Just came back to this game last week for the first time in a year. I’ve been playing quickmatch and ranked and having a lot of fun with the new playstyle and features.
Then, my connection dropped me from a game, for the first time since I started again. Now I’m in Leavers Queue.
At first, I wasn’t too bothered. I remembered the inconvenience of Leaver’s Queue from my previous time playing, and I didn’t think much of it. Then, I realized the conditions were changed to “Win” Games instead of “Play” Games.
I’ve played 6 games, and I’ve won 1. Still need two more wins. At this point, I’m not interested in playing anymore. The conditions of leaver’s games are terrible. People are AFK and/or toxic, and the matchmaking system seems to be thrown out the door. It’s gotten so bad that I chose to intentionally leave a leavers game because the game is JUST NOT FUN ANYMORE! I’ll likely have to more “Win Games” to accomplish, but at this point, I’m finished with HotS for the foreseeable future.
How is this system supposed to encourage positive interactions in gameplay and the community? How are players who were turned away from this game due to design or corporate decision making encouraged to try it out when penalties for something as basic as a connection drop force you to play HOURS of gameplay that is otherwise unbearable?
Leavers Queue is BROKEN. It has always been a flawed system from the day it was released, but the changes make it unbelievably penalizing. I’m disappointed to see that it continues to ruin this great game for otherwise interested or loyal players…
This is one of the best changes Blizzard has made.
You can’t go afk get into leaver queue then afk for 3 more games just to afk some more, you have to actively try and win the game, which normal players do anyway.
I understand the need to keep AFK out of regular games. But the mentality of “suck it up and win” only undermines the point of playing this game in the first place – to have fun.
The Leaver’s Queue never worked to keep leavers out of QM and Ranked, from Day 1. Why make a system that never worked even more penalizing to the players who are not the problem instead of developing a different approach to managing the community?
If the system is set up that you get leavers queue after a single disconnect it is broken, yes, and perhaps something should be done in order to acknowledge that sometimes the net just drops, power outages occur…
But there’s also the fact that there might be more than just that one disconnect… In which case someone with this penalty is right where they should be, and furthermore is learning the difficulty of playing a game seriously (with the honest drive to win the match at hand) while dealing with players who leave.
You need more than one disconnect within a short period to enter Leave’s Queue. I haven’t tested extensively, but it seems to be when you leave more than once a week.
Your first leave will require only one win to clear. Subsequent disconnects within another short period (I think within the month) or continuing to leave while you have Leaver status will increase this requirement.
Essentially, you get a free disconnect every ~6 days at no punishment. In order to build up needing three games, you need to have left far more games than you’re letting on.
I suspect that every time a thread like this is created, the HotS developers ring a bell in the office with a plaque under it that reads “working as intended”, and then they all clap.
I drop from roughly 1-4 games per month for various reasons.
I almost never get leavers queue, so I’m calling BS on this.
The times I do get leavers queue, I get win -1- game. not 3. You’ve left an awful lot of games, but only now does it seem to bother you. I’d say the change is fine.
The amount of complaint threads about how much leaver’s queue sucks means the it’s working. You’re put in there as a punishment; it is supposed to suck.
If you don’t want to play in leaver’s queue, there’s a simple solution: don’t leave games. And no, you didn’t get the punishment from leaving just one game.
It is largely down to luck. The other day I lost 7 Brawls in a row. That is the longest losing streak I have had. Eventually you will win, one must just remain patient.
Remember that for every AFK or troll you have on your team, chances are the enemy will also have one. Hence eventually you will get effectively free wins.
Erm, what? Punishment is a punishment, there is no need for extra annoyance.
I hate leavers/afks as everyone else, but 2+ leaver games except extreme cases is simply pointless. Everything leaver queue is supposed to achieve is achieved with 1 leaver game (again, except extreme cases).
Leavers, regardless of reason, should burn in QM hell but I can agree that 2-3 games is too much.
No, a punishment is a punishment if it is a strong disincentive against behaving a particular way.
If you ‘punish’ an AFKer with a queue for them to sit and AFK in for 3 games then you aren’t offering a strong disincentive to avoid siting AFK in games. You might even be re-inforcing their behaviour.
