Please consider improving matchmaking based on experience playing with specific heroes. Right now, it feels like players are locked in to use a specific hero they play the most.
Perhaps, once a hero has been selected for a player by the game, it would use the player's stats of playing with this specific hero to find similar-level opponents.
When I started playing, I picked a hero and tried to stick with it to learn the game and its mechanics because learning all heroes at the same time is overwhelming. Right now I feel confident playing the game with this hero, and I get more or less fair matchmaking for this hero since I played >100 games with it. All good so far.
But now I'm in a position where I want to also start learning other heroes I haven't played with, and it feels like I can't really start learning them because of the matchmaking. It feels like the matchmaking is based on the overall stats of the player and not on the experience of the player playing a specific hero.
So when I pick a hero I haven't played with and start the game, my real rank would be close to 0 since I'm trying to play using the hero for the first or second time. Yes, I would know some basics like how to use souls, deny, and other common mechanics, but I still have no idea about the hero's abilities, their pros & cons, timing, etc. I would need to learn all of that from scratch.
When I enter the match with a hero I haven't really played with, it feels like I get matched with a player based on the overall stats and my opponent in lane seems to be similar level as to what my opponent would be if I picked a hero I played the most.
This always results in games like this:
1) I get quickly dominated by the opponent because they already know how to play their hero and I don't. This happens at the very start of the game.
2) This leads to the game being unbalanced where I quickly fall behind, and the opponent quickly grows their power.
3) This makes me unable to learn the hero I picked because the opponent keeps posing a threat and where I can't do anything to them.
4) This makes the team I got in quite unhappy, because the game results in basically -1 player from their side (me), and a fed-up player they now need to take care of (my opponent) which basically ruins the game for everyone.
This feels like an endless cycle where the game forces me to keep playing with that single hero I'm familiar with instead of motivating me to learn other heroes.
The matchmaking would be much better if players would match based on the experience of playing specific heroes. That way even if a player is pro at one hero, they can still start learning other heroes from scratch.
E.g. a player picks Hero A for their main pick where they are considered a Tier S player, and Hero B for their second pick where they are considered a Tier F player.
The matchmaking could be the following:
1. The game picks a top hero pick made by the player - Hero A.
2. It checks the rank based on the games they played with this player - Tier S.
3. The game tries to find a lobby in that specific tier bracket with this hero being available (any Tier S lobbies where a Hero A slot is opened).
4. The game does not find any lobbies -> then pick the next hero - Hero B.
5. Check the rank - Tier F.
6. Search for a Tier F lobby with Hero B being available.
7. Join the lobby and start the game.
Experience right now:
1. The game checks the rank based on the games they played - which would be Tier S (since the player only played with Hero A the most and hasn't played with Hero B, so even averages would be skewed).
2. The game tries to find a Tier S lobby.
3. Hero A is not available, so the game gives Hero B to the player.
4. This results in a Tier F player using Hero B in a lobby where most players are Tier S.
Perhaps, once a hero has been selected for a player by the game, it would use the player's stats of playing with this specific hero to find similar-level opponents.
When I started playing, I picked a hero and tried to stick with it to learn the game and its mechanics because learning all heroes at the same time is overwhelming. Right now I feel confident playing the game with this hero, and I get more or less fair matchmaking for this hero since I played >100 games with it. All good so far.
But now I'm in a position where I want to also start learning other heroes I haven't played with, and it feels like I can't really start learning them because of the matchmaking. It feels like the matchmaking is based on the overall stats of the player and not on the experience of the player playing a specific hero.
So when I pick a hero I haven't played with and start the game, my real rank would be close to 0 since I'm trying to play using the hero for the first or second time. Yes, I would know some basics like how to use souls, deny, and other common mechanics, but I still have no idea about the hero's abilities, their pros & cons, timing, etc. I would need to learn all of that from scratch.
When I enter the match with a hero I haven't really played with, it feels like I get matched with a player based on the overall stats and my opponent in lane seems to be similar level as to what my opponent would be if I picked a hero I played the most.
This always results in games like this:
1) I get quickly dominated by the opponent because they already know how to play their hero and I don't. This happens at the very start of the game.
2) This leads to the game being unbalanced where I quickly fall behind, and the opponent quickly grows their power.
3) This makes me unable to learn the hero I picked because the opponent keeps posing a threat and where I can't do anything to them.
4) This makes the team I got in quite unhappy, because the game results in basically -1 player from their side (me), and a fed-up player they now need to take care of (my opponent) which basically ruins the game for everyone.
This feels like an endless cycle where the game forces me to keep playing with that single hero I'm familiar with instead of motivating me to learn other heroes.
The matchmaking would be much better if players would match based on the experience of playing specific heroes. That way even if a player is pro at one hero, they can still start learning other heroes from scratch.
E.g. a player picks Hero A for their main pick where they are considered a Tier S player, and Hero B for their second pick where they are considered a Tier F player.
The matchmaking could be the following:
1. The game picks a top hero pick made by the player - Hero A.
2. It checks the rank based on the games they played with this player - Tier S.
3. The game tries to find a lobby in that specific tier bracket with this hero being available (any Tier S lobbies where a Hero A slot is opened).
4. The game does not find any lobbies -> then pick the next hero - Hero B.
5. Check the rank - Tier F.
6. Search for a Tier F lobby with Hero B being available.
7. Join the lobby and start the game.
Experience right now:
1. The game checks the rank based on the games they played - which would be Tier S (since the player only played with Hero A the most and hasn't played with Hero B, so even averages would be skewed).
2. The game tries to find a Tier S lobby.
3. Hero A is not available, so the game gives Hero B to the player.
4. This results in a Tier F player using Hero B in a lobby where most players are Tier S.
