Ok there is something going on here. On the verge of quitting

I used to play this game all the time. Literally all the time a year or two back and some at launch. I played so much PvP even through HoT release I literally didn't even know how to PvE. Never done a story quest, never did an event type of player.

That being said.

What is going on with this game now and matchmaking? I have been randomly polling people when I queue and get matched and they range from Top tier, platinum to silver. How is the matchmaking matching players of such a varied skill level? How is that algorithm even permitted? Why am I Plat 2 getting teamed up with Silver 1 players? Why? No seriously why?

I peaked at Plat 3 earlier today and then I lost 17 games in a row. You read that right. 17. I even took my notebook out at around the 4-5 loss mark and started to record my findings. 5 of the games I had some player just rage out. Whether we lost the fight mid, or he lost his 1v1 whatever the case. almost 30% of the games somebody said "I'm out". I STILL LOST RATING. So during my plunge to Gold 1 from Plat 3 I noticed 1 common thing. I was getting teamed up with the exact same terrible players EVERY SINGLE TIME. I even stopped queueing for 20-30 minutes took a break, ate some food etc. Only to sit back down and get MORE TERRIBLE PLAYERS. Then as I queue'd the game continued to throw them on my team

This is no coincidence

Earlier in the day I think I went 8 or 9 in a row wins. Lost a couple. Would win 3-5 more. Then out of nowhere the 17 game plunge commenced. I'd really like some clarity as to why this is even considered acceptable? "GW2 PvP is dead" responses are just going to toss me over the edge of quitting even quicker

Thanks in advance

Short answer:Around season 5 half the player base left for some "random" reason, around the same time a few builds popped up that were good for yolo play that needed balancing and still do, so more left and now the match maker is doing it's best with what's available.

I never experienced significant win/loss streaks. Maybe it is coincidence after all - of course, mixed together with low population and maybe not during peak hours.

Relax, keep playing if you have fun, and you will get to the rating you belong to - always with some volatility (+-50 or so for me). And maybe you had a bad day yourself, that also happens - go for it another time when you feel happy and focused. :)

@"sephiroth.4217" said:Short answer:Around season 5 half the player base left for some "random" reason, around the same time a few builds popped up that were good for yolo play that needed balancing and still do, so more left and now the match maker is doing it's best with what's available.

What was the random reason so many people left? How long ago was season 5?

Being queued with much lower player is not the problem, and it's even normal to allow all players to play.

So like this it's should be like 50/50. One time we are with the goods, one time with the weak. OK. No problem.

But what's not normal is the mecanism that push some player to be always with the good / or with the weaks, several matches in a row.When it's reported so often by so many players, it's not just RNG.There are a lot a lot of players who have noticed this and even made screens.And it's not normal to punish (so much) players who play well, or to help (so much) players who are not so good.

@Megametzler.5729 said:I never experienced significant win/loss streaks. Maybe it is coincidence after all - of course, mixed together with low population and maybe not during peak hours.

Relax, keep playing if you have fun, and you will get to the rating you belong to - always with some volatility (+-50 or so for me). And maybe you had a bad day yourself, that also happens - go for it another time when you feel happy and focused. :)

Well, it happens with some conditions

• SoloQ
• Play a lot of matches in a row, like +15-20 in 1 shot.

If you play just 1 ranked match from time to time, maybe 2-3 per day, you will not notice this.

I think there is a reset of something when you stop to play for some time.I don't say it's a buff (if you were in lose streak) or unbuff (if you were in win streak), but the exeprience in game is like this.

@aswedishtiger.7320 said:

@"sephiroth.4217" said:Short answer:Around season 5 half the player base left for some "random" reason, around the same time a few builds popped up that were good for yolo play that needed balancing and still do, so more left and now the match maker is doing it's best with what's available.

Team queue went away. Rewards for losing, and pips on loss. Some classes got put in the trash can, while others got buffed when they needed a nerf. Same dang game mode for 6 years. Creators and some players that are left are in denial that it was something else.

Bring back teams and take away rewards on loss, or watch the game mode continue to die.

