Why is Ranked Sprint 12 so bad?

[ComputerWhiz]

So far, this Ranked Sprint has been the worst I've ever been in on WoWS. In every other sprint (with the exception of the 1v1 season), I've been able to rank out in ~30 battles. This season, I've already done 30 battles and I'm still rank 7 (only because 8 is irrevocable) with a ~25% win rate. Every team I'm on decides that they are going to go wide on one side of the map, which just allows the enemy to steamroll into B.

Personally, I don't really like the tier 8 ships. I can't think of any that up tier well (which only applies to random, of course) and there are just none that pop into my head as a good ship.

This is going to be the only sprint since I started playing World Of Warships that I haven't ranked out.

[ITZ_ACE_BABY]

i ranked out in 20 battles playing solo, it doesnt feel any better or worse then any other ranked sprint.

[gbgentry]

So the OP is upset that he actually has to put in some effort this time... 

[z9_]

My range has been 30 to 115 battles, but lately about 60 battles.
Ranked out this time in 41 battles. Everything seemed normal to me.

Got last 50k xp for Oland. Didn't see what all the fuss about CVs was.
Used a stock Lexington to rank out. Was able to unlock all of the modules. Seemed like typical CV play to me.

I enjoy the faster pace of the Ranked battles, but on regular ranked I stop at rank 10
unless I have a lot of grinding to do. Further rewards aren't worth the effort.

[Bortt]

Definitely hit or miss with some games but no difference between this sprint and others. 

[ComputerWhiz]

17 minutes ago, gbgentry said:

So the OP is upset that he actually has to put in some effort this time...  

No. Simply pointing out that (IMO) I've noticed a skill drop in the player base this season.

[Edgecase]

Felt about the same to me.

It's late in the season now though. In general, if a mode lets people "rank out", that means it's slowly removing the best players from the pool, then the next best, and so on. The longer it goes on, the stronger that effect is. So by the end of the season (regular or Sprint, it's the same), the only ones who are left are the few good players who started late, and the less good players who haven't managed to make it out yet.

[TheBlackWind]

Felt same to me too. Bit easier than some I guess. 

[CylonRed]

I do better in the sprints than regular ranked.

[Snarky_Wombat]

57 minutes ago, ComputerWhiz said:

So far, this Ranked Sprint has been the worst I've ever been in on WoWS

Says people every ranked event.

[Asym_KS]

Played one Stomp and it was the same issues as described above ^^^^.....  There is no value even trying beyond one game because stomps are all there are anymore.....  Who in the heck needs that with the crumbs offered as rewards.  Not worth the effort.

[Nevermore135]

I’ve reached Rank 3 after ~19-20 battles, which seems about normal for me (I haven’t actually been keeping track of past ranked sprint seasons and some seasons I don’t play much). The quality of the experience seems to be about the same as previous seasons, with the specific things I find frustrating varying based on the tier/meta. There are of course the lemming trains to one cap/flank that 2/3 of the time result in a loss because your team gives up map control, but that happens every ranked season. I had a particularly bad run of losses that kept me in the 8 or 9 range for a while, most of them the result of playing the weak flank and trying to hold back half the enemy team with minimal support as everyone hides behind the islands on the far side of a single cap. 

1 hour ago, CylonRed said:

I do better in the sprints than regular ranked.

As do I, and I expect this is true of most players. More irrevocable ranks combined with a quicker turnover of the highly skilled players allow comparatively less skilled players to advance.

1 hour ago, Edgecase said:

It's late in the season now though. In general, if a mode lets people "rank out", that means it's slowly removing the best players from the pool, then the next best, and so on. The longer it goes on, the stronger that effect is. So by the end of the season (regular or Sprint, it's the same), the only ones who are left are the few good players who started late, and the less good players who haven't managed to make it out yet.

The thing is, though, that if the better players are gradually being removed from the queues as they rank out, it should be easier for the lesser skilled, but not “bad,” players to rank out. MM randomly assigns players 7 allies and 8 opponents, after all, so if one is of above average skill relative to the population of the queue (and the population’s general skill level should decrease over time), one should have a greater advantage as the season progresses.

Of course, this applies over a reasonably large set of battles, and streaks happen. But the general level of skill and team play on both sides of the match will be consistent over a reasonably large number of battles. The idea that MM or the declining skill level of the population detrimentally effects one’s ability to rank out doesn’t really make sense unless a player is being carried more than they would care to admit.

Doesn’t make observing that lemming train, sniping Tirpitz/Massachusetts on the back line, or the DD (or even BB) that is unreasonably terrified of the red CV any less frustrating, though.

[Edgecase]

24 minutes ago, Nevermore135 said:

Of course, this applies over a reasonably large set of battles, and streaks happen. But the general level of skill and team play on both sides of the match will be consistent over a reasonably large number of battles. The idea that MM or the declining skill level of the population detrimentally effects one’s ability to rank out doesn’t really make sense unless a player is being carried more than they would care to admit.

