Overwatch loosens the strict restrictions for friends who want to play together in ranked mode as a test.
Expanded Opportunities in Lower Ranks
Currently, the latest patch is being tested on the Overwatch test realm. Not only can players get a first look at the new map Eichenwalde , but they can also experience the balance changes firsthand. Also new are the adjustments to the ranked mode. Players will no longer be placed into a skill rating of 1 to 100, but instead into a finer rating of 1 to 5000.
There were also stricter rules regarding how players could register as a group: If friends were more than 500 points apart, they could no longer register together. This was mainly to prevent the “boosting” of weaker players – as many people could temporarily secure a spot in the top 500, which promised additional rewards.
“Well intended” does not always mean “well executed,” as the system still had some quirks on the test server. While players could only register with others within a 500-point range, they still received teammates who were outside of that range.
Because that was – to put it mildly – quite ridiculous, Blizzard has now temporarily loosened the restrictions, allowing players up to and including the “Diamond” rank to play with friends who are within a 1000-point range – which constitutes approximately 1/5 of the entire ranking range.
Jeff Kaplan summarizes the intention behind the changes in the forum as follows:
“The goal is to loosen the restrictions a bit to allow more group formations while also addressing some exploitable points and matchmaking issues caused by players with high skill ratings when they team up with players who have low skill ratings.”
Whether the changes will also be implemented in this form on the live servers with Season 2 remains to be seen – at least 3 weeks will pass until then.
