Hidden Competitive Flex Queue - A way to resolve queue time without hurting role queue

Here’s the idea:

  • In a Competitive Flex Game, you’re not locked into a role. No one on both team is locked into a role.
  • You don’t queue for a Competitive Flex Game. You queue for Role Queue and, after a set amount of time, the game will push you into a second queue, the Competitive Flex Queue.
  • You’re still queing for Role Queue Competitive.
  • Role Queue > Flex Queue
  • If you don’t check the box to allow Competitive Flex Queue, you’ll not be put into the Competitive Flex Queue, no matter how long you wait.

(Of course, you would need a 4th SR)

Is there a limit to how many flex slots will be allocated per team?
If the allocated slot isn’t where a dps would be then there would be guaranteed 3 dps on that team. Going against the reason role queue was wanted.
The game would be inherently unfair unless both teams had a flex slot.
It almost guarantees that anyone above 3500 would never get a ‘proper’ 222 game even if they did get lucky enough to find a dps game.
Separating the player base into flex open games and non flex games would only serve to further increase queue times by splitting they player base.

I thought about it as like an old comp game. No one is locked into a role.
Maybe the matchmaker would try to put the same number of people queuing for a certain role in both team.

To be honest, it would only be to bring down queue time. If you don’t want to ever be be in one of those games, you would only need to left the option unchecked.
So if players above 3500 don’t want to ever be in a Flex Game, they can just left the option unchecked and they’ll be able to queue for how much they want and never be bothered by a Flex Game.

The player base wouldn’t really be separeted. Everyone would queue for the role they want to play in role queue.
The goal would only be to make queue shorter by sending some people into a flex game.

Everytime you press the button to queue as a dps, there are 100-300 other dps players waiting for the same thing in front of you.
Let’s say half of them are fine with flex/old comp. It means, you’ll wait a lot less.

It would be like an hidden second queue, in the background. After the set amount of time, the matchmaker would still try to put you in a role queue game and it will also look for other player to put you with in a flex game.
And if you don’t want flex comp at all, you’ll be able to wait as much as you like and never be bothered by those games. It will only be an option you can check on the “role selection” menu, for example.

to an extent, if half of them are queuing with the flex option enabled then that means in order for them to get a game they would need everyone else on both their team and the enemy team to also queue with flex enabled. support/tank players dont want a third dps in their games so they arent going to use it, you will only end up with half the dps players playing ranked as it is and half playing the game as it used to be. so in essence there would be 2 ranked modes. that means 2 metas and as we all know blizz cant even balance one so i doubt theyd be very good at balancing a second one alongside it. if they didnt balance them separately then one mode would be hideously unbalanced

I’m gonna be honest, i don’t know anything about balance so i can’t really argue with you on that.
However, i thought the most annoying thing for higher ranked players was support/tank stacking? That can be resolve pretty easily by putting a limit on how many tanks/support you can run at the same time in those games.

that would kinda defeat the point of a flex slot then since it would just be a race to see who can grab dps the fastest

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I don’t know.
I agree with you. I don’t think it would be wise to put a limit on how many dps you can run at the same time.

its a tough one, i personally cant see a way to make it work but blizz being blizz, they could implement it anyway