Match making needs to be tightened!

[Zeroping]

I'm loving the game and having a great time but the #1 new feature is also the feature holding things back.

In my opinion, the #1 feature is not the cool graphics, the new units, the new combos or high resolution. It's the matchmaking ability!

In SC1, you would have veteran players farming new players until they gave up. They'd just create a new battle.net account and hide their true record.

I love how SC2 has the new battle.net with the leagues and divisions.

The problem is that right now, it's set on a very loose setting (to speed up the forming of matches) but it's way too open in expanding the searches.

Going through my placement matches playing gold and platinum players the whole time isn't fun. Then I end up in the copper league and we're still playing against gold and platinum players! In my last 27 games, only one of them was matched against another copper team!

Have you seen the copper league standings? You have 60-70% of people with records like 0-15 or 2-30. Their records wouldn't be this bad if they were playing other copper players.

It's frustrating people to the point of wanting to quit the game already. No one likes being beat 30 games in a row by 5 minute rushes from platinum players trying to move up the ladder.

A little tip for the noobs out there: When the match ends and it shows everyone's score, right click on the other players name to add them to your friend list. You can then view their profile through your friends list. This allows you to see what league they are in. I was surprised to see how often I was being matched against players in leagues 3-4 above mine.

Suggestions:

A) Tighten it up system-wide (give more time before expanding the search)
B) Give players the options of choosing how wide their matchmaking search will go.


DISCLAIMER:
You are likely to see responses to this thread from people who are exploiting this:

1) From the gold and platinum players who love farming noobs "It's beta Noob!! Don't change it blizzard, it's fine!!!"

[Lukgor]

I couldn't agree more. I am sure you will get lots of good responses like L2P, QQ more, noob, or my favorite a combination of all 3.

I am in the copper league and tonight I played 8 games. 2 were against people trying to be placed, 2 against bronze players, 1 silver, 1 plat and 2 gold teams. It would be nice once in a while to play against players in my league. WIth 7k people on you think there would be someone else in copper looking for a match.

My suggestion to blizzard would be to give you an option, either select faster knowing you could be against higher players or slower but more likely to give you people in your own league. Blizzard should at least test that their code does work to place you against people of the correct skill level. If they launch the game and this code is broken they are going to turn a lot of people away who most likely won't come back after they get owned 20 games in a row.

Also I think two records should be displayed, first your record for just your league, then have your overall record sorta like sport leagues. Not really fair to lose points and move down the copper ladder because you lost to a team in the gold or plat division.

[Primoris]

It will be tighter, when 10 million people are playing. This is beta, i've gotten rolled by plat players just like everyone else, but it gives me the chance to look at their build orders and think about ways to mimic or counter. In my placement i went against a diverse range of players and ended up in silver with a 7-3 record. I don't consider myself silver league material considering i've played a grand total of 18 matches(5 novice, 10 placement, 3 in silver league). At one point during placement i won 6 in a row, and me being bad.. that means i played some players of my skill or lower i could beat up on. So its a mixed bag, if anything you should enjoy playing against the better players while in beta, cause least your w/l ratio will get wiped once its done. :P

all that said, i do wish i understood the favor system or knew if it was WAI.

[Zeroping]

You make some great points and I do the same (looking at build order, replays, etc..) but the majority of my games are being matched with gold/platinum (which like the 5min rush) instead of with other people in my league. This only leads to frustration.

At least give us the option to where we can choose when we'd like to play against players in a higher league (for learning, etc.). This could turn a frustrating situation into a very enjoyable one...

[Ozo]

A bit of a noob question here, but how do I see what league etc the people I have played are in?

[Lukgor]

I only know one way to check the league of the people you played against. After the game when its showing your points, right click on their name and add them as your friend. Then you go to your friends list and view their profile and see their ladder rankings. I wish they would add /whois option so I could look people up. It would also be nice if there was somewhere I could go and look at the all the different leagues/ladders.

[Zeroping]

When the match ends and it shows everyone's score, right click on the other players name to add them to your friend list. You can then view their profile through your friends list. This allows you to see what league they are in. I was surprised to see how often I was being matched against players in leagues 3-4 above mine.

[Faelara]

Blizzard deliberately has the matchmaking settings set to find games quicker than normal with looser matchmaking than what they plan on having at release due to this being a beta and only a fraction of the people playing that will be here when the game goes live.

