I think a player should have multiple rankings… one for the game’s overall experience progression (seen in Halo: Reach), one for their true skill level (done through a points per minute average), and then a collection of specific “Ranked” playlist rankings (think of the old 1-50 rank system as an idea).
A player’s true skill level would have to be weighted. The game-type being played and chosen playlist (Ranked vs Social) could provide a higher point per minute average globally and therefore a degree of weighting should be administered to provide a fair point average regardless to what game-type or playlist is favored by any particular player. Plus, it may be necessary to even separate the true skill level per a Ranked or Social setting, but that could be studied afterwards at which point a clearer decision could be made on that issue. Also, the combat record should be the only place to find out what a player’s true skill level is, otherwise it is best to keep it hidden and only reflect a player’s overall progression or playlist ranking depending on what form of matchmaking they’ve entered - Social vs. Ranked.
To note: Winning a match and dominating a match should provide extra bonus points to a player’s overall personal score at the end of a match, which then in-turn gets factored into their personal average score per minute or true skill level. This way a focus on winning and dominating opponents will factor or have a representation in a player’s true skill rank.
The Social playlist should work well with the overall progression experience and credit system like we saw in Halo: Reach. Only the overall experience progression of a player should be indicated to other players when searching for games in Social matches. Plus, the method for finding and matching players up should be based on using a players true skill level while also factoring in to a degree their overall progression level.
The Ranked playlist on the other hand should work fine with a more traditional Halo ranking system, one that provides a rank per gametype - as seen previously in Halo 3 and Halo 2. However, when searching and balancing games the system should exclusively use a player’s playlist ranking which will already have factored in a player’s true skill level and playlist progression.
The way I see the “Ranked” playlist rankings working in more detail…
As a player progresses from rank 1 in any particular ranked gametype they would steadily progress until eventually plateauing at a particular rank, this is when their true skill level finally falls within a ranked zone. These ranked zones require a specific amount of overall playlist experience to be reached, but also the player’s true skill level will fit the zone’s deemed true skill level too. If the player is unable to raise their true skill level to move up another rank regardless to the amount of playlist experience the player has, he or she will be prevented from progressing any further in their playlist rank, but this is a good thing because it will allow the player to match-up with similar skill ranks. Also, once a player reaches their peak or highest playlist rank they cannot drop back anymore than one ranking regardless to how far their true skill level regresses. This would be done in order to prevent players from purposely deleveling so they can get better or easier match-ups.
Also, I think that the top ranking (level 50) within a “Ranked” playlist should be a variable rank. In that I mean it should be available only for a certain percentage of the top ranked players within the playlist. These players would have surpassed the requirements for level 49, but are the in the top percentile in doing so, meaning even though thousands may have surpassed the level 49 requirement, only a specific percentage of the best of the best are awarded the rank of 50. This also means that a person who was on the bubble of achieving the rank of 50 and ended up having their true skill level dip slightly or if another player raised their’s to surpass the bubble player, the bubble player would lose his or her rank of 50 to the other player and drop back down to the rank of 49.
I believe this mix of rankings is the best way of covering all bases and appeasing both the hardcore competitive players and the easy-going casual players. It provides players a ranking system that will allow them to see where they sit amongst thier peers in “Ranked” games, as well as providing players who care more about showing how much dedication they have to the game a method of doing so. Plus, it will finally give players an ability to see exactly what their true skill level is even though that has to be searched for through a player’s combat record. One other thing to note is that all Ranked games would still earn credits and experience towards a player’s overall character progression, but the real point in playing “Ranked” games is to increase a player’s playlist ranking as it is a direct reflection of their skill and effectiveness.
A fourth possibility which would have to be thought over is if some form of the Arena were to return with it’s divisional rankings, but I will save that for another time.
