Why is it so difficult Ranking up from Bronze to Crystal

[Loggos]

I find this point more agreeable than population and time invested. Yes, every rank should be rewarded.
It's a specific reward which OP wants, which is commendation crystals, which are used for glowing weapons and the feast glamour. Right now those are deemed as "prestige" as getting a Diamond/Crystal portrait background, proof of your personal progress.
If I understand you right, you're talking about a generalized, more rewarding system, which doesn't specifically have to be commendation crystals. And when I take a closer look, I suppose the reward from Bronze to Crystal is just a portrait background, basically a "all I got was this stupid tshirt" deal
If there was another reward glamour for reaching at least Bronze to Platinum, would that also be satisfactory? Or does it HAVE to be commendation crystals?
I guess the point I'm trying to make is, if all rewards can be reached through any rank, is it really motivation to climb or continue playing?
Or maybe the "ultimate" reward just be the Diamond/Crystal background, and glamour should stay accessible to everyone?
This is sort of why I brought up Ultimate weapons. Perhaps the weapons can be more easily achieved, but the legend titles go to those that made that end goal.

I think another fair point is that it takes months for a season to finish, which means months until you can receive your reward, and this is really unacceptable for a monthly subscription game. You should be able to receive your reward as soon as you get the rank.

Ah ok, then I understand your point better now. Thank you for clarifying!

I cannot speak for others of course, but personally I think as long as there is any satisfying/truly motivating prize that rewards the principle of progress/your journey it would be good.
Because you're right, my point is that the current reward structure doesn't work for new and lower-rank players in my opinion.

(The rest of my reply is so long, I put it under the spoiler thingy to be less obstructive.)

I think some long(er)-term goal that keeps you playing even at lower ranks but that is still reasonable to achieve is needed.

It's correct that you only get a portrait frame and tbh I just don't think this incentivises anybody to play (in fact I guess for many people decorating your portrait with a bronze frame would probably feel like inviting others to point at you and laugh that "you didnt even make it out of bronze").

I can understand other people's point with the glamour sets though (I think a user discussed this in another thread) because tbh for most people glam is probably the only really valuable reward outside of meta weapons/gear.

Whereas I think it's fine if some extra effects like weapon glows are reserved for the crème de la crème I can also see why fashion rewards in a broader sense being impossible to get is more frustrating for non-crystal players.

I know this circles back to the fundamental debate whether cosmetic rewards (in a game with character customisation as an important aspect) should be tied to top performance or not (welcome back, chaotic raid discourse - at least you could buy the hair from the market board which doesn't apply to PvP rewards). It also begs the question how far you can stretch this (should mounts not be tied to performance since they're basically transportation cosmetics? How about minions and furniture? etc.).

And then of course casual players could also say "hey, I want that glam but I don't want to play ranked. So cosmetics should not be tied to your ranked progress".

I can't give a satisfying answer to all that (dodging this issue like I dodge the crystal in CC).
But I think
1. there can be a middle ground between "cosmetic" and "top performance" rewards, e.g., cosmetic rewards that very specifically communicate "performance" (titles, trophies, medals, a big victory belt that matches the bag you bought in an earth kingdom boutique)
and
2. cosmetics for some performance are still a perfectly fine reward. If the whole system for a long-term, progress-based ranked reward structure is based on putting in effort (as opposed to results only) then it means everyone can get them (in a reasonable time frame) while also rewarding good performance because you'll get them faster.

My guess is that the current topic about commendation crystals might also have a lot to do with the fact that this simply is SE's current reward structure. And the chance that they will fundamentally change it is lower than just slightly adjusting what they already have.
So instead of asking for them to rethink the system more thoroughly, making commendation crystals more accessible might be a more realistic fix.

This is also made more complicated by the fact that we already have several cosmetic rewards in PvP via trophy crystals and the battle pass, and a third avenue to get glams (via playing ranked) might feel too convoluted for SE.

But I still think that high-quality cosmetic rewards (incl. mounts, minions, hair styles, furniture and emotes) is where it's at if you want to reward long-term/loyal participation in ranked. Because in my opinion those are the kinds of rewards that draw in players the most.

So I'd make:
1) glams for all (casuals/ranked) via trophy crystals, as we have them now
2) long-term participation cosmetics for ranked CC (fashion, hair, emotes, mounts, minions, housing items, some universal/funny non-champion titles)
3) "Champion" rewards (cosmetic and/or otherwise) via collecting (something like) commendation crystals that very specifically showcase high performance

4) battle pass for all I guess (I'm not a fan of the whole fomo business but I don't see SE axing it for something better)

[Stormfur]

And I wasn't even mentioning that you are locked out of even ranking up during the season if you dont play at the right time.
But you can ALWAYS do an Ultimate as long as you find a group of players willing to do the content.

