Problem: A lot of matches are canceling within the first 30 secs due to someone in the queue being AFK or disconnected. In such cases, there is no need for the match to even begin and it punishes 11 other players (no fault of their own) because they have to queue again from scratch. DPS players are punished 3-4x harder whenever a match is canceled due their queue times, and sitting in back-to-back queues with zero gameplay is pretty much the best way to make someone exit the game and play something else.
This problem can make itself worse because the longer you make someone wait in a queue, the more likely they become to get distracted doing something else while waitingâŚfor which 11 other players get punished again.
Solution: When a match has been found, bring up a prompt saying âClick Join to begin.â The match will not load until everyone clicks Join, and this acts as an AFK/disconnect safeguard. If someone fails to click Join, the remaining 11 players remain at the front of the queue and can immediately join the next available one. They have already done their waiting and therefore deserve some gameplay. Under this system, the AFK/disconnected player is removed from the queue and there is no need to penalize them with a temp ban or SR loss since the match never began.
WoWâs queuing system has already worked this way for years. When the queue is ready it gives everyone a âJoinâ button. If anyone fails to click that, they are simply removed from the queue (no penalty) and everyone else remains in the queue with priority on the next available one.
11 Likes
Honestly, removing and penalizing the AFK player in such a situation seems unnecessary. Granted I donât afk or alttab too much while queueing and it wouldnât have an effect on me, helping the AFK player will reduce toxicity and improve player retention more than the current system or your proposed system.
My solution is this: If you reach the front of the queue, you have a âreadyâ button to click for 3 minutes. Once youâve clicked it, you are in the active matchmaker for 2 minutes. If you enter a game within this time period, normal rules apply. If you do not, you go back to the ready button for another 3 minutes. This guarantees that anyone in a game has been at their PC less than 2 minutes ago, and the players know that theyâre very likely to get a game in the next 2 minutes after clicking it and are less likely to wander off. The 3 minute time limit allows for a more forgiving return to the PC, while not actively slowing anyone elseâs games or encouraging pre-queueing when youâll be afk an undetermined amount of time. Note that since the active matchmaker will only take so many players in a given range of a given role, you should be close to instantly matched after clicking ready in the middle ranks, reclicking would only be a thing in extremely high or low SR.
This would drastically reduce âfalse startsâ and the penalties associated with them, while letting players with high queue times feel a bit more comfortable using the restroom or grabbing a snack or whatever while queued. If youâre forced to click ready a second time, a checkbox to âstay readyâ should be available, with increased SR and account penalties for a false start after using it(again, you should always be in a game on the first click anywhere except extremely high or low SR).
Further, seperating the queue from the active matchmaker creates an easily accessible software solution to priority queuing. If you have a game cancelled and immediately requeue on the same role, you receive the ready check instantly without waiting out a queue.
2 Likes
What happens is a player ques, minimises.
Then just decideds he canât be arsed to play and wants to do literally anything else.
it booting him early in to a match and cancelling it hurt no one. except the AFKâr⌠They will get their 10 min ban (really good punishment if youâve already buggered off to something actually fun lol)
A ready check button would be great! Fully support this suggestion.
1 Like
This is a good idea. CSGO uses this system and has prevented many games from being launched with AFK players.
I wouldnât mind having a ready check as long as there is an obvious sound effect when it pops up. I always alt-tab out of Overwatch when queuing, and then go back to the game when I hear the âqueue poppedâ or âwelcome toâŚâ sound.
1 Like
I actually agree, good point. The SR loss and temp ban becomes unnecessary if a Join button is implemented, because technically the match never began.
1 Like
ditto on ready check. I am one of those that sometimes loses attention when the que is 10+ minutes
2 Likes
thereâs an easy fix for this⌠but blizzard will never ever do anything about that problemâŚ
when a game is about to stop because of a leaver⌠reset the game, and let somebody join⌠(give fill player 25 creditâŚ) have a tick box (if you want to backfill or not) in the que and voila⌠problem solvedâŚ
also, instead of taking quitersâ useless endorsment⌠actualy derank their behinds⌠but i think then you should create a new rank⌠a rank where all leavers are trown together⌠and they need to play x games in that rank in order to play normal ranked⌠youâll see⌠A LOT of people wonât be disconection anymore
You could even have a ready check when the game loads and delay the game if someone is afk. boot the player out if theyâre still afk and find another person that fits the matchmaker.
If the round has not actually started you can have people waiting in game to fill the missing spot just fine. Thereâs no need to throw everyone back to the queue to start again.
I think it would be a far better user experience for 11 players to sit in spawn talking to their teams while an AFK person gets a chance to be active, then gets booted, and the 11 wait 2-3 min to grab another person. Gives time to talk strategy, etc.
Paladins has a ready check and itâs absolutely annoying. You have to wait for people to click accept, and you cannot leave your computer or you get a ban/loss of SR. Sometimes I need to use the bathroom. The queue is so long, I just click start, go the use the restroom, and get 30 seconds just incase itâs an instant queue pop. Iâm always back before it launches.
I vote hard no on ready check.
This is where my suggestion differs (if you actually read my suggestion). There doesnât need to be any ban or SR loss. If you donât click readycheck then youâll just be kicked from the queue and taken back to the main menu, thatâs all. 11 other players wonât suffer because you didnât click ready.
Iâll take an readycheck button any day over repeatedly entering matches with an AFK/disconnected player, waiting for the match to cancel, and then having to join a brand new 10-15 min queue.
Do not want any more checks between me and the game. Thatâs why I hate skirmish. I use the waste of a life lost in queue to grab water or use the rest room.
And, I donât believe the issue lies in people not being there in the game cancelling it. They usually disconnect for multiple other reasons, and being ready usually isnât one of them. Also, DPS having to reset and wait back in queue is great. They should spend more time playing Tank / heals because there is a massive need for more players in those spaces.
1 Like
100% agree please billard sometimes i forget iâve qued and go make a cup of tea to come back to a ban or someone comes to the door ect. it seems you have to dedicate a large amount of time to just queing for a game, conclusion - add ready check itâs not hard surely to god.