137 replies to this topic

[Hotthedd]

Joseph Mallan, on 14 January 2014 - 07:51 AM, said:

Hasn't drove me off and I am an older player in both years and TiS to this game. What has me going to SWTOR is boredom of having fought the same battle for a year+ now.

Just because you have not become frustrated with the game does not mean that others have not.

Do you not know anyone who has either been too discouraged by the game to invest any time into becoming a good pilot, or any veteran Mechwarriors who have taken long breaks or quit the game altogether due to frustration?

[stjobe]

Joe has a point in the middle of his usual gung-ho; the matchmaker is only concerned with the teams' average Elo, not individual player Elo.
This means that as long as both teams Elo fit the matchmaking algorithm, the match is "balanced" and it's go time.

This has the obvious disadvantage of putting completely new players in the same match as 18-month veterans, and really low-Elo players in the same match as really high-Elo players - as long as the average team Elo is within parameters, it's "balanced".

This system is obviously fatally flawed, and I'm not sure PGI's Hail Mary (tonnage limits on groups) is going to make a lick of difference to that.

They'd probably be better off all around by going with a bracket system and individual Elo scores.

[Noonan]

I have seen this happen the last few times that I dropped. The player base has become so small that ELO does not really function properly with such a small pool of people.

Probably 9 out of 10 of the people that I used to play with have disappeared due to monotony. Those of us that have been holding on are the vast minority and pretty soon MWO may become no longer fiscally feasible.

[Joseph Mallan]

Hotthedd, on 14 January 2014 - 07:58 AM, said:

Just because you have not become frustrated with the game does not mean that others have not.

Do you not know anyone who has either been too discouraged by the game to invest any time into becoming a good pilot, or any veteran Mechwarriors who have taken long breaks or quit the game altogether due to frustration?

To my knowledge it is mostly frustration due to boredom or not being able to drop as a full command. I am here to fight Clanners not Cappies or Militia. I'm frustrated about that. I am frustrated cause there is only a small group of 12 man players and facing the same names drop after drop is boring!

I don't know anyone who quit cause they couldn't handle getting kicked in the groin a few times in the beginning or every few drops cause most folks I know, don't consider themselves Legends of the gaming community.


Sorry St, but I have been this way for for the better part f my 47+ years. I don't wanna change I like having fire and drive!

Edited by Joseph Mallan, 14 January 2014 - 08:17 AM.

[Mister Blastman]

The matchmaker is real bad right now. It reminds me of playing russian roulette.

Edited by Mister Blastman, 14 January 2014 - 08:22 AM.

[Joseph Mallan]

Mister Blastman, on 14 January 2014 - 08:22 AM, said:

The matchmaker is real bad right now. It reminds me of playing russian roulette.

Now that is a game to die for!

[Hotthedd]

Joe, it is usually the new players who quit because they are "consistently kicked in the groin". Although switching to champion trial mechs has probably helped that a little bit, along with the cadet bonus, removal of R&R, removal of knockdowns, and generally going to a more arcade-y feel.

Most veteran players who leave the game do so for the reasons you listed, AS WELL AS the frustration of being placed in lopsided battles (on a consistent basis). If it were just an occasional thing, I do not think it would be the case, but when it happens too much (either way), players tend to believe that the game is broken, and therefore not worth their time.

[Joseph Mallan]

Hotthedd, on 14 January 2014 - 08:24 AM, said:

Joe, it is usually the new players who quit because they are "consistently kicked in the groin". Although switching to champion trial mechs has probably helped that a little bit, along with the cadet bonus, removal of R&R, removal of knockdowns, and generally going to a more arcade-y feel.

Most veteran players who leave the game do so for the reasons you listed, AS WELL AS the frustration of being placed in lopsided battles (on a consistent basis). If it were just an occasional thing, I do not think it would be the case, but when it happens too much (either way), players tend to believe that the game is broken, and therefore not worth their time.

THESE do not help the game in the least.


Well at least the losers are not complaining about the game being unbalanced!

Edited by Joseph Mallan, 14 January 2014 - 08:37 AM.

[Imperius]

It's people getting burn out, and add to that we have had no info since November and we are already half way through January I can't blame people for jumping ship.

What PGI didn't seem to realize is the holidays are spent enjoying things we love. While getting a break from work. They didn't give us info since thanksgiving. (Wish I had vacation that spanned 1 full week after the new year. ) So we spent Dec and New Tears<typo but it fit so I'll leave it.> with not a glimmer of hope. They dropped clans payment packs with zero info.

... Still waiting...

[Mister Blastman]

Imperius, on 14 January 2014 - 08:30 AM, said:

It's people getting burn out, and add to that we have had no info since November and we are already half way through January I can't blame people for jumping ship.

What PGI didn't seem to realize is the holidays are spent enjoying things we love. While getting a break from work. They didn't give us info since thanksgiving. (Wish I had vacation that spanned 1 full week after the new year. ) So we spent Dec and New Tears<typo but it fit so I'll leave it.> with not a glimmer of hope. They dropped clans payment packs with zero info.

... Still waiting...

More like people pissed off. Pissed off at the lack of "aggressive balancing" that ... works. Pissed off at the terrible matchmaker. Pissed off at the broken meta. Pissed off at the lack of CW. And so on...

Most importantly, mad at the balance and matchmaker.

