A+ level driver, playing as B ranked

[MrBrunoA]

Been noticing this for some time... super fast driver, alien level, in pole position, ranked DR B and competing in the same room with B, A and sometimes A+ drivers. Checked one guy's profile online and saw he went from a long run of being DR S to B all of a sudden and is now collecting easy victories. This is, imo, the worse offense to the concept of sportsmanship and should be punished by Polyphony, or at least it could be fixed by not allowing a S ranked driver to fall beyond a certain limit of A rank.

Why does someone with S/A+ level wants to compete with B players? Not only it's unfair but it will compromise the ranking system, as A drivers will lose DR points by coming behind a B driver. Thoughts?

 

[Alpha Cipher]

Have you checked their SR level? Problem sometimes is that these S ranked drivers get an unfortunate race and get ping ponged so hard their SR drops a level too low and the game resets their DR to a certain level as well. It's a problem of the game if you ask me, since holding an S rank is a high prestige and I don't think anyone would want to lose it for the sake of easy wins

If a certain person wants easy wins I think they wouldn't have grinded to S in the first place

 

[TheGeologist]

Sr resets have happened to many users on this website. Maybe they did a Monza race and got wrecked a lot, or maybe got a little bit of payback... It happens. I wouldn't consider it a punishable offense.

It's a goal of mine to never get an Sr reset tbh.

 

[MrBrunoA]

Have you checked their SR level? Problem sometimes is that these S ranked drivers get an unfortunate race and get ping ponged so hard their SR drops a level too low and the game resets their DR to a certain level as well. It's a problem of the game if you ask me, since holding an S rank is a high prestige and I don't think anyone would want to lose it for the sake of easy wins

If a certain person wants easy wins I think they wouldn't have grinded to S in the first place

The one I checked the stats didn't show any drop of SR, but maybe it's because SR can be gained back easily. Anyway, doesn't make sense to drop an A+ driver to B so sudden. It will affect the other players who are trying hard to win and improve their DR.

 

[Tou2istTrophy]

It’s possible to lose X0,000 DR points in one race if you are unfortunate enough. Maybe that’s what’s happened.

 

[TheGeologist]

The one I checked the stats didn't show any drop of SR, but maybe it's because SR can be gained back easily. Anyway, doesn't make sense to drop an A+ driver to B so sudden. It will affect the other players who are trying hard to win and improve their DR.

They probably had an Sr reset, but kept racing before the KP update, thus they returned their Sr to 99.

 

[Bruunz]

Remember that matchmaking isn't based on DR for general sports mode. Honestly, what does it even matter if that this person's label is a B or A+?

Coming in second, third or even top 8 still increases your DR. Your chances of winning the race vs this person is diminished but ultimately doesn't affect your experience unless you are specifically after the win. You will still have a close race with those around your skill level and the alien will be miles ahead racing alone.

I'd prefer to race people better than me as it's an opportunity to learn and improve.

 

[Alpha Cipher]

The one I checked the stats didn't show any drop of SR, but maybe it's because SR can be gained back easily. Anyway, doesn't make sense to drop an A+ driver to B so sudden. It will affect the other players who are trying hard to win and improve their DR.

Basically what @TheGeologist said. If he wants easy wins then why did he bother to get back to A the very next day?

Can you show me the whole graph?

Edit: Okay... let me rephrase my question: If he wanted easy wins, then why is he bothering to jump all the way from 29k DR to over 40k DR? Thinking logically, if you want an easy win you'll win the first race, then quit your next to keep your DR at the same easy level. Why isn't he doing that? 40k DR isn't exactly an easy place to gain wins either, even if he's an S class

 

[Sharkart_Kun]

Remember that matchmaking isn't based on DR for general sports mode.

I always thought it was only DR/SR based! Then how is it done?

 

[Bruunz]

I always thought it was only DR/SR based! Then how is it done?

SR is the primary value used. DR only becomes a heavily weighted value in FIA/Manufactures.

