Should Marvel Rival’s ranked points system be performance-based?

Community sentiment is split on whether the performance-based system in Ranked has benefited Marvel Rivals, with some calling for NetEase to revert the changes.

First revealed in the Dev Vision Volume 5 ahead of Season 2, some players have criticised the new system intended to reward ‘individual performance,’ claiming it favours some roles over others.

During the video, Lead Combat Designer Zhiyong Feng said: “You all know that the score you earn per Competitive match is determined by both the outcome and your individual performance.

“With the launch of Season 2.0, we will be increasing the weight of individual performances. The better you perform, the more points you will earn in victory, and the fewer points you will lose in defeat.”

What was intended to reward more skilled players during matches — and penalise others who would grief games — has instead caused outrage, particularly amongst the higher ranks including the Top 500.

Many professionals have voiced that the game’s metric for ‘good performance’ is far too linear, favouring numbers above all else. Duelists, in particular, often receive the most favour for their high elimination count, while Vanguards and Strategists are left with the short end of the stick since their performance metrics aren’t as straightforward.

Ivo ‘Linepro’ Kolev, former Marvel Rivals player for Fnatic, said: “This encourages Strategist and Vanguard players to play Duelist role. It’s crazy that in not even a week, I already played five games where I’m the only Strategist player in the team, and I’m not even surprised…

“I’ve even seen some players leave the game before it finishes because you will lose fewer points for leaving a game than actually losing it.”

Some content creators have also slammed Marvel Rivals for this new system, saying that winning and losing have become less impactful to one’s rank, making the game feel less competitive.

During a YouTube short, streamer and creator Siarhei ‘Bogur’ Alekau said: “Some people on my team get double the points, and then some people on their [enemy] team lose 12 for a loss. I gain less for a win (+13) than this guy loses (-12) for a loss.

“What is this, a random number generator? Who decided that a performance-based points system gain is a good idea? This is so stupid. Why are both the tanks ‘Vanguards], vital for the win of this game, getting 13 points? Who thought that this was a good idea, bro?”

It has even sparked debates amongst the community, as a Reddit post accumulated over 1,000 comments after raising complaints about the new system. While the initial sentiment was that certain classes saw preferential treatment, some are convinced that the performance system even affects specific characters more than others.

In the Reddit post, one user said: “Swapped from playing mostly Magneto to The Thing and now earning far more points / losing far fewer, despite barely a difference in how well I play with each. The system definitely seems to be favouring certain roles and certain heroes within each role.”

The Marvel Rivals team has yet to officially respond to the feedback by the community, influencers and professional players. Esports Insider has reached out to NetEase Games for comment surrounding the performance-based point system, and will update the article if a response is provided.