Ok so I’ve had my thinking cap on and pretty sure I’ve come up with a nicer way for the system to work than the current week of waiting and then advancing to the highest game you played (as this could still be flawed and allow people to host who’ve been carried).
The 3 strikes demotion needs to go regardless.
Then the idea is as follows:
Host player levels up 1 tier immediately.
Guest player levels up 1 tier from their current level immediately upon completion of a game of any tier higher than their current tier.
This will add a sense of actual progression and achievement and give people a reason to keep playing instead of cheesing a high rank game then simply waiting until the week is over (which is going to cause a load of it’s own special grief imo). It also makes hosting and guesting both equally attractive options and allows people to tailor their difficulty whilst still getting rewarded.
E.g.
host with h29 hosts a H30 game.
Guest A joins with H10 rank.
Guest B joins with H15 rank.
Game is played and mission successful.
Host levels up to H30 rank immediately.
Guest A levels up to H11 rank immediately.
Guest B levels up to H16 rank immediately.
Weekly timer per player begins at the end of a successful highest havoc level completed mission. If they do not complete a mission of equal or greater rank within that week they get demoted a rank.
Retention is still there but incentive to play is much higher.
Weekly rewards chest can still be a thing and simply given on amount and level of successful missions per week (or set weekly contracts like Melks contracts).
I can see why they have tried to gate higher tier hosting but all they have done is delay it. With my suggested system, people still have to work towards it if not hosting.
