Community Transmission - Matchmaking [ Edited ]

[EA_Ataashi]

Matchmaking is a common conversation topic within the community and we wanted to take a few moments to talk about what we have planned for the coming months.

Coming in the Squad System Update are some further changes to Matchmaking. Without getting too technical, we are changing the way the game and our servers interact with each other when switching rounds, and with these changes should come a host of benefits All of which you’ll read below.

End of Round (EOR) matchmaking is a feature you will have noticed before. It’s something that has been turned on and tested at intermittent periods over the last few months. We’ve had some good success with it, but the testing also flagged some issues, such as being placed in empty servers.

The Squad System update aims to correct these issues and shortly after it’s released, we will be turning on the EOR matchmaking.

Once the EOR matchmaking has been switched on, we hope to leave it on and by doing so, we hope to achieve a number of things.

Bring Balance
When matchmaking, we’ve always tried to match players of similar skill level. However, since you would only matchmake once in the previous system, you sometimes found yourself in a not so enjoyable experience. This was due to a lack of EOR matchmaking, which meant that when you joined a game, you were in it until you left.

The result of this meant that as people left and the original balance degraded, your experience was sometimes less than optimal. With EOR matchmaking taking place after each match, players and teams should be “scrambled” more often making is less likely that you will find yourself stuck in a poorly balanced game for more than a few rounds.

Fuller Servers
The system currently in place favours the creation of setting up new servers with the minimum number of players.
As we move forward with the new system, we will be changing the matchmaking behaviour so it prioritises filling up existing servers as opposed to starting new ones.

What this means is that with more matchmaking events occurring at a server level, you should find yourself joining games where the server is trending towards being full, rather than starting a new, empty server.

Ping Site Changes
We have added a new default setting to the ping site option. When you have this selected, the game will attempt to match you to any of the ping sites that you have the best ping to. In the real world, this means that if you are located in Europe and have a good ping to both Frankfurt [FRA] and Dublin [DUB], you could be matched to either one, meaning you should find games a lot quicker.

These changes will start to arrive alongside the September update and further updates will be made in the months after, as we continue to tweak and improve the matchmaking system.

As always, we’re looking forward to hearing what you think.

Punch it

EDIT:

To give some further insight on this. The EOR matchmaking will be turned on after the update is live, it won't be active straight away.

Once we're happy with the updates stability we will turn on the EOR matchmaking for a 24 hour period and monitor how it goes. From there, we can turn on / off as required. Your feedback will be vital during this time.

[source]

[ggibb65]

Hopefully this will fix my problem with not being able to get a game in any mode other than GA or HvsV

[DYSPROssium]

This is a quality update! Together with the squad system, this should make the game much more enjoyable to play.

This community transmission really explains what is happening in game right now, if I understand it correctly.

Once you join a match, the system will place you in a team to get a balance, but doesn't do anything after a round is done. So this means that it can only balance new matches by placing new members in the teams, since reshuffling doesn't occur. Hopefully, this new EoR matchmaking system will shuffle players around to create balance after the match. 

Pretty solid CT, looking forward to the changes! 

[felker_s]

@DYSPROssium

I have my doubts. If this matchmaking happens no matter what (and not only when there are not enough players), it can just as easily mess up a well-balanced lobby. Regular team balance should exist for that, no need for a whole new match.

But I might have misunderstood, and maybe this matchmaking also does that?

[DYSPROssium]

@felker_s

I understand your doubts, I have them as well. It is quite hard to understand what their system exactly does, and "Without getting too technical,..." doesn't help either. I would certainly like it more if they did get more technical and explained how they "match players of similar skill level". I've never really experienced that at all in the game.

So let me break it down as far as I understand it now. Let's denote someone player X that joins a GA game and assume that the game actually uses skill-matching in the initial matchmaking.

