Ranked play has been a source of frustration for highly skilled players all over games—and VALORANT is no different.
There’s inherently no perfect way to make a ranked system. But some people, including VALORANT superstar Tyson “TenZ” Ngo, argue that having an FPL would be “super beneficial” for the game.
All ranked modes in team-based games suffer from the same problems: toxic players, boosted players, players who don’t communicate, and players with high mechanical skill who don’t understand or refuse to play as a team. One way to try to circumvent these issues is through an FPL, which stands for FACEIT Pro League. It’s essentially pick-up games for pros. It has an Elo system and pays out cash prizes at the end of each session.
There are downsides to official third-party systems like FPL, though. It devalues the original ranked experience, which Riot might not be so keen to do this early in VALORANT’s life cycle. But the FPL and systems like it reward teamplay and allow amateur/unsigned players to get into lobbies with more skilled players in a competitive environment, increasing their skills and chances of being noticed.
At the very least, Riot is listening to the pain points of professional players. And even though solutions aren’t imminent, they’re in the works.
Ultimately, ranked modes should be competitive spaces. It’s hard to make that space perfect and it’s unclear what route Riot will elect to take with VALORANT—whether that’s keeping everything in-house or turning to third parties like FACEIT.
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