I don't think the argument was that teamwork and the ranking and unlock system are mutually exclusive. Nobody said that. If somebody said that, then they were being foolish. It's clear that one does not necessitate the absence of the other. But, to shove this conclusion in the mouths of those who dislike the ranking sytem would be the strawman fallacy. That's the fallacy of attributing an absurd position to your dialectic opponent and thus concluding that he or she is wrong.

No, nobody with the least bit of intelligence has made that argument. That argument that's been made, and seems plausible to me given all the empirical evidence we have, is that a ranking system is detrimental to teamwork. To say that one thing is detrimental to another is not to say they are incompatible. Eating lots of sweets is detrimental to cavity-free teeth, but it's possible that one can eat lots of sweets and be cavity free. What we've seen is that on ranked servers, there is little if any teamwork. Why is this? The plausible hypothesis is that many players are just concerned with getting their points and not with working as a team. Again, let me pound this in: that's not to say that teamwork and getting points are incompatible. That's not to say one cannot do both at the same time. But, if you are primarily concerned with your points, then sitting back on defense with your squad protecting a back base isn't the best way to get them.

It's not just that the hypothesis is plausible. It's that we have a good amount of evidence that this is the case. Look on any ranked pub server. They're a mess to say the least. Yes, it's true there's some amount of teamwork on them. Some have more than others. But, let me repeat again, nobody ever said that it is impossible for teamwork to coexist with a ranking system.

So, while you guys don't understand why teamwork and a ranking system cannot coexist, so does everyone else. What others have said is that a ranking system is detrimental to teamwork. Let's be crystal clear about this. That's not to say any individual player cannot like both teamwork and a ranking system. That's not to say a community cannot like both teamwork and a ranking system. That's not to say a group of people cannot have a round with both teamwork and a ranking system. That is to say, in general, a ranking system will influence players to be more concerned with their own points rather than team work. This is just a specific example of the plausible general principle that people are interested more so in their own goals rather than in group goals. That's how people are. There's nothing right or wrong about that. A ranking system generally measures personal goals while teamwork is a measure of group goals. So, a ranking system pits the two against each other, in general. One more time: that's not to say the two are mutually exclusive or incompatible or contradictory. Nobody said that.