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Halo Ranking Systems

Divided into three parts;
Part 1 - Matchmaking Rank (MMR).
Part 2 - Competitive Skill Rank (CSR).
Part 3 - Skill Based Matchmaking (SBMM).

After working through MMR and CSR we can see how it's used in SBMM

" Part III; Skill Based Matchmaking (SBMM) "
Contentious topic in gaming.

Basic idea is that matches are as even as possible with a similar skill spread across players.

Trends everyone towards a 50% win rate and a K/D of 1.0.

Has been in gaming since Quake Live (2010).

Two components;
- how tightly the players are matched.
- how closely the teams are matched.

Ranked is tightly matched around players.

Social tends to be looser around the player (wider skill gaps) but still tight around the team.

" Case For "
Giving everyone an equal chance to win seems like a fair principle.

Protects new/poor players from being stomped.

Helps retain players and keep a healthy population.

Studies by MS have found that the most important factor for people quitting a gaming session is a lop-sided or unfair game. This is more important than the result, ping times, or personal performance.

Lots of other sports have grades or divisions to even out the games.

" Case Against "
Increases matchmaking times.

May be very hard to find matches for extremely good (or bad) players.

Doesn't prioritise low ping times.

Can't play with friends.

Games feel "sweaty".

Skill is not rewarded.

Players feel like they are being "punished" for doing well.

Players don't get to learn from better ones.

No feeling of progress (KD is stuck at 1.0 and Win % at 50).

" Responding to the Anti-SBMM Brigade "
Ok. The benefits of SBMM are pretty obvious.

You would think it would be pretty hard to argue against?

But there are literally pages and pages of bitter complaints.

Let's work our way through the common ones;

1. SBMM Slows Matchmaking and Increases Pings

This is actually a fair call.

Definitely the biggest drawback to SBMM.

Needs common sense - some loosening of SBMM here and there.

Would love option sliders to give some control SBMM vs wait/ping.

2. We Just Want to Jump on and Chill

Sounds OK until you realise other players aren't being afforded the same luxury.

At best it's somewhat ignorant and selfish.

At worst it's outright toxic.

Thankfully those at the end of the spectrum are probably a minority who;
- Believe they have earned the right to flex their skill.
- Other players should simply get 'gud' or get out.
- Couldn't care less about player population or retention.
- Value W% and K/D as status symbols.
- Feel they are being "punished" for being good.

I'm not sure why their time and play experience is more valuable than anyone elses?

3. The Only Way to Improve is to Play Against the Best

The classic cry of the grizzled veterans from days of yore.

Somewhat true up to a point;
- But I doubt you learn much from being completely stomped.
- Skills are best learnt at a gradual pace.
- And that's assuming said player can, or even wants, to get better.

4. No Feeling of Progress

Some players seem to value watching their W% and K/D go up.

They get frustrated when SBMM trends everyone towards the same 50% wins and 1.0 KD.

Not much of an argument - it's a pretty shallow view of improvement.

It should be easy to recognise the increasing skills of yourself and your opponents.

But I guess this doesn't give you a number to brag about.

5. Streamers

Really a subset of the Players in (2) - but not necessarily as toxic.

They rely on producing content of them doing very well against other players.

So they tend to present very negative and biased views on SBMM.

The main solution is to stop watching them.

6. I May as Well Play Ranked

Yes, you probably should.

As Max Hoberman (Halo 2) once put it - Ranked was created to get the a-holes out of Social.

And no, we don't believe you when you say Social is more sweaty than Ranked.

7. My Matches and Results are Being Manipulated

Um, no. They are not. Paranoia much?

The game is not forcing wins or losses upon you.

SBMM just utilises accurate ranking of players to make even matches.

The 50% win rate naturally involves.

Even if you have just won three matches in a row - your next game is still set up as a coin toss.

It would be way more complicated to find multiple teammates and enemies to specifically manipulate the result of your match.

Main Character Syndrome?

Your MMR just swings with form and invites better or worse opponents to keep the games fair.

But keep in mind that games sometimes do drift a bit;
- SBMM picks the two teams on the basis of MMR (form).
- It can't predict how well a team will 'gel' with each other.
- Complementary game styles may very well lead to better team performance.
- Similar or clashing game styles may not.
- Imagine scenarios such as having four specialist Snipers on a map doesn't even have Sniper rifles?

Some players like to assume that this loss is the game out to get them

On the flip side they never consider that any previous victory may have been team factors working in their favour.

