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I'm going clarify a few rumors and assumptions that are being made about how PSR works and what the different Tiers are achieved. This is going to require a few graphics so bear with my hasty sketches (don't have time to do the blackboard w/ Prof. Dakka)
Clarification 1: How many Tiers are there and what do they mean?
There are 5 Tiers. Tier 1 being the highest rated players and Tier 5 being the lowest. These are RATINGS that are calculated from your past matches in terms of team play. Tiers are NOT a RANK. You do not rank your way up in Tiers.
Clarification 2: The more games you play the higher Tier you're going to get.
That's partly true. The more games you play, the better you should become. The better you become, the higher your match scores will be. But you will plateau somewhere. Our top players have hit the PSR point ceiling. Even at that level their PSR values bounce up and down off the ceiling. They may go down 1 point on a loss but spring back up on their next victory.
Because matches are based on Tiers, we're trying to make sure that you are playing against people who are around the same level of skill. That being said, breaking into Tier 1 is just a way for us to make sure you never play anyone in tier 4 or 5. Anyone who has a slightly positive Win/Loss ratio should eventually end up in Tier 1 if they are consistent in their play and match performance.
If we were to turn off new player registration/sign-up and just let the current player base play on forever, eventually everyone will bubble up to Tier 2 or Tier 1. That's because with experience comes better player skill. There would still be people in lower Tiers, it's just that that pool of players would be smaller than top Tier players. Lower tier players would end up being those who refuse to adjust to their team's dynamics and play a 1 trick pony type of gameplay.
Clarification 3: PSR changes are biased to make everyone move up.
There is a SLIGHT bit of truth here. That bit is the fact that if you perform VERY well during a match but you still lose, you have the potential of moving up a PSR point.
In the chart above, you can see that winning is the key to move UP in PSR. Your match score determines HOW FAR you move up (or down in case of a loss). As I mentioned above, there is one difference in that getting a very high match score but you and your team lose the match, will still result in a small climb in PSR.
Clarification 4: I can jump from Tier 4 to Tier 3 in my first match on a new account.
That's true, you can. This is because we want to seed new players faster. Much like the cadet C-Bill bonus, we have a multiplier for the first few matches a new player plays. This multiplier degrades over a set number of matches until it drops to standard PSR point changes.
Clarification 5: My low Tier means I'm a horrible player.
That really isn't the case. It's more along the lines of: you are not playing in a team based mind set. Remember, PSR calculations reward team play more than 'Rambo' or 'I'm the hero and will carry my team to victory' play styles. Being in Tier 4/5 means you can now adjust your game play to become more aware of what your team is doing as a whole and working together to get a victory. If you see your PSR progress bar move up, you will know you're getting better at this. Players in Tiers 3/2/1 all have the basics down and the higher the Tier, the more small/micro adjustments these players have made to maximize their ability to play as a team and adjust accordingly.
For example, getting the kill shot has a certain point value assigned to it. This point value is not very high. IF you get a kill shot but also deal the most damage to that target (This is the in-game mini-achievement "Kill Most Damage"), you get much higher points. If you get a solo kill (you did all the damage plus got the kill shot), you get even more points than the previous two.
Another example, if you spot a target and start doing damage and eventually you AND your teammates kill the targeted 'Mech, you are getting points for target assist, kill assist, spotting assist etc which will add up to about the same as a "Kill Most Damage". Add TAG/Narc bonuses to that and you'll be getting the same as a Solo Kill.
The key about the above two examples is that helping/assisting your team is just as valuable in match score (in some cases higher value) as someone doing heavy damage and getting kills. If you want to increase your PSR, start playing as a team. Help your team, hit R and be situationally aware of what's going on on the battle field as well as the mini-map.
I know this clarification doesn't cover everything, but as we've stated before: exact numbers and formulas will be kept internal.
