We all understand the + or - 1 BR but how does WT actually choose what players go into which game? The level lopsidedness seems to be a regular thing I’ve been experiencing. I know there are plenty of people with premiums but does WT even account for that or does it just throw anyone waiting into the same game? Thanks
Nobody knows and Gaijin will certainly not tell us…
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…and after seeing this thread locked, the message they’re sending seems to be that they don’t even want us discussing it. Matchmaking is a black box, and Gaijin is determined to keep it a black box.
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The ‘levels’ you have posted have nothing to do with matchmaking, they are basically “cosmetic” or ceremonial if you will.
“We all understand the + or - 1 BR”
This is how. . . . the matchmaker searches thru what players have “in queue”,
waiting for battles, going off the BR of the line up of each player that is waiting.
And that is key, because the matchmaker can only use what is available there.
The matchmaker does not consider player level, it also does not consider the uptier/downtier thing, that’s something the players have made up over time.
For at least half of the 11 years I have been playing, no one used those terms and it was not even a thing . . as far as I can remember.
The matchmaker also does not remember(since it does not consider such things) how many uptiers/downtiers a player has had recently, this is not kept as a consideration when making new matches.
There used to be “nation” match up considerations when RB was called Historical Battles, but over time, with the addition of more and more vehicles and nations that was changed. “Mixed” battles are much more common.
Sim still has that to a degree, but with the “list” thing and “rooms/lobbies” the MM’er isn’t really even a part of that stuff.
So, say you have a 4.0 BR “line up” that the matchmaker will use for you when you press “To Battle” for AB or RB “Random Battles”. The MM’er when then be in the process of making matches using the +/- 1BR you mentioned.
Your line up makes you eligible to play in 3.0 - 4.0, 3.3 - 4.3, 3.7 - 4.7 & 4.0 - 5.0, giving you 4 options. The matchmaker will put you in the first match using those numbers that it can, all in the name of “shortest possible” wait times.
This is how it works for everyone in queue except those playing the lowest or highest BRs . . . and even then, it is wholly dependent on what all the other players have in queue waiting to catch a match.
I think there is also some “rule” about only having “X” amount of the highest BRs in the game’s “spread” per match(is it 4? . . I forget), and some other variables depending on the mode and game type you select.
But all in all, I think players need to remember it is a very simple program, random & RNG as well as being strictly limited to what is in the queue.
You can see the “tiers” of those waiting, but not the BRs & the BRs can & do overlap between some tiers so . . . you basically only have a very rough idea of what BRs are “waiting”.
I personally do not have any “issues” with the matchmaker, uptiers/downtiers as I have been playing long enough that I never really worried about any of that anyway. At least not in planes or tanks, in naval . . yeah there is a more significant effect of the matchmaker’s choices in game play, but what are you gonna do, quit?
All in all I think it is much easier to concentrate on one thing . . . shoot the red stuff
Doesn’t matter if it’s a player, Ai/bot, ground target, air target or something in the water . . . if it’s red, make it dead . . . this is the way.
And if it even has a “Battle Rating”(or player level) . . that doesn’t change anything with that approach, just end their pixel existence . .
- Acquire target, 2) Shoot it until it is dead . . . rinse & repeat.
You did too well last match? Here’s a full uptier. Still performing? Enjoy carrying 11 potatoes in flip-flops. Gaijin demands balance. Your K/D and win rate shall not exceed 1:1.
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level is not a parameter in WT matchmaking, so is play time and other factor that might divide actual noob with semi experience player.
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How it feels: Dead Internet Theory. The only person that exists is you, and your teammates are Rookie bots, and your enemy is World at War campaign bots (Veteran mode).
How it actually is: whoever is in the queue. No bias. Just whoever exists.
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Sorry dude - even as i respect your opinion you might consider to take a step back and look at the purpose of this game (=to make money) and tools suited to maximize these earnings.
Same story as above.
Not sure if you had the chance to use the forum search function (in the old & new forum) but this topic/question exists for years and boils down to 3 things:
- The MM is (besides the BR adjustment rounds) the only tool gaijin has to steer player success & progress in their game.
- Gaijin will never reveal all functionalities implemented in the MM - official statements have the same level of trustworthiness as Baghdad Bob.
- Besides player success & progress the MM is the major tool to steer player commitment - the mix of fun & (artificial) progress keeps players attached and is also contributing factor for the sale of premium vehicles.
You might find this interesting:
Following especially this topic over the years i saw dozens of really interesting posts providing detailed analysis of the MM functions based on circumstancial evidence and/or long term observations. Most of these threads were deleted within minutes.
If you have a broken leg and are able to play 1 or 2 weeks in a row you will find out that the MM parameters even change during the day.
