February 2020
I completely respect the concept of Skill Based Match Making and believe it's intentions are sound. In theory it alone should set Apex Legends apart from all other Battle Royale and FPS Multiplayer Online games... however it doesn't because in practice... the system is broken.
I should NOT be allowed to face off against players with Diamond or Predator trails just because I end up with lucky back to back Champion Wins racking up 6-8 Kills but actually got "carried" for most of the time.
And I should NOT still be seeing those SAME level of opponents drop with me despite bombing 10 games in a row without a single kill.
THIS is how SBMM SHOULD be fixed: (Based on your Legend's LIFETIME Kill to Death Ratio) or KDR.
If your Legend's Lifteime KDR meets the following requirements, you should NEVER be matched up against players of other Tiers in Public Matches... PERIOD.
Sub 1.0 KDR: "Bronze" Tier
1.0 - 1.9 KDR: "Silver" Tier
2.0 - 2.9 KDR: "Gold" Tier
3.0 - 3.9 KDR: "Platinum" Tier
4.0 - 4.9 KDR: "Diamond" Tier
5.0 - 5.9 KDR: "Master" Tier
6.0+ KDR: "Predator" Tier
Some of you may be saying at this point, "Well that's what playing Ranked is for!" But the coincidence in level names is where the similarities end. I'll explain..
.
Those playing Ranked do so for the prestige of achieving the highest ranked status (and to earn season ending rewards) and achieve this through maximizing their Ranked Points (RP) by ANY means necessary including (but not limited to) Camping for Champion Wins, 3rd Party Ambushing, Kill Counts, Damage Assists, Intensive Coordinated Teamwork, etc.
Compare this to those who play public lobbies who do so for the Sheer enjoyment of having a fun productive experience (mostly with randoms) without the sweaty intensity ranked games call for. And although the definition of a "productive experience" may vary from gamer to gamer... I'm sure that 98% of you can agree that dropping into match after match averaging a Kill every 2 or 3 games is NOT a productive enjoyable experience... especially after a hard day at work/school and you just want to unwind or practice before even thinking about a Ranked experience.
Finally want that 10 or 20 bomb you've never seen in your life before? Public SBMM should be the place for it!
Want that 2K Damage Badge you've only sniffed a handful of times before but never achieved? Public SBMM should help!
Want to string together a solid week of excellent highlight replays where your Main Legend is racking up 10+ kills per game without breaking a sweat? A Fixed SBMM System will make your dreams come true!
But be warned. Being THIS good for so long WILL come at a price... and if your Legend's KDR avg. just bumped above the 1.0 Line... you'll be playing with the other big dogs now... No more little fish to feast on. That's what you get! Leave the small pond alone and swim with your own kind!
THAT'S what SBMM should be all about.
Solved! Go to Solution.
February 2020
February 2020
February 2020
It doesn't matter what metric you use to apply SBMM; if you match whole lobbies of similarly skilled players together, then you'll end up with only two groups having fulfilling matches:
1) The people at the very top.
2) The people who the matchmaker has temporarily miscategorised (either due to insufficient play time, or a recent uplift in skill level).
February 2020
February 2020
February 2020
February 2020 - last edited February 2020
I think you missed an important factor in your reasoning. Your K/D stat is not an absolute reflection of your skill, its relative to the skill of your competition. So the only way the K/D stat actually indicates your skill is if there is no SBMM at all, i.e. everyone plays with each other and the skill distribution of an average match is determined by the skill distribution of the players in queue.
What Im trying to say is that a SBMM based on K/D with such narrow divisions that you suggests will effectively maKE ALL players go to a K/D of 1, with the exception of the very very worst and the very very best players out there.
I am not against a soft SBMM, which would allow the very worst players (like <0.3 K/D or something in that range) time to learn the basics, but other than that, I think public games should be totally random.
February 2020
August 2020 - last edited August 2020
Until SBMM gets fixed...
THIS is your alternative.