A change was just announced to TBC arena which will reduce the time it requires for teams of more dispersed MMR to queue into each other more quickly as shown below:
"Looking back at Season 2, we’ve analyzed the queue data and found that some queue times are taking longer than we’d like to see. To address this, in Season 3:
The range of possible opponents will be expanded. This will help match players of different matchmaking levels more quickly. As before, teams with similar ratings who queue at the same will be prioritized to match against each other."
This is a massive issue specifically for retail Rated Battlegrounds as of the last 2 expansions, in which it is not uncommon for high rated teams to sit in 1-2 hour+ queue times.
I would like to suggest implementation of the same change to retail Rated Battlegrounds, in that the possible range of opponents should be expanded much quicker than it currently is to avoid excruciating queue times.
This would increase player participation, as it is currently not possible for certain teams to play the game at less active times of the day.
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Could this be related to the population within this area of the game, participation numbers?
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Increasing the MMR range might benefit the queue times of high rated teams. However, it’s not good for the lower rated teams that get matched up against them.
If players end up in lopsided games more frequently because they’re going against high rated teams, that might end up decreasing overall player participation.
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I think it is the exact same issue that TBC arena experienced. For instance, if 2 high rated 3v3 teams were queuing the game when nobody else was, they would get each other no problem within a few minutes each time. If one of those teams was not playing, however, the one high rated team queuing would sit very long queue times.
So yes, I think part of the issue is due to the participation numbers, but I also think participation would be increased if teams would be able to get a game quicker if teams at their exact MMR were not playing.
For instance, I know specific teams that would queue in the mornings every day in prior expansions, but can no longer play because they won’t get a game ever since the MMR queue change that was implemented in BFA (500mmr restriction).
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Pretty strongly disagree here. Let’s take the most extreme example, a 500mmr gap. A 2500 team queues into a 2000 MMR team after an hour in queue. The population of teams at 2000 mmr is way bigger than 2500. Therefore, from the 2k team’s POV, getting a 2500 mmr team is extremely rare and unlikely. Realistically speaking, the 2k team would far more easily get teams within their own MMR range.
I do think it’s a positive if the higher MMR team playing is able to get a game quicker than they can now, as the alternative right now is regularly sitting 1-2 hour queue times.
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Ok.
Players expect competitive/close games in rated PvP. A larger MMR gap doesn’t sound fun for either team.
Do high rated teams even want to play against teams that are 500 mmr lower?
High rated teams would get faster queues at the expense of lower rated teams.
RBG teams take a while to form. Imagine after a team finally forms, they zone into a rated bg and see that the other team’s mmr is much higher. I think players would be pretty unhappy.
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Its been bad but nothing will be worse than the “cant q into a team again after win/loss” im hoping they make some fix
I strongly disagree, sorry man. As it stands, most players who are scared to do rated arenas opt for rated battlegrounds because its not as competitive. It’s not just a deathmatch and making a mistake in an RBG is a lot more forgiving than making a mistake in arenas.
Anyone first going into rated content will probably start with rated battlegrounds. When I started to get into rated PvP back in MoP, I didn’t start off with arenas, I went into rated battlegrounds. I eventually got comfortable and then went into arena. The rest is history.
If you start introducing a system like this where a team at a low MMR can queue into a team at a much higher MMR, it’s going to discourage players from rated battlegrounds. It’s sort of like that with arena already.
True story here, I was on my ilvl 232 hunter few days ago doing arenas on him for the first time. I didn’t bother before because hes a new toon and had no gear. Grinded some honor and got it fully upgraded. We were winning for a bit, but then we started getting paired up against people at 1700-1800 CR even though we were barely at 800 CR.
Arena is already seen as something scary for casual players to get into, rated in general really, so making a change like this would just lower participation if groups are being placed against teams with higher MMR than them.
Not to be rude, but I stopped reading after the first sentence. If you think a rated bracket is not intended to have a competitive environment, and anyone who wants to engage in competitive BGs should be punished, then we’re living on two different planets. Casuals who are scared for rated should opt for random battlegrounds.
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I never said it isn’t intended. I’m saying, that’s how most casual players view rated environments.
I personally have no problem with RBGs or arenas, I still do them regardless. I never said anyone who wants to engage in competitive BGs should be punished. I’m telling you why your idea is horrible for the participation in rated BGs, and rated games in general. Read before replying.
Yeah RBGs are pretty busted lol you have a handful of teams at the top that live and breathe RBGs and then a bunch of decent players that just casually que and hover around 22-2300. Then the teams at the top of the ladder just continually que into pugs 400 mmr lower than them and skim points.
Fact of the matter is people don’t care enough about the bracket, especially with RBG and pvp balance/participation the way it is.
Yawn
Yup, you don’t care and don’t like the bracket, so let’s screw over the people that do.
We have been hearing lots of complaints from lower rated teams about being matched up against much higher rated teams all during this expansion. It sounds like the gap you are thinking of as an improvement is already common.
What reason would have very low ranked players have to continue playing if they rarely got teams close to their own rank? Would you give some reward for being a much higher team’s punching bag?
The issue is that falling player numbers → falling participation in all content, including yours. I see no reason to expect them to turn it around. But reducing the participation of lower rated players would be very bad long-term.
Can see it now. Some random LFG group who’s been sitting in the queue forming a team at 1600 finally fills up after an hour. Ready check, queue! Instant pop into a 2300 team. Game over before it starts and the team disbands afterward.
We have to fix the participation numbers before any fine-tuning can be done to these brackets.
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That’s just not even remotely realistic. No 2300 team would ever queue into a 1600 team even after the proposed change (which again they just implemented for TBC arena).
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I was being hyperbolic on purpose. Even if you shrink that gap to something more realistic, you are going to have similar outcomes.
We need more players in the queues. Systems that try to stretch the players already in the queue are more likely to have negative impacts than positive ones. Letting teams repeatedly face the same teams is probably the only real effective short term solution.
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So do you think Blizzard’s change to TBC arena is a mistake and that people should be upset about it? Because it is the exact same scenario and I haven’t seen one person upset with the change.
I suppose it really depends on the MMR spread. I don’t think they’re necessarily equal in terms of outcomes.
Isn’t there already an issue when these games finally pop that the 500mmr lower team just doesn’t even play past the first team fight if that? I occasionally watch high MMR EU streamers doing RBGs and they never actually get a game where the other team tries.
Sure, not saying that I think it’s good to repeatedly crush teams that are 500mmr below another team. But on the other hand I think it’s really messed up to sit an 8 minute queue to attempt to get a team 100 mmr apart, which is really common.