Maybe you are over reading into my statement or i was a little vague. I'm not saying DR isn't used but its not a determining factor.

Being bumped into SR A a couple of times have generally made for very disparate competition. Ranging from A+ to D in the one lobby.

 

[MrBrunoA]

Remember that matchmaking isn't based on DR for general sports mode. Honestly, what does it even matter if that this person's label is a B or A+?

Coming in second, third or even top 8 still increases your DR. Your chances of winning the race vs this person is diminished but ultimately doesn't affect your experience unless you are specifically after the win. You will still have a close race with those around your skill level and the alien will be miles ahead racing alone.

I'd prefer to race people better than me as it's an opportunity to learn and improve.

Fair enough. But I thought you'd lose points or at least not win as much as deserved if you finished behind a lower ranked driver, regardless of being in the top 8 or so. I don't care about finishing behind a faster driver at all. My biggest pleasure on GTS is competing with skilled and clean drivers, no matter if I win or not. My point is that the ranking system shouldn't allow someone, for any reason, to drop from A+ to B ever, because it doesn't make any sense. Ranking should represent only the skill of a driver -- and it's actually very precise on GTS -- and not be a mere badge.

Basically what @TheGeologist said. If he wants easy wins then why did he bother to get back to A the very next day?

Can you show me the whole graph?

Edit: Okay... let me rephrase my question: If he wanted easy wins, then why is he bothering to jump all the way from 29k DR to over 40k DR? Thinking logically, if you want an easy win you'll win the first race, then quit your next to keep your DR at the same easy level. Why isn't he doing that? 40k DR isn't exactly an easy place to gain wins either, even if he's an S class

I'll send it on private. It's not about this particular player. I just remembered his name and having met him in other races as a A+. I can't say it's intentional or not, if it's a way to accumulate more victories and improve other stats temporarily or what, but it's definitely a flaw of the ranking system.

I saw many B ranked driver on pole position and winning tonight in races with A+ drivers. Should happen sometimes, but not so frequently. I also remember the pole position from Top 24 Manufacturer's Cup 2 weeks ago intentionally finishing last, which also made me wonder why.

 

[Sharkart_Kun]

SR is the primary value used. DR only becomes a heavily weighted value in FIA/Manufactures.

Maybe you are over reading into my statement or i was a little vague. I'm not saying DR isn't used but its not a determining factor.

Being bumped into SR A a couple of times have generally made for very disparate competition. Ranging from A+ to D in the one lobby.

I see... For a moment I thought that the practice times could factor in...

Well, being one that has suffered this, I gotta say that being relegated back to B is a huge punishiment, so that now I'm way more careful with the races I enter. I wouldn't want to leave any space open to losing SR.

 

[Manasseh257NSX]

Probably got punted around the track a few times. There's a guy in my friends list, fairly fast guy, Went from an S DR S SR to C DR C SR in literally one night.

Pretty sure it wasn't intentional because I hardly see him do races on sport mode anymore ever since his DR dropped. He hasn't gotten it past a B ranking yet. He's 3/4 B DR and S SR but I imagine it's annoying to work back up.

 

[MrBrunoA]

Probably got punted around the track a few times. There's a guy in my friends list, fairly fast guy, Went from an S DR S SR to C DR C SR in literally one night.

Pretty sure it wasn't intentional because I hardly see him do races on sport mode anymore ever since his DR dropped. He hasn't gotten it past a B ranking yet. He's 3/4 B DR and S SR but I imagine it's annoying to work back up.

Crazy. It's definitely a flaw of the ranking system. Getting to A+ is so hard and such a slow process that once you've reached it you should stay there forever or at least take the same amount of time to be demoted to A. Once you have the skills, you won't lose them overnight.

