If the quick play queues were to be merged, then changing the group limit back to the weight class limit would be something to consider but it did have it's own problems.
From memory when it was only 1 queue the groups did have to conform to that weight class limit but they were not strictly limited to a 1/1/1/1 setup. They could for example have a group of four players with 3 assaults and 1 heavy and then the match maker would have to try and work with that in an attempt to still make a team of 3/3/3/3 of each weight class.
The match maker was forced into it's own Tetris nightmare to try and build a match.
When the queues were split, the group queue still followed the 3/3/3/3 which highlighted that this approach was not great when a small group could try and absorb all of one of the weight classes. It's also impractical to enforce a weight class particularly on small groups.
But that is why the tonnage limit was brought in as it allowed the game to simply specify a minimum and maximum tonnage according to the group size and then the match maker only needed to build a match according to the number of players.
It was still a bit awkward in that a group could be anywhere from 2 to 10, 12 players (no groups of 11) which meant there could be all sorts of group sizes to combine into that single 12v12 match. It was/is still a game of Tetris for the match maker.
I would think that the next logical step would be to only allow groups of 2 or 4 players so that is becomes very easy to put two teams together using only even numbers and a consistent building block based on the lances.
However, in addition to that, the match maker must allow for smaller team sizes so that matches can still occur when the population in the queue is low. If there are only 8 players online then having a 4v4 game is better than no game at all.
Bistrorider, on 07 September 2019 - 12:27 AM, said:
So maybe all we need is more options in group play? In theory it still works. Tonnage limit also gives flexibility, but others options restricted to something may help to find a match and may vary the game experience. Like you're saying: 4v4, 8v8, 12v12 options. But also maybe a lance drop (classic BattleTech lance is: 1 light, 1 medium, 2 heavy mechs, so 1 assault instead of heavy still gives a "real" lance). Maybe also a free drop option, restricted to tonnage and game mode of 4v4 or else, and other: lance drop option, restricted to one, two or three classical lances or something like that?
You can kind of achieve the 'classic' lances using the tonnage limit on the group as it will force some variations in mechs taken according to what players want to take without strictly enforcing it. Again, the problem is in the groups of 2 and how to enforce a weight class limit so that it fits in with a certain type of classic lance. It's not really practical and because there were enough players out there that wanted to pair up with a friend and only drop as a 2 player group, the limit for the 2 player group was adjusted to they could pretty much pick any mech. (ie. min 40, max 200 sort of thing)
In theory, this would allow a 12v12 match of nothing but 100 ton mechs.
To cater for these sorts of combinations when looking at modular groups or 2 or 4 there might need to be some additional features in the match maker.
One option might be to try and use the average tonnage of a lance (either 2+2 or 4) to determine it's classification as either a light, medium, heavy or assault lance. That is, total lance tonnage divided by 4 will fit somewhere into one of those weight categories.
The match maker could then try and build a match by putting lances of the same category on opposite teams. ie. The average tonnage in your lance makes it a medium lance. The match maker will try and find another medium lance to put on the other team.
The second thought it not to worry about that and simply put two teams up against each other and maybe have some sort of handicap bonus as a payout according to the tonnage difference. That way you still get matches as quickly as possible, but if you happen to have a medium lance of 200 tons come up against an assault lance of 400 tons there is some sort of payout bonus.
Call it danger money, compensation or a difficulty modifier.
To return to your 'classic' lance idea, maybe just have that as a mission bonus. You had a lance of 1 light, 1 medium and 2 heavies. Your lance fits in with the 'classic' medium or heavy lance (depending on average tonnage) you get a 'classic' bonus at the end. Nice way to link it back to the board game without imposing a restriction on the players.
Either way, the objective must be how to get matches as quickly and as often as possible.