Incoming yap session.
It can’t just be me, right? Almost every single game there are at least one or two players on either team who are either actively throwing or misplaced by the matchmaker in favor of queue times (assumed to be intentional at this point when compared to OW1). It also seems like this trend has not only failed to improve since OW2 launched but has only been more and more noticeable. Perhaps I’m just jaded and it’s causing me to see this more than most, but for how often you can clearly point out the exponential gap between the weakest link on the team and any other player, it can’t be a coincidence in my mind.
After 8 years of enduring the extremely questionable and turbulent decisions of these developers, I’m just left with so many unanswered questions:
What is the solution to this if not to only 5-stack?
Why has Blizzard made no attempt to improve the solo queue experience?
Why do queue times seem to matter more than match quality?
How does doubling down on punishing players for leaving low quality matches make up for the poor experience?
From what I’ve been able to tell, this has been a common complaint since the game launched, and I understand that there are many variables that go into what defines a “bad” game and that some bad behaviors just can’t be predicted or avoided. But, that being said, I’m not convinced Blizzard has been making every attempt to improve the quality of matchmaking, if not outright making it worse by allowing for wide queues. This system is highly exploitable and encourages dishonest interactions with the game despite its intentions toward the opposite, and it creates endless opportunities for the worryingly frequent issues with matchmaking.
At the moment, every game genuinely feels like a crapshoot. I know this has been the same since 2016, but you can play absolutely out of your mind and still not be able to make up for the monumental difference of a tank who’s afraid of dying and refuses to engage the enemy, or a DPS player who can’t aim to save their life (or who are blatantly cheating), or DPS Moiras and passive-aggressive Mercy mains who choose to play as selfishly as possible because nothing disincentivizes their poor behavior, other than the similarly exploitable reporting system.
I can admit that there are plenty of times where everyone on the team is giving an honest effort, but that’s not what I’m referring to. I’m talking about the matches where, despite anyone’s best efforts, one or more players are so disparate in skill compared to the rest of the lobby that there’s simply no reason it should ever occur. It’s just a waste of time for everyone, winning team included.
So the question lingers: wtf is going on with this game’s matchmaking? It seems to make no sense at all and hasn’t seemed to improve in the slightest since OW2 launched. I would actually argue that it’s gotten worse since then. Matches used to take longer to find towards the end of OW1, but they were not nearly as disempowering to the average player as they are now. It almost always feels futile to try and make up for an insurmountable skill gap within probably 80% or more of your games, and I’m not sure how this could be considered an acceptable experience.
This probably doesn’t matter to some people, and I’m not aiming to change anyone’s mind. But, this post is meant for anyone who can offer any kind of adequate explanation for why the matchmaking has been such a neglected afterthought after so many years. No amount of wacky balance patches or shiny overpriced skins can make up for the game experience, and from my point of view, it’s hard to argue that the experience is worthwhile in the slightest.
I love this game and want to have fun playing it. But, it has only become increasingly difficult with each passing season. The faults of this game must be acknowledged in order to make it better, lest it tacitly persuade the players to stop logging in knowing what they’ll be greeted with: an often miserable and pointless exercise in patience and learning to let go of things you can’t control. If this is the intended lesson from Blizzard, then they might as well remove all matchmaking constraints and make every game mode the same as it was when OW1 launched (QP only and a couple gimmicky rotating arcade modes). Otherwise, if I were in their shoes, I would think it would behoove me to provide a meaningful and generally enjoyable experience every single time you boot up the game. And if this can’t be accomplished, then perhaps it’s best for Microsoft to shut it down and finally put this entire fiasco of a game to rest.
I refuse to believe a billion dollar company is incapable of successfully navigating this issue. But again, the question remains: why haven’t they yet?