The dumb down of this game was very subtle and happened over years and multiple installments it damn sure wasn't over night. it wouldn't even be noticeable to someone new to the franchise or who came in around t7... The shyt actually dumbed me down as a player too, its more than me just getting older. in this tekken getting to the gold ranks means you 50-50d your way through the ranks a little better than others. and yes it gets harder the higher get up there because its more pro players and tier whores. its especially nasty once you hit Tekken God especially if you got there within that 1st 3 to 5 months.. The really good players are DEEP into God of Destruction Ranks with 250k points and higher
but you should feel good if you made it to gold ranks as a new player and of course it takes effort but I didn't have an enjoyable experience ranking with my main.. I'm almost embarrased at the way I had to play and the amount of cheese I had to use to get Asuka to God of destruction
this game forces you to play like a damn scrub and thats really my beef. Scrub play has been rewarded and turned into the meta.. I promise you this game and t7 was designed to help sorry nikkas and new people to the franchise to be able to compete with experienced players especially in ranked you just had to have really been around for awhile to see the full scope..
(speaking of ranked, This is the only rank system I have ever seen where when you get a demotion, the very next match is a promotion you lose your demotion match and win the promo match and you get pushed way farther in rank than you would if you had won your demo match)