@Delweyn.1309 said:

@Megametzler.5729 said:I never experienced significant win/loss streaks. Maybe it is coincidence after all - of course, mixed together with low population and maybe not during peak hours.

Relax, keep playing if you have fun, and you will get to the rating you belong to - always with some volatility (+-50 or so for me). And maybe you had a bad day yourself, that also happens - go for it another time when you feel happy and focused. :)

• SoloQ(...)

I probably shouldn't ask and just assume it's the usual side blow, but... how that?

@Delweyn.1309 said:Being queued with much lower player is not the problem, and it's even normal to allow all players to play.

So like this it's should be like 50/50. One time we are with the goods, one time with the weak. OK. No problem.

But what's not normal is the mecanism that push some player to be always with the good / or with the weaks, several matches in a row.When it's reported so often by so many players, it's not just RNG.There are a lot a lot of players who have noticed this and even made screens.And it's not normal to punish (so much) players who play well, or to help (so much) players who are not so good.

Well, when you have free alt accounts there's no real accountability, add onto this the ability to duo queue and you can potentially have some very damaging things occurring, such as two guys queuing on their alt accounts both being very experienced and playing as a duo. How the hell is the matchmaker supposed to compensate for that kind of stuff?

I actually had the opposite of you yesterday, had a lot of great games all close and won most, no lag and no obvious bs outside of one particular match where I blocked two people who were clearly gaming the system somehow. Even the ones I lost it felt like there was no bs going on.

Pretty rare for me to have good games like that but I was pleasantly surprised. Sounds like the guys who usually ruin high gold/ low plat were ruining high plat yesterday.

Did you change your build significantly or come back from a long break? i came back from a six month break and tried out Renegade in PvP and man, that 10-game losing streak hurt.

It definitely seems like matchmaking is struggling to make games with even players.

This happens every season, there's clearly something going on.

But because anet has taken such a firm stance on it not being the matchmakers fault, you can be sure it won't get fixed. Because fixing it would be admitting guilt, and anet doesn't admit guilt regardless of how bad they fuck up.

Find another game mode or another game

@"sephiroth.4217" said:Short answer:Around season 5 half the player base left for some "random" reason, around the same time a few builds popped up that were good for yolo play that needed balancing and still do, so more left and now the match maker is doing it's best with what's available.

LOL "random"!

Yeah i don't think it' anything insidious, although it kinda feels like it. I had the same thing happen the last season i pvped (3-4 seasons ago). I won a big streak (don't remember how many) and then i lost almost twice as much games as i'd won. This ranging from 490-500 losses to 7-500 losses with half my team dcd or just roaming out of point. I did poll my team mates in one of those matches, and i was gold 3 and the ones that answered were all in bronze (and it showed).

The problem is what @"sephiroth.4217" said. They turned sPvP from a competitive game with a decent pro scene to a loot farm for the PvE majority. And thus a lot of people quit. To be honest i only returned that last season i described earlier because i needed a couple achievements to finish the legendary back, since between personal life, the crappy balance of seasons 1-3, and then the "random" reason in season 5. I only really played sPvP during the end of season 3 and season 4, so i still had a few achievements to go.Current sPvP is a parody of what the game used to be, and in all honesty the game overall would be healthier without it influencing balance for the rest of the game modes and breaking characters in those game modes.

@Hydrangea.6014 said:Did you change your build significantly or come back from a long break? i came back from a six month break and tried out Renegade in PvP and man, that 10-game losing streak hurt.

It definitely seems like matchmaking is struggling to make games with even players.

Nope been winning and staying consistently at Plat 2 -3 running D/P daredevil Thief and believe it or not Power Survival Longbow Ranger

Then after 2-3 months time frame last night happened out of nowhere. Maybe it was more like 1-2 month time frame. Regardless. 17 loses in a row reminds me of how I was GrandMaster in Overwatch for 6 seasons. 6 SEASONS then out of nowhere I just get ultra bad players and got bumped down to Master's and high Diamond and those players just don't grasp concepts of top 500 players thus cannot climb and I was stuck because my teammates couldn't climb. It's a slippery slope

That's the main reason I ultimately quit Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm for that matter but that's a lil bit off topic. If I continue to tank knowing darn well MONTHS of consistent play at Gold 3 - Plat 3 gameplay I'll probably quit and look for something more consistent to play unfortunately. Just dropped close to $400 and was feeling real good about this game haha

Sucks

Now that you guys mention alt accounts and I really thinking and did notice this. Players sold accounts on that game (Overwatch) quite a bit and I do believe I was a victim of reverse smurfing. Bad players buy high level accounts then said bad players get tossed on your team because the game actually thinks they are GrandMaster skill level and you start to get steamrolled.

