Maintenance for the week of September 15:
• [IN PROGRESS] PC/Mac: NA and EU megaservers for patch maintenance – September 15, 4:00AM EDT (8:00 UTC) - 9:00AM EDT (13:00 UTC)
· Xbox: NA and EU megaservers for patch maintenance – September 16, 6:00AM EDT (10:00 UTC) - 12:00PM EDT (16:00 UTC)
· PlayStation®: NA and EU megaservers for patch maintenance – September 16, 6:00AM EDT (10:00 UTC) - 12:00PM EDT (16:00 UTC)
Allow playing any ranked NPCs with higher rank points awarded as a result
There is already some "continuity" in-game as proficient NPCs are playing novice ones, but refuse to play you (as a novice) until you rank up.

I'd understand if it were easier to rank up quickly, but I figure I have played (and won most of) 35+ PvP and NPC matches, understand the game, and think the novice NPCs are too easy but cannot yet play the proficient ones...