Different MMR for Different Queues

Gavran·Aug 3, 2014·2 votes·1,398 views

What's the explanation for this? I'm sure Riot is aware that getting pubstomped by top-tier ranked players in Normals isn't very fun for anyone. So there must be a reason that you haven't implemented the simple solution of unifying MMR (or at least making Ranked MMR influence the others.) What is that reason?

The only thing I can think of is that high MMR players have longer queue times and you don't want them to have long queue times but... that's kind of awful if you're sacrificing everyone else's matchmaking quality for that. (Not that I particularly believe you are. I just can't think of any other reason.)

So yeah. An answer would be great. Maybe Riot gave one in the past and someone can point me to it? Maybe someone has better theories than me? I'm all ears. Or eyes.

10 Comments

Angry MonsterAug 3, 20142 votes

Merging MMR would not solve all the problems. In normals as a Diamond player you can q up with as many of your bronze friends as you want. 2 bronze players plus a Diamond might equal silver rating. YOu will still end up facing a diamond at some point.

The fact people can be friends with different skill levels is why ranked MMR does not count. Plus other social interactions aspects of interpersonal behavior.

GavranAug 3, 20142 votes

I get you but when you're queued with friends you still have an accurate average MMR you can balance against. Is a team of say, golds vs a team a diamonds and bronzes a great game? Probably not. But it's better than a handful of diamonds vs a team of unranked players, which can happen now if those ranked players haven't seeded the different queues.

I imagine Riot's MMR system probably tries to push these players up as fast as possible, I'd even go as far as to say your ranked MMR probably does influence how fast your normal MMR climbs. I'm still looking for a benefit of it being separate at all though.

D O N K 0 6 6 6 Aug 3, 20141 votes

I like having a different MMR for normals. Really, if you lose it goes down anyway, so why change it? Your skill and knowledge influence whether you win or not and your wins influence your MMR so it makes sense to me. There are usually different mentalities between the 2 queues too so combining the 2 wouldn't solve anything for you really...if you have a problem with normal queue (I personally don't prefer normal) then just solo queue more.

CampheneAug 3, 20142 votes

You don't lose skills by swapping game modes. It negatively impacts the gameplay of more people than the high MMR player and needs to be fixed.

DoumzAug 3, 20141 votes

Normal games aren't Ranked games.

It's like saying 5v5 mmr will also be your 3v3 mmr.

It doesn't make sense. The game isn't played the same way. They will eventually get matched higher if they are better.

It's also kinda simple, if you want to play with people in your rank average then play ranked games not normal games.

GavranAug 3, 20142 votes

No, I'm not saying that at all. 3v3 vs 5v5 is a totally different game. Even ARAM is a totally different game. Ranked and unranked SR are not significantly different. The same exact skills and decision making ability go into it. You can claim people take normals less seriously, and while there is some truth there, then it's also true for the other team and is a non-factor.

Diamond level players should never be laning against unranked players if it can be prevented.

DoumzAug 3, 20141 votes

Normal games are really different, they are less serious and people won't play the same way as they do in rank, they will try new strats and fun things. I personally had a challenger (Azingy) that just told everyone to go all mid because he wanted to have fun.

There is a reason why that guy isn't doing a rank atm, because he wants to have a different experience. If his normal mmr is bad and he's stomping you, than you can only hope he wins and you don't get match vs him again.

Like I said, if you really really don't want to get match vs diamond players then do ranked games and get match with people of your rank, that's the best advice I can give you.

GavranAug 3, 20142 votes

If normal games are truly less serious, than they're less serious for everyone involved. So he'll get matched against other people of his rank who are also not playing the same way they do in ranked. What's the problem?

And I don't want to be rude but that's really bad advice. I deserve to be able to play with my friends and in a more relaxed gametype just as much as high ranked players do.

CampheneAug 3, 20142 votes

If you're gold+ you're not going to have 30 cs at 10 min just because it's a normals game. There really needs to be an aggregate MMR for all similar game modes.

CampheneAug 3, 20142 votes

It's not an enjoyable experience for 9 people if there's a plat smurf queuing up in normals as riven and going 30/4.

It might be fun for one person but, last I checked, 9 is bigger than 1.