Sorry, I was commenting on the part of the OP that talked about teammates playing badly. Skill balance between two teams at a given point in time will be subject to neutral randomness, as you point out. But the level of play does decline noticeably at certain times of day and certain parts of the season. For some playstyles -- let's call it "carry style" -- that's a bonus and makes it easier to rank out. For other styles -- let's say "support style" -- it's maddening and can actually lead to worse results. It helped me a lot when I came to the realization that I needed to change the way I played based on who was in the queue. Maybe it can help the OP too!

[MuricanClassBattleship]

Took me 49 battles to finally rank out today. I did it mostly in my Mogami 155 + IFHE, which is incredibly potent against just about any target. Chunking off 5 to 10 thousand a salvo, plus obliterating AA mounts and setting fires really catches people off guard. Most of the time I was able to save my star because of it. The teams are just really bad this time around because a lot of the newish players have a lot of time due to quarantine. Just do your best, that's all you really can do.

[ditka_Fatdog]

I would say there are multiple ships that pop out at t8 that are excellent in their tier and also up tier fairly well.

Lenin, Mass, Bama, lightning, vlad, atago, akizuki and others 

I haven’t noticed a big change in skill or play in general, but keep plugging. If it’s a bad roll then it will correct.

[QQ_Whine_Moar]

I ranked out in 24 battles. Was by far the easiest i've done. 

[USS_Taylor_Swift]

it was easy until I got to rank 3 and 2. Then it was a ping pong back and forth, or losing 4 battles and keeping my star, winning one, then losing one and losing my star on that one.

The teams were so atrocious in most of my matches. In one where we had both caps and an even ship count, our nearly full HP Bismarck goes "Mass, we shall duel" and sails out into the focus of the entire red team as if the "duel" would be respected.

In a game on fault line, I capped both B and C, and then saw that every single other ship on my team decided to sail up to the north west section of the map, away from all caps.

 

I saved my star on that one. 11k damage and that was enough to score me higher than all those potatoes...

[Aaron_S_Merrill]

3 hours ago, ComputerWhiz said:

So far, this Ranked Sprint has been the worst I've ever been in on WoWS. In every other sprint (with the exception of the 1v1 season), I've been able to rank out in ~30 battles. This season, I've already done 30 battles and I'm still rank 7 (only because 8 is irrevocable) with a ~25% win rate. Every team I'm on decides that they are going to go wide on one side of the map, which just allows the enemy to steamroll into B.

Personally, I don't really like the tier 8 ships. I can't think of any that up tier well (which only applies to random, of course) and there are just none that pop into my head as a good ship.

This is going to be the only sprint since I started playing World Of Warships that I haven't ranked out.

Didn't seem any better or worse than usual.

Tier 8 is great, that's quite a few good ships to choose from and few that are just flat out poor choices.

I think you're relying too much on your teammates to carry you.

[ITZ_ACE_BABY]

3 hours ago, ComputerWhiz said:

No. Simply pointing out that (IMO) I've noticed a skill drop in the player base this season.

skill levels have been plummeting for years, this is well documented look at all the threads complaining about matchmaking.

[monpetitloup]

3 hours ago, Nevermore135 said:

I’ve reached Rank 3 after ~19-20 battles, which seems about normal for me (I haven’t actually been keeping track of past ranked sprint seasons and some seasons I don’t play much). The quality of the experience seems to be about the same as previous seasons, with the specific things I find frustrating varying based on the tier/meta. There are of course the lemming trains to one cap/flank that 2/3 of the time result in a loss because your team gives up map control, but that happens every ranked season. I had a particularly bad run of losses that kept me in the 8 or 9 range for a while, most of them the result of playing the weak flank and trying to hold back half the enemy team with minimal support as everyone hides behind the islands on the far side of a single cap. 

As do I, and I expect this is true of most players. More irrevocable ranks combined with a quicker turnover of the highly skilled players allow comparatively less skilled players to advance.

The thing is, though, that if the better players are gradually being removed from the queues as they rank out, it should be easier for the lesser skilled, but not “bad,” players to rank out. MM randomly assigns players 7 allies and 8 opponents, after all, so if one is of above average skill relative to the population of the queue (and the population’s general skill level should decrease over time), one should have a greater advantage as the season progresses.

Of course, this applies over a reasonably large set of battles, and streaks happen. But the general level of skill and team play on both sides of the match will be consistent over a reasonably large number of battles. The idea that MM or the declining skill level of the population detrimentally effects one’s ability to rank out doesn’t really make sense unless a player is being carried more than they would care to admit.

Doesn’t make observing that lemming train, sniping Tirpitz/Massachusetts on the back line, or the DD (or even BB) that is unreasonably terrified of the red CV any less frustrating, though.

The second part is not true, quite the opposite and also why op is feeling frustrated. As the competent players are removed from the q, only the rest are left (with the exception of those few competent players who started late). The result is teams entirely composed of players who dont know how to position, dont understand caps/points, think that hiding as far back as possible is the best strategy, wont focus fire, wont shoot dds (wont even play dds i susoect as well, which compounds the above because they will have no spotting), wont push at all or at least not at the right time, etc, etc. This all serves to futher exasperate these unhappy players and is futher compounded by the fact they can not save a star because that is done by the competent few who started ranked late.

i suspect op is used to being carried up by the early wave of players ranking out and this time wiped out. Let’s face it sprint is no problem to rank out with all the irrevocable ranks, especially if playing in a div, so facing difficulty to do so reveals more about oneself than the mode itself.

