Matchmaking for first time player of the game

[Rauchsauger]

Feel free to merge this with any other thread (I have no matchid to provide etc.)

I just played my first ever game after the tutorials (and like 3 or 4 short game vs bots to test some heroes).

If there is real matchmaking it does not work at all or the system is already done in by smurfs (and not much use anyways)

Also the very much worst idea to welcome new players to a game is to pitch them against a team of players that not only does them in handily but also AND THIS IS IMPORTANT have the new players earn the scorn and toxicity of their teammates with whom they should also not have been matched with in the first place.

Why is it so hard to understand that if you do matchmaking with the idea "1 or 2 new/bad player are balanced out with better players" you just create a bad matchup and a bad time for everyone involved? Very disappointing seeing making people involved with Valve this same stupid mistake since they are around long enough to know better. This is how to foster resentment and toxicity in the first place.

Left quite the bad impression if what you seek is fun.

 

[Skyp]

There are definitely a lot of smurfs at the lower ranks these days. But even if you get games without smurfs, trying to balance matchmaking around the "average" rating of the teams just doesn't work. Higher ranked players are just going to completely stomp all the lower ranked players in a match even if the "average" rating of the team is the same. Even if you're lucky enough to have one of these gods on your team, it still makes for a very unfun experience when you're just constantly ganked over and over by the opposing teams high ranked player.

I think this mainly stems from higher ranked players grouping with their lower ranked friends (or smurfs). Higher ranked players need to be weighted much higher when trying to find matches in a group with high skill disparity. That should just be the price you pay as a lower ranked player for getting carried by your higher ranked friend.

 

[Rauchsauger]

Honestly I think in games such as these higher skilled players should not be able to play outside a certain skill gap at all.
Maybe have some FFA game mode - otherwise the "we want friends to play together blahblahblah" will just be exploited anyways.

If you have a game with FIXED teams which you cannot autobalance then you need to only match folks of somewhat compareable skill.

Boggles the mind that no team of developers understands this. (maybe some three or two letter exec determined such things are good for monetization or some such bs)