Matchmaking Algorithm for Normal Warzones

i agree, quantifying "fair" and "fun" are tough to do. i also agree that close matches are probably more often than not considered more "fair" and "fun" than blow-outs.

i think that having several % increments for margin of victory, and then possibly trying to match that player against players with similar margins of victory. so players that routinely are on the winning side of blowouts would be matched with players also on the winning side of blowouts. likewise if you are on the losing side of blowouts, you are matched w/ other players that are often on the losing side of blowouts.

that would be the two ends of the spectrum, and then youd have everyone else somewhere in between. the matches should become more contested, and i would wager more "fair" and "fun"

correct me if im wrong, but i think that is sort-of what you are suggesting? if so, i like the idea.

Lets say that we break the increments into >75%, >50%, >25% and >10%where the % represents the score differential. so it'd look like this:

Winning-----75----50----25----10----0----10----25----50----75----Losing

each increment would be weighted, with winning being positive weights and losing being negative. lets say >75% is 4, >50% is 3, >25% is 2 and >10% is 1. losing or winning determines +/-

every WZ outcome adds its weight to your overall weight. over time, blow-out victors would start to play each other, blow-out losers would start to play each other, and close-game players (the middle people) would keep playing each other.

there is a good chance that doesnt make sense as im kinda tired lol. and all the numbers are hypothetical, definitely open for changing.

my one concern with this kind of matchmaking is that it is still tied to winning and losing. in non-ranked warzones, it is very easy for a single player to make a mistake that the group just cant recover from. being punished/rewarded for the mistakes/accomplishments of others, especially people you did not overtly choose to play with, does not seem like a good system in my eyes.

perhaps a combination of the two, where you win/loss margin % is tabulated w/ your skill rating, and then from there the system tries to match up similar players? that sounds good in my head, but idk if this game has the population to sustain something like that so that it could produce the desired result on a regular basis

If you listen to the Mos Eisley Radio podcast from last April or May (Daniel Erickson interviewed) it is clear BW is aware that work needs to be done here. I suspect our (the players) biggest problem is that BW product management does not think fixing PvP match making has a good ROI.

i remember before launch the devs saying that they wanted to eventually have SWTOR PvP become an E-Sport. obviously PvP in its current state is a ways off from the ultra-competitive scene. but if bioware invested the time and money into finishing both class balance and CC balance, they could go the E-Sport route and that would bring in a significant amount of cash-flow

I don't think it's possible to salvage the current PVP for that. You'd have to pretty much start over from scratch.

Also e-sports generally don't have gear differences and stat differences between the same character of a class. There's probably a way around that in an actual tournament, but there is no real way to practice for that in the current game even if you really wanted to.

Ahh, system based on meriting ganking and greifing.

Guess its one of the premade teenager coward inventions?


How will you counter that the griefers and gankers who get merit of killing solo players with this system?

(and, NO, the numbers or formuals dont impress on me. I know what it says, and theres NO counter for greifers)

for starters, "ganking" is something you do in open world, is it not? "ganking" in WZs is just killing people... w t f else are you supposed to do? blow them kisses?

and you did not read anything beyond the word "Matchmaking" in the thread title. try reading the whole OP.

Ganking and greifing is Always around in all MMO's. But you shouldnt get merited for doing it. In some other MMO, no names mentioned so I dont get warned by BW for illegal advertising, theres NO xp or merits given if you gank a single, Low level player. And to add a system where you are rewarded for such behavior is just a very bad idea. it wont make the pvp climate better, i can assure you.