PUBG's new Ranked Mode is now live for ladder climbing enthusiasts
The ladder has landed
Update 7.2 for ye olde Playerunknown's Battlegrounds has landed hot on the live servers and it's coming with some changes that are likely to rock the boat a bit. Despite PUBG Corp calling them a "controversial topic," non-player AI contestants are dropping in to regular matches. For the extra-competitive players, a new Ranked Mode is replacing the old Survival Title system and is getting its own queue to boot.
Ranked Mode seems to be giving a buff to the legitimacy of PUBG competitive play by making it distinct from unranked matches. Unlike the old Survival Title system, your rank will only be assessed during actual Ranked matches. Makes sense. You'll be judged on your kill count, assists, and your personal placement in the match against 64 other players.
Here's some more of the nitty gritty for those wot are into it: Ranked matches can be played in first-person or third-person matches as teams of one, two, or three players. Ranked play will be on Erangel, Miramar, or Sanhok maps. Sorry, Vikendi. The blue zone speed has been changed to speed up matches but, thank goodness, there are no red zones in Ranked.
I fixated on PUBG's new bots last week when they got added to the test server so you can read a bit more about them there. The long and short is that they're a measure to acclimate newer players to the game so they don't get absolutely thrashed by veterans right off the cuff. Bots can do the basics of running, gunning, and looting but currently can't jump or throw grenades, among other things, so they may be even easier punching bags than intended. As you improve, PUBCorp say the ratio of bots to people in your matches will grow smaller. They won't appear in Ranked Mode though, of course.
As usual, there are more detailed weapon balance changes and other finicky stuff which you can read about in Punkbat's update 7.2 patch notes. Ignore the bit about chucking gas cans though, PUBCorp say that those changes have been pushed back due to an unspecified "usability issue."