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Level is irrelevant.
Oh absolutely, it is a business and job #1 - make money, I get and understand that. But at the same time the “frustration factor”(unfortunately) is considered a prime motivating factor by almost every game maker I have encountered, so . . not hard to imagine not prioritizing a lot of QoL changes as far as game play might be concerned.
I mean, as of late, we have seen a lot of changes that do not directly affect game play. . . new Forum, new Wiki and Player Profiles. No one asked for those changes and frankly . . doesn’t seem to me to be much of an improvement(if any) to the game or benefit to the players.
Many things in game have been in need of “improvement” for years now . . . spawning system . . total overhaul is long past due. The antiquated chat system that goes totally dysfunctional every weekend for the past two years now.
BR decompression, matchmaker adjustments . . . all things player have clamored for or would greatly appreciate I am sure.
BUT . . . (always a but) since it is a business striving to make money, we prolly need to consider that: ALL of those things would require vast amounts of work, man hours, testing and in the end . . . cost a lot of money. So . . . not a priority I imagine.
Having a perfectly(or at least really good) functioning game with a happy happy player base might not be in any game developer’s “best interest” . . tho it prolly should be, but in the end . . . why put forth so much time, effort and resources into it when . . … “it’s good enough”.
As long as profits are acceptable, changes will come slowly and be slight.
(Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke!)
The matchmaker ain’t bad, even tho many think so. Could it be better? … . sure
The time may come when we see changes to it, but I am not sure that will be anytime . . . Soon™
Whilst i share some of your views (and i remember similar exchanges in the past) i am not sure if “aint bad” is shared by most guys in this forum. From my perspective this looks more like your (very) long term observations of Arcade game play.
For RB matches the MM looks way more decisive for the outcome of battles than anything else. As soon as you play a certain bracket for a longer period a short view on the composition of both teams gives you the chance to predict the outcome of >90% of your matches correctly. So it is up to each player to decide what to do.
“not bad” in this case merely means . . . it could be worse . . . lol
Gaijin wont tell us because they know people will abuse it just like the “Super downtier” exploit in arcade air.
from a blind guess after 3 years of playing its probably along the lines of:
BR first priority, filters potential adversaries into a ±1BR variance
Finds player pool
Which nations are people readied up as & how many are full uptier or downtier
allocates players into teams
game starts.
Its probably a nightmare trying to make a fair matchmaker because different nations have optimal or more popular lineups are different BRs to each other. You cant favour one BR and nation over the other without breaking the whole system and adding another blatant bias into the mix that hurts this game already
I don’t really mind the BR uptier/downtier matchmaking, I was more curious how they actually pick who goes on what team. Like it isn’t leveling balance since you can see all the low levels on one side. Is it KD ratio, WR, or some kind of other mechanic?
I do notice my games are typically more difficult when I have wagers or boosters but that’s just me being a conspiracy theorist lol
That’s how it works. Nothing more, nothing less.
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You might find in these posts some answers:
Hope this helps!
Edit:
It boils down to one thing:
Balancing has a totally different meaning for players and for game developers. Whilst players see fair & balanced gameplay as balancing - game developers are more like Thanos and see games as balanced when the average player in an average vehicle hits certain parameters (like WR, in-game income, etc) with a 50% ratio = the Holy Grail for devs.
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That actually answers my question, thank you!
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This discussion is useless. Matchmaking works how Gaijin says it works. Until someone pulls some convincing statistics and data, it’s all just player speculation fueled by confirmation bias.
People who believe speculation without any data are idiots. What we should be doing is analyzing the data for uptier/downtier chance based on BR popularity. Funny how that thread got locked but this one has not been even after a mod saw it.
MM is designed to put together matches as fast as possible, and place vehicles within 1 br with a limit of 4 on the top each team. There is no sbmm, no ebmm, it doesnt care if you have 10k hours or 10.
2 things are not so straight forward. One is that a match for you has 4 outcomes not 2, this causes misinformed players to lament about always being in an uptier when its not 50/50 outcome.
Second is premium vehicle drive huge population dispsarities at certain br, what people call blackholes. This means that say between 9.3 and 11.3, the overehelming majority of the population queing is at 10.3 and 10.7 dragging everything towards them. 11.7 tends to drag up 10.7 often as well (10.3 is a nice BR to be at).
The biggest issue for match disparity is there is ZERO expectations on players sticking around in a match. You can leave at the start bc you dont like the map, you can leave sfter 1 death (never change because it goes against their business model).
Pretty much all matches are decided on which team has more players willing to spawn multiple times. Not anything else.
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I have no idea.
I got into an 11.7 game the other day where our team had no 11.7 tanks…