[Joseph Mallan]

Imperius, on 14 January 2014 - 08:30 AM, said:

It's people getting burn out, and add to that we have had no info since November and we are already half way through January I can't blame people for jumping ship.

What PGI didn't seem to realize is the holidays are spent enjoying things we love. While getting a break from work. They didn't give us info since thanksgiving. (Wish I had vacation that spanned 1 full week after the new year. ) So we spent Dec and New Tears<typo but it fit so I'll leave it.> with not a glimmer of hope. They dropped clans payment packs with zero info.

... Still waiting...

Since Septembers Launch we have been "playing" the same thing I Beta Tested with more Mechs and a few new maps. 2 new victory conditions that are the same two conditions with more restrictions... or less depending on your perspective!

Whats to get burned out on?

Edited by Joseph Mallan, 14 January 2014 - 08:35 AM.

[Hotthedd]

Joseph Mallan, on 14 January 2014 - 08:27 AM, said:

THESE do not help the game in the least.

I agree 100%. The point was that INSTEAD of using the tools at their disposal to actually balance matches, (Theory: competitive = fun) they tried a mish mash of things to cater to a certain group.

[Bhael Fire]

Noonan, on 14 January 2014 - 08:14 AM, said:

I have seen this happen the last few times that I dropped. The player base has become so small that ELO does not really function properly with such a small pool of people.

Probably 9 out of 10 of the people that I used to play with have disappeared due to monotony. Those of us that have been holding on are the vast minority and pretty soon MWO may become no longer fiscally feasible.

First off, Elo is a name, not an acronym. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arpad_Elo

Second, there's not a "small pool of people" in this game, as I pointed out before. I rarely see the same people...ever.

Third, if you have a low or high Elo score, you may have longer waits for matches and may frequently see the same people. In MWO, it's lonely at the top AND the bottom.

[fluffypinkbunny]

in my founders hunchback, with my founders tag on, and my mech all painted pritty, I once said I was a new player, played it off too. Topped score that match. Any time somebody says they are a new player, I always try to hunt that person out.

[Joseph Mallan]

Hotthedd, on 14 January 2014 - 08:38 AM, said:

I agree 100%. The point was that INSTEAD of using the tools at their disposal to actually balance matches, (Theory: competitive = fun) they tried a mish mash of things to cater to a certain group.

And THAT group hasn't apparently learned determination and fortitude. I coulda quit the game when I had a Win Loss record of 0/25 but I knew I needed to find out if I sucked r just had to earn my stripes! Here I am a year and a half later and I am a slightly (bearl) above average player who has more fun than not win or lose. I just need to see the game now so I can spend my Founders bought Premium time already!

[Hotthedd]

Bhael Fire, on 14 January 2014 - 08:43 AM, said:

First off, Elo is a name, not an acronym. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arpad_Elo

Second, there's not a &quot;small pool of people&quot; in this game, as I pointed out before. I rarely see the same people...ever.

Third, if you have a low or high Elo score, you may have longer waits for matches and may frequently see the same people. In MWO, it's lonely at the top AND the bottom.

So... what we have ended up with is two games: One of the meat of the bell curve playing each other and one of mixed new players/high Elo players?

Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

Joseph Mallan, on 14 January 2014 - 08:46 AM, said:

And THAT group hasn't apparently learned determination and fortitude. I coulda quit the game when I had a Win Loss record of 0/25 but I knew I needed to find out if I sucked r just had to earn my stripes! Here I am a year and a half later and I am a slightly (bearl) above average player who has more fun than not win or lose. I just need to see the game now so I can spend my Founders bought Premium time already!

I am afraid you are on an island.

lol

[Shlkt]

Quote

the matchmaker is only concerned with the teams' average Elo, not individual player Elo.

AFAIK that is not how the matchmaker works. It uses a constraint system. A game will be assigned an Elo range (e.g. 1000 to 1200), and if you aren't in that range then you're not eligible.

The Elo range might gradually widen as the search takes longer; I'm not sure.

Premades, on the other hand, definitely cause issues; when a noob and a veteran are in the same premade then the matchmaker has no choice but to put them both into the same game even if one or both of them is outside the Elo range. I assume the matchmaker just averages their Elo in that case.

[Abivard]

Fluffy is right, most 'new' players aren't new, Anyone not seeing the same names in drops is someone who doesn't look at the names or can't remember them for more than a minute.

When a game starts to hide info like amount of players, it is because they have something to hide.

[Bhael Fire]

Hotthedd, on 14 January 2014 - 08:48 AM, said:

So... what we have ended up with is two games: One of the meat of the bell curve playing each other and one of mixed new players/high Elo players?

Not exactly. Depending on how many premades are in the queue at any given time, your experience may vary drastically.

MM will try to match you up with the closest Elo scores possible, but sometimes it has to broaden its swath a bit because of a surplus of premade groups.

This whole debate is pointless though, since they have stated they are completely rewriting the matchmaker soon.

[Hotthedd]

Bhael Fire, on 14 January 2014 - 09:03 AM, said:

Not exactly. Depending on how many premades are in the queue at any given time, your experience may vary drastically.

MM will try to match you up with the closest Elo scores possible, but sometimes it has to broaden its swath a bit because of a surplus of premade groups.

This whole debate is pointless though, since they have stated they are completely rewriting the matchmaker soon.

"Soon".

I feel better already.