Probably the main complaint in Infinite at the moment;
- The matchmaker struggles with small populations to find games for very good players.
- The only option left is to nerf their team with bad / average team-mates.
- Which leaves the good player having to "carry".

I think we can appreciate that this is a real and frustrating problem.

Gradually getting worse as the population continues to slowly thin out.

No easy solution - and it's better than letting those players time out.

" 9a. Playing with Friends 1 (Narrow Skill Gap); "
It's hard enough to find good matches for highly skilled players.

But it becomes way harder if you have two or more high levels partied up.

There may not be other players low ranked enough to nerf the team adequately.

No easy solution - and probably should be left to time out.

Maybe need an option where friends can play "together" but get put onto different teams?

" 9b. Playing with Friends 2 (Wide Skill Gap);

Different problem arises when queuing with lower ranked buddies.

Similar issues with the problem in (8) - except you also have a bunch of mates disillusioned with poor K/D.

Again, no easy solution.

If you drop the rank of the enemy team to the point that your buddies can compete - you end up shredding.

" Getting Sweaty Wit' It "
"Sweaty" is such an all encompassing and utterly subjective term.

It means different things to different people;
- close games.
- certain play-styles (eg. Campers).
- intensity of play.
- having to carry the team.

But everyone has the right to approach the game in their own way.

And that player you describe as being super-sweaty?
- could be someone just as skilled as you are.
- could be someone of lesser skill - but playing out of their skin.
- or even a semi-pro who is playing super chill while binging Netflix.

Whatever your definition - the key to 'chilling' in Social is to play at an intensity that is fun for you.

You have full control here.

Your MMR in that playlist will drop to that level and you will then attract opponents of a similar caliber.

The games will still be close. 50:50. And your KD will be around 1.0 - but that is SBMM.

The key here is to maintain that level of chill. You can't swap into "beast mode" to secure the win - or smash out your KD. That just pushes your MMR up and starts attracting tougher opponents.

The reality, however, is a lot of players can't separate the two. They are competitive by nature. They play sweaty - and then get frustrated when the game responds appropriately.

" Random Matchmaking is the Answer "
No it's not.

You would definitely be able to focus on best pings - but games would be very uneven.

The population is a normal distribution of skill.

An Onyx level player;
- Sits in the top 2% or so of the population.
- Would face an Onyx opponent in only around 1:10 games (4v4).
- Overall gets to play against teams around an average of Gold 6.

That's a lot of chill!

It's even worse if you look at the top 0.14% that are 1800+

And that's even before we talk about two Onyx level players playing together.

" Where to From Here? "
1. Keep going as we are and hope for the best.
- Haters going to hate.
- Game developers know the benefit of retaining players overall.

2. Give people more control;
- Options sliders; SBMM vs wait times vs pings.
- Set up special playlists with no SBMM.

3. Handicaps.

Handicapping Games

This is not a popular take.

But it would allow wider skill gaps to play happily with each other.

Leading to faster matchmaking and better pings.

Examples;
- Headstarts in Slayer (eg. start the game at 0 - 15).
- Oddballs that tick over faster.
- Difficult one is CTF - not easy to apply handicaps.

The handicaps could even be re-calculated if someone quits or joins mid-game.

The best way to think of this is like a giant Join in Progress.

Except instead of being thrown into the game 15 points down with 45 seconds to go - you start the game with plenty of time and the game is always in the balance (literally 50:50).

Good players are free to unleash as they deem fit.

Poor to average players get the close game they are looking for.

You do, however, retain the burden of having to carry your side.

" Engagement Optimised Matchmaking "
A relatively new concept; EOMM.

Probably best considered as separate to SBMM?

Using AI and other algorithms to tweak player experience.

Focuses not only on match experience but also player retention and microtransactions.

Feeds into the paranoia of players vs evil gaming corporations.

Some aspects could be good - like analysing the play style of players and matching them with and against each other to create more exciting matches.

I think we are still a long way from this overwhelming core SBMM - it would be very a very complex to individualise the match experience for every player in the match.

" Final Thoughts "
SBMM has been with us for 20+ years.

It's a good principle (fair matches) with good outcomes (player retention).

It's not about "competitive" vs "social" play.

Ignore the ranting of Streamers - they have a vested interest.

A lot of anti-SBMM sentiment is toxic (good players just wanting to stomp) - but a lot of it stems from the current implementation of nerfing good players with average to bad ones. And expecting that player to carry the team. These players do have a point.

We can, and should, continue debating on it's implementation.