u/jessieS1212

Hear me out. I know it sounds counterintuitive for a team-based game to limit team-up options, but unrestricted 3-stacking is becoming toxic for the long-term health of The Finals. This isn't just a "hot take", it’s a path several major competitive titles have already taken to solve the exact same "stacking" issue we’re seeing here. League, Valorant, Dota, and now Apex, have all had to implement restrictions because, eventually, the leaderboard stops being a "who is the best player" list and starts becoming a "who has the best friends" list.

In a 3-stack, teams often default to a single "optimal" meta-composition and never swap. When you queue alone, you are forced to master every class and gadget to compensate for your random teammates. A SoloQ Diamond player should be able to have other top-tier players as teammates instead of constantly getting stomped by them just because they don't have a consistent group of friends to play with.

This change would immediately address the boosting issue. Trash players getting carried into ranks they don't belong in by their no-life friends. Without the safety net of a 3-stack, these players will naturally fall to the rank that reflects their actual skill level. Furthermore, it slows down smurfs who stacking to ruin the experience for everyone else in the lobby.

While a total SoloQ environment would be most effective, a middle ground like "Duo Queue" could work. However, even in DuoQ, the "third wheel" random is often ignored or treated as an afterthought (i had my fair share of DouQ teammates). Pure SoloQ ensures everyone is on a level playing field.

Queue times would see a massive improvement. Currently, the game struggles to prioritize 3-stack vs. 3-stack, which often leads to "rank disparity" where a high-tier stack gets thrown into a lobby of golds and platinums just to fill the game because the player count is so low. Removing the 3-stack requirement allows the system to prioritize skill-matching over party-matching.

To all the "3-stack chads" getting ready to comment: think about it. You might enjoy stomping through gold lobbies, but this rank experience is making the game increasingly more frustrating for the wider player base.

TLDR: Read the post.

​I only play Ranked, so I’m giving my two cents on how to make the experience better, or at least less frustrating. Here are a few changes that I think would actually fix the flow of the game.

​1. INCREASE THE ROUND LENGTH TO 10 MINUTES.

​Right now, the timing on the final boxes is basically a scam. The last two boxes almost always start with 30 seconds or less on the round clock. This means while every other cashout gets a full 2 minutes, the one with the most money gets 90 seconds or less because of how the overtime interacts with the round timer.

​A base 10-minute clock ensures the 5th and 6th boxes have enough time to play out properly. It gives teams enough time to set up and engage properly, instead of just brainlessly sprinting into a gas-filled room because the timer is almost nothing.

​2. 30% WIPE PENALTY FOR THE TEAM IN 1ST PLACE.

​The most frustrating part of Ranked is the 1st place team playing TDM while you're losing your mind trying to secure the cash. Since they’ve already qualified, they just jump into the final fight to grief the teams that actually need the money.

​If you are in 1st place (most cash), a Team Wipe should cost you 30%. We could even make this trigger only when the round reaches a certain point (like the last 2 boxes or the last 3 minutes). This forces people to actually use their brains. If they want to grief or get kills, they have to risk falling to 3rd or 4th place. It also puts a massive target on them, if the 2nd or 3rd place teams can't steal, they can at least target the first team for a wipe and potentially keeping them away from the last cashout.

​3. DYNAMIC RESPAWN TIMER

​We’ve all been there, you have 2 seconds left on your individual timer, then your last teammate decides to 1v3, dies, and suddenly you’re spectating for another 30 seconds.

​If you die first, your respawn timer should accelerate by 20% the moment a second teammate dies. Instead of watching a "spectator simulator" for a full minute because the last guy wanted to be a hero, let us coin in faster so we can actually play the game.

​I’m pretty confident the first two would make ranked less frustrating. Not sure if the third is too strong, but something needs to change. Thoughts?

​I just finished the Appoh video going over the "Comp Player Privileges" in this game (I'm not agreeing with him, referenced it just because of the screenshots he provided/HF), and it’s the final nail in the coffin for my respect for this studio. They aren't developers anymore, they’re running a protection racket for influencers. Between the "Rob situation" and the Arc Raiders dev power-tripping and banning a player just for killing a *GIRL* in game, it’s undeniable that streamers and pros have this studio by the balls.

While the devs are busy bending the knee to every tantrum from a top 500 player, the rest of us are left to rot.If a streamer cries about a weapon, it’s nerfed by monday. If a thousand regular players report something, we get total radio silence.

They don’t give a single damn about the rampant smurfing,griefing and boosting ruining the lower tiers. Why? Because watching a "pro" stomp a bronze lobby makes for "hype content," and griefing only matters when it happens to someone with a checkmark next to their name.(Chicken wasn't big enough to benefit).

The "Pro Player" label has become the ultimate shield for closet cheaters. They hide behind their titles to hand-wave away suspicious snaps and tracking, and the devs look the other way. A fucking "white list" for "trusted players"? Are we serious Embark? What are we talking about here? What are we discussing? (And i saw the reply from Dusty, i just don't believe them anymore)

Any shred of hope i had for this game is slowly going away. I have defended this studio left and right but the more stuff comes out, the more i dislike them. When a studio prioritizes the ego of a streamer over the integrity of the game, they don't deserve a community. Wake the hell up.