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As said, the reason straight BV won't work is because of pilot skill and player groups. A good pilot and a bad pilot in the same mech aren't comparable. Similarly, four players working together are not comparable to four seperate players in the same mechs.
So we need to incorporate those things into the Battlevalue system, which I suggest to do like so:
Battlevalue is already well documented in Battletech, transfering the values to MWO shouldn't present a problem, and will give each complete battle-ready mech a final BV score.
A pilot already has four ELO scores (L/M/H/A), these will confer a modifier to their mech's battlevalue. So a pilot with a high ELO score would bring a higher BV to the battlefield compared to a new player in the same mech.
Two players grouping up would add another modifier to their BV. Three players grouping up would get an even higher modifier, etc, all the way up to 11 (or even 12 players).
Using these final BV scores, the matchmaker would try to get both teams as close together as possible. To prevent deadlocks, the longer it takes, the more difference between the teams is allowed. So initially, the goal is a +/- 5% difference, after 15 seconds, this is extended to +/- 10%, etc.
Examples: (modifier values pulled from a hat)
Player 1 is in a Jenner (BV 875). He has been playing for a long time and is good, so his ELO is high. Therefore, he gets a 1.2 ELO modifier for a final BV of 1050
Player 2 is in an Atlas (BV 1897). He is new, so he's in the lowest ELO tier. This gives him a 0.7 ELO modifier, for a final BV of 1327.5
Now player 1 and player 2 group up. Because they're a group of 2, they each get a group modifier of 1.1, for a total BV of:
(875 * 1.2 * 1.1) + (1897 * 0.7 * 1.1) = 2615.69
Players 3, 4, 5 want to run a Hunchback lance. They have similar builds with a basic BV of 1,041
Players 3 and 4 are very skilled, with an ELO modifier of 1.2, player 5 is right at the average: ELO modifier 1.0
Since they're grouped up in a group of 3, they each get an additional BV modifier of 1.2. This puts the final BV of their lance at:
(2 * 1041 * 1.2 * 1.2) + (1041 * 1 * 1.2) = 4247.28
Now they are joined by player 6, who is pretty new and has an ELO modifier of 0.9. He brings the same hunchback.
Since they're now a group of 4, their BV group modifier goes up to 1.4. This puts the final BV of their lance at:
2 * (1041 * 1.2 * 1.4) + (1041 * 1 * 1.4) + (1041 * 0.9 * 1.4) = 6266.82
For comparison: If they each dropped solo, their combined BV would be 4476.3, but because they're working together, they should be able to be nearly 50% more effective.
Conclusion
This would solve the following problems:
- Unbalanced teams, both in drop-weight and in player skill
- Problems balancing differently sized premades. A very large group would either be matched against very good pilots, or against lots of assaults. A large group bringing lots of assaults will spend a long time in the matchmaking queue, or will automatically be matched up against a similarily large group.
Advantages:
- Would allow `non-standard' drops, such as large groups of lights or assaults. This would probably bring longer wait-times for those players, but that's their own problem.
- Would allow multiple pre-mades on each team.
- Would allow any size of pre-made, without making seperate drop-queues.
- Easier matchmaking, as balancing wouldn't have to be on either skill or weight, but can be on both at the same time.
The following values would need to be tested and tweaked for proper balancing:
- ELO score modifiers
- group size modifiers
- Individual BV points for mechs and components, compared to their tabletop values, as weapons behave different in MWO.
PGI, please consider this as a less complex alternative. Don't needlessly limit our options by setting fixed numbers for each class or by limiting group size to two arbitrary numbers.
Regards,
Itsacon.
Edited by Itsacon, 28 February 2014 - 05:25 AM.