@aswedishtiger.7320 said:Now that you guys mention alt accounts and I really thinking and did notice this. Players sold accounts on that game (Overwatch) quite a bit and I do believe I was a victim of reverse smurfing. Bad players buy high level accounts then said bad players get tossed on your team because the game actually thinks they are GrandMaster skill level and you start to get steamrolled.

That's not the case here probably. The matchmaker just doesn't have enough high tier people to put together into two teams. That's the same reason why you can't even duo at that tier.

@ReaverKane.7598 said:

@aswedishtiger.7320 said:Now that you guys mention alt accounts and I really thinking and did notice this. Players sold accounts on that game (Overwatch) quite a bit and I do believe I was a victim of reverse smurfing. Bad players buy high level accounts then said bad players get tossed on your team because the game actually thinks they are GrandMaster skill level and you start to get steamrolled.

So simply put there's just nobody playing PvP? Whenever one queues they are just getting tossed into a match with the next 7 people regardless of rating waiting in line also?

I think the best fix to this would be a change to the Ranked Que mode. For instance, instead of a single, ranked que system, set the Ranked que to correspond to the player's rating. Or change it so that you can select the category you want with the requirement you be 1 +/- of said que. IE: Bronze for Bronze/Silver Players, Silver for Bronze/Silver/Gold players, Gold for Silver/Gold/Plat, and Platinum Gold/Plat Players.

My account stays Gold 1 - 3 most of the time, but I am not a hardcore PVPer. I must admit though, even I have seen exactly what the OP has stated happen in too many games. Especially that one rage/quit or rage/afk person that seems to think he/she is just too 'leet' for everyone else.

i have noticed a few things about streaks this season in the gold league (started g1, now p1), my winrate is 55%:

during peak times my winrate was much higher than weekdays in the afternoon.my winrate is about 50% in the afternoon, most likely due the wide variety ranks. the team who gets the one clueless loses.

also keep in mind the viability of your class in soloq. roamers and bruisers have a much greater impact than bunkers and supportlet's say you are p3 playing on a quiet day on a firebrand, you are more depended on your team's damage dealers which as you describe could be silver 1. if the other team has a p3 mirage, you are doomed.

@aswedishtiger.7320 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:

@aswedishtiger.7320 said:Now that you guys mention alt accounts and I really thinking and did notice this. Players sold accounts on that game (Overwatch) quite a bit and I do believe I was a victim of reverse smurfing. Bad players buy high level accounts then said bad players get tossed on your team because the game actually thinks they are GrandMaster skill level and you start to get steamrolled.

it tries to find a balanced match, but after 5 minutes q time matches get random

The same thing that happens to most MMOs. Cater to solo players only, stop supporting social aspects and community, and then watch the numbers dwindle.

@aswedishtiger.7320 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:

@aswedishtiger.7320 said:Now that you guys mention alt accounts and I really thinking and did notice this. Players sold accounts on that game (Overwatch) quite a bit and I do believe I was a victim of reverse smurfing. Bad players buy high level accounts then said bad players get tossed on your team because the game actually thinks they are GrandMaster skill level and you start to get steamrolled.

What time did you play? Peak hours? Or very early? I only play during peak hours, but then the MM is rather solid (for me). Maybe that's why my experience doesn't reflect all this.

@Megametzler.5729 said:

@aswedishtiger.7320 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:

@aswedishtiger.7320 said:Now that you guys mention alt accounts and I really thinking and did notice this. Players sold accounts on that game (Overwatch) quite a bit and I do believe I was a victim of reverse smurfing. Bad players buy high level accounts then said bad players get tossed on your team because the game actually thinks they are GrandMaster skill level and you start to get steamrolled.

