Most people are talking about nerfs to Dragoons and other changes however what really isn't being talked about is how Square changed how hard losses hit peoples rating.
They stated as much with the following:
-The degree to which PvP ratings may decrease at the conclusion of a rated match has been adjusted.
At first this may not seem so important, but after playing today it was pretty significant. After getting out of the non-ranked tier where you do not lose rating I played 25 games in total, 15 wins and 10 losses. In previous seasons a well 'balanced' feast according to ratings would have you gain 25 points for a win and 25 points for a loss. With this system I would be at a net positive of 125 points, +375 and - 250, and I would end up at 325 Rating after getting the free 200 rating from getting out of non-tiered.
With the new system however I would only lose 15 points in a normal 'balanced' game and as a result I end up with a net positive 225, +375 and - 150, and I end up at 425 rating for the day instead. That is a 100 point difference which is huge in Feast numbers and with losses hitting much less than before, it is much easier to maintain a higher rating and much less likely for people to experience those crushing days of tanking 300+ points and can actually mean having a winrate less than 50% can still mean you are breaking even, making the losses much more bearable for some.
This change also helps increase the point pool so much faster as previously it mostly grew due to pre bronze tier not deducting points for losses. Now every time someone wins ANYWHERE, the point pool increases by a net positive of 40 points per game. Plus 25 for each player who wins, +100, while the team that loses only loses 15 points per player, -60. Before a 'balanced' match result in -25 per winning player and -25 per losing player, a net +0. While this assumes most games are 'balanced,' this is still a huge difference.
As the season goes forward expect to see people getting higher ranks faster and MUCH more people getting into platinum and diamond than in previous seasons. If you are a gold player who never thought of getting platinum, well your time may be this season. This also includes career bronze, silver and plat players who did not think they had what it takes to get into the next tier. That may have been true for season 1, but that is clearly not true for season 2. I am optimistic that if people have the drive and willpower to get those cool titles and rewards that even gold players might be able to hit diamond themselves if people play enough to make it that way.
This seasons point system favors those who play the most, and it may very well be what makes people not sit on their rating once they get to a certain point. Who needs rating decay when you have a ladder that is basically guaranteed to grow? You can win 38 games with +25 and lose 62 games at -15 and still be positive 20 points. 38% winrate going positive, however slow, still means growth and a threat for those in the top.
I hope you all see this as a good thing like I do, I am pretty excited at the prospect of a feast being active enough to have more than 2-3 diamonds a datacenter and seeing people trying hard to get those nice titles and rewards SE is giving out.
Thank you for reading and post your opinions!