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Matchmaking is broke

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Date Editor Before After
7/14/2020 2:58:26 AMUSrankLegomenon before revert after revert
7/14/2020 2:56:29 AMUSrankLegomenon before revert after revert
7/14/2020 2:55:03 AMUSrankLegomenon before revert after revert
Before After
1 The population size isn't anywhere near big enough to ensure that any game will be fair, but adding an option to configure a matching range to search for will help increase the number of even-ish games (at the cost of reducing the total number of games that can be played. This trade is probably worth it for you, and I think it's worth implementing in the game to at least give users some control over their matchmaking experience). In https://zero-k.info/Battles/Detail/924583, you got a match as far away from you as the matchmaker currently allows, and that's almost certainly going too far into the "get a game at any cost" direction. 1 The population size isn't anywhere near big enough to ensure that any game will be fair, but adding an option to configure a matching range to search for will help increase the number of even-ish games (at the cost of reducing the total number of games that can be played. This trade is probably worth it for you, and I think it's worth implementing in the game to at least give users some control over their matchmaking experience). In https://zero-k.info/Battles/Detail/924583, you got a match as far away from you as the matchmaker currently allows, and that's almost certainly going too far into the "get a game at any cost" direction.
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3 Even with a large user population and configurable matching width, I think the nature of Zero-K will result in relatively swingy games even with two equally skilled players. The game lacks a strict execution barrier and has a wide range of maps and factions, so some games will be won based on strategy ( e. g. picking a better build on a map than the opponent) or luck ( one player blunders basically) . The win chance is pretty accurate for a series of games with the same opponent once your rating is stable, but the outcome of any individual game will be fairly random. 3 Even with a large user population and configurable matching width, I think the nature of Zero-K will result in relatively swingy games even with two equally skilled players. The game lacks a strict execution barrier and has a wide range of maps and factions, so some games will be won based on strategy ( e. g. picking a better build on a map than the opponent) or luck ( one player blunders basically) . The win chance is pretty accurate for a series of games with the same opponent once your rating is stable, but the outcome of any individual game will be fairly random. So while lowering the maximum allowed deviation will help reduce the number of poor games, they can't be avoided fully.
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5 (This is compared to a game like Starcraft 2 where the APM barrier more or less guarantees you're not winning if your mechanics aren't as good as your opponent, other than by a lucky cheese they fail to defend. It is much simpler to propose an even game where a large part of the difficulty is in fighting the game UI itself and the elo rating can build on that. APM really doesn't translate as well into a victory in Zero-K, and the variance in performance of most players across games is pretty high.) 5 (This is compared to a game like Starcraft 2 where the APM barrier more or less guarantees you're not winning if your mechanics aren't as good as your opponent, other than by a lucky cheese they fail to defend. It is much simpler to propose an even game where a large part of the difficulty is in fighting the game UI itself and the elo rating can build on that. APM really doesn't translate as well into a victory in Zero-K, and the variance in performance of most players across games is pretty high.)