Cancelled search incurs penalty

Bug Report
1

Hello,

While queuing for competitive lucioball my mate needed to grab a drink so we cancelled the search. We immediately lost SR, lost the match, and got suspended for 10 minutes. This is quite annoying, as we didn’t leave a match, just cancelled the search. I am unsure whether this happens in regular matches as well, but it needs to be looked in to.

Thanks in advance!

2

Expected to be removed by next patch!

3

This has been a glitch I have been personally observing since the start of season 17. Basically the theory is that you were paired into a match at the same time you clicked cancel and this is happening often to many players because matchmaking has dramatically changed to have really fast queue times. The game client tried to exit out while the server marked you as absent. Until any news of this is addressed by Blizzard, be sure to only queue for a Competitive game if you are absolutely ready to play.

4

Are you following my post history or are you just searching for these type of posts?

5

Kind of following, but it’s more to make sure I cover my end. As it stands, this bug is not yet confirmed by Blizzard. So I am stepping in to say that while I do anticipate the bug to be resolved by the next patch based on my observations, I just want to make to set everyone’s expectations right.

6

Are you directly connected to blizzard (e.g You go over cases you find on the forum and bring it trough)

And what is meant by not confirmed by blizzard?

I just require a bit more information so i can also help with spreading the word.

(Also you’re doing a great job!)

7

Not directly, as a Forum MVP, my green text is basically Blizzard’s way of saying “Hey this is a trustworthy source of information.” Basically to me, confirmation is someone from Blizzard saying, “Yeah we got this fixed on the next patch.” but for many bugs of this nature, it often goes quiet and resolves often without documentation. The best way to communicate this is say, “Yeah I have been seeing this in my games/being posted a lot” and if possible, provide a workaround solution which in this case is, “Don’t click cancel if you can help it.”

I really do appreciate you and other members of the community to spread the word to others. Remember my goal is to provide the best possible solution in the here and now. So as you continue to spread the word, and I encourage that you do, feel free to link me, but it will help me out greatly to emphasize things like what the player can do to prevent it from happening again. Also if you need to reference why Blizzard can’t handle a leaver penalty for things like this, refer them to this official Blizzard post:

Yes, Blizzard does need to correct this issue and I have done everything within my ability (though its mostly just keep posting here on the forums) to communicate the issue to Blizzard. As mentioned, Competitive season 17 started having very different changes to how matchmaking works. The cancel queue bug is one of five different behaviors I have seen reported and directly observed in my own games. The other four are:

  • Matchmaking times are extraordinarily fast (which results in the cancel queue button), however, I believe this behavior to matchmaking was in preparation for Role Queue even before Role Queue was announced.
  • A match starts with not enough players and goes into a “Waiting for Players” mini-skirmish. If this happens, do not manually leave the match, instead wait the sixty seconds and the match will cancel on its own. Furthermore, don’t manually click the “Cancel Search” button when the “Not Enough Players… Finding a new game.”
  • Some players (most notably of an extremely low Bronze rank) are completely unable to find a match whatsoever. Again, I think this has to do with changes to the protocols of matchmaking. Unfortunately, I don’t think there is much that can be done about this other than to try to queue and get into enough games to get Placement matches done.
  • A player is now able to find a match if they leave their previous game (after Victory, Defeat, or Draw is displayed) but before that game’s post-game sequence ends. Prior to season 17, it was confirmed by Game Director Jeff Kaplan himself that it was impossible to find a new match until the current match’s post-game sequence (vote cards, stats, SR adjustment) ends. Starting in season 17, I have tested myself that one can find a match instantly if you leave the post-game sequence early.

Again, thanks a bunch for spreading the word. That is what these forums are all about. If I ever chime in, usually its to make sure that I keep things concise and back up everyone who pitches in with helping.