Why did Valorant become unplayable?

SuperHori

Hello everyone! This is the first time I’m gathering the courage to post on a forum, so I hope to find some answers or at least similar opinions here. Lately, I’ve noticed an issue that’s extremely frustrating for me, and I’m not sure if I’m the only one feeling this way. Valorant has become increasingly unplayable for me, and it seems like everything has been gradually deteriorating, especially after the rank reset.

To give you some context, before the rank reset, I managed, with a lot of effort and persistence, to reach Silver 3. It wasn’t easy, but I felt like I had found a comfortable place in that rank. However, after the reset, I was downgraded to Bronze 1. Not that this is the biggest problem – I understand that the ranking system has its variables and that recalibration is necessary from time to time. But what really frustrates me is the overall gaming experience after this reset.

How is it possible to encounter players in a lobby who are between levels 150-300, and at the same time, have others who are only level 24? The difference in experience and skill is huge, and this heavily affects the dynamics of the matches. And not just that, but I’ve also started to notice the increasing presence of smurfs and even cheaters. It’s as if every match becomes a lottery, and the chances of actually enjoying the game decrease dramatically.

I seriously wonder if Riot Games is still paying attention to this game that I’ve grown to love so much. Instead of seeing improvements, I see it deteriorating, and the frustration keeps building up. The community online seems to agree – many players are complaining about the same issues, yet Riot seems to remain inactive in addressing these situations.

And now, about Voice Chat... It’s incredible how many toxic players you can encounter in a single match. You can report their behavior countless times, but it feels like nothing ever happens. I’m curious if you’re having the same experience because at least on the Paris server, the situation is downright tragic.

What do you think about all these aspects? Am I just too frustrated, or is there a serious problem with Valorant right now? I’m looking forward to your thoughts and hope we can find a solution together or at least a way to cope with these issues.

sOtt

What can I say. I come to writte same thing, but I see already have the post about this game. Valorant going down, ban system not working. Bronze, silver rank it's more harder rise up than platinum or diamond. Toxic players every match. In the next 5 years this game will be dead

AshLipscomb

Yeah it’s a big problem I think it feels so bad on console and pc I’ve played both and my games feel like either u pop off or do nothing and ur dead every round and toxic ppl are everywhere this game is going to die if they give it the overwatch treatment

brokengame

yeah this game is either broken or they just randomly chose accounts that will not have good experience on the matchmaking.
I am Silver and whenever I do solo queque on either unrated or competitive match, I always ended up in an disadvantage team like :

one of my teamate is afk, and the other refuse to remake.
typical reyna/jett instalock who lurk 24/7 and refuse to make an entry.
enemy team is smurfing. I mean like what you mentioned earlier, level 24 and dropped like 40+ kills on Silver lobby.
teamate who can't cooperate and keep repeating the same mistake over and over again.
kept dying on bad luck (my teamate stands in front of me yet I'm the one who's dead.

These things happened ALMOST ON EVERY MATCH, like for the last 2 years (ever since ascendant rank came out i think?). It's like, a genuine good game can only occur once on every 10 match.
I even stopped playing on competitive match, but guess what, still happens in unrated match. It's like either my account got cursed, or some riot employee just doesn't like me that much.

NitemareVT

yuuuuppp my match history is nothing but red with 1 thing of green sprinkled in here and there. Nothing but headshot demons, cheaters, smerfs or trolls i cannot catch a break. Last game I played i had a 3 stack of middle schoolers just screaming at each other just random sht then they did the same in txt chat