[Johan]

There's only ~4,000 people in the beta, of course there's going to be loose matchmaking. With so few people it would be very difficult for to make decent matches as often as everyone would like. Once the game comes out there should be a larger pool to draw from and much more even matches.

[Naha]

There's only ~4,000 people in the beta, of course there's going to be loose matchmaking. With so few people it would be very difficult for to make decent matches as often as everyone would like. Once the game comes out there should be a larger pool to draw from and much more even matches.

Definitely not. In the middle of the night / early morning there's over 7000 people on right now.

That may have been the case a couple weeks ago, but the pool is much much larger now. Matchmaking needs to be tightened.

[Ardrus]

/agree

Hard to beta test anything when a platinum player beats your head in. I just got my beta invite 36 hours ago. I am still trying to get the hotkeys down and BAM I'm dead.

I tried telling people that I just got my beta key, but that usually results in them stomping me faster, since they know I am an easy kill. D:

[Messana]

I'm loving the game and having a great time but the #1 new feature is also the feature holding things back.

In my opinion, the #1 feature is not the cool graphics, the new units, the new combos or high resolution. It's the matchmaking ability!

In SC1, you would have veteran players farming new players until they gave up. They'd just create a new battle.net account and hide their true record.

I love how SC2 has the new battle.net with the leagues and divisions.

The problem is that right now, it's set on a very loose setting (to speed up the forming of matches) but it's way too open in expanding the searches.

Going through my placement matches playing gold and platinum players the whole time isn't fun. Then I end up in the copper league and we're still playing against gold and platinum players! In my last 27 games, only one of them was matched against another copper team!

Have you seen the copper league standings? You have 60-70% of people with records like 0-15 or 2-30. Their records wouldn't be this bad if they were playing other copper players.

It's frustrating people to the point of wanting to quit the game already. No one likes being beat 30 games in a row by 5 minute rushes from platinum players trying to move up the ladder.

A little tip for the noobs out there: When the match ends and it shows everyone's score, right click on the other players name to add them to your friend list. You can then view their profile through your friends list. This allows you to see what league they are in. I was surprised to see how often I was being matched against players in leagues 3-4 above mine.

Suggestions:

A) Tighten it up system-wide (give more time before expanding the search)
B) Give players the options of choosing how wide their matchmaking search will go.


DISCLAIMER:
You are likely to see responses to this thread from people who are exploiting this:

1) From the gold and platinum players who love farming noobs "It's beta Noob!! Don't change it blizzard, it's fine!!!"

I don't understand this request. Why would they tighten it up? Right now there are a limited number of players playing. Tightening it up will result in very long waiting periods, which means less games, which means less testing and data gathering. This is beta. Your records don't mean anything. Play your games.

[Ardrus]

I don't understand this request. Why would they tighten it up? Right now there are a limited number of players playing. Tightening it up will result in very long waiting periods, which means less games, which means less testing and data gathering. This is beta. Your records don't mean anything. Play your games.

It's not about records. It's about playing more than 7 minutes.

[aaron]

How can one tell what league your opponent is in?

[shurafa]

I agree the system needs some work.

I would also like to see the ability to change leagues manually if you are at the top or bottom of your league.

[Thorgouge]

The matchmaking system is so wide now because of how few people are in beta. Its been said over and over again that at retail it will be the way it should be since there will be a million more players online.

What you and a lot of other people are saying about the "smurfing" issue where skilled players make new accounts to farm noobs is pretty dumb. Sure, its a big issue to have skilled players just ruin the experience of newer ones, but think of the skilled players for a moment. Say you are a top ranked player or have a good record or something that makes unable to play as much as you'd like without risking your secured spot in the tournament qualifier positions. The way it is now, with only one account per copy of the game, that person is practically forced not to play. Now, they have to buy a new copy of the game if they want to play to their heart's content without ruining their rank. Isn't that a little screwed up? The solution that just popped into my head for this now would be to allow people to create even just one more account, but tie the record of the original account to this one when you search for games on it. That way, you won't fight people that are really bad at the game and at the same time, the skilled player can play as much as he/she wants without the fear of risking their qualifying match and at the same time can keep their skills sharp by fighting equally skilled opponents.

