Why does Competitive feel so unbalanced?

[RawwkinGrimmie64]

I am completely new to shooter games and have played this game for a week. I have a little more than 24 hours playing as Cloak & Dagger.

In my time playing, I've felt like there is no difference between Quick March and Competitive, outside of the extended game time. One game I'll get 60 combined kills and assists, the next I get teammates complaining about not getting healed as they are nowhere near the objective point, or letting a solo tank push an objective as they stand fully exposed on the top level. One game I'll get a solo healer MVP, the next I have people telling me to stop playing the only character I have experience in (and if they somehow knew that, they'd probably tell me to uninstall).

I have recently learned that Bronze, Silver, and Gold can all queue into the same match.
Why???
It is impossible to advance in Competitive without a near full or full custom team with consistent comms. Teammates will avoid objectives, even after 10+ levels, and then blame me when they die.

I have seen the same random amount of skill in Quick Matches as I have in Competitive. There is no level buffing for new players with obviously more skill, and there no rank limitations for match queueing until you hit Platinum. When I was fortunate enough to rank up to Bronze 2, the game said that was higher than 46% of ranked players.
Why are nearly half of the players in the lowest possible rank and tier?

The ranking system for this game does not make any sense, and I seriously hope they can fix it before Season 2 starts, because between the toxic randos and being a complete noob to this game genre, I have no idea how to tell if I'm actually a good player (or even just improving) when Competitive plays the exact same as Quick Match with extra toxicity because "This is ranked".

TL;DR Am I correc in thinking that Competitive's ranking system is unbalanced? As a shooter noob, what's the best way to tell I'm improving with a Hero if Quick March and Competitive have the same vast fluctuation in gameplay?

[Kidda]

You're solo queing on rank mode right? That's your problem. If you solo que, you will be in a team of randoms with skills ranging "baby's first fps" to "top 500 players". If you're serious about ranking up, get like minded people to play with you as a group.

This is nothing new, practically the same issue with any other video games that has rank game mode. You just can't trust randoms, lol.

[Renée Renard]

The matchmaking is busted in general, comp and quickplay. Plenty idiots and dreadful players in high ranks like grandmaster and many high skilled players in things like silver.

At times it faces you against utterly terrible teams giving you a free win or vice versa.

[YummyWong]

you just need to find a hero you really vibe with, i solo qued one tricked magik to diamond 3 lol

[Ghostvenger92]

BECAUSE YOURE SUPPOSE TO PLAY AS SPIDER-MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ruke (Soreasan)]

i think it could be a possiblity that with the game brand new, the game might not have figured out rank yet. Games like overwatch have had years and years to figure out mmr and the more you play the game, i think the better tuned the matchmaking gets. But those first few matches were very wild. Complete stomps or complete roll overs. Then it begins to tighten.

[WyleEZ]

You're playing a healing/support class. Heal! It is your #1 responsibility. First heal the tanks, then heal the DPS, and then you do damage in your down time.

This is a PVP-RPG more than it is a shooter.

[Smellycat]

the amount of heros is the main cause its alot to learn and you do need to learn every heros kit and role to play against and alongside them effectively.

[Krazy Wallet]

The best way to tell if you're improving is to watch your replays. Follow the fight in free cam mode and see how often you become wildly out of position, how often you miss a teammate who was in critical need of healing, or how you panicked and pressed all your buttons rather than cycling your cooldowns.

The second thing I would suggest is to learn what to look for. The only way you can learn what you don't know is to watch someone better than you. Check out YT videos of higher level players (playing the same characters as you) and see how they use their abilities, how they position, what their target priorities are, and how they manage pressure.

The best piece of advice I can give a new player that is in the strategist role is to value your own life. Don't be the hero that jumps in the middle of a fight to save your overextending vanguard. If they die, just back up, reset, and push again without feeding the enemy team more ultimate charge. You are the linchpin of your team as the strategist. You may not be able to secure all the kills to win a team fight, but you are the backbone that gives the team the opportunity to win the fight.

I do agree that the team-up range in ranked is too vast, but there's nothing to be done about it. Just focus on what you can do and how you can play better. As a strategist main myself, my goal is to always have fewer deaths than anyone else on my team while still being engaged in the fight. With this mentality, you'll naturally start thinking in the proper way: where should I position, am I being flanked, should I backup in preparation for the enemy push, should I advance with my tank or are they overextending?

[IKnowGunFu]

Teams vs solo players, rampant cheating.

[夢幻泡影]

EOMM

[Octarius]

Originally posted by IKnowGunFu:

Teams vs solo players, rampant cheating.

Well, this.

[Ghoul = DC]

It's either the easiest matches of my life or massacre. No inbetween. Ranked seems f*cked rn if you are not in pre-made teams. Shame.

[Steve]

...friendly reminder that this is a TEAM-BASED shooter. Solos are going to have issues.

[Grail-ums]

Originally posted by ToBeFair:

It's either the easiest matches of my life or massacre. No inbetween. Ranked seems f*cked rn if you are not in pre-made teams. Shame.

I'm glad I'm not the only one. There are games where the healers know how to heal everyone and then there are games where the healers feel like literal bots (only healing anything in front of them and vanguard status) and this is in RANKED.

[tylr.aarn]

Originally posted by Kidda:

You're solo queing on rank mode right? That's your problem. If you solo que, you will be in a team of randoms with skills ranging "baby's first fps" to "top 500 players". If you're serious about ranking up, get like minded people to play with you as a group.

This is nothing new, practically the same issue with any other video games that has rank game mode. You just can't trust randoms, lol. [/quote Observe everyone, an e-girl getting carried through ranks with no perception of how their abysmal gameplay paired with someone who's floor is massively above theirs can't understand the problem they create. The people that queue with you make entirety new accounts for a reason. To ACT so oblivious is a joke, you know you're being catered to at the expense of others experience. Doesn't matter as long as you feel important behind a facade right?