How does one gain higher ranks?

[i-like-renegade]

Because Im rank -400, and it's not going up, at all.
What do I do? No one will accept me into games and it seems I may as well not play as no one will let me play
It would be cool if my rank could be reset or something.

[lextoc]

Host your own game and hope someone joins...

[Reaper Zwei]

one gains rank by winning.
Try joining "all welcome" games or "noob" games.

[Blodir]

one gains rank by winning.
Try joining "all welcome" games or "noob" games.

Sadly even these games do not truly welcome everyone

[codepants]

Maybe rank shouldn't go below -100?

At that level I'm not sure how much rank really matters anyways. -100 would allow rank to indicate "yea, I've lost a few," but I suspect going any lower than that turns players off to the game. Just look at the leaderboards... tons and tons of players play one or two games, lose, can't get any more games, and quit.

(many, I'm sure, for reasons other than not getting let in, such as general frustration, but still... I don't see the point of having a rank of -400).

I would also argue that for your first few games, how you play doesn't matter nearly as much as how your teammates play. Thus someone being -400 is basically meaningless except that it allows people to be prejudice against you.

[Iszh]

I thought rating isnt meant to rise because people always want to "balance" games. I am i wrong or isnt any so called balance (adding the worst players in the best players team) some kind of anchor for rating? Even random is balancing people. But just thinking neutral about it the reason is to reach 50% win rate for everybody. Rating cant rise this way. Thats why people try to cheat the system on one hand with "balancing" games or on the other hand what is even more effective search for an unknown smurf and take him to your team since you know he is very good but has low rating. He can help you win vs this balance system and jump higher in rating. Or playing together with friends farming rating but here it is difficult to find enemies.

My opinion here is that only a real RANDOM function would bring fairness and stop all this. As long as people artificially force a 50% win ration to everybody rating will go down for everybody because people try to avoid this whole system with creating smurfs. And they are reducing the rating for some people to carry it to themself and a few others. With a full random team it is sure that if you are a noob and you are in a team with a noob you will be fucked like hell and your rating will go down since every second game you will have the worst people in your teamand not in the good players team. With balanced games you are forcing rating to stop or to slowly go down to 1000 average rating.

Maybe i am wrong with this, i would like to hear that it is not true and thats only my fault that my rating is dropping slowly but very constant for 2 years now. MIght be also true no question
But i think i noticed sometimes the tendency when i join for example with my 1600 1000+ games that i get 3 position fails in a 4v4 and i simply even winning my position easy cant win vs 3 lost positions in such a game (very extreme example). And please thats really no complain i know it sounds like but i just wanna know if that thought is correct or not.

[Blodir]

Trust me your rating is far from the point where it's not possible to carry your team alone most games.

Btw I kinda agree with codepants, <0 rating should just appear as 0 - or even better, don't show rating at all for players with <15 (or so) games played

[quark036]

I agree with codepants, but Iszh, I don't think the goal is to give everyone a 50% winrate, I think the goal is to give each team overall a roughly even chance of winning, so that it depends on how well they play to decide who wins.

[Misaniovent]

Win games. I care a lot more about your total number of games than your rating, though. That said...if your rating is 400 and you've played hundreds of games, something's up.

[i-like-renegade]

I just keep getting kicked from games that say all welcome.

I just want to play :'(