I believe it was in 2019 that Leagues were introduced, presumably as a way to motivate people. My activity level has kept me in the Obsidian League by and large in the years since (I peeked into the Diamond League one week out of curiosity). I believe there used to be 30 people in each League, and the five or six lowest were demoted, while the five highest in Obsidian were promoted. (In lower leagues the 7 highest were promoted.)
The past week, they had suddenly changed this. There were 20 people in the league (I don’t remember if that started earlier or if it was 30 all the way until last week) and everyone from 11 down was demoted. The game kept telling me to hurry so as to not get demoted, but this actually had the opposite effect on me. There was no way I would do more exercises than usual if there was a risk of this pushing someone else into demotion, if there really were people who took this seriously.
The whole thing is pointless, since the exercises are exactly the same regardless of league. If there was some extra content in the highest leagues, it would make a bit of sense to compete for it, but I still wouldn’t since that would ruin the game for others. The only reason I have stayed in the Obsidian League all this time is that it was a good match for my activity level. I couldn’t get demoted if I did my daily exercises or even two of them.
As of an hour ago, I am in the Pearl League, where only the top 4 get promoted (same as Obsidian), while everyone from 13 to 20 is demoted. I am seriously tempted to do less than usual to see how it looks in the Amethyst League…
Why this change? My best guess is that the League system was getting top-heavy, with a large portion of the learners in the top Leagues. By rebalancing the Leagues, it may be easier to tell from the League what activity level you belong to. But for me, it may actually cause me to do fewer exercises. I honestly feel bad about pushing people down who make a serious effort but are demoted simply because there isn’t room for them in the League. I don’t really think this was what Duolingo was aiming for, given the nagging to not get demoted. But then again, not everyone has wisdom from Heaven, even though it is free for the asking.