Riot Games has decided to revert a recent update aimed at addressing the growing issue of rank boosting and botting in VALORANT’s Competitive mode. The decision came after players expressed their dissatisfaction with the change. While it is important for developers to consider community feedback, it seems that better communication and handling of the situation could have been beneficial.
In Patch 7.06, Riot introduced stricter party restrictions for VALORANT’s Competitive mode. Players ranked Ascendant and above were no longer allowed to queue with Gold players and below, even in five-stack scenarios. This change was implemented in response to the community’s reports of increased botting, smurfing, and rank boosting.
However, just one patch later, Riot announced that they would be removing this change based on community feedback. The patch notes stated, “We realized that your ability to have flexibility with your 5 stack was more important than the very small number of people who abuse this exploit.” As someone who was hopeful about this change, I can’t help but feel disappointed.
The initial restriction was meant to prevent illegitimate boosting to the highest ranks like Radiant. It seemed like a reasonable solution to address the issues plaguing the Competitive mode. Why would Ascendant players want to queue with Gold and lower-ranked players in Competitive games?
While friendship and playing with friends of different ranks may be important, the rule still allowed Ascendant, Immortal, and Radiant players to queue with up to Platinum players. This provided a certain level of flexibility. After all, VALORANT is a competitive game where climbing ranks is the main goal, rather than just playing with friends.
Allowing such a wide rank disparity in matchmaking leads to imbalanced experiences, longer queue times, lower rank rating gain, and higher rank rating loss. It also creates opportunities for smurfs and rank boosters to take advantage of the system, which is why Riot implemented the change in the first place.
Instead of completely reverting the change, Riot could have considered adjusting the rank difference threshold. For example, Ascendant and higher-ranked players could have been allowed to queue with players up to Gold or Silver. This would still provide some flexibility while maintaining a more balanced matchmaking experience.
It simply doesn’t make sense that Radiant players can still queue with Iron players in five-stack parties. VALORANT’s Competitive mode is meant to be taken seriously, and allowing such a significant rank disparity goes against the competitive nature of the game.
There are other casual game modes available, such as Unrated, Spike Rush, and Team Deathmatch, for players who want to prioritize playing with friends over the competitive aspect. Alternatively, they could explore other games that are less cutthroat.
While Riot’s decision to revert the change may not resonate with me, they did acknowledge that boosting poses a risk to competitive integrity and are working on finding a long-term solution to address these issues. Boosting has already caused significant damage to the ranked experience in VALORANT, and I am eager to see what steps Riot will take next.
Source: DOTESPORTS
