38 replies to this topic

[Spare Knight]

As a Tier 4, getting dropped in with Tier 1's on every match is incredibly frustrating. I loved this game when I could play with my own skill level, but you have taken the fun out of it.

[Bud Crue]

Is this a event queue/faction play complaint (which if so, that's the way faction play works and has always worked), or is the soup queue MM broken again?

[Mechwarrior2342356]

Bud Crue, on 13 June 2023 - 01:02 PM, said:

Is this a event queue/faction play complaint (which if so, that's the way faction play works and has always worked), or is the soup queue MM broken again?

Tier spread and MM gets bad at off hours. You can end up with GeeRam and Sustained Eye Contact on the other side while your team has a cluster of T5/4/3.

[Meep Meep]

Or me.

[Spare Knight]

I can be solo dropping and see Tier 1 players in Quick Play. It has been this way for a while and I fail to see any fairness in it.

[Mechwarrior2342356]

Spare Knight, on 13 June 2023 - 02:18 PM, said:

I can be solo dropping and see Tier 1 players in Quick Play. It has been this way for a while and I fail to see any fairness in it.

Fairness is not part of the equation. They don't care and even if they did they arguably couldn't do a whole lot about it. The T1s neither give a **** nor can they do anything about a headass MM during off hours. There are plenty of ideas floating around to remedy the situation at least partially and nothing is being done with them, either due to lack of ability or will, or both. Some of them are apparently grounds for quitting MWO among sections of the playerbase. Infer whatever motives you please for it, it won't solve the problem and it won't change minds. Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt.

Edited by the check engine light, 13 June 2023 - 02:23 PM.

[Chryckan]

According to steam charts this game have about an average of about 500 players an hour with double that at peak times.

With 24 mechs/players in a matchs that like only 20 matches taking place at any time. Again double that during peak.

I'm amazed that there actually is any semblance of a functional tier system at all with so low numbers.

[Bud Crue]

Spare Knight, on 13 June 2023 - 02:18 PM, said:

I can be solo dropping and see Tier 1 players in Quick Play. It has been this way for a while and I fail to see any fairness in it.

Its just the nature of soup queue. If I (t2) drop with friends (T1-T5) and the MM is working perfectly, there is a good chance that a T-anything on the other side is going to see that they are up against potentially a couple of T1 players and maybe a couple of T5 players. No one complains when it is the latter, but if the former occurs occasionally, yep, it can be "incredibly frustrating".

Oh for the salad days of 8 man group queue.

[Mechwarrior2342356]

Bud Crue, on 13 June 2023 - 02:32 PM, said:

Its just the nature of soup queue. If I (t2) drop with friends (T1-T5) and the MM is working perfectly, there is a good chance that a T-anything on the other side is going to see that they are up against potentially a couple of T1 players and maybe a couple of T5 players. No one complains when it is the latter, but if the former occurs occasionally, yep, it can be "incredibly frustrating".

Oh for the salad days of 8 man group queue.

Not sure why that's in scare quotes, it is intensely frustrating and that kind of experience is going to turn at least a few people off the game entirely. Apparent inaction on this will result in a likely death spiral as new players coming in fail to replace turnover from those who burn out on this.

[Bud Crue]

the check engine light, on 13 June 2023 - 02:37 PM, said:

Not sure why that's in scare quotes, it is intensely frustrating and that kind of experience is going to turn at least a few people off the game entirely. Apparent inaction on this will result in a likely death spiral as new players coming in fail to replace turnover from those who burn out on this.

I used quotes because that is the phrase the OP used. There is/was nothing "scare" about it.

Again, this is just the way it is and has always been (at least since they created soup queue if not going back further). The MM in this game has never been able to consistently provide balanced matches. Does that drive some folks away? Yep. Always has and always will. Given the age of the game, the lack of programmers who understand the code (not just at PGI , but in the world at large), I doubt there is a realistic solution to the problem. It is just the way it is.

Edit: I'll go further than that: the way the MM works now is way, way, WAY better than it was back in the day when any schmuck could reach T1 just by playing long enough. In those days when half the players were "T1", mediocre T1 players such as myself were routinely dumped into matches against majority truly good T1 players. There were confirmed cases of 50% players who were "T1" being forced into matches against 99% players match after match after match; THAT sucked. At least these days for that to happen you need to be dropping with or against an oddly weighted team (2-4 man) or the MM gates open wide after an inordinate wait time.

