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How can Riot have a fair and balanced matchmaking system that EVERYONE wants if...

GreyfellD··1 votes·967 views

Players are constantly trying to manipulate it to their own advantage? You see it in both Normal Games and Ranked Games, players purposely bringing in "friends" of much higher ranking which causes the game to become further unbalanced. Normal games are almost a nightmare to play because of this and yet everyone acts like it's Riot's fault that this happens... It's not.

The buck lands with the players for not using the matchmaking system as intended...

You may say... "Oh, but the matchmaking system automatically accounts if I bring my Platinum friend in when I am Bronze V" but the reality is that it doesn't. It can't... sure, having one higher level player on your side will help but will be nowhere near the same as having a premade buddy that is on comms with you and can communication without barriers.

This also happens in rank and the whole system of "ELO Boosting", and smurfing. Both of which are the Scourge of competitive free to play games.

Long story short, Riot CAN'T fix the matchmaking as you want because too many players are abusing it to their own ends. It would only get better if everyone stopped doing it but that will realistically NEVER happen.

We need to at least take responsibility for what we've caused in this game and others... So I'm afraid, unless people stop being so selfish and only thinking about "my game" and not about the experience for other people. Which again is unrealistic, this will never change or get better.

Can anyone answer this question? How are we supposed to have a fair and competitive experience, if players want to abuse it for their own ends all the time?

8 Comments

Muxxik3 votes

So if I introduce a friend to the game and he's in Bronze, I should never play with him again if I'm Gold or Plat.

It seems like you're forgetting a lot of times people play normal with people of different rank because they are friends and they want to play the game with people they know, it has nothing to do with playing with someone who will carry them.

GreyfellD2 votes

I'm not disputing this, but I am saying that with that, you CAN'T have a fair experience for EVERYONE that plays the game. Friendship is irrelevant, you cannot simply have a FAIR and BALANCED experience while also being allowed to play with your high elo friends so nobody can really complain about matchmaking because THIS is what we've chosen.

Hethalean1 votes

{quoted}

I'm not disputing this, but I am saying that with that, you CAN'T have a fair experience for EVERYONE that plays the game. Friendship is irrelevant, you cannot simply have a FAIR and BALANCED experience while also being allowed to play with your high elo friends so nobody can really complain about matchmaking because THIS is what we've chosen.

Nothing will ever be fair or balanced about this game. Am I cold? Am I tired? Did I just wake up? Am I hungry? Did my parents / siblings / girlfriend and I / friend just have a fight? Is my dog sick? Am I feeling good? Am I in a hot streak? Did my last game have an inter and I'm tilted? Is my ping the exact same as everyone? Do I enjoy the champions this meta prefers? Is my keyboard sticky? Did they just nerf/buff/rework my champion? It'll never ever be "fair". No one will ever be on your equal ground. Let alone 9 other people to play with and against in a match.

DrCyanide1 votes

If Duos was the only thing that ever broke Matchmaking, then you'd have a point - but that's not the case.

Additionally, the MMR system already compensates for people duoing, treating them like they're better together than they would be if they were both queuing up solo and in the same match. You can argue that it's not enough, but by the sounds of it the 2019 Ranked system is looking to dial in that adjustment on a per-duo basis.

Hethalean1 votes

That's just the nature of humanity. People aren't altruistic in that regard. They will only think about how they can better their situation. I'm not sure how they could fix that 'issue'. Riot sort of has to allow people to duo queue. People have friends. People want to play with their friends. A game with which you cannot play with your friend is a shit game if you can't just play with one friend and have to have 4 friends. Normals are fine in that regard because it's any number of friends are allowed, but Ranked they are trying to have that balancing act of allowing you to play with someone vs the perceived integrity of the ranked match.

I would be interested in the statistics of how much win rates of people duo queuing go up vs stay the same. It wouldn't be the first time I've heard an argument that says 'Look at this. It's obviously true.' but fails under scrutiny or going over data on the scenario. As far as I know, the moment you duo queue, the average MMR of your opponent team will be higher than your team's average MMR.

My solution long ago was to be competitive, and enjoy my victories. However, I had to break the normal reaction that humans (and animals since there is a biological reason to do this) have to focus on the negative outcome of not winning. That reaction does not serve you in an activity that should by and large be fun. There are streamers and pro players that do this as a profession. However, the vast majority of players are playing a game. You need enjoyment out of it. You're just the primary vector in controlling your enjoyment of your pass times. That was my solution. Make sure I enjoy it.

I Support Solar1 votes

They have done about everything they can about it. I'm not sure what else they could do, honestly.

--If someone of lower rank duos with someone of higher rank, they play in the higher ranked person's MMR.

--Intentionally boosting a lower ranked player for the purpose of getting them to a higher rank is technically worth a ban, if they know you are doing it. The issue here is that it is difficult to detect.

--Solo smurfs will shoot up in MMR as fast as possible to their "true" ranking so they aren't in lower MMRs as long.

--Even with all of this, "normal" players will still eventually hit their true MMR. It will just take a couple of weeks longer. And, honestly, if that is the implication behind your post (you think that this prevents you from getting your true MMR), then the matchmaking grouping being expanded to include MMRs from significantly different ranks is more to blame for getting people "stuck" than boosting is.

Do you, yourself, even have any suggestions on what else they could do to prevent boosting or lower its effects?

GreyfellD1 votes

I think introducing a true solo normal Q for players that want fair games, rather then casual or quick games would be an excellent start. I would happily wait long personally, for a fairer game where I know the enemy team does not have the advantage of advanced communication. (which is usually a pretty big advantage)

I Support Solar1 votes

I guess you are correct. Creating an entire other normal queue for just soloers could, theoretically, fix this issue.

However, I think the rather large problem here would be that almost no one would play the new normal queue. Most people are interested in playing with their friends at least some of the time and probably wouldn't be interested in having two different normal queues that they have to manage their MMR in to get even games.

Also, the reason duo queue and any number of friends for normal queue was introduced in the first place was because significantly more people play online video games when they can play with their friends. It is kind of a part of the draw of the game.

On the other hand, good luck with your idea.

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