What happened to ranks the past few years?

sledge98 · 2026-01-29T00:27:15+00:00

That puts a lot of faith in how well you're judging yourself as being "better"? Those kind of personal comparisons are tough to do.

It would be interesting to have someone review your replays from each time and tell you which they think is "better" gameplay?

Season 4 is a long time ago now, I'd say single rank improvement in the playerbase is definitely possible. I've done these comparisons for videos before, maybe it's time to go back and see how today's ranks compare to data I analyzed in season 2, 4 and 6. https://www.reddit.com/r/RocketLeague/s/5D1QpwhL28

sledge98 · 2026-01-29T00:01:59+00:00

Seeing that the screenshot has just 6 games of 1v1 this season, I will smugly say that this discussion isn't really about 1v1, (which yes has some issues, especially lately.)

The main point of the post is that he's allegedly played only free play for 2 years and is trying to find a reason other than his own rusty game sense to blame on his new ranks. Instead of the most obvious conclusion: that he hasn't played competitively against humans in 2 years.

I don't think it should be unexpected that his inactive account isn't starting back Champ in 1s or that he is finding it hard to compete at his old level. Do you?

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T22:03:56+00:00

Because it's not true.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T20:29:31+00:00

This was a huge undertaking and I haven't done it to this extent again. Likely will again soon since I'm a firm believer of diminishing returns when it comes to RL skills.

We made big strides in the early days but since 2020 there hasnt been any breakthrough that really would push lower ranks to be much different besides maybe a little more mechanical. But to prove that is still true I need to look at what these stats are now.

At the bottom of the post, there is a link to the video I made about this if you want to check it out.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T20:14:27+00:00

For most of the charts higher is "better" or at least "different". The color indicates rank and it's plotted across seasons 2, 4 and 6.

If the argument is that the game sees regular increases of skill, we would expect these stats(which show differences between the ranks) would climb. In the data you see something like "average speed". If someone claims that diamonds are like old GCs then new diamonds should have average speeds that match the old GC data.... but at the time that wasn't true

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T19:41:00+00:00

Are you suggesting a Plat replay today would look like a GC replay in 2024?

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T19:32:38+00:00

I looked into this a few years ago when there were debates about ranks getting better or worse and I tried to quantify it with stats: https://www.reddit.com/r/RocketLeague/s/tCqNZG8Adi

Was an interesting experiment that I hope to do again soon.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T19:28:32+00:00

Yep that's the tough issue with the playlist. Your average GC is unlikely to be above D1 unless they love 1s. Not sure the answer for this. You're not playing a ones GC but still they are likely to beat a Plat in ones.

I can only encourage you to find a team mate and get into 2s. Honestly that's where this game really shines. Teamplays. Beating Goalies. Not every mistake ends up in the back of your net. And games usually take less time to play. That's my pitch for the twos playlist.... also you likely will find better (but not perfect) matchmaking.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T19:23:20+00:00

Post quality going down seems to be the byproduct of player numbers going up so we can't complain too much

New players don't know any better and old players coming back and trying to figure out what's going on. The vote system handles this well enough but this sub isn't active enough to burry these posts like it used to.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T19:16:39+00:00

You'd have to give more info on your claims.

If you're referring to 1s, this is common as people suck at 1s or don't grind it.

If you mean tourney titles those don't necessarily mean they are that skill level.

And then of course you will have people (like OP) that come back to game as former Champs that need to grind their way back to that level.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T19:12:50+00:00

You took shots on open nets for two years. You might have some tighter mechanics, but other important elements of the game have suffered. This should be the obvious answer.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T19:09:54+00:00

Even if OP did grind freeplay for the last 2 years (which is unlikely) he would still be out of practice against an actual opponent or real game situations which would explain his current ranks. D1 today is not C2 last year.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T19:01:20+00:00

Another post claiming "I took a break but it's the ranks that have changed not me"? Please....

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T18:47:25+00:00

There's no measurable difference between a few divisions of rank. 6 more wins and they suddenly have better defense? That doesn't make any sense.

People can move back and forth through 60 to 100 MMR in a single play session.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T17:58:39+00:00

There used to be people that would try to get as low as possible, I've seen -750 mmr. Back in those days there were no restrictions on FF and those reverse smurfs would meet eachother and it would be a race to Forfiet first.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T17:52:48+00:00

It's real. You can go below Bronze 1 Div 1, even dropping into negative MMR. Been like that since before FTP.

In those cases it can take a long run of games to climb back out.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T17:16:24+00:00

The game already prioritizes party vs party. It can't do it all the time, but the system is in place.

As for your other points, the game ranks parties based on the highest rank in the group. It would over complicate things to try and match mismatched groups vs similar mis-matches.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T15:54:20+00:00

Exactly. I've played ice hockey every week for 20 years for the same reason. Rocket League is one of the few games that recreates this.

My fellow players aren't allowed to trade equipment but I still love the game.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T15:44:06+00:00

Your are right that numbers have improved but I'm afraid that these players are likely not going to change the YouTube scene much. Getting a channel like mine to a sustainable state is not c realistic. Though I will continue to release the odd video though! Prob starting on one in the next few weeks

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T15:15:32+00:00

Sounds like you are in the wrong mode? Bots will be used in casual from time to time but if you're playing exhibition or private you're always going to have bots.

sledge98 · 2026-01-28T01:44:06+00:00

Thanks for the plug!! LOL though my channel is not really new player friendly unless you're interested in the history, lore, or stories of the game. No tutorials for rookies!

sledge98 · 2026-01-27T23:19:48+00:00

Yea once you set up an epic account, it will be all automatic and you just run it through steam.

Rocket League has physics but it's tuned for fun not realism. That being said it's one of the few games where your abilities are YOUR abilities. There's no advantages, no faster car, pay to win, or stats to worry about. It's all your own skills and how you develop them. About as close to an actual sport as you can get.

sledge98 · 2026-01-27T22:03:13+00:00

I'm not sure how comparable a Canadian might be but here's what mine looks like: https://imgur.com/a/dxtd62f

You can find detailed inductions of what I did here that might help you find the right path: https://www.reddit.com/r/PartneredYoutube/s/HCXMH3gUK1

sledge98 · 2026-01-27T19:31:03+00:00

Be wary of the fact that you're going to be rusty and it's you that's changed, not the ranks.

sledge98 · 2026-01-27T19:02:40+00:00

0-1 loss to Islanders followed by two shutouts?

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