Algorithmic Handicapping (MMR) is Wrong for Overwatch

"You appealed to popularity or the fact that many people do something as an attempted form of validation.

The flaw in this argument is that the popularity of an idea has absolutely no bearing on its validity.
If it did, then the Earth would have made itself flat for most of history to accommodate this popular belief.

Example: Shamus pointed a drunken finger at Sean and asked him to explain how so many people could believe in leprechauns if they’re only a silly old superstition. Sean, however, had had a few too many Guinness himself and fell off his chair."

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Has this been posted here yet? Its from 2017, so not everyone may know about it. At least i did not until today.

_https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-wins-patent-that-uses-matchmaking-to-make-you-want-to-buy-stuff/

Its about a patent Activision Blizzard had filed for an algorithm to match players in multiplayer games depending on which ingame items they bought.

A system and method is provided that drives microtransactions in multiplayer video games. The system may include a microtransaction arrange matches to influence game-related purchases. For instance, the system may match a more expert/marquee player with a junior player to encourage the junior player to make game-related purchases of items possessed/used by the marquee player. A junior player may wish to emulate the marquee player by obtaining weapons or other items used by the marquee player.

The idea alone is disgusting as hell, whether has since been implemented in their games or not. It may not be relevant in Overwatch because there are no P2W items (just skins), but it certainly displays how big companies think. This is just an example of what is “possible” in today’s games, not only technically, but ethically!

For those people saying “If you really believe that Blizzard would match you against other players for any other reason than your MMR/SR, then you are a conspiracy theorist.” : Read this patent!

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That is a great and informative post. I share your concern about the revenue interests that lie in the abuse and manipulation of players, by corporations like Blizzard.

Phenomenom =/= idea.

When a lot of people are simply describing their experience they are not presenting an idea. They are sharing an experience that for some odd reason is consistent with a lot of other random people.

Even I had matches where it was extremely easy and extremely difficult.

So ur fallacy does not apply in this instance.

Also this thread is still going?

Even if you were able to quantify “a lot” I get the distinct impression you don’t know what “anecdotal” means and you clearly don’t understand what bandwagon fallacy means.

Well, it had (finally) died nearly 2 weeks ago but now you bumped it so that you could fail at shutting me down. Nice try, though.

I dont record my games so i have no evidence to not make it anecdotal.

I didnt claim that the flipping of difficulty was inherently true it was just something I observed in my matches. Nor did i also claim it was inherently true because others had the same observation/opinion. (Since were a bandwagon now)

If the difficulty of competitive matches in Overwatch is inconsistent within the same rank. And a lot or a little i guess since i have no statistics. But lets say for dhits (cant use the letter “s”) and giggles 1% or less of that of players from each rank experience this inconsistency. Then these 1% of players in each given rank are experiencing inconsistent match difficulty in their comp games.

Bronze-1%
Silver-1%
Gold-1%
Plat-1%
Diamond-1%
Masters- 1%
Top 500 - 5 players

When random people claim similar things. It should not be dismissed merely as bandwagon.

_https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/overwatch/t/this-has-been-my-matchmaking-experience/351793

_https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/overwatch/t/and-you-get-a-smurf-and-you-get-a-smurf-everybody-gets-a-smurf/32135

_https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/overwatch/t/how-to-fix-the-smurfing-issue/363945

_https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/boosting-in-overwatch-could-now-get-you-jailed-in-south-korea-751520

^^ This is my personal fav since there is no such law in the United States. Meaning boosting services are almost impossible to stop by Blizz.

_https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/overwatch/t/smurf-infestation/324063

_https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/overwatch/t/i-am-smurf-and-reasons-why-i-smurf/269068

These are just a few. Again i am not claiming my statements are inherently true. But rather pointing out that random people are describing a phenomena that they are experiencing. Which is worth a inspection in and of itself.

Imo better questions:

Why are random people reporting similar experiences?

If the match difficulty inconsistency is false then why are there reports from again different random people?

If the match difficulty inconsistent is true what can be done about it?

The following is just more url’s:

_https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/overwatch/t/tired-of-smurfs/186084

-Drastic Difference In Difficulty: Same Ranks

Even kawuumba himself does a post on poor match quality.

-Why Match Quality in Overwatch is Frequently Poor

Even if you did record an “inconsistent” match it would still be anecdotal. Here’s the definition for you since you clearly don’t know what it means:

Based on casual observations or indications rather than rigorous or scientific analysis.

Why do random people say the Earth is flat?

If the Earth isn’t flat, why do different random people say it is?

Inconsistency is to be expected. The only common factor in your matches is you. If you improve yourself, you will climb.

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If i were to record all my matches it would be easy to create stastics that show good matchs v. “bad” matches. Again since I dont record all of my matches i cant do that.

Random people supporting an idea <----- cough cough is not the same as random people describing similar phenomena.

Phenomena =/= idea

Who brought up climbing? Inconsistency in a competitive environment is completely frowned upon in most if not all other competitive scenes. So yea.

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For those who missed it, proven mmr/sr mismatch occurs and that sr is definitely part of mmr:

This was 3rd time accounts lined up. This time I hypothesized the “marked” account would have a long wait warning and the other would not. Took photo as soon as I hit join and lo and behold that is exactly what happened - consistent with last two times.

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Because it is flat from their perspective, it’s beyond their understanding similar to those on the forum. No matter what proof you give them they will just deem it conspiracy.

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Let’s not talk about flat-earthers, because it’s not a fair characterization. Below the belt, rhetorically speaking.

My argument is that Blizzard is abusing players, by handicapping their competitive matches, and doing so without any disclosure of it in Overwatch’s user-interface or terms of use. I think it’s unfair that competitive matches are handicapped with Match Making Rating. I think it’s insidious that Blizzard hides this fact from players, lying to them by omitting important information from Overwatch’s Terms of Use and game menus.

That is what this thread is about. Please discuss with substance and civility. Thank you for contributing!

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Hahaha I just made a post about this then saw this one.

“I’m so proud of this community”

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I mean, if it was ever to be proved, you could basically go with a class action lawsuit and have a very decent chance of winning

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That alone should make it very clear to you and everyone else here that it isn’t happening. They wouldnt put themselves in that type of legal position

I’ve never before played such an additive game. I have close to ten games on my 3DS I haven’t finished, two or three games on my Switch, four or five on PS4 and about a dozen or so on my PS3. I also have a small library of games on my PC. And yet, I always come back to OW, no matter what. And I hate it, but I can’t stop playing.

I think something FAR more nefarious is going on with this game than anyone could even fathom…

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I for one, would like you to get the devs to disprove or prove this theory. They have not, and thus far will not, disclose their data and number crunching publicly (This is their right to do so). Thus it is also clear that we are able to make theories.

“They can’t/won’t say anything therefore it proves me right.”

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Winning what? What damages are we talking?

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Hey Cuthbert is there a way I can contact you off of these forums? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you in private if you wouldn’t mind

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Yes, you can send me an email at:
receiving589@gmail.com

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Gambling is also a form of entertainment, but an inherently problematic one that is subject to regulation. For good reason.