Switchblade

Hello everyone,

Over the week since Switchblade has gone live we’ve realised the player base has been separated across different modes and regions. Players have found it hard to play with one another and we’re looking at ways to improve this.

From 6th September at  3PM BST, we will be locking out Competitive Ranked by closing the current season early. This will make Quickplay the only PVP game mode and will push all players together, resulting in more populated games. Although we know there may be some backlash from our hardcore players, we ultimately want a healthy player base where everyone is playing each other.

We understand the current season that is underway is tarnished, with players climbing the ranks through playing bots, late joining, no matchmaking and no end of season rewards. So right now, we are working hard on our new matchmaking system and competitive mode which we’ll talk about below.

Please find a thread we have started on  the forums and send us feedback on what you think of the new Competitive Mode we’re implementing. We want to hear your thoughts on this! You can find the thread here.

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COMPETITIVE RANKED

• We are overhauling our matchmaking system to ensure players are matched as evenly as possible.
• A minimum of 10 players must be present for a Competitive Ranked match to start.
• There are no AI Bots in Competitive Ranked. If a player disconnects/quits from a Competitive Ranked match their vehicle is immediately removed from the game-world.
• Players will have the opportunity to rejoin a Competitive Ranked match if they have disconnected/quit.
• Competitive Ranked matches will require players to be at least Tech Level 15. This ensures that players entering this high-stakes mode have a better understanding of the game.
• We are introducing an automated moderation system that penalises players who intentionally spoil others’ experience. Initially, this will take the form of a penalty system that introduces time-limited bans that escalate for repeat offenders.
• If any player leaves a match within a short time after it has started, the match will be cancelled with no change to your season rank.
• We’re adding a more complete notification system informing team-mates of leavers, and giving players the option to abandon a match if they do not have a full team after a grace period (in which leavers may reconnect).
• Map selection will be randomised and Map Select will no longer be an option in Competitive play.
• Players can begin losing Stars when they reach Rank 5 (currently this is Rank 15).
• Winning Streaks will be available from ranks 1-24 and will only require 2 consecutive wins.
• At the end of a season, players’ ranks will be reduced by a set number of Stars rather than being completely reset. This means that at the start of a new season players will be matched against others of a similar skill.
• We are reworking our Rank Insignia to be more effective at communicating the player’s current skill “band”. We will also display the player’s current MMR when they enter the Superstar League.
• Players who reach the Superstar League will be ranked according to their current MMR and we are introducing a “Top 500 League” that adds a flourish to the player’s Rank Insignia if they are within the top 500 players in their region.

Season Rewards

This information details the rewards players can earn, and how they can earn them, for playing in each season’s Competitive Ranked game mode.

How are Season Rewards earned?
Players can earn rewards during a Competitive Ranked season for meeting the following criteria categories:

• Play x Competitive Ranked Matches
• Win x Competitive Ranked Matches
• Reach x Season Rank
  

The above criteria is intentionally simple to promote the sporting aspect of competitive play; for example, we don’t want to encourage players to grind any particular mechanic, or to play with any particular vehicle class. In competitive ranked, we play to win on the battlefield! 
Each season will have its own rewards and criteria, this is to allow flexibility with the types of rewards we give.

This is an example of one Seasons worth of rewards*:

*Subject to change!