Posted 08 October 2014 - 08:28 AM
How about this for an option... GET RID OF ELO! It's more of a pain than it is a helpful tool. Seriously... randomize. You guys keep talking about fixing ELO, and speeding up matchmaking times based on the 3333 model... stop... no really, STOP. I've been playing for a little less than a year now and the matchmaking system is completely broken. So to actually post something helpful I'll give you a couple of the suggestions I've come up with in my group of friends.
1. Make matchmaking completely random. COMPLETELY RANDOM. Don't base it off of skill, or how you did in the last 20 matches you played, because that punishes players for being good by putting them with people that are god aweful at the game. This essentially pre-determines the victors of the match based on their skill. I know this because this happens to me all the time. I'm consistently a good player scoring around 400-700 damage and 2-4 kills a match regardless of win or lose... that being said, after I've had a good day of winning most matches, the next time I play I'll lose near every match due to teammates who clearly don't know how to play the game (I spectate... they're garbage). Now look, I get it, some people can't put as much time into the game as others and still want to win... well if everything is randomized, everyone is on an equal playing field, there is no pre-determined skill levels or numbers that place you into a match to either punish you for being good or rewarding you for playing bad... it's all up to you. This would also speed up waiting times as it will just randomly populate the lobby rather than try to configure the best ELO set up for you that day.
2. Get rid of the 3333 system. It's great in concept, but not very good when implemented (properly I might add...). Removing this system would speed up wait times SIGNIFICANTLY. I shouldn't have to wait 3 or 4 minutes to find a match just because I want to use my Dire Wolf and so does everybody else that day. I want to see some crazy matches where I go up against a whole team of Spiders, or go up against 6 Atlas'... right now this game is fun, but it lacks something special... an element of novelty. For example, Halo has an excellent rag-doll physics and just physics in general making for some hilarious and often times random encounters... the stuff of legend... the stuff that makes people go "oh man so I had this happen to me last night!" MWO doesn't really have any of that novelty, it's pretty straight forward. Besides, think about it... you've made most mechs in each class able to go up against other mechs in other classes and even their own class, it's not like a Jenner is going to just get absolutely wasted going up against a team of Dire Wolves because the Dire Wolf is really slow while the Jenner is fast and has the upper hand in that fight if the pilot knows what they are doing.
3. This has to do with the solo and group matchmaking. The way it is right now, it's absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, broken. Solo works fine, but group is terrible and I'll tell you why... it partners up groups of 2 and 3 with a group of 10 or 12. This isn't fair in the slightest. I don't have 11 other friends to play this game with and I'm not one of those people that enjoys teaming up with strangers to fight along side. For me, most times I'm playing, I'm playing with my cousin... however with the latest matchmaking patch, it's made it impossible to win for us because EVERY MATCH we're getting clanned. When players who can hold their own consistently are losing 6 matches in a row because the other team is stacked against them, that's when it's a problem. This could be remedied a little if this game had an actual way to communicate with other players other than text. Seriously, it's 2014 and your game takes place hundreds of years in the future... why don't I have any form of voice chat in a competitive online shooter? A simple push to talk button or a mech speaker system that broadcasts your voice in proximity similar to the way the war horns work... I mean really, anything... but there isn't so when a group of 10 communicating with each other goes up against 4 teams of 2 and a team 4... it's a clean wipe 95% of the time. It's made it really hard to play this game with my cousin and so now we mostly just talk to each other over skype while we play solo matches... I doubt that's how you intended this game to be played. So here's how you fix that: have 3 different matchmaking ques. one for solo and groups up to three. Will the groups have an advantage, yes, but not to an extreme... two or three players rarely is make or break on a 12 man team especially if other teammates are really good or really bad. Next is Lance Que. Pretty straight forward... teams of 4 go in this que, however solo/2-3 players can opt into playing in this if they want players who they know are also communicating and probably play at a higher level. Lastly Team Que. This que is for groups of 5 and more in which Lace and Solo/2-3 groups can opt into as well so as to populate off numbers, and if they can't be filled, then just put two teams up against each other as is. There's no video game law that specifically states "mech games shall only be played with 12 man teams, no more... no less" it's perfectly ok for two teams of 10 to fight each other without the support of two randoms.
I know that this sounds a little jaded, but it's only because I really care about this game and want to see it at it's full potential. This is a fantastic game that through almost every update, becomes significantly worse... which it makes me upset that it's still playable and fun, because eventually if things keep going the way they are... it won't be playable any more. The things I addressed in this post only have to deal with matchmaking, there are many other problems that need fixing. I really hope you read this PGI, and even if you don't implement my ideas, I do hope you at least take them into consideration. As for the community... well... my experience with MWO's community has been disappointing at best, but i hope some of you will show some support and hopefully expand or have a better idea. This game is supposed to be fun, and right now, unless you're playing solo... it's not fun to lose every match. Thank you for your time and wish you all a great day.