New Matchmaking Parameters Added For Quick Match
by JR Cook - 8 years ago show comments
Community Manager Spyrian took to the official forums yesterday to announce that additional matchmaking guidelines have been added to address the issue of party size difference in Quick Match.
In a nutshell, the change involves lessening the possibility that you will be matched against a party that has three more members than what you or your party have. Not sure what this means? Simply add three to the number of players in your party, and you shouldn’t be matched versus parties of that size or higher. For example, a two player party should not be matched versus a full five stack (2+3=5).
There has already been some confusion regarding this change, so here are a few important points to keep in mind:
- This change only applies to Quick Match. There are currently no guidelines of this type for Hero League.
- This change only lessens the chance that you will be matched against parties of certain sizes, it doesn’t prevent it entirely. The matchmaking system still focuses on match quality over party size (as it should), so there will be situations where players get matched against larger parties if that is what it takes to provide the most suitable match possible.
- The matchmaking improvements are ongoing. This is a work in progress, and based on numerous comments from Blizzard, this is their highest priority at the moment. Be patient, and appreciate how much the system has improved over the last month or two. Blizzard is actively seeking feedback on this issue. If you encounter what you feel like is poor matchmaking, share your experience in the official Match Fairness Reports thread which can be found here.
If you would like to view the official post in it’s entirety, simply scroll down. See you in the Nexus!
As part of our ongoing improvements for the Heroes of the Storm matchmaking system, we’ve just implemented a new change that will affect what types of parties you may get matched against while playing Quick Match. Starting today, we’ve greatly reduced the possibility that you’ll be matched against a party that has three more members than the largest party on your own team.
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Let’s expand on what that means. Take a look at a few common party sizes below, and what you can expect to see in Quick Match after today:
- Solo players: Cannot be matched against four or five-player parties.
- Duo players*: Cannot be matched against five-player parties.
- Three-player parties: Can match against any party size.
It is important to note that the matchmaker will still prioritize match quality over party size, and may pull in parties outside of these ranges if the resulting game is the most suitable match available. This means that it’s still possible to play against a party that’s larger than your own, but this will only occur in rare cases.
*EDIT: There has been some confusion about how parties of 3 can match against full parties. This rule is based on the largest party size on each team, so it IS still possible that 2 and 3-player parties (or 4+1 solo) will be matched together against a full party. However, as mentioned above, the matchmaker still prioritizes match quality, so the system will do its best to ensure your game is the best match available at the time the game is created. You should see cases like 2+1+1+1 and 5 solos against full parties much less often.
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We’re still hard at work exploring and testing further improvements for the matchmaking system internally, and your feedback helps us make sure our changes are headed in the right direction. Keep playing games, and keep sending your constructive thoughts about matchmaking our way. We’ll have more information to share about upcoming matchmaking changes in the future.
Thank you!
