Has ranked Valorant gotten worse in Episode 4?

Fariha Bhatti Published 29/01/2022

Players are complaining that Valorant doesn’t feel the same anymore in Episode 4. Players believe the ranked experience has worsened since the start of the new episode.

Valorant players aren’t happy with the current ranked state. Riot Games has continued introducing new features and updates to maintain checks and balances, but players don’t think that’s enough. In Episode 4, the complaints about Valorant’s ranked matchmaking have reached a fever pitch.

Professional player Karel “Twisten” Ašenbrener from BIG revealed how the latest episode had been anything but entertaining. The Valorant pro explained the importance of microphones and team coordination in first-person shooter games and how most players in the current episode lack all of it. The community agreed with his lengthy post, sharing their own woes.

According to Valorant fans, the number of toxic players has increased drastically. Despite Riot’s effort to tackle quiet and hostile players, nothing much has changed. Instead, bad actors continue to spoil the game for serious players. Smurfs, trolls, and throwers add to the long list of problems in Valorant episode 4.

Why has ranked Valorant become so bad?

Riot Games has made multiple efforts to improve the quality of Valorant ranked queues. Despite new measures, the number of trolls continues to go up. Valorant’s increasing popularity could be one of the reasons behind the deteriorating state of ranked play.

FPS players were satisfied with competitive Valorant when the game first came out of beta. However, the number of complaints regarding poor experiences have grown with the game’s popularity. Thanks to Valorant’s animated visuals and modern concept, the game has attracted tons of new players, which has led to imbalanced skill levels and toxicity.

Valorant’s lower ranks are crammed with new players who have tons of FPS experience under their belt. These players fail to gel with those just trying out the shooter genre for the first time. This incompatibility often leads to toxicity and poor ranked experience and is also one of the reasons why gold ranks are considered “ELO hell.” Higher-ranked lobbies are much better as it filters out unqualified players. However, Valorant’s rank system isn’t employed to rid the game of toxic players, regardless of their MMR.

The current systems might help reduce misdemeanor in Valorant, but culling all the problematic players is unlikely. Valorant is still growing rapidly, thanks to responsive developers and an engaging esports circuit. The game will likely have a large player count in the coming years, which may require stricter penalties for malicious actors.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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