Honestly I don't mind not knowing my opponents rank because I play to win regardless of my match up, but it does take some of excitement out of getting matched with someone of a higher rank than you, because you know you have an opportunity to jump in rank.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could follow your ladder rank IN GAME?!?! It just feels silly to have to go to a 3rd party site (I love you guys and this site, btw) just to see where you rank among your peers in what is supposed to be a competitive game. I think the COH system worked beautifully, it gave you an idea of your opponents skill level. If you got matched against someone with a higher rank than you, get ready to rumble and give it your best shot. If you got matched against someone lower rank than you, its your balls on the band saw. You lose? Taste the defeat, lose some rank, and let that be your motivation to improve. Having the visual icon in game next to your nameplate on every single game you played made it actually worth something. Now its just whatever. The vCoh system was much, much better for encouraging competitive play, and I don't think it would discourage casual players either. If Relic was concerned about casual players being turned off by getting ranked against higher level opponents, they could just create a lobby and let people play against whoever they want. I don't even think it would be difficult to implement. I don't understand why they have the current system in place...Relic, I love your games, but you frequently leave me scratching my head.
Right on! In CoH1 there was more to lose than just your winning streak and ladder position... I really dont understand why people think the CoH1 rank was a bad idea.