Why Everyone Hates VALORANT

Summary

This video explores the decline in Valerant’s player engagement, arguing that the core issue is social rather than technical. The creator highlights problems like poor ranked incentives, stale agent metas, stream sniping, and underutilized systems like Premiere. Emphasizing psychology and childhood development of play, the video explains how anonymity and lack of social accountability reduce player motivation. Suggested solutions include better rewards, agent bans, trio queues, creative custom game tools, and community-driven tournaments. Ultimately, the message is clear: Riot needs to experiment, foster social accountability, and inject fresh, meaningful incentives to revive competition and engagement in Valerant.

Takeaways

• 😀 Valorant's player base is declining, with fewer high-rank players and many creators quitting.
• 😀 Toxicity, weak mentalities, and lack of motivation to win have increased, largely due to online social dynamics.
• 😀 Childhood play builds social and moral structures; missing these can negatively impact online competitive behavior.
• 😀 The ranked system is frustrating due to slow hidden MMR scaling, repetitive rewards, and poor RR gain/loss balance.
• 😀 Meaningful ranked rewards, such as customizable skins or titles, would incentivize players to try harder.
• 😀 Stream sniping and exploitability of streamer mode remain major issues and require stricter penalties and anonymity protections.
• 😀 Agent install-locking creates stale meta; a hover-lock system and optional agent bans could improve team diversity.
• 😀 Premiere tournaments are underutilized; community-driven and creative tournament formats could engage a wider audience.
• 😀 Robust custom game tools could allow player-generated content, enhancing community engagement and creating new experiences.
• 😀 Trio Q restrictions in high-rank play reduce social cohesion and team quality; reintroducing Trio Q would improve gameplay.
• 😀 Overall, most problems in Valorant are social rather than technical; solutions should focus on incentives, accountability, and community experimentation.

Q & A

What is identified as the main problem in competitive gaming according to the transcript?

The main problem is primarily social. Poor behavior, lack of accountability, and decreased willingness to try are central issues in online competitive games like Valerant.

How does the ranked system in Valerant fail players, especially at higher ranks?

The hidden MMR scales too slowly, RR gains and losses are not proportionate to individual performance, and Radiant rank often discourages continued effort. High-rank players can feel unincentivized to try, and progression can feel meaningless.

Why does the speaker believe childhood play is relevant to online gaming behavior?

Childhood play teaches social and moral structures. Players who did not fully develop these structures may struggle with teamwork, persistence, and fair play in online environments, leading to a decline in cooperative behavior.

What are some proposed solutions to improve ranked rewards and progression?

Suggestions include increasing RR gains for good performance, scaling losses for poor performance, providing unique and flexible rewards (like Vandal skins tied to final rank), and giving players meaningful incentives to try hard in each match.

How does stream sniping affect the competitive experience, and what solutions are suggested?

Stream sniping gives players an unfair advantage and reduces overall competitiveness. Solutions include stronger penalties for offenders, randomizable in-game identifiers, multiple name changes, and improved anti-abuse measures in streamer mode.

What is the issue with agent selection and install-locking, and how can it be improved?

Install-locking leads to stale and unbalanced team compositions. A hover-first system, similar to Overwatch, would allow players to see and select agents in order, preventing multiple players from locking the same role and promoting fairer team composition.

Why is the Premiere tournament system underutilized, and what improvements are suggested?

Most players lack pro-level ambitions, so Premiere is not engaging for them. Suggestions include hosting community-driven tournaments, wacky or fun rule sets, and rewards for top-performing teams to make it competitive yet accessible.

How could custom game tools enhance Valerant's community and content?

Custom game tools, map makers, and creative modes would allow players to generate new content independently. This could create infinite gameplay variety, foster community engagement, and reduce the burden on developers to create seasonal or novelty content.

What are the issues with duo-only queueing at high ranks, and what is suggested?

Duo-only queues can lead to poor solo player experiences, as a single player can negatively impact the game without social repercussions. Allowing trio queues in Immortal+ and Radiant could improve team balance, gameplay quality, and social accountability.

What is the overarching recommendation for Riot to improve Valerant?

The key recommendation is to experiment and 'give the game a pulse.' This includes innovating in ranked systems, rewards, anti-cheat measures, social accountability, and custom content to motivate players to try, engage, and enjoy the game.

How does the current ranked RR system unintentionally reward or punish players?

Inconsistent players in lower ranks are not punished proportionately, while high-rank players can gain minimal RR for exceptional performance and lose little for poor performance. This reduces motivation to perform consistently and can frustrate serious players.

What is the role of social accountability in encouraging fair play?

Social accountability, such as playing with known teammates or streaming to an audience, motivates players to behave fairly. Lack of social consequences in random matchmaking encourages poor behavior like throwing games or install-locking.