 

[Bruunz]

Fair enough. But I thought you'd lose points or at least not win as much as deserved if you finished behind a lower ranked driver, regardless of being in the top 8 or so. I don't care about finishing behind a faster driver at all. My biggest pleasure on GTS is competing with skilled and clean drivers, no matter if I win or not. My point is that the ranking system shouldn't allow someone, for any reason, to drop from A+ to B ever, because it doesn't make any sense. Ranking should represent only the skill of a driver -- and it's actually very precise on GTS -- and not be a mere badge.

For any reason? I took a couple of months off from GTS. When i left is was progressively gaining traction in my DR getting into A and winning a little. I came back 2 months later and i lost my skills and could not compete at that level. I sunk to a mid B and it was a rapid slide. I think i deserved that. Don't you?

The way PD does the DR cap in relation to SR is a bit strange and can lead to scenarios that you describe but does it really impact your game or progression? Maybe you didn't gain all the points you could of but if you are going to win and do well, you will get the points.


@Sharkart_Kun Sometimes i feel this is a the case but some times i get proven wrong. Seems to be more believable with FIA/Manufacturers.

 

[Canada_25]

Litterally just dropped 14k DR points from 54000 to 40000 (A) for having a 9 seconds penalty from 2 random idiots that rammed me. How frustrating!!!

 

[DriftMethod]

Remember that matchmaking isn't based on DR for general sports mode. Honestly, what does it even matter if that this person's label is a B or A+?

Coming in second, third or even top 8 still increases your DR. Your chances of winning the race vs this person is diminished but ultimately doesn't affect your experience unless you are specifically after the win. You will still have a close race with those around your skill level and the alien will be miles ahead racing alone.

I'd prefer to race people better than me as it's an opportunity to learn and improve.

From my understanding Sport mode matching is first determined by SR, then by DR. So it's common in a race to see DR from A+ to B or even C/D, but very rare to see a spread like that in SR.

Your comment about increasing DR is way too simplified. A+ rated DR drivers can easily lose DR points even if they finish well. I lost DR points recently for finishing 4th. It all depends on the DR of the other players, so a DR B driver beating a DR A or A+ driver can result in significant DR point losses.

 

[MrBrunoA]

For any reason? I took a couple of months off from GTS. When i left is was progressively gaining traction in my DR getting into A and winning a little. I came back 2 months later and i lost my skills and could not compete at that level. I sunk to a mid B and it was a rapid slide. I think i deserved that. Don't you?

The way PD does the DR cap in relation to SR is a bit strange and can lead to scenarios that you describe but does it really impact your game or progression? Maybe you didn't gain all the points you could off but if you are going to win and do well, you will get the points.


@Sharkart_Kun Sometimes i feel this is a the case but some times i get proven wrong. Seems to be more believable with FIA/Manufacturers.

Sure, you can definitely get out of shape after a long period, but not overnight.

 

[Sven Jurgens]

If you want easy wins as an A+ driver, all you need to do is lower your SR to the 80-90 range. Yet why would you, you get easy wins anyway during the day as it's hard to find a room with multiple A+ drivers in the first place.

The system is screwed up though, it happens a lot that there are suspicious C/S and B/S drivers on pole in a fast A/S room. There are of course also plenty alt accounts on the more SR risky tracks from people too afraid to get a DR reset.

According to the formula, lose from a B/S (recovering A+/S) as A/S driver: - 80 - (40k-20k)/500, lose 120 DR
lose from an A+/S driver as A/S driver: - 80 + (60k-40k)/500, lose 40 DR

So yes, it kinda matters, a factor 3 for pretty conservative values. I've seen plenty races with multiple recovering higher level drivers. I've had 2 resets myself so far from Bluemoon Bay, although self inflicted due to draft bumping.

Btw those alt accounts are pretty understandable. As max A+ 75K driver, a win won't gain you anything. A disconnect, punted to last or otherwise bad race can cost you 3k DR in a daily C. When close to max DR you don't gain much for a win if all your racing is A/S and B/S. a 40K A/S driver is only worth 10 points, a B/S driver 1. I once got in a room full of D/S drivers, me as A/S on pole (glitch), the win was worth 14 points. If I was disconnected during that race it would have cost 2.3K DR.