CURRENT SITUATION

• X searches for game mode GA. Game takes the server with the absolute lowest ping (highest connection speed to server) and searches only on this server for matches.
• X finds and joins a game of GA on map 1
• The game sees that there is room on both sides of the battle. It calculates the skill level of both teams and tries to balance that by adding player X in one of the teams. This is the only time the skill-based matchmaking occurs.
• In the first match, the teammates of X are denoted Y, Z while his opponents are called A, B
• For now, it doesn't matter what happened in the match.
• The match ends and player X, Y, Z, A and B are placed on map 2 (they do not leave the game).
• The game doesn't shuffle teams or does any calculation of skill-based matchmaking. It just keeps the same team intact. 
• Player X is again teammates with player Y and Z, while his opponents are again A, B.
• New player N joins the starting match, the game calculates the skills of both teams and places N in the one that has the least skill.

conclusion: The current system tries to balance the match by sorting the joining players into the less-skill side of the match.

result1: the core players in the game are playing against each other every single game, since no one leaves and the game doesn't shuffle.

result2: good players are always placed in the weakest team on joining a match

result3: if one side has a lot of good players which don't leave the game, the sequential matches will have the same one-sided outcome.

result4: a party can be 20 people large. This creates massive imbalance and cannot be prevented or solved.

AFTER MATCHMAKING UPDATE (AS FAR AS I CAN TELL)

• X searches for game mode GA. Game searches for all the ping sides and tries to find a match on a server with a low ping side. This means that it doesn't only search on 1 server, but it looks at multiple good-connection servers to find a match.
• X finds a match and joins a game of GA on map 1
• The game sees that there is room on both sides of the battle. It calculates the skill level of both teams and tries to balance that by adding player X in one of the teams. 
• In the first match, the teammates of X are denoted Y, Z while his opponents are called A, B
• The match ends and player X, Y, Z, A and B are placed on map 2 (they do not leave the game).
• The game sees the imbalance in skill between the two teams and shuffles players around in order to obtain a better balance.
• Player X is not teammates with A and Z, while Y and B are his opponents.
• New player N joins the game and the game automatically adds this player in such a way that balance is retained.

conclusion: The upcoming system tries to balance the matches in between the rounds, instead of only relying on start-of-match matchmaking.

result1: If an imbalanced play is detected, the next match will have other (shuffled) teams, trying to find more balance between the teams. Multiple imbalanced games can still happen by chance, but are not 100% related to the previous match.

result2: due to the squad system, parties cannot be larger than 4 players. The game can solve any imbalances by adjusting the members of the team and opponents.

result3: Good players are placed on the lowest skill-side, but the difference in skill between the teams isn't as much as before.

---

Things I wish some more technical clarification on @EA_Ataashi

"When matchmaking, we’ve always tried to match players of similar skill level"

How are skill levels calculated? Is this only related to K/D or takes this win/lose ratio on certain maps/modes into consideration? 

Does the game takes previous matches (match 1) into consideration for the balance of the next match (match 2)? Or could it be that if team 1 wins in match 1, and the system doesn't detect a major difference in skill, that match 2 will have the same teams again and team 1 wins yet again?

Are there any plans for rebalancing mid-game? 

[Rogue_Manda_YT]

Great news! Matchmaking after every round should be great, if the skill level is updated as well with every round, based on how well the players did.

[Darthanelles]

I hope it will be as you said DYSPROssium . But I think they better split group matchmaking from solo player matchmaking into 2 types of servers just like Call of Duty's (Multiplayer) "Death Match" & "Team Death Match"

[ggibb65]

@EA_Ataashi- I look forward to the matchmaking update but will it fix a problem I encountered last week whilst playing HvsV. Waited about 5 mins for the lobbies to fill for each side (common in this mode). Game started, action commenced then I was listed as next target and was immediately attacked by all four opponents. Respawned and was again shown as next target. Same thing - slaughtered. After this happening 3 times in a row, I checked the lobby only to find I was the only player on my team (everyone else had quit). In my opinion a situation like this should not occur and if this happens the game should pause until the lobby fills to a competitive level. I await your (& others) thoughts.

[Rogue_Manda_YT]

@ggibb65

I think the HVV should be reworked like Hero Showdown, into rounds, otherwise even with 4 vs 4, the winning team will get the enemy spawning all over the place, and they are never able to get on the defensive.

[ggibb65]

@Rogue_Manda_YT - Good idea. Currently, there is a 90% chance that a player will be killed whilst trying to re-join his team after respawning especially if he is the target.