[Taichunger]

I Ranked out in 16 battles, as is usual for Ranked Sprint for me, so i don't see any difference. In fact I did slightly better, winning my last 10 in a row in Mass, which is unusual for me. Not on me, btw, I had a run of really good teams.

I had started by playing all my T8s once each, but since we had Sky Cancer in so many matches I stopped, didn't see the point in being constantly spotted and farmed in cruisers and DDs. So I finished in Mass, still got farmed and it was unfun, but at least I didn't die.

Mass was made for cramped quarters like Ranked. Really lots of fun to play if Cancer isn't farming you, and spits out crazy damage. 

Thanks for Ranked Sprint, devs. It's really a lot of fun and I always look forward to it!

[Nevermore135]

2 hours ago, monpetitloup said:

The second part is not true, quite the opposite and also why op is feeling frustrated. As the competent players are removed from the q, only the rest are left (with the exception of those few competent players who started late). The result is teams entirely composed of players who dont know how to position, dont understand caps/points, think that hiding as far back as possible is the best strategy, wont focus fire, wont shoot dds (wont even play dds i susoect as well, which compounds the above because they will have no spotting), wont push at all or at least not at the right time, etc, etc. This all serves to futher exasperate these unhappy players and is futher compounded by the fact they can not save a star because that is done by the competent few who started ranked late.

i suspect op is used to being carried up by the early wave of players ranking out and this time wiped out. Let’s face it sprint is no problem to rank out with all the irrevocable ranks, especially if playing in a div, so facing difficulty to do so reveals more about oneself than the mode itself.

MM doesn’t discriminate. Those types of players are on both teams. It may be frustrating to see those players on your team, but it is just as likely they are on the enemy team (more likely, in fact, since there are 8 opponents vs 7 allies). If a player is struggling in the latter parts of ranked over a reasonably large amount of battles, it means they were being carried more than they would like to admit, especially because fewer of these “competent few” (your words) higher skilled players are present to save a star as you argue. The lesser skilled but still good players become the new “competent few,” (once again, your words) and should have an easier time influencing battles and saving their stars. That’s the point I was making.

People who are skilled at carrying battles make their own luck in ranked. Too many people blame MM and “bad teams” for their failures rather than honestly reflect on and seek to improve their own performance.

[Taichunger]

4 hours ago, USS_Taylor_Swift said:

, our nearly full HP Bismarck goes "Mass, we shall duel" and sails out into the focus of the entire red team

Game after game, the first BB out there is the charging Bismarck. Focused and dies, an easy kill. Again and again. The second to last match I played today the Bismarck charged in and died early, complaining that he had gotten into the cap ahead of the DDs. We laffed. 

[Hercules_C130]

To all:

Yes like most, I do better in ranked sprint then I do in regular ranked.  I usually make it to rank 2 in a reasonable amount of time and then the number of times it takes to rank out determines how many battles I have to play.  This season, I sat at rank 2 for way too long.  Most of the reason was because too many players when we had the caps and the lead kept rushing into the enemy to die one at a time while they were hiding or cowering in a group usually behind an island.  There were at least 3 battles that would have allowed me to rank out quicker, but really bone head moves cost the team the win.  The worst was when we had the caps and our CV decided to sail 8 km in front of the enemy Massachusetts to die quickly.  People were in chat telling the CV to run, but were completely ignored.  The battle where I ranked out, the enemy team was down 3 ships and we had all the caps (we had not lost any ships at this point).  Myself and one other player told everyone to quit charging into them and just defend.  The map was Greece and they were all behind the island at the southeast corner of the map.  We ran, this match did not have a CV so we were able to hide.  They ended up with 4 ships surviving to our 2, but we had the caps.  They did end up capping one of the caps and started capping a second, but we were too far ahead and pointed out before they could get in the third cap.  Of course with a 300 point lead we would have won by running out of time if they had managed to get in the third cap before we pointed out. 

As for T8 ships, I played the Edinburgh, Z23, and Atago.  I wanted to play some BBs, but there were so many in the queue, I just played the cruiser and DDs.

C130 signing out

[Dr_Drunk_AKA]

10 hours ago, ComputerWhiz said:

So far, this Ranked Sprint has been the worst I've ever been in on WoWS. In every other sprint (with the exception of the 1v1 season), I've been able to rank out in ~30 battles. This season, I've already done 30 battles and I'm still rank 7 (only because 8 is irrevocable) with a ~25% win rate. Every team I'm on decides that they are going to go wide on one side of the map, which just allows the enemy to steamroll into B.

Personally, I don't really like the tier 8 ships. I can't think of any that up tier well (which only applies to random, of course) and there are just none that pop into my head as a good ship.

This is going to be the only sprint since I started playing World Of Warships that I haven't ranked out.

No good T8 ships?

 

Cleveland, Lightning, Cossack, Lenin, Massa, NC, Mainz, Chappy would like to have a word.