want more currency to buy those lower rewards.
That's an argument that really doesn't hold water. We're not talking about "will be" the same. We're talking about "is" the same. The more people make the argument that they could wait and spend them later, the more I'm starting to think their goal isn't what's best for BGs, it's to stop people from progressing. That would be entirely self-serving, wouldn't it?
I would like to ask you a question, doubt you will answer it; but i will give it a go anyway. You have recently become a Paragon, around a month ago, if I am correct. Did Kabam give you less rewards or was it your personal choice to stay TB and pay more for some items, and not be able to access other items? If the answer is that it was your choice, they reward you the same, you just decided to spend them differently.
BGs helped me because I earned R4 Mats. My issue is I'm slow with Story. Always have been. The Rewards were not the same because what I have access to and in what quantity is different now that I'm Paragon. You keep referencing my pace as if I'm supposed to be somewhere because of the amount of time I've been here. There is NO mandate on how fast people grow, and there are as many variations of skill levels and paces for growing as there are people playing.
There is NO mandate about how far a person can get in BGs either, yet they had to create a matchmaking shelter for small accounts, and even that seems like its not enough. Why is the complaint only about BGs? Why are Cavs not complaining about not having access to TB lvl EQ? Cause they would die to much and spend consumables? Why aren't they complaining about being able to do the highest SQ? It seems that the only game mode that they can't swallow is BGs, everything else that would cost them energy, time, units, consumables they understand their rosters are low for it, but BGs a PvP mode where your adversary's purpose is just to mess with you and is basically free to parcitipate and doesnt cost anything if you lose they got a problem with. That seems pretty entitled to me.
Yes, they created a level playing field to start out on. Of all the complaining people do on here, complaining that people can't take a Top Tier Paragon Account and match with a new Cav in Bronze is about as entitled as it gets.
Well I haven't complained about getting easy matches; but I would agree with them regardless, there is a huge difference about earning your stripes and feeling they should given to you.
Is this not a competition? What does earning your stripes have anything to do with?
If it was a competition there would be no shelter and losses would punish you. You talked about big accounts tanking matches, there is an easy solution for that, punishing losses; but you wouldn't be happy if losing a match would drop you from Gold to Silver would you?
Not everyone wants that, and it's dismissive to imply that. Some Players want that. Most want something they have a decent chance at competing in. Not a "Git gud." setup that is staked before they even try because just like AW and AQ, people take the same placements they take every Season, and no one else progresses over time. The entitlement comes from all sides. The Top feel entitled to rank higher and squash lower Players because they've "put the time and effort in", and the bottom feels entitled because the Matchmaking system is placing them in Matches they can't win. The thing about true compromise is it can't make everyone happy, but it shouldn't be 90/10.
Some players do not want to compete. That is a known issue in online gaming, and that's fine. However, BG is one mode among many in MCOC. 90% of this game has little to no competition, and zero head to head competition. It is important to frame any "compromise" around the fact that when we compromise the design of the one single player PvP game mode to soften the competition, we aren't also compromising by adding head to head competition everywhere else. If we were deciding on adding competitive elements everywhere then sure, let's try to make sure everyone gets their 50/50 balance. But when the game is already tilted 90/10 away from head to head competition, and the devs decide to spend time and energy to add a head to head competitive mode, the primary goal should be to protect the integrity of that game mode's competitive elements. Because otherwise why bother at all.
If you don't like BG and don't want to compete, don't play it. This is a perfectly valid statement when we're talking about a game mode explicitly designed to appeal to a specific kind of playstyle. Yes, we should try to minimize barriers to entry, and yes we should try to give players an opportunity to warm to it, but not at the expense of eliminating the only reason it exists in the first place: to give players who want that experience a place to get it.
Something for everyone, not everything for someone. If it is too much to ask to let the head to head competitive game mode keep its head to head competitive flavor because the players that don't want that must have everything be for them, then maybe we should start looking at the things those players like that we can find a majority of players to dislike, like challenge content, like arena, like AQ, like higher tier EQ, like repetitive side quests. Maybe we should just find the one guy that likes to do one duel a day and design the game around him.
That's hyperbole of course, because the devs wouldn't do that, because that would be dumb. Just as taking all the time and effort they put into making a head to head competitive mode and neutering the head to head competitive parts because it makes some players sad. I could have told them that would happen before they wasted all that time and money building the mode. It happens in every online game that retrofits PvP. There's a whole chapter in the handbook of game design with the Loki emote on the first page and a definition of teabagging quoted at the bottom.
