
I dropped first alone, later with friends as a 2 & 3 player group during european prime time (19.00 - 20.00 - 24.00 CET).
Didn't used up the full tonnage first as group (55 tons & 65 tons), went to (65/95/90) later (friend got a shine new Rifleman IIC to play, so the 65 tons havent been skilled much).
Pro:
Compared to Group Match Making before we get much faster a match.
We won some, we lost some.
We stomped, and getting stomped.
Most matches were close (11:10) or as excepted for those Map & Mechs (12 :6).
And it was fun.
But it's still quickplay.
Our Lance of Assault (Alpha) gets left behind on first drop on Tourmaline (Skirmish).
Charlie Lance run off, made quick contact with the enemy and got killed, Alpha Lance was NARCED by a cicada and LRMd to death in the middle of the map (have not met a NARC Scout in quickplay since 2014/16?).
That was the reason to get the Corsair with 4 AMS out of the hangar ;-)
Next drop on Tourmaline (Skirmish):
Got a Solo player to our Lance who was AFK the the match starts...
Told that via VOIP to the team, get a Kit Fox as support.
AFK Player joins, we team up via VOIP on a Grid, when moved in center.
Made a bad move with my assault & get killed, but the team won.
Last drop on Tourmaline (Conquest)
Got a solo player in a Daishi as Lance Member.
So i decided to take lance command and use the Menue to tell him that we move to Theta.
He stays away from Theta, walked around the big hole and goes solo up one of the hills and starts to sniping with 8 AC2.
We lost 10:11, he was last Mech standing with a positive K/D (2 kills, 0 death), so I think he is one of the "good players" with good stats who carrys the whole team.

Can't blame him, he even tried to capture on of the 5 enemy control points after the rest of the team was dead...
Most of the matches I got killed or survived (regardless of win/loss) depended on the Mech.
Did massive damage with a MRM 80 / 6 Heavy MG Mauler in River City and HPG network, got smoked up on Tourmaline & Canyon Network.
Conclusion and my Opinion:
For small groups it's a drastic improvement in waiting time.
Tonnage is still a problem:
as 3 player group we have to choose between using as much tonnage (250 tons) as possible and be slow.
Or to go below tonnage and go faster.
Yes, we could have used 3 Timber Wolfs - Mechs we all have fully skilled and in Meta builds - and played them, but thats the point if one of us wanted to play his new Mech?
Mech & Map selection:
Still the most important thing in win/loss.
Teamwork:
Good, may be more. VOIP Channel is still to big / extra Channel for Lance Leaders is missing.
IMHO:
possible Short term improvments:
Go for the 2 -4 Player Group Size in any mode, let Solo Players join to fill up.
Use small drop decks with 3 Mechs and 150 - 165 tons per player (Clan/IS):
That allows Mech selection for Map and removes tonnage balancing from the match maker.
The 2 respawns will also prevent an early "Game Over Reward" for players who get killed for scouting or supporting, improving team work ("Help him", instead of "Let him die") and information warfare ("don't scout don't die" vs "if you die, respawn with a bigger Mech")
Middle term:
Change single Team VOIP channel to one sub channels for each lance in the Team Channel, set it to "Talk to speak".
Use the Team Channel with "push to talk" for Lance Leaders only.
Lance Members must vote for a Leader at match start (done by server script?), lance leader gets Match score for succesfull orders (capture a Control Point x seconds after the order, ect...)
Long term Matchmaking:
4 vs 4
8 vs 8
12 vs 12
depending of number of groups in queue and groups "skill/stats" the match maker will move a group in one of those queues
Long term GUI changes:
Show Mechs speed in Score Screen at the Match start (so Lance Leaders know how fast their team mates are and consider that then giving orders).
Use the "Mech unknow" function from Faction play score board to reward scouting.
After first succesfull "Scouting" reward (getting target info) the Mechs Variant & Target Designation is shown, like A: MAD 5D.
Edited by Alreech, 29 April 2020 - 01:07 AM.