The idea is simple…
Win a game as tank, your next game is a priority queue.
It’s almost no work to implement, too. No UI changes needed. No MMR tweaking required. Just an extra function call at match end, to an existing function.
Blizzard, please. Tackle Overwatch’s biggest problem:
Let us play the game!
Q & A
Why is queue karma needed in Comp?
Queue times since Competitive 2/2/2 has been implemented have consistently shown that the lack of players queuing Tank is impacting the overall number of Overwatch matches able to be played.
Barring major changes to the Tank role, strong queue incentives are the only way to mitigate the queue imbalance in 2/2/2.
How does queue karma help queue times for everyone? If I don't queue Tank, why will my queues be lower?
Priority queues are granted only for wins, and the average player wins 50% of their matches. So, on average one “Flex” player will play 2/3 of their games as Tank and 1/3 as DPS/Support/Tank.
While Flex players will queue skip in front of you some of the time, the overall queue times will go down because significantly more matches will be able to be created.
My queue times are already fast enough, why should I care about queue karma?
Match quality! Currently, because of the limited tank player pool, one of the challenging parts of playing tank is that the matchmaker will create “pity” games in order to keep queue times low. This means that Tank players can end up in games far above and below the match’s skill level.
I already play only Tank, how will queue karma impact me?
Queue karma shouldn’t increase tank player queue times overall. You’ll miss out on some of the instaqueues into low-quality “pity” games–but the overall number of good quality matches should go up with more tank players in the queue pool.
By spending your queue karma on Tank queues, on average your queues will still be prioritised over Flex players queuing for Tank.
Plus, since queue karma only rewards winning, you can rest assured knowing that toxic hog thrower will on average be waiting longer in queue and spending less time in your matches.
But what if I just got a leaver/DC and my game shutdown, giving me a priority queue already... how will my queue be faster?
Actually, it might not be. On one hand, the player pool in queue will be larger leading to overall faster and better quality matches. But you’ll also lose out because priority queues due to minute 1 leavers won’t have the same importance.
If this turns out to be an issue, “High Priority Queue” could become a thing. But this would require a few UI changes, and tweaks to the matchmaker.
But won't queue karma just flood the game with inexperienced non-Tank players playing Tank?
Yes and no. Not all players who main DPS/Support are actually better at DPS/Support. Take me, for example: 76.7% of my play time is on DPS… still better at Tank. (T/D/S=13.7/76.7/9.5)
This is also shortsighted. In the long run, the community needs more players learning Tank in order to survive. So, while there will be a temporary influx of more new players playing tank and the matchmaker trying to place them, in the long term we’ll all be better off.
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