If you can't handle making the players who dislike head to head competition sad, you have no business designing PvP game modes in online games. And I'm saying that on a forum where the people who designed it are likely going to read it, and have every opportunity to tell me directly that I'm full of it if they choose.
People are complaining that a Paragon is stuck fighting other Paragons in Gold (which I get first-hand), and arguing that a UC and Cav Player should be facing them. The irony of that is not lost.
This is ironic in the same sense everything else in the Alanis Morissette song Ironic is ironic.
Paragons are not asking for the game to hand them easy matches to win. Paragons (some of them) are asking for everyone to have to face everyone else. Paragons do not expect to face UC after UC after UC. They expect to face everyone, UCs, Cavs, TBs, Paragons, and stronger Paragons. And they expect everyone else to expect the same.
I don't care if those UC players ever face me. I don't even care if they ever face other Paragons like me. But those UC players should face stronger UC players. They should face Cavs. They should face the strong Cavs. They should face the TBs. They should only face me if they face those others first. But they don't face any of us. Until they get to P2, then act surprised when they discover that players higher than UC actually exist.
Comments
You're confusing rewards with prices. You also didn't show you work to prove that a Paragon in Gold is "getting a lot more BG Rewards every season" than a UC/Cav in Diamond or Vibranium.
The rewards for reaching GC are pretty much a bonus on top of what we get for progressing through the tiers, so they can modify those rewards for the lower tiered players. At the moment, we have some higher tiered players that wait until the final week of BG's to do their push so they have an easier go to get to GC. Keep the VT as for the TB and below and then their GC is also tailored for them. For Paragons, their is enough disparity between the top and bottom that it should disperse the players more evenly than with the system the way it is now.
Look at OPs profile, is it strong enough to get to TB?
The more people make the argument that they could wait and spend them later, the more I'm starting to think their goal isn't what's best for BGs, it's to stop people from progressing. That would be entirely self-serving, wouldn't it?
The trophy ammounts are the same for everyone, you decide how much you pay for an item by pushing the next progression level or not
I guarantee there are players who have put WAY more time and effort than you in the game who are finishing far lower in BG rating and getting lower rewards than you all because weaker players get "handicapped" matches until plat 2, which stronger players don't get. This means those who have spent several years longer than you building up their accounts are finishing lower than you but you think you deserve GC because you put in "effort"?
1. I've actually directly addressed this multiple times. Including in direct replies to you. For example, the discussion thread that includes this post: https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2316123/#Comment_2316123 among several other places one can search for if they want.
2. You're wrong about real world competition as well. In Battlegrounds, the currency is the same, but the value of that currency differs to the competitors because of the avenues they have to spend it. This is an effect that does in fact happen in real world competitions. Most global competitions with cash prizes denominate that prize in a single currency, Euros, say. However, the value of that prize can have radically different magnitude depending on the home country of the competitors. Someone who wins a million dollars in a contest and goes home to the Philippines is likely to have a much different experience spending that prize than someone who goes back home to Switzerland.
3. Not only am I aware of the need for participation compromises for Battlegrounds, to the best of my knowledge I was the first one to bring it up, both in the original closed beta, again in the open beta, and after the game mode launched. I enshrined it as a foundational principle in my Battlegrounds Manifesto. The problem isn't that some players want a compromise and the game refuses to give it to them. The problem is they want the mode to hand them a neutered competitive environment that would be ludicrous to give to them. If you just want to fight hand-picked enemies calculated to be approximately your strength, grind arena.
You have recently become a Paragon, around a month ago, if I am correct. Did Kabam give you less rewards or was it your personal choice to stay TB and pay more for some items, and not be able to access other items?
If the answer is that it was your choice, they reward you the same, you just decided to spend them differently.
There are on the order of 250k players that play at least one match of BG. The top 8500 represents something on the order of the top 3% of players or so. Which suggests that the game mode is tuned for about the top 5% of players, plus or minus, to reach GC. Maybe 10%. So yes, countlesss other players will never reach GC. Because they are not supposed to.
You keep referencing my pace as if I'm supposed to be somewhere because of the amount of time I've been here. There is NO mandate on how fast people grow, and there are as many variations of skill levels and paces for growing as there are people playing.