I usually play when I get around in around 2 hours so 1 PM EST to about 5 PM then I go to the gym, grocery shop or cook food whichever do some homework for my master's program then I log back on around 8 or 830 until I get tired to go to bed

So pretty much 1 PM EST -> 5 then 8:15 -> sleep usually 2-3 hours

I will say this and I have noticed this since I came back 3 months ago. I get the absolute BEST games and most wins from 1-5 pm. Anything after that especially on the weekend is just such a mess! The 17 game loss streak (which still hasn't been broken by the way it could be 18 when I get home) came from 8 PM -> timeframe

Do people who just not care and click buttons queue up at 8pm right when the daily resets? How do you avoid playing with these people ? Just not queue at all?

@aswedishtiger.7320 said:

@Megametzler.5729 said:

@aswedishtiger.7320 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:

@aswedishtiger.7320 said:Now that you guys mention alt accounts and I really thinking and did notice this. Players sold accounts on that game (Overwatch) quite a bit and I do believe I was a victim of reverse smurfing. Bad players buy high level accounts then said bad players get tossed on your team because the game actually thinks they are GrandMaster skill level and you start to get steamrolled.

I usually get the best games from 4-6 pm. :tongue: Whenever I played before or after that, the games seem a lot more biased. I don't know why though. I'd expect most people to play later. Maybe that's when everybody comes home and enjoys some games. :wink:

The reason is (and its quit known): Throwing and wintrading gets higher when we reach the last 1-2 weeks of the season. It's always the same, you either need to know when not to q to avoid that (dunno if there is a discord ppl who are friends from wintraders but do not wintrade themself get told when not to q) or you need to be very lucky or you just lose a lot of rating and fall lower in ranking than ever before in the whole season. There is clearly more wintrading going on than the 1-2 player Anet removed from leaderboard already and i highly recommend Anet takes a closer look at the top 25. I'm not allowed to call names but in the current Top 3 i think is at least one wintrader and now the player throwing do not even dc anymore because that is too obvious, means everyone in the team will lose rating. I met current Top 3 and player in the other team doing insanely stupid stuff you would never see in plat 3 (even in peak hour) and you even know they can do better. Also when you see how long these player always stand in the mists and wait for q during you get q very fast, probably because they don't accept q when not getting q pop the same time with specific other player. Anet really should check the behavior in between matches (like how often do ppl do not accept the q pop) and dunno what else can be done Anet is not doing already to get all wintrader, also the ones not as obvious as Miaz to go on leaderboard with clearly wintraded 1900+ rating.

I wish Anet would delete the decay, maybe higher the amount of games you need to play instead, or make decay start after 10 days not after 3 days already, so we can avoid all the wintrading but also trolling going on in the last 1-2 weeks of the season and destroy all your work you have done all the weeks before. Anet obviously cannot detect all wintraders and also can't perma ban ips, so ppl just make other accounts, but at least Anet could give us more flexibility to avoid wintraders in the end of the season when it gets out of hand, instead forcing us to play to avoid decay. It is pretty frustrating.

@aswedishtiger.7320 said:Now that you guys mention alt accounts and I really thinking and did notice this. Players sold accounts on that game (Overwatch) quite a bit and I do believe I was a victim of reverse smurfing. Bad players buy high level accounts then said bad players get tossed on your team because the game actually thinks they are GrandMaster skill level and you start to get steamrolled.

You don't have to be buying or selling accounts to be smurfing though. It's enough just to have alt accounts for the matchmaker to fail. And even that isn't needed.

When I first started playing this league, I got like six really terrible games in my placements and was thrown into low gold, almost silver. Thing is I've been high gold/ low plat for years. Now every game I play in the mm places my team slightly better. The result? My team is pretty much always better then the opposition and anyone who gets a match against me is going to have a shitty game. I think I've won probably 70% of my games this season if not higher. Yeah it'll even out again once I hit plat but the damage is done. If the mm had placed me correctly this wouldn't