[b]Who Else Wins Often, But Feels Like They're Always Losing & Not Enjoying the Crucible Gameplay?[/b] Just a simple question: I find my friends antagonizing me because I constantly complain despite winning the game. And I would say it's because winning isn't necessarily what makes it enjoyable. [i]It's winning after being on the verge of defeat that gives you that shit-faced grin at the end of a match.[/i] And that's when I realized, while I really [i]do[/i] enjoy winning those kinds of matches, I don't necessarily want the system rigged to try and [i]always[/i] force that scenario just because multiplayer is supposed to be "competitive". It feels less like sportsmanship at that point, and they're missing a valid point: [i][b]It's supposed to be a competition. That doesn't mean it's supposed to be competitive or sweaty.[/b][/i] Tournaments everywhere, every sport or contest where contestants are matched against one another: They're not determined by some pre-evaluation skill setting, right? It's all about [i]the process of elimination.[/i] This is essential to providing an unbiased competition. The best contestants pass on, and eventually only a few of the very best remain in the final matches. But again, it is not their skill that determines who faces who, but rather a regional or other set of guidelines which avoid bias and the final outcome of each progressive match. We find out who is the best by who wins when we force the question. Not because of their previous history: If you want to know who is better, you're simply going to have to face them to find out where you stand. But if that's not enough to convince you SBMM is vitriolic to gameplay, consider this: [i]I've never once matched against a streamer while trying to connect for a Bungie Bounty (not that I can say I've tried as hard as most others,) but I have to imagine it's an impossible goal for many players who simply aren't anywhere near their bracket to ever have that sort of monumental, dopamine-inducing moment of seeing your favorite streamer in your lobby. And that's just... sad. I want others to have their equivalent to my Tefty moment. It's amazing to bridge the Community like that, but Bungie puts a strain on allowing it to happen naturally, I think.[/i] Allow me to get back on topic: The whole point of the tournament is to determine who is, in that single instance, "The Best... Around." They're not the best next year or the year before that, nor up until the moment they win. And the next year is a [i]fresh[/i] opportunity for every team to win. [b]Why have skill ratings never been adjusted with major sandbox updates?[/b] I think Bungie needs to [b]seriously[/b] consider resetting ELO in their database whenever they drop a sandbox update that alters anything substantially, [i]especially if it's in a negative aspect.[/i] I remember hearing that Destiny Tracker reset ELO back during the April Update for the first time. But what I didn't hear until very recently, was that Destiny Tracker did not accurately reflect the actual Destiny database whenever they made that change. Assuming that's true (disregard both sides of argument until someone cites a source,) we can assume that players are not only having their competition rigged by a biased system, but also that the game is rendering a generalized verdict based on outdated, irrelevant information. That simply seems unacceptable and unfair to the players whose previous exploits are no longer possible in the newly "balanced" sandbox. In a way this action upsets the balance more than it fixes it. [b]So why is it, in the modern age, we've decided to change the formula which has driven our entire species since the dawning of man, and every other organism since before us, and likely everything that comes after? Why is it we think we can create a less prejudiced system than the one we were born into?[/b] Conflict is determined by proximity. The superior force wins. Eventually, only greatness remains. It is not perfection, and yet it is the closest thing to it in many aspects. No bias, purely incidental conflict. [i]That is what the Crucible [b]should[/b] be.[/i] I personally feel when developers try to manipulate the matchmaking to do anything other than provide playable conditions, they're inherently trying to achieve a biased outcome. What they are actually doing are halving the chances of superior players to earn their First Win of the Game, and marginally improving the chances of the poorly adapted in Trials. And across all modes, they do something worse: They make it impossible to ever match against the next stepping stone of your journey. They may not ever see the the plays experienced players make. They won't learn to be truly aware as other players are because they're not being forced to adapt, the game is literally adapting for their sake. In a way, they are disrupting the natural order of things. (Omg fake deep, right? Just ignore that.) If two teams are matched based on skill or current win streak instead of connection, it is more likely for competitive players to eliminate themselves sooner than they might be matched against a lower-skill party nearing their 9th win. It's designed to destabilize the true Crucible, and give worse players a fighting chance. Players who used to routinely go Flawless are very slowly trickling into what I call the "Bottomfeeder" category. Basically those of us who don't win and only do Trials occasionally 1.) to get our nostalgia or misc Bounty Rewards, 2.) see if anything has changed, or 3.) to see if the spark is there again; to hope against hope we can go Flawless, if only one more time. And yet you constantly force stricter conditions because of their feats. [i]And I just personally don't think it's fair to punish players for being good at your game.[/i] And that's exactly what Trials is doing, and that's exactly why the players are so angry, I believe. But even in your everyday PvP modes you can see that most players are complaining about the red bar matchmaking or something else as a legitimate concern. All of this because SBBM matters to some more than it should. We've ruined everything the Crucible is supposed to be about because we cared too much about giving people fair chances in a world of varying skill ranges. But we forgot about giving them a fair chance against connections, and we honestly forgot what being fair is. To put it best, I'd say it's being impartial. I guarantee you Shaxx would condone this. He wouldn't want you yellow-bellied Trials infants getting to see Osiris' loot caches because you paid for a carry or didn't face anyone of significant enough skill. He wants to see you suffer. He wants to see you fall so hard that you're a disgrace to your Order and Fireteam. [i]But he still wants you to come back to the Crucible tomorrow, and the day after that.[/i] [b]@Bungie: When did you forget what the Crucible was about to your living world?[/b]