The VT and GC tiers are rungs on a competitive ladder. That's not just me deciding to stop using sports and restaurant analogies. BG is a competitive ladder in the game design sense. It is how the devs themselves describe it. The ladder has rungs with prizes attached. In the GC, those rungs have limits. Every player who gets the rewards for Uru 1 displaces someone else who can't. Players are literally competing for the same rewards in the sense that if one player takes them, someone else loses them.
The last rung of GC and the VT rungs do not explicitly have limits, but they implicitly do. There are design intentions for how many players should live at each rung, relative to the total participation. The devs extended VT specifically because in their opinion too many players were reaching GC, implying it was too easy to reach. So while there is no literal cap on Uru 3, that doesn't mean everyone can get those rewards. In a larger sense, when a bunch of UC players get to Uru, they are displacing other players who won't, because if enough of them reach it, the devs will just make VT longer to rebalance the effort vs reward scale.
The intent of the BG competition is to do what all competitions do: sort the competitors from the worst to the best. BG matches are supposed to do that, so that players end up sorted among the VT and GC tiers from worst to best, and thus their rewards, pinned to those tiers, will be appropriate for their competitive performance. When we let low progress players go higher, it doesn't look like they are pushing anyone else lower, but they are. It just happens invisibly - unless you understand game design balance. And then it becomes extremely obvious.
Every UC and Cav player who gets to GC is a Paragon who won't. If that's because those UC and Cav players did, or would have beaten that Paragon in a match then that's what's supposed to happen. But when it is because someone gave them an A for effort and let them in above other players who would have beaten them head to head, that's a competition failure.
Why is the complaint only about BGs? Why are Cavs not complaining about not having access to TB lvl EQ? Cause they would die to much and spend consumables? Why aren't they complaining about being able to do the highest SQ?
It seems that the only game mode that they can't swallow is BGs, everything else that would cost them energy, time, units, consumables they understand their rosters are low for it, but BGs a PvP mode where your adversary's purpose is just to mess with you and is basically free to parcitipate and doesnt cost anything if you lose they got a problem with. That seems pretty entitled to me.
You talked about big accounts tanking matches, there is an easy solution for that, punishing losses; but you wouldn't be happy if losing a match would drop you from Gold to Silver would you?
If you don't like BG and don't want to compete, don't play it. This is a perfectly valid statement when we're talking about a game mode explicitly designed to appeal to a specific kind of playstyle. Yes, we should try to minimize barriers to entry, and yes we should try to give players an opportunity to warm to it, but not at the expense of eliminating the only reason it exists in the first place: to give players who want that experience a place to get it.
Something for everyone, not everything for someone. If it is too much to ask to let the head to head competitive game mode keep its head to head competitive flavor because the players that don't want that must have everything be for them, then maybe we should start looking at the things those players like that we can find a majority of players to dislike, like challenge content, like arena, like AQ, like higher tier EQ, like repetitive side quests. Maybe we should just find the one guy that likes to do one duel a day and design the game around him.
That's hyperbole of course, because the devs wouldn't do that, because that would be dumb. Just as taking all the time and effort they put into making a head to head competitive mode and neutering the head to head competitive parts because it makes some players sad. I could have told them that would happen before they wasted all that time and money building the mode. It happens in every online game that retrofits PvP. There's a whole chapter in the handbook of game design with the Loki emote on the first page and a definition of teabagging quoted at the bottom.
If you can't handle making the players who dislike head to head competition sad, you have no business designing PvP game modes in online games. And I'm saying that on a forum where the people who designed it are likely going to read it, and have every opportunity to tell me directly that I'm full of it if they choose.
Paragons are not asking for the game to hand them easy matches to win. Paragons (some of them) are asking for everyone to have to face everyone else. Paragons do not expect to face UC after UC after UC. They expect to face everyone, UCs, Cavs, TBs, Paragons, and stronger Paragons. And they expect everyone else to expect the same.
I don't care if those UC players ever face me. I don't even care if they ever face other Paragons like me. But those UC players should face stronger UC players. They should face Cavs. They should face the strong Cavs. They should face the TBs. They should only face me if they face those others first. But they don't face any of us. Until they get to P2, then act surprised when they discover that players higher than UC actually exist.