Now, both the skilled players and the lesser ones can remain happy and not have to worry about a thing. If you guys can think of a better solution, I'd like to hear it.

[Messana]

You are exactly right. Records don't mean anything. So why are the gold/platinum players defending the loose matchmaking this fervently? If matchmaking was tightened you would see players of similar skillsets fighting each other, this allows for statistics to be gathered more accurately.

Would you gather statistics on a platinum vs copper player? I wouldn't. That's just stupid. One person is on a different skill range. In fact I'd be very liable to throw out data gathered from matches where the skill level was more then 2 divisions in difference. (I.E. Platinum vs Silver would be the bare minimum to gather data from). Different skill ranges in this game promote VERY different styles of play. Not only that but you need PEOPLE to test a beta. Sure there are alot of people in beta now. They need those people to test, not get frustrated and quit because they just fought 5 platinum players in a row.

Flatly put, it is unrealistic to tweak the system to find people of your skill level with such a small group of testers. Blizzard knows this. That is why THEY have the matchmaking system the way it is. You can complain about it all you want, that is just how it is.

[Andrige]

Right now it is configured loosely so that you can find a match, since there is a relatively few amount of testers right now. However, if you look at the headlines there is a message saying that they will increase the accuracy as more beta testers are invited.

[Azile]

I don't get why threads are still being made about this.

Look, this is a very simple concept to grasp. Right now there are anywhere from 3k-7k~ players online at any given time. If match-making was allowed to only match you up against people from your own league you're going to be looking at 10+ minute searches for games. This isn't very conductive to testing purposes so the matching rules have a lot of leeway right now, hence copper people getting matched against gold etc.

This will NOT be the case when the game releases so why *!#*% about it now?

You people do realize you are testers right? This is not your personal headstart on the game who the hell cares where you are ranked blizzard sure doesn't.

[Sodamuffin]

Also consider the majority of the testers are either huge Stracraft fans or WoW players, which doesn't provide a good middle ground.

[Vonhenry]

Definitely not. In the middle of the night / early morning there's over 7000 people on right now.

So, be careful with this number.

This morning, at 6am EST (NY State USA), there were over 8000(!!) people on "Bnet.com"
Let me tell you, I've NEVER waited longer for matches, and I've never been matched more disproportionately than this morning.

Why? Beacuse that's 8000 TOTAL people on BNet...my guess is at least USA/Europe wide, if not WORLD wide. However, they only match you up by regions. Blizz has already said this is automatic, and we don't see/choose our region. At 6am, I was one of 6 people in EST I think. :)

[shadow]

yeah, its fine as it is now. id rather NOT wait 5 minutes to get into a game, and rather just work on my build order, and watch higher level players strategies. its beta. who cares if you lose a few games, the records arent permanent anyway.

[Balanced]

It's not about records. It's about playing more than 7 minutes.



out of the 100 or so games ive had, maybe 20 of them have been over 7 minutes lol...
this is starcraft... if the game drags on, u know ur going to get a run for ur money...
enjoy the game, and learn...
every rush can be countered...
p.s - its beta... not many players online too...

[jimmy]

Btw, before anyone gets too bitter and think that everyone against this idea are plat players who enjoy steamrolling - understand that when a player is favored, the game ends up being very risky for them. If a Platinum player beats a Bronze or Copper player, they'll probably gain at most 5 points, and it's entirely possible for them to get 0 points (as in, none, no benefit from the game whatsoever). On the other hand, if they lose, they often end up losing 15-20 points. The looser matchmaking tends to hurt all players, but at the moment we can only guess that it helps more by giving more matches.

That said, I'd assume they'll tighten up matchmaking as we get more and more players in, but if you feel they aren't and you'd like to suggest they do - why not try the feedback - suggestions forum? :)

[Annihilator]

Dont worry blizzard will work on it. Were just hitting wave 3 i think. As more people get in the matchmaking will get better. Its set to finding games faster currently.

[Primoris]

Also consider the majority of the testers are either huge Stracraft fans or WoW players, which doesn't provide a good middle ground.

i'm both hater! :P

But the other thing, playing against players of your own skill level doesn't equate to matches longer than 7 minutes, well ok maybe it makes it go to 10 minutes. But are your issues really going to be assuaged by an extra 3 minutes? Once one players gains a significant advantage i find most players bail. If i even get a good harass going on their econ early they'll bail. And i'm a silver league scrubtacular that really belongs in copper or bronze. :(

[Dark]

As most people have said it's Beta. They need people to test so the matchmaking logic is loose.