 

[Alpha Cipher]

I'll send it on private. It's not about this particular player. I just remembered his name and having met him in other races as a A+. I can't say it's intentional or not, if it's a way to accumulate more victories and improve other stats temporarily or what, but it's definitely a flaw of the ranking system.

I saw many B ranked driver on pole position and winning tonight in races with A+ drivers. Should happen sometimes, but not so frequently. I also remember the pole position from Top 24 Manufacturer's Cup 2 weeks ago intentionally finishing last, which also made me wonder why.

Looking at the guy's full stats tell me that he didn't drop to B on purpose. It's not hills and valleys like you'd find on a high-level smurfer, and their SR's constantly on 99. I think it really is just an unfortunate race

I can understand about alternate accounts though. I have 4 myself, but I made it a priority to get to S as fast as I can while playing there

 

[TT92]

Been noticing this for some time... super fast driver, alien level, in pole position, ranked DR B and competing in the same room with B, A and sometimes A+ drivers. Checked one guy's profile online and saw he went from a long run of being DR S to B all of a sudden and is now collecting easy victories. This is, imo, the worse offense to the concept of sportsmanship and should be punished by Polyphony, or at least it could be fixed by not allowing a S ranked driver to fall beyond a certain limit of A rank.

Why does someone with S/A+ level wants to compete with B players? Not only it's unfair but it will compromise the ranking system, as A drivers will lose DR points by coming behind a B driver. Thoughts?

One night I went from DR/A SR/S back to DR/B SR/C in 3 races at Monza because idiots don't know how to drive! Yes the penalty system is unfair, Yes good drivers get punished from it and yes very fast people will get matched with slower drivers. I have been on pole with a 4 second gap back to the next driver and some idiot still thinks he can out brake me into turn one from 3 rows back!!! >:-(

My advice is get over it. I have ;-)

And for the record, in the early days, I did artificially lower my rank so I could get the Platinum trophy and this you can blame PD for creating a system where this happens.

So how funny is this (NOT!) , I lower my rank, I get my Platinum trophy, I crawl back up to A/S and then in 3 races am back to B/C again exactly where I started 50 races ago :-( BTW I am back to A/S now and have a care factor of zero about the ranking system and penalties, I just drive clean and fast, have fun and try and avoid the usual on-track carnage ;-)

 

[SNAKEMAIO]

Litterally just dropped 14k DR points from 54000 to 40000 (A) for having a 9 seconds penalty from 2 random idiots that rammed me. How frustrating!!!

Really? i've never seen my DR drop more than 1-2 K for accidents on track (i've had race accidents also for more than 10 secs... DR/SR can Drop down a little but never reset!).
I think it happens only if, after some problems with other drivers, someone (maybe frustrated) start to push/bump/TryToKill someone else...
For that i've always thought that it's impossible to see DR reset if you don't start to be stupid on track..

Isn't it? may be i'm wrong and it happens also for stupids accidents?

 

[MC_IT]

And for the record, in the early days, I did artificially lower my rank so I could get the Platinum trophy and this you can blame PD for creating a system where this happens.

(Too) many people do this, I think it's the answer OP was searching.

Last days I saw a driver that was 2nd stopping before the finish and letting pass all the others including me. Not the first time I saw it. Trophy hunters

 

[Alpha Cipher]

And for the record, in the early days, I did artificially lower my rank so I could get the Platinum trophy and this you can blame PD for creating a system where this happens.

Sorry man, but I can't find an excuse for that

Not that I'd try and find one anyway. I can compare WoT trophies to that and really, I haven't seen someone stay at Tier 1 in a Japanese tank just to get that trophy where they have to kill 4 tanks in game in a Japanese tank. It's a specific mindset that makes people do this than a flaw of the game. Just admit that you're a trophy hunter and that you're doing

the worst offense to the concept of sportsmanship.

