Ranked matchmaking is hardly a new thing in multiplayer video games, it has been roughly two decades now since we’ve seen its earliest implementations. Despite that, ranked matchmaking always falls victim to misinterpretation, which leads to much frustration and anxiety.
Almost everyone likely felt some ranked anxiety, the stress of self-imposed expectations to win, or the fear of an imminent loss. All because we know that there is something on the line, the points. Does this not sound ridiculous when you read it out? What even makes these points so important?
Not to say that stakes don't bring their own sort of excitement. Nobody would care about the tournaments if it was just a series of random fights, and you can't have the highest highs without the danger of lowest lows. It's just that despite the positives, there are some negatives that really have no reason to exist.
In this video, we will try to figure out where problems come from, and how this seemingly great feature turned into a source of stress.