I’ve noticed that my solo queue times usually have an estimated wait time of 400-600 seconds, (usually 600 seconds later in the day) but my ACTUAL wait times are always over 30 minutes to over an hour. (2500-3500 seconds is when i get into a game)
I’m on the NA servers, and no matter what time of day, my queue times goto 3000 seconds and over, regardless of what the estimate says. I’m usually “lucky” when I get into a game at the 1600 second mark.
I’ll watch a streamer like Fanhots do multiple runs from bronze to GM, and when he gets to around my rank, his queue times are no where near like mine, he’s in the same NA servers, and I see the same people I see in game. So my initial rationalizing is that “oh, the game is dead and less players are on” but that’s not the case with people streaming the game, right in my rank. There is another streamer close to my rank, and he’s not getting even close to those queue times either. So what is actually going on?
My play sessions are usually 1 game now, since it takes an hour just to get into a single ranked game. And sometimes, if the draft gets AFK’ed out, that’s it… I spend over an hour waiting for draft, only to have a single player be AFK, and then get booted back to my hour long queue time. Anyone getting similar queue times in NA around plat/diamond?
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People complain about instant ques with unfair matches in QM. People complain about too long ques in ranked tho it gives you the ability to draft.
When will people be happy ?
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Wha- ?
I’m not talking about QM queue times, so there is no reason to bring that up.
Ranked Solo queue. What are you queue times?
Mine aren’t matching up with other players, today I hit the 5000 seconds mark TWICE, and canceled out and re-queued. Considering I’m not exaggerating, and actually trying to average out my times in my post. If I used the worst examples, I’d be telling you about my 5000-6000 second queue times (which is around 80-something minutes left waiting in queue) Nobody would agree that’s normal.
I’d say its reasonable to question insanely high queue times, when I see streamers in my rank, in NA - not getting the same results, and getting into matches around 200-300 seconds.
If you want to reply to my post, tell me your queue times for solo ranked? no reason for coloured fluff about QM that adds nothing.
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My point is people will complain no matter how long they have to wait.
Yes. SL queue times are insanity. Even during peak hours. I get so lucky if I get into a match before the estimated time displayed. It’s extremely rare, but it has happened. Generally the wait time for me is around 10-12 minutes. If I end up playing any time after 11pm, my queue time is almost 30 minutes, consistently.
It really pulls you out of the vibe of wanting to play honestly. You lose all your momentum, that even winning feels like a punishment. “Great, we win… now I get to twiddle my thumbs for another 20+ minutes.”
The matches feel even worse when you get an afk, a random troll first picking nova/murky, or a premade. There’s very few enjoyable matches to be played these days… but they do exist occasionally.
Your wait times on NA is simply because you’re Diamond. As Platinum on NA my wait times for ranked are usually 3-4 minutes on average, but far longer if I queue out of peak hours. The reason Fan finds games so fast is there are more players looking for matches in lower ranks.
This is why many players are making smurf accounts just to play ranked and then rinse and repeat when they rank into Diamond. As always make sure your preferred server in Options/Language and Region: is set to “North America” and not to “Best Match.” BM can divert you off to smaller servers.
If you have a stable and fast internet connection I’d also suggest you try the EU servers, for some people in NA the lag can be minimal, results will vary. Best of luck.
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As said above - As many as 20-30% of players play in high gold to high platinum.
Only 10% or less of players are in diamond or higher, and it gets worse for master+ (1% and less of player population).
You are less likely to get a fast match at high ranks because very few high ranks remain in HotS.
They’ve also tightened the matchmaker in high ranks due to a large volume of complaints, meaning the system will prefer to find you 9 other diamonds to play with rather than throw platinums (or even golds) in your match.
That all adds up to potentially waiting 30-60 mins for a match due to the low population.
The system can’t just create 9 diamonds out of thin air. It has to wait for those people to log in and que for SL.
And yes, it’s very possible to log in at a time when less than 9 other diamonds are queuing for SL. That’s the state of the game in 2023
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One time at like 2am I started the queue, took a shower, and then came back and the game still hadn’t found a match. I kind of like the longer queues. Helps me get things done while I wait so I’m even semi productive while playing. 2am gaming is a vibe for me and its also when I feel the most productive and motivated to be productive.
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It’s hilarious when the queue takes so long you forgot you were trying to find a game. Just assume the game is going to fail, kinda like the game itself has been completely abandoned. Then if the game passes draft you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Isn’t Fan playing on EUW?
Hmmm, I’m going to try this, as I assumed the opposite (that best match would be faster) Lets see if this works. 
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