New Skill Tiers In Overwatch

 

So the new skill tiers system is on a 5000 point scale instead of the 100 point scale in Season 1. This means you should expect your Season 2 rating to be a multiple of five compared to Season 1. The ratings work like Starcraft where there's leagues. There's Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, Grandmaster. Between each there's a 500 point skill difference. A lot of people are most likely going to be between Silver and Platinum. Getting higher will take more work for the average gamer with limited time. The Season 1 conversion to Season 2 looks like so:

Rank 20 (1000-Bronze)
Rank 30 (1500-Silver)
Rank 40 (2000-Gold)
Rank 50 (2500-Platinum)
Rank 60 (3000-Diamond)
Rank 70 (3500-Master)
Rank 80 (4000-Grandmaster)

You can't fall down ranks if your at the 3000 level. Anything higher than that and you can start to fall down in ranks. This is a feel good sort of change. I think you should fall down in rank even at the lower ranks. They should make it more competitive in that aspect. It would be like Starcraft where when you lose games you lose points and drop rank if you lose a lot. Perhaps I just have that competitive Starcraft mentality but that seems like the way to go.

I feel like Overwatch is going more for the fun aspect of their Competitive Mode. I think Blizzard listens and knows their fan base so well that they knew this is what the players want. Good on them. Sometimes in games Competitive Modes aren't so fun and eventually people stop playing. Hopefully Overwatch lives up to all the hype for many a gaming sessions.