All competitive video games are plagued by the same issues: cheating, smurfing, and quitting, andMarvel Rivalsis no different. Recent updates by its developer, NetEase Games, are trying to solve some of these problems by making iteasier for players to report in-game issues, most specifically quitting mid-match. These changes are good in theory, but in conjunction with technical issues that affect most players and a lack of response to these issues from NetEase, this update might cause more harm than good.
Quitting is one of the most frustrating things a player can do in a competitive game. Since team composition is so important inMarvel Rivals,with several key roles to fill across six players,quitting gives the team a huge disadvantage and ruins games for everyone. In the Competitive mode, quitting early on in a game will end the match entirely, but leaving near the end allows the match to continue. While it is a good thing to punish quitters,Marvel Rivalsmight inadvertently be creating an even more frustrating experience for players who experience game crashes.
You Can Now Report Leavers & Quitters In Marvel Rivals
Leaving Mid-Match Can Ruin The Game For Everyone Else
Three full months after it launched in December 2024,Marvel Rivalshas finally added the option to report quitters while players are still mid-match. The version 20250307 patch notes, available on the officialMarvel Rivalswebsite, included this optimization change alongside voice enhancement for microphones.
With the update, players don’t have to navigate an annoying menu to find players from previous matches in order to report them. Instead, they can report the player right away during the match, which should hopefully help make the overallMarvel Rivalsexperience better. Like other comp titles, quitters will likely be punished with a short timeout.
Reporting Quitters Is A Step In The Right Direction
A Short Timeout Is The Best Solution
Being able to report players who make matches worse by quitting isobviously the correct course of action forMarvel Rivals. Allcompetitive online gameslikeMarvel Rivals, includingApex Legends, VALORANT,andFortnite,deal with the same issues. Balancing ranked gameplay, preventing smurfing, and fighting cheaters who use aimbots or wall hacks are all common issues, and quitting mid-match is chief among the frustrations. Players who decide they’ve had enough and quit, often due to their own poor gameplay, make a match worse for everyone by giving their team a numbers disadvantage.
Marvel Rivals' Crashes & Disconnects Are Ruining The Game
If players disconnect during a match in Marvel Rivals, they have a short time to return, making it cumbersome due to the increased disconnection issue
Punishing players who quit by giving thema short temporary ban is the best way to stop quitters. Not being able to immediately jump into another match after quitting makes flaky players more likely to stick it out for the duration of the match. Another benefit is that a temp ban on requeueing gives angry players the chance to reevaluate their performance and reflect on being a better teammate, assuming they’ll actually take advantage of this opportunity. There’s only one problem with punishing quitters, and it’s that not everyone who quits does so willingly.
Crashes Are Still An Issue NetEase Must Address
Punishment For Leaving Might Hurt Innocent Players
The main problem with being able to punish quitters and leavers inMarvel Rivalsis thatnot every person who leaves a match is doing it on purpose.Crashing is an all-too-common problemforMarvel Rivalsplayers, a game thatrequires a lot out of a gaming PC, and loading back into a match practically never happens. Due to the many, many loading screens that play when launching, any player who tries to rejoin the match they were forced out of will likely be unable to.
10 Glaringly Obvious Team-Ups Marvel Rivals Needs To Add ASAP
With all the relationships in comics, there are still plenty of obvious team up abilities NetEase can add to the existing cast of Marvel Rivals.
Since NetEase hasn’t addressed this issue yet,adding a way to report quitters might cause problems for innocent players. Having a game crash mid-match and being temporarily banned upon reloading the game would be an incredibly frustrating experience when players “quit” a match through no fault of their own. One solution to this problem could be to add an indicator that a teammate left a game through technical issues rather than on purpose.
Games likeApex LegendsandHelldivers 2, for example, have a symbol of a red disconnected plug to indicate server issues.Adding a symbol like this next to a player’s name when they’ve crashed could solve the reporting issue. Of course, this solution would only be viable ifMarvel Rivalsis able to tell when a player has quit on purpose and when they’ve crashed.