Edited by Bud Crue, 13 June 2023 - 02:58 PM.

[Mechwarrior2342356]

Bud Crue, on 13 June 2023 - 02:49 PM, said:

I used quotes because that is the phrase the OP used. There is/was nothing "scare" about it.

Ok, fair.

I wonder who they think they're going to sell mechpacks to if the death spiral kicks in.

I'm sorry, LEGENDARY mechs and battlepasses.

Edited by the check engine light, 13 June 2023 - 03:18 PM.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Chryckan, on 13 June 2023 - 02:23 PM, said:

According to steam charts this game have about an average of about 500 players an hour with double that at peak times.

With 24 mechs/players in a matchs that like only 20 matches taking place at any time. Again double that during peak.

I'm amazed that there actually is any semblance of a functional tier system at all with so low numbers.

Some time ago, Russ did say actual player numbers were about double the Steam numbers because half the playerbase uses the standalone launcher. I'd have to assume that's still the case today. But on the flip side, just because someone is logged in doesn't mean they are in a match. They could just be in the mechlab.

I really do think we should drop down to 8v8 for a couple months, see if matching gets better.

[Razgriz_]

the check engine light, on 13 June 2023 - 01:17 PM, said:

Sustained Eye Contact

TIL Sustained Eye Contact is someone to be on the lookout for. Run into that dude all the time and just remember the funny name

[Mechwarrior2342356]

Orion_, on 13 June 2023 - 05:43 PM, said:

TIL Sustained Eye Contact is someone to be on the lookout for. Run into that dude all the time and just remember the funny name

He's one of the names I see and think "yeah the fun part of the night is over" and start switching to Grimmechs-Approved ™ stuff. Particularly if more than one of those names is present, and increase the particular-ness if they're on the same team. If Blue, it's a mad scramble to keep up, and if Red, well duh.

Edited by the check engine light, 13 June 2023 - 06:12 PM.

[PocketYoda]

They really need to stop groups or stop tier 1s teaming with tier 4 or 5s That exploit is harming the community.

Edited by PocketYoda, 14 June 2023 - 04:20 AM.

[SafeScanner]

Meep Meep, on 13 June 2023 - 01:19 PM, said:

Or me.

the non-threating flea

[Saved By The Bell]

You have a top dance partners so use it and be glad for a free lessons.

[Meep Meep]

SafeScanner, on 14 June 2023 - 04:23 AM, said:

the non-threating flea

The most non threatening. Please feel free to completely ignore me~

PocketYoda, on 14 June 2023 - 04:20 AM, said:

They really need to stop groups or stop tier 1s teaming with tier 4 or 5s That exploit is harming the community.

Many units have a spread of skill in their members from tier 5 to 1. Why shouldn't they be able to team up. The way it works is that if a t1 is in a premade it drags the lower tiers into the higher tier match not the reverse. So in effect if a t1 pairs with lower tiers it hurts the t1 chances at a win along with the team they are on. But I bet they had fun.

Edited by Meep Meep, 14 June 2023 - 09:11 AM.

[Mechwarrior2342356]

Saved By The Bell, on 14 June 2023 - 04:32 AM, said:

You have a top dance partners so use it and be glad for a free lessons.

Depends on how active they are as an instructor. There are some general concepts I picked up from observation and occasional inquiry - some are much less broadly applicable than others. There are some understandable reasons why some choose to not be active about it (some of you are spiteful {Richard Cameron} and even THAT is understandable because some of the better players are complete ******* jackwagons about it, it's a feedback loop, an ouroboros disappearing up its own ******* instead of eating its tail). Sometimes they're clearly just out to have a ****-about night and goof off.

The fact remains that Blue or Red, it's absolutely a competition. Keep up or enjoy your lousy payoff for time spent, and if you're too busy trying to actually play you're not necessarily watching THEM play anyway.

[crazytimes]

I've always enjoyed conspiracy threads where the poor lower ELO player is always being kept from their full potential by the horrors of being constantly matched agaist the very best the game has to offer 24/7.

It is absolutely a possibility. What is also a possibility is you recognised a few names and assume that anyone with a recognisable name is a 99.9 percentile top tier comp player... regardless of their actual tier or ability.

You have few active people in the your tier bracket, at best you will be mostly matched against 3s, with 2s common as well.