5
So, I've come to a point where my assault Elo makes the majority of assault 'mechs I can play unfun. Almost without fail (and especially as it gets later), I'm paired with super angry players. SJR and Lords are all over the place, and a single mistake usually means death.
That's not the problem; in fact, whenever I'm in my 733C or 732, they're the only people I want to play against. I love trying to out-poptart the best snipers. Killing Jager, Siri, Villz, or Mav gives me a sense of satisfaction that can't be matched by the howls of 1000 dead scrubs.
The problem is when I trot out the Pretty Baby. Or any other Awesome. Or a brawler. Life instantly becomes ****** as I cower behind a rock, waiting for my chance to do some good. Two minutes later, six of my guys got smoked, and it's over.
I cannot, and will never be able to, affect matches to the same degree in my Pretty Baby as my 733C. Even my 733P running a cheese-free loadout isn't even in the same ballpark in terms of effectiveness.
This basically just makes me not play a lot of my 'mechs anymore (particularly Awesomes =[). Not only is it unfun to lose with near certainty, but I also don't want to crash my Elo down to where I don't get to play the fun people anymore.
The Solution
While I understand that splitting Elo ratings based on weight class is better than nothing, it's also not nearly as good or granular as it needs to be. Having said that, having a different Elo for each chassis or variant without any special work would be a matchmaking disaster since most people don't have a statistically significant number of matches (making it much more randomized than now). Here's my proposal for how to fix that:
- Each variant has its own Elo rating. If a variant does not have a significant number of matches (probably around 50), it uses its base chassis' aggregate Elo rating.
- Each chassis has an aggregate rating that is calculated by averaging all its variants' Elo ratings. If a chassis does not have a significant number of matches, it uses its weight class' aggregate rating.
- Each weight class has an aggregate rating that is calculated by averaging all appropriate aggregate chassis Elo ratings.
- Unplayed variants do not receive a rating until their first match, at which point they are assigned their parent tier's aggregate rating as a starting point.
- Just like now, each weight class is assigned a default value for newbies (and thus the very first variant they play gets that default rating).
- Poemless Bill signs up for an account and buys his first 'mech: an Awesome 8Q. I don't remember what new player Elo is currently, so I'll just use 1200 as the example.
- Poemless Bill has a tough time adjusting to the game and scrapes to the end of the Basic efficiencies (25 matches) with an 1100 Elo for his AWS-8Q. Though he doesn't have 50 matches yet, his overall assault Elo rating is also at 1100 because that's the only rating there is to average - no other 'mechs have been played.
- Bill buys another Awesome: the 9M. It receives 1100 as a starting Elo (the assault aggregate Elo). He ******* loves this 'mech, so he does better and pulls his Elo up to 1500 in his first 25 matches with that variant. Keep in mind that the matchmaker still isn't trying to match the 9M at its own rating - because there aren't statistically significant number of matches for that variant or chassis, it's using the assault aggregate Elo (which rose from 1100 to around 1300 through the course of playing the 9M).
- Now that 50 matches have been played, the Awesome chassis has enough matches to have its own rating. Regardless of how much catastrophic failure ensues in any other assault 'mechs, the Awesome's Elo rating will not be affected.
- Bill has been poptarted one too many times, and buys a 733C in a fit of rage. It gets assigned the assault aggregate Elo (1300), and then he proceeds to cheese his way through the ranks, ending up with a 2300 Elo rating at the end of 50 matches.
- Though the matchmaker has been using the assault aggregate Elo for matches (rising from 1300 to 1800 as the 733C is played), the minute 50 matches has been reached for the 733C, its own rating is used. Because the matchmaker is now putting him in the 2300 range, he has a much harder time climbing through the ranks and can only get to 2400 after another 50 matches. Much like how the Awesome is locked-in an unaffected by all this, the 733C's rating will never be affected by any other chassis or variant after those first 50 matches.
- Bill buys his final Awesome: the Pretty Baby. It is assigned the Awesome aggregate Elo (1300) since the chassis has enough matches to override the assault aggregate Elo. He regrets his purchase immediately and goes on an 18-hour drinking binge that results in a 500 Pretty Baby Elo after 150 matches. After the first 50 matches, the matchmaker stops using the Awesome aggregate Elo and prefers the Pretty Baby's specific Elo (though it will still use the Awesome aggregate Elo for the 8Q and 9M until they, too, have 50 matches).
- His Awesome aggregate Elo is now around 900, and any future awesomes will be assigned that as default and use the aggregate for matchmaking until they hit 50 matches.
- Any other Highlanders that are purchased will be assigned the Highlander aggregate Elo (currently 2400, since there are over 50 matches in the chassis and 733C is the only one owned). Let's say the 733P is next and it was ugly. Its first 100 matches bring the Highlander aggregate Elo down to 1700, which will then be bestowed on any future Highlanders. The 733P's inglorious slide has no effect on the 733C's rating.
- Poemless Bill buys a Stalker 3F. Because no matches have been played in any Stalker, it is assigned the assault aggregate Elo (1300 based on Highlander's 1700 with 200 matches and Awesome's 900 with 200 matches).
I'd greatly appreciate critical feedback. I intend to do a serious write-up later on, and I'd like to get all of the arguments and answers out on the table ahead of time.
TL;DR: I don't want to roll scrubs in my 733C, but I also don't want to die repeatedly to Siri in my 9M. Adding granular capability to the Elo rating system would solve this problem.