I'm going to add to this that, when you do an Ultimate, you can strategize with your party. You can keep practicing until you get it. Imagine if Ultimates were done like CC:

"Okay guys, you've got 3 weeks to get this weapon. We're going to pair you up with random people, some of whom may never have set foot in an Ultimate in their lives. Also all your skills are different. Oh and no potions or food. You can't chat either except for these five pre-selected commands. Also if you're not one of the first 300 people on the server to clear it, you don't get squat and those weapons will never be made available again."

People. would. lose. their. MINDS.

I understand PVP is a different beast but you can still make a mode competitive without turning the suffering knob up to 11.

[TimotheusReed]

I'm going to add to this that, when you do an Ultimate, you can strategize with your party. You can keep practicing until you get it. Imagine if Ultimates were done like CC:

"Okay guys, you've got 3 weeks to get this weapon. We're going to pair you up with random people, some of whom may never have set foot in an Ultimate in their lives. Also all your skills are different. Oh and no potions or food. You can't chat either except for these five pre-selected commands. Also if you're not one of the first 300 people on the server to clear it, you don't get squat and those weapons will never be made available again."

People. would. lose. their. MINDS.

I understand PVP is a different beast but you can still make a mode competitive without turning the suffering knob up to 11.

Completely agree. Nothing more to add to this from my side.

But how do we make SE aware? Do they know?
Do they simply ignore EU feedback? What do we have to do to be recognized?

[Stormfur]

Completely agree. Nothing more to add to this from my side.

But how do we make SE aware? Do they know?
Do they simply ignore EU feedback? What do we have to do to be recognized?

That's the million-dollar question. I made a post here: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...81%84%E3%80%82 (hopefully the link shows right, it's on the japanese PVP forums)

[Valence]

I have translated that post on my end and barring any oddities in translation, I fundamentally disagree with the takes found there. People are blaming the system for not progressing or not being able to reach their peak again?

[Stormfur]

The system IS broken. 30+ people read that post and said "Yes, something needs to change."
We can agree to disagree.

[Valence]

Not disagreeing that the ladder is not a great design, but if you think it's because of the system you're not climbing, you're entitled and delusional in my opinion. Odds are you're just rusty and need to get back into it. Or work on consistency. Peaks are also peaks and not an average, people need to stop seeing them as the rank that corresponds to their skill, and more like personal records.

Like, I'm not reaching Omega this season, should I blame the system because last season I did so in all logic I should be able to this season? No, I should just play more, try harder, and improve my own play. There is no secret there, else why do you think the same people are always in Ultima if the system is broken? Shouldn't they also have the same issues than you do? If not then why are they achieving this in twice less victories then all of us?

Like for real, people in the pvp community need to stop coping and trying to find excuses, if you're not climbing, then you need to humble yourself and start looking at what you could be doing better. It's the same in every pvp game and there is no secret about it. It's a mentality issue, if you're not ready to accept that, you'll not be able to achieve the results you're after.

If anything the system is broken but in reverse of what people are saying: it pushes people way too high for their skill level, they end up in diamond or crystal in their first season because they have decent skills, and then they immediately drop down back to diam4 or even plat because they're not consistent and they peaked there precisely because of the system, that shouldn't have let them that high in the first place. Same thing happens with all the gold players that streak into plat, then get stuck at the bottom of plat4 because they didn't acquire the skills required to be there.

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh and unfair, but that's the cold truth.

[Stormfur]

I’m not blaming the system because I “can’t climb.” I’ve hit high ranks before and I’m fully aware that personal performance matters.

What I’m pointing out (and what a lot of people here seem to agree with) is that this ladder has structural issues that make consistency harder than it needs to be, especially with matchmaking volatility, streak dependency, and MMR swings.

Saying “just improve” doesn’t address that. Both things can be true at the same time: players should work on their play AND the system can be flawed.

Also, using the same handful of top players as proof the system is fine isn’t very convincing. The fact that exceptional players can brute-force it doesn’t mean it works well for the rest of the ladder.

Critiquing design doesn't equal refusing accountability. I’m doing both.

[Valence]

I'm not saying the system is fine, we do agree it has serious shortcomings.

[Gavrenon]

For me, it's climbing to and staying in the top 300 that grinds my gears. When you can get 9-15 losses in a row, while consistently doing the best in the team in terms of damage/damage taken ratio, crystal uptime etc and your teammates are similar rank but nowhere near your performance, it's demoralising.

I just wish the playerbase didn't have such a huge skill gap across Diamond, Omega and Ultima. Every match becomes, can I carry 4 other people, instead of can we work well as a team?