The second beta season of Ranked Battles is starting soon.
In this video, developers will talk about:
the decisions made regarding artillery,
the way the matchmaker will form teams,
changes in chevron distribution and required numbers,
new distribution of rewards and the number of bonds that can be earned.
Learn about these changes right now.
We received a huge amount of data about the results of the first season
and we decided to make some changes that will apply to the set of maps,
to the procedure of map selection. These changes will also allow us
to implement the filtration of different player ranks,
i.e. balance players within ranks,
and create a new approach to rewarding players.
We want to check how all these new things will work in practice.
We want to make sure that we've chosen the right configuration for the mode
that will allow for the seamless running of the next officially released seasons.
We processed a large amount of feedback from our players
and we singled out two main problems. First, the large number of SPGs,
which had too great an effect on the course of the battle,
and the procedure of creating teams:
some players even asked us to disable artillery completely,
but we decided to allow players who liked to play arties
to take part in Ranked Battles;
therefore, we decreased the number of SPGs to two vehicles per team.
Second, the matchmaker that didn't consider heavy and medium tanks.
This resulted in an overbalance of armor and HP in one team,
while the other team remained more agile and maneuverable.
Therefore, we decided to repair such an injustice,
and from now on the matchmaker will form teams
with an approximately equal number of heavy and medium tanks.
During the first season, we offered a pretty small number of maps,
which created difficulties with so called map pooling,
i.e. the procedure of selecting the next map for a player in battle.
For this season, we dramatically extended the list of maps.
We changed it and removed the maps that we considered unsuitable
according to the results of the first season.
The map pooling mechanism will work much better now.
There will be a smaller number of repeating maps:
it's unlikely that a player will play on the same map
within a single session of, let's say, ten battles.
So, I would say it's a positive set of changes.
We assume that we'll proceed improving maps for the Ranked Battle mode,
because we found that battles, especially at the fifth rank level,
perfectly served as a litmus test to determine even the smallest imperfections
related to the balance between two respawns, or the excessive tactical
advantage that some parts of the map provide to one team or the other.
As for chevron distribution, we chose the 10-5/5-10 pattern
because we wanted to change the previous pattern.
Previously, players from the obviously winning team
would become less responsible toward their duties in battle:
they believed that they would easily get into the Top 12 list.
The situation in the losing team was quite the opposite:
players would sit out at the edges of the map
to be the last to finish the enemy and to get as much experience as possible.
Therefore, we decided to make changes to the chevron distribution system:
first, we reduced the number of winners receiving chevrons;
second, we decided not to give chevrons to losers,
but to increase the number of losing players who could keep their chevrons.
It will allow us to maintain players' personal contribution to the battle
and at the same time support the teamplay,
encouraging players to collaborate with one another.
Another aspect related to changes that we want to check
is the number of chevrons, from the first to the fifth rank first of all.
The more chevrons a player has,
the better the system defines their skill level.
Consequently, this update is primarily intended to raise more skilled,
more professional players who will play together
at the fourth and fifth rank levels.
Since it's much more difficult to achieve the fifth rank now,
those who managed to achieve this level
should slow down their play rate compared to the first season.
They will need fewer chevrons to gather the additional points
required for defining top Divisions.
We expect the number of players who managed
to get into Ranked Battles merely thanks to their persistence
to decrease at the fifth rank level.
Currently, we are using a more sophisticated mathematical model
for processing data from the first season, and based on this model
we'd like to believe that the majority of players who achieved the fifth rank
will be found in the group of players with a 53+ % win rate.
However, we should consider one nuance: there are players
with a comparatively low win rate, but with a huge number of battles.
They may have played their first 20 thousand or 15 thousand battles
with a low success rate, to put it kindly.
Now, it will be very difficult for them to improve their win rate,
therefore a 49% win rate doesn't necessarily mean
that the player plays poorly. They may have played very well
for their latest five thousand battles out of 35 thousand,
but they will have to play very, very hard to make their win rate at least 50%.
To additionally emphasize the difficulty of the rank achievement process,
we have slightly revised the value of the rewards:
we increased the value of the rank rewards
and decreased the value of the end of season rewards.
The total number of rewards hasn't changed dramatically,
but the rewarding system now encourages those players
who achieve high ranks earlier.
During the second beta-season of Ranked Battles
we decided to slightly revise the rewards,
revise the distribution of bonuses for finishing seasons
and use bonuses for finishing stages instead.
Now, it'll be easier to gain bonds in Ranked Battles:
those who achieved the first rank during a stage will get 100 bonds,
for the second rank—300 bonds, for the third—500,
and for the fourth and fifth ranks— 700 and 1000 bonds respectively.
It will allow players to not focus on finishing seasons so much.
We'll also encourage those players who,
unfortunately, aren’t able to participate in all stages,
but, nevertheless, play actively during those stages they can take part in.
By revising rewards, we decided
not to dramatically change the economy of the Ranked Battle mode
and to maintain its similarity with the economy of the Random Battle mode.
Nevertheless, we decided to revise the conditions for completing missions
to achieve the Reward for Commitment: now, a player will be able
to complete the mission several times a day, thus gaining more credits.
We also increased the amount of credits players can get
for achieving the third to fifth ranks during stages
and decided to allow players to complete missions
not only in the Random Battle mode, but in Ranked Battles as well.
All these changes will make the game more comfortable and enjoyable
compared to the first beta-season.
If the second season is a success
and if players like the changes that we offer for the second season,
then we'll be ready to move from the beta-test to the release stage,
and to launch the first official season of Ranked Battles
at the beginning of next year.
The second beta season of Ranked Battles will be shorter than the first.
The new chevron distribution will make earning ranks tougher
and the rewards more valuable. Share your feedback and ideas
so that the best solutions can become part of future seasons of Ranked Battles.
Fight against worthy opponents. Beat the best of them.
Stand among the Season Leaders!
I'd like to wish everyone the opportunity to have sufficient free time,
play Ranked Battles, and share your impressions with us. Roll out, tankers!