Sure 1v1 games might not go that long but some team games do. Then you have FFA games (I just had one last night that went half an hour).

Just because you haven't had games longer than 7 minutes doesn't mean there are games out there that don't go longer than 7 minutes.

In addition if the flow of the game leans towards 7 minute games even at the upper levels of competition, that's also valid data Blizzard wants.

Despite that I realize how entirely frustrating it can be to be stomped by people in 3 leagues higher than you, it must be pretty demoralizing. How is playing against the AI?

[Renic]

Here's my problem with hte matchmakign system:

http://i50.tinypic.com/2vw7fo5.jpg

1. Observe the 4th, 6th, 7th, and 8th ranked teams...
2. Then observe my team...
3. Notice the win/loss ratio...
4. ???????????
5. ???????????
6. ???????????
7. profit

[Baldey]

part of the reason its so loose right now, is its a brand new game. A monkey can spam M&M&M and win vs a decent toss that hasn't learned how to use hallucinate properly yet. In a month or two when counters to strats are developed and well cut out, and balance changes are made, skill will be more clearly separated. But right now, monkeys with 1500 ELO in platinum leagues are runnin around all over the place, and when u beat one casue ur their weakeness, u get a !*!*tone of points, and the system is thrown into disarray when thats done over and over.

[Primoris]

Here's my problem with hte matchmakign system:

http://i50.tinypic.com/2vw7fo5.jpg

1. Observe the 4th place team...
2. Then observe my team...
3. Notice the win/lose ratio...
4. ???????????
5. ???????????
6. ???????????
7. profit

Ladder position, as far as i know, isn't based on win/loss ratio. Its based on a point system. He has 80 some-odd more points than you, so hes ranked higher.

So its essentially:

1. Play games
2. Win
3. Gain points
4. Advance
5. ?????
6. profit
7. rinse repeat

[Zeroping]

I don't get why threads are still being made about this.

Look, this is a very simple concept to grasp. Right now there are anywhere from 3k-7k~ players online at any given time. If match-making was allowed to only match you up against people from your own league you're going to be looking at 10+ minute searches for games. This isn't very conductive to testing purposes so the matching rules have a lot of leeway right now, hence copper people getting matched against gold etc.

This will NOT be the case when the game releases so why *!#*% about it now?

You people do realize you are testers right? This is not your personal headstart on the game who the hell cares where you are ranked blizzard sure doesn't.

I can tell you why you don't understand why these threads are still being made... because it's not about rank or points or a 'personal headstart' as you suggest.

It's about A) testing a game to see if things work as intended AND B) testing a game to see if it's enjoyable and fun. When games are so severely mismatched, causing them to end very early, that negates both A and B.

I understand that 3-5 months from now when this goes live, it is "supposed to be" better but I'm encouraging blizzard to make the change sooner than later. Or at the minimum, give players the option to choose their search criteria.

I never wait more than 20-30 seconds to find a match - why not tighten up a bit so maybe I wait 2 mins to find a better matched game that is better for A) testing and B) enjoyment.

[Zeroping]

Btw, before anyone gets too bitter and think that everyone against this idea are plat players who enjoy steamrolling - understand that when a player is favored, the game ends up being very risky for them. If a Platinum player beats a Bronze or Copper player, they'll probably gain at most 5 points, and it's entirely possible for them to get 0 points (as in, none, no benefit from the game whatsoever). On the other hand, if they lose, they often end up losing 15-20 points. The looser matchmaking tends to hurt all players, but at the moment we can only guess that it helps more by giving more matches.

That said, I'd assume they'll tighten up matchmaking as we get more and more players in, but if you feel they aren't and you'd like to suggest they do - why not try the feedback - suggestions forum? :)

You make good points, I don't think either side entirely benefits from the mis-match but again, it's not about points and ranking.

I also posted it in the Suggestions forum...

http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=23425590512&sid=5000

[Colrath]

Personally, I'd rather fight every single fight vrs a Plat player.

With would give me hours upon hours of viedeo to review.