Ranked is a different animal and while it isn't IMPOSSIBLE to succeed as a lone-wolf player, it is more likely that you'd run into good teams in ranked, IMO. Hell, when I play with a full squad I always try to get a couple of ranked matches in. Two good teams facing each other without one team having an unfair host advantage? That's the stuff dreams are made of.
I wouldn't mind a stranded playlist though, as I do often find myself playing solo, but how hard would it be for Epic to increase the likelihood of these new maps showing up in any rotation? Hell, this past weekend I think the "stay Frosty" playlist should have been a Player's Choice Fenix Rising playlist instead, and Stranded should be a permanent addition.
I played against a party of 3 guys last night: I R SPACECAT, I R NiNJACAT and I R something-or-otherCAT. Anyway, they were good. They had to have been communicating and I'm pretty sure they went into every game with a strict and effective gameplan. Their ranks ranged from 50-85.
And look, it was glorious. Their game escalated my game and before long, I was playing some of the best Gears I ever have. The only downside to this, is that if you have even one weak link in your team, the game can turn into an excercise in futility and frustration. This time, my team was competent enough to put up a good fight, but there was that one person who goes 1 and 9 or something and you can't help but feel completely dejected.
If Ranked is like that the majority of the time, I'd probably have a coronary due to just how high-energy everything is.
I ended up leaving and whaddaya know? My controls feel like they've been dipped in cement for every subsequent game. God, I hate it when you just lose your mojo and it feels as if you're aiming/moving at a snail's pace.
EDIT: This was QM TDM, by the way.
