Why is this not a challenge battle?

[Mister_Crac]

I am losing a lot of games right now in Master League. When I look at the players' profiles that I lost against, I see that they are quite often Tiberium League players who just have not made it back into Tiberium League yet.

The thing is: These people have already proven that they are better players than me. The proof is right there in their profile - they have made it to Tiberium League, I haven't made it there ever. So if they are considerably better players than me, which they are, then really I have no business playing against them. And they have no business playing against me. Either they should be matched to their own kind, or it should be a challenge battle when they are matched against weaker players.

Yes?

[xMaksuss]

If they were tib but are master atm, it means that they are seen as masters by matchmaking.

Challenge battles which are triggered by stronger army only look at levels and the level cap, nothing else.

I always struggle to climb higher after a season reset, but the closer we approach its end, the easier it gets.

[Mister_Crac]

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@xMaksuss wrote:

If they were tib but are master atm, it means that they are seen as masters by matchmaking.

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Well, the quality of the matchmaking has always been dubious at best in this game

But seriously. If it is known that X is a better player than Y, then either there should be no match between X and Y, or if there is one then it should be a challenge battle. That would seem to make more sense than the current approach. Regarding everybody who is in the same league as "player with the same skill level" is obviously not a correct approach, and therefore does not yield good results.

[xrmiao4]

In Event I meet nickcool (3rd or 4th on the leaderboard) and got crushed very early he ends up 15 wins

[Mister_Crac]

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@xrmiao4 wrote:

In Event I meet nickcool (3rd or 4th on the leaderboard) and got crushed very early

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Was this a challenge battle?

[xrmiao4]

No challenge in events

People can't win all because they meet those who win all

[xrmiao4]

The real problem is the broken league distribution everyone stuck in master. I don't know how can the dev fix it.

[Trolloween]

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@xrmiao4 wrote:

The real problem is the broken league distribution everyone stuck in master. I don't know how can the dev fix it.

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Well my suggestion was to have another league where the unit levels don't jump to 13 so fast because most people are inasters with lvl 8/9. Or just let people play games without the whole stupid unit level thing altogether, but the latter isn't profitable so won't happen.

You can get to tib with lvl 9 units but it sucks because then you get destroyed by lvl 15 units instead, often by bad players who just spend a lot. 

[EA_dance210]

Hi @Mister_Crac,

Matchmaking for the ranked ladder is based off of the current medal count for each player, not the highest ranked reached. Using previous highest league works for the events; I'm not sure it would work quite as well for the ladder, especially with the monthly season resets.

If I'm understanding your suggestion correctly, you are talking about challenge battles triggering if you face an opponent who has previously reached a higher rank?

[Mister_Crac]

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@EA_dance210 wrote:

Hi @Mister_Crac,

If I'm understanding your suggestion correctly, you are talking about challenge battles triggering if you face an opponent who has previously reached a higher rank?

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Hi @EA_dance210,

basically, I think it should be a challenge battle whenever you are up against somebody who has a higher skill level than you.

Now, the tricky thing is how to determine that. I think that looking at the lifetime achievements of a player could be a good indication of their skill level. If they have managed to reach a higher league (in a previous season) than I do, or if they constantly score better results in events than I do, then it seems quite likely that they are a better player than me.

Another thing that could be done is to collect feedback from the players. I mean directly in-game. After a battle has ended, there could be a question like "Did you like this matchup / Would you like to play against this player again in general, or would you rather not". If both players give the same answer, then this could indicate that the matchup was chosen well.

Still another thing would be to look at Draws. I know that they happen seldomly, but when they do, they are a pretty damn good indication that the two players in question are on the same skill level. After all, neither one could defeat the other. One of the best battles that I ever had in this game was an eight-minute Draw against a player who had something with Ryan in their name. Thoughtful, tactical manoeuvring, no blind aggression but really intelligent gameplay on both sides...

It was a thing of beauty   I sure wish I could play against them again, but I have not seen them since.