OK, so I was daydreaming at work (obviously not doing my job) and I was thinking about all the noobs and QQ's, as I so often do, and I thought to my self "Self, We need to find a way to shut these kids up and get them off MY team, while simultaneously giving those MLG wannabe Jerk-offs what they want."

SO- Ranking System!

I KNOW RIGHT?! The Title says it ALL!!

To the point, if CCP were to implement a simple patch (They WON'T) in which your LOAD-OUTS are RANKED it MIGHT make the game more fun for EVERYONE... Hear me out now.

So when you cue up for a battle you also select a RANK (1-5 seems like CCPs favorite number range) it would filter your Fittings(Suit and Vehicles alike) accordingly...Based on META LVL or Class, whatever.

LVL 1 - Almost completely MLT/STD gear.
LVL 2 - A Healthy mix of STD and ADV gear.
LVL 3 - Almost completely ADV gear.
LVL 4 - A healthy mix of ADV and PRO gear.
LVL 5 - Pretty much all PRO gear.

So the deal is, put a RANK bar at the bottom of ALL Fittings, if you add so much of one gear type it bumps you up to the next rank, so on and so forth.

In Battle, your fittings would be Valid / Invalidated based on the rank selected by your Squad Leader at the Contract Select screen-Makes life easier on Scotty too.

To be clear THIS WOULD ONLY APPLY TO PUB MATCHES - seeing as they theoretically have no effect on New Eden, PC and FW would be business as usual.

This would allow Everyone to basically select a Difficulty / Risk ratio and dial out most of the frustration in a game which, we can all admit, is doomed to be a Lobby Shooter.

TL;DR? Too Bad...

Skills have no affect on this system whatsoever. the Skill tree is what separates us from the apes.

the idea isn't complex at all, if you have a STD Suit with STD equipment that suit is Rank 1. and this concept is cookie cutter for the rest of the ranks.

That's the whole point! The Skill Tree is the Heart and Soul of Dust, without it this is Space CoD

You can still Dominate with your well earned SP but Gun Game still overrules your 25% advantage.

Basic math here, it's more fair for the Neophyte if you have 25% more armor than him in a STD suit rather than 400% more armor in a Proto Suit that he can't whip out upon death like you can. he's still a disadvantaged Noob, but he still has a CHANCE.

This System would also partially rule out the need for the academy also seeing as Newbies would be gradually introduced to higher rank battles as they gained SP, trained those core skills, and were able to create and maintain those higher ranked suits.

KDR is only relevant to slayer types, and allows mismatched teams based on AVG KDR VS Solo Player KDR, EX: my Solo KDR is Approx 3.0 which Is higher than an average squad of 1.5rs, but that Squad can take me out no prob w/ co-op.

And would put red-line snipers and campers with 12.0+ KDRs into empty matches leaving slayers to dominate noobs with no overwatch.

KDR-MM would only encourage KDR padding and ballasting to maintain an advantage, it just doesn't work.

you would have snipers and Pilots commiting suicide constantly just to play with "The Crowd"

You would be turning a benign stat into the most focused upon detail in the whole game, it would break in a big way.

You would be more inline you suggest a MM System based on weekly WP (The Real Measure of what you do in a match)
but this is also as broken as a KDR tracked at any lenght of time because of the Exploits mentioned eariler

The Fitting Rank System bypasses all of these snags.

This system by its very nature creates an upwards spiral in competitive play that is impossible to maintain, WILL plateau and collapse


The Fitting System allows players the CHOICE of leveled competition.

If a player can't CHOOSE to lighten up the competition for leisurely play other than by being Stomped, all the fun leaves the game- it's all about choices, you would be forcing players to do something they may not want to, that is an incredibly HUGE no-no in game design.

Ever been a Squad Leader riding shotgun in a proto tank with the defend order on it? No KDR, massive WPs

You just NAILED it! raising your KDR doesn't guarantee your skill level or ability to compete which would then "Yo-Yo" you right into the slums, no competition means no Experience, and gaming is all about the experience. if you get stomped you rage, if you win you cheer. This system of your would turn the WHOLE game not just the pub matches into that of a huge Lava Lamp.

Belive me, I turned this Idea over in my head a hundred times. But, it just flops.

My System would allow for creative customization, to see how good you could get in any given rank-remember this is PUB ONLY

if you base EVERYTHING on KDR alone you would have FoTMs allover the place, broken squads, Worse Blueberries, and no vehicles AKA CoD-Fest

That's the Point, everyone can Still Stomp with their PROTO SKILLS, but in order to get at noobs you have to give up the PROTO SUIT, and your skill at max will give you an overall 25% advantage over a Day 1 Tenderfoot.

But a headshot is a headshot-if he has some Gun Game or is a vet starting a new Alt, ultimately he is disadvantaged, Yes, but not so-much as he would be if he were against a full proto 55mil Lifetime SP Vet in a Stomp Suit

Setting the Rank to level 1 would mean they could only bring their MLT teddie bear suits into battle.