Just wondering how many people have a preference of one mode over another. I used to do almost exclusively ranked just for the sake of finding decent opponents because the unranked players can be so bad that there’s no enjoyment in playing the game. I’ve had games where the US player bought a battleship every single round, and I’ve captured India J1 since the UK player built a battleship for it and then sent most of the existing units off to counter-attack in Egypt and Trans-Jordan. But despite this in the unranked games I can at least have a dialogue with my partner(s) which is sorely lacking in the ranked games. Not even being able to compliment the opponent on a well-played round even if I lose is something of a detriment to enjoying the match. Luckily I was able to friend some decent Axis players so I don’t have to worry that my partner is going to decide to dump Carriers in the Mediterranean, so that helps a lot to bring up the quality of the unranked play.
@Eqqman I’m actually happy there’s no dialogue in ranked because I’d have some choice words for some of my opponents after getting diced on critical battles and losing a completely-won game because of it.
That, and the last thing anyone would need is people going “haha noob” after every move you make.
@DoManMacgee True, but when it’s a text note you can just not read 'em if the opponent is being inappropriate.
@Eqqman said in Ranked vs Unranked play:
so I don’t have to worry that my partner is going to decide to dump Carriers in the Mediterranean
I consider German Med carrier a legitimate line of play, but usually the execution gets badly mangled in the 1942 Online community.
@Eqqman said in Ranked vs Unranked play:
Just wondering how many people have a preference of one mode over another.
I’m sure most have a preference. I prefer unranked. 48 hour non-mandatory timer versus 24 hour mandatory, and the game isn’t as boring what with map notes allowing some interactivity, and teammates and opponents each doing their own thing.
Bumping this up a little so I can rant rather than make a new post. I’m getting so frustrated with the online games but since my family doesn’t do gaming to the degree I do my gripes have no significance for them and my outlets for venting are limited.
I continue to be undefeated with my Axis partners in unranked play since the Allies players are so terrible. Everyone insists on either doing full KJF or some hybrid where the US player tries to keep both theaters going equally. Even with this, I don’t think I’ve had a single opponent send their US fleet to the Solomons, it’s always up to Siberia with the Alaska IC.
So then I look to ranked play to get some more quality opponents, but since I got into the last season very late I didn’t get past silver, so now I’m starting in silver again. Over here I’m getting games where Axis opponents do stuff like buy 4x transports + carrier to try a G2 Sea Lion (as I just mentioned in the Steam forum). I guess I’m supposed to happy to be in a situation where I will be heavily favored to win, but such games just feel like a waste of time and are not fun to play. I don’t enjoy winning just because my opponent chose to gamble and lost, and players can and do drag things out long after it should be obvious that the game is effectively over. If I knew how many of these games I’d have to slog through to try and get up to gold level where (presumably) this kind of heavy gambling isn’t taking place it might be different, but right now it’s just a chore that really cuts down my enjoyment of the game. At this point I’m not even sure if I will continue playing throughout the season.
Just keep going, and once you arrive in top Gold and Platinum, you’ll get really difficult games. That’s the beauty of the MMR rating - the closer you’re to your opponent, skill-wise, the more interesting the game becomes.
@Eqqman It’s a bit of a grind yeah. In my experience opponents are basically free wins (barring terrible dice luck) until you get to mid Platinum (like top 150). I haven’t put in the effort to get that high since season 1 though, so the overall skill level might have improved a bit since then. Whether the opportunity to truly get your teeth kicked in by the best of the best is worth the grind is up to you, though. There’s no real shortcut to getting to the top of the leaderboard, unfortunately.
@DoManMacgee We substantially changed tier conditions and in Season 2 there were only ~80 Platinum players. So right now, even the top 30 Gold can provide a serious challenge.
That said, Season 3 has only begun, and there are not enough players in higher tiers right now.
Literally right after I make my last post I try to start another game and I get an Axis opponent that buys a Carrier and Subs for the Mediterranean. I’m reprinting here a post from Julius in the Steam forums as it might help other players who aren’t reading those posts:
“If you want to minimize chances of connecting to a player of not “your level”, then don’t leave the game searching for a match for too long. Cancel the process after about 1 minute and start searching again.”
Although I would mention it shouldn’t be up to the players to have to jump through hoops to avoid getting matchups that are potentially too out of balance.
I just started playing in season 2. Eventually climbed up to gold. The placement games in season 3 have seen a lot of crazy stuff, so I’ve seen it too.
Right now I’m 7-0 as Allies and headed for 8-0 as I’m winning my current match too. I expect games to get tougher. What does it take to get to Platinum? I’ve noticed that there aren’t any players ranked as Platinum. I’m ranked as #3 in gold right now. I’d guess that the gold players will play other gold players and eventually that’s how you move to platinum.
I don’t play much as Axis as I’m a new player. I’d like to concentrate on getting good as Allies first and later try to round out my game with Axis. I have played some custom games as Axis and won, but that’s against weak competition. I notice that I make a lot more mistakes as Axis because I have less experience with it.
From what I’ve seen, and this is totally generalizing…
Wood players use exotic strategies and make a ton of mistakes. I think these are beginner players new to the game.
Bronze players use a lot of crazy, unpredictable strategies and make a lot of mistakes.
Silver players use more sound strategies, but are missing key concepts of the game. They are inefficient with the moves and buys, and make a lot of reckless moves. I see a lot of overaggressive play from silver players and leave them vulnerable to counterattacks.
Gold players use good strategy and make few mistakes.
I haven’t played any platinum players yet, but I’d guess that use more advanced strategy and hardly ever make a mistake. I’d guess than when they lose it’s to another platinum player, and that a lot of their games would come down to dice rolls.
I have beaten 1 gold level player this season. He only made 1 strategic mistake in the game. I could tell he was a good player when I was playing him, and the game was much harder. When I checked his record, he was gold last season and only lost 1 game this season and that was to me.
I kind of like playing against those crazy bronze players because it makes it interesting. I can’t just follow a formula with them, and I have to figure out how to counter whatever they are trying. It’s always best to never underestimate your opponent. Whatever crazy thing they are trying has an advantage to it usually. If Germany builds a bunch of navy, I cannot just build transports with the US like I would like to do.
@EricB , Impressive stuff, going without losses as Allies. I’ve had difficult opponents myself, 5:1 currently. So it’s all random and based on who you get in your games. Continue to grind, and you’ll eventually meet our top Platinum players!
@JuliusBorisovBeamdog I started playing first as Allies because I hadn’t played the 1942 edition before. I have played the original version a lot in the past. When I played that, the Allies had a big advantage. I didn’t really know this was a different version until I started playing it and saw all these new unit types. I thought Allies would be easier, so I started with that. Didn’t know it had an advantage for Axis. Seems ahistorical.