 

[TT92]

(Too) many people do this, I think it's the answer OP was searching.

Last days I saw a driver that was 2nd stopping before the finish and letting pass all the others including me. Not the first time I saw it. Trophy hunters

Are you sure the guy wasn't running a penalty down?

For the record, the easiest way to lower your rank is to start races (preferably Daily C) and then quit out just as the race starts. This way you do not affect any other person and you lose the maximum amount of points because of the longer race and the most number of people in the field.

Also, bear in mind, we the players don't decide what the trophies are going to be, we only use what ever legitimate means are available to obtain them. After all, it is only a game ;-)

 

[VeeDoubleU]

After all, it is only a game ;-)

I hate that phrase so much. It is used to excuse absolutely anything, even stuff which ruins other peoples fun.

 

[TT92]

Sorry man, but I can't find an excuse for that

Not that I'd try and find one anyway. I can compare WoT trophies to that and really, I haven't seen someone stay at Tier 1 in a Japanese tank just to get that trophy where they have to kill 4 tanks in game in a Japanese tank. It's a specific mindset that makes people do this than a flaw of the game. Just admit that you're a trophy hunter and that you're doing

If it makes you happy, YES, I am a trophy hunter. As in my other post above, I will use any legitimate means to obtain the trophies decided by the developers in any of the games I play.

Get over it or start complaining to the devs ;-)

I hate that phrase so much. It is used to excuse absolutely anything, even stuff which ruins other peoples fun.

I do realise it rubs people the wrong way and that's why I chose to use it ;-) Because IT IS just a game after all ;-)

It appears i (and others) are being blamed for using legitimate means to obtain trophies and play the game as it was designed to be played. How you, or others, interpret it differently is solely up to you and I suggest you complain to PD. They are the ones that made the rules, not me.

 

[Alpha Cipher]

I do realise it rubs people the wrong way and that's why I chose to use it ;-) Because IT IS just a game after all ;-)

It appears i (and others) are being blamed for using legitimate means to obtain trophies and play the game as it was designed to be played. How you, or others, interpret it differently is solely up to you and I suggest you complain to PD. They are the ones that made the rules, not me.

Like I said, it's a specific mindset that creates people like you, not a flaw of the game. And just because it's a game doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. Maybe offline, but don't carry that mindset online. I can argue that because this is a game, people should have fun playing this game and you are ruining other people's fun by taking wins away from them because you are not in the competitive bracket that you deserve. If GTS really is a game, then you shouldn't do this stuff

I can't believe you watched a video about sportmanship to get to Sport mode and then proceeded to do the most unsportmanlike thing you can do in GTS.

 

[VeeDoubleU]

I do realise it rubs people the wrong way and that's why I chose to use it ;-) Because IT IS just a game after all ;-)

It appears i (and others) are being blamed for using legitimate means to obtain trophies and play the game as it was designed to be played. How you, or others, interpret it differently is solely up to you and I suggest you complain to PD. They are the ones that made the rules, not me.

I've had someone purposely hit me multiple times in a race, and when I messaged him afterwards, he said it was because his ratings were too high and he wanted to go back down to get more wins. Then he said it is only a game?

Yes, you are right. It is 'only a game'. It is a game which EVERYONE should be able to enjoy. However I am pretty sure that other players enjoyment could be hampered if they do the best race of their life at a low rank (which is their normal rank), only to find out some really good driver can easily stay ahead and is at that rank purely for trophies. It is just demoralising for the other players surely? They won't be getting as much fun.

And yeah, you could say their fun shouldn't be limited to whether of not they win, BUT that is exactly what you are doing????

 

[MC_IT]

Are you sure the guy wasn't running a penalty down?

Yes I'm sure and as I said it was not the first time

For the record, the easiest way to lower your rank is to start races (preferably Daily C) and then quit out just as the race starts.

Obviously these morons try to win the race, when it not happens it's time to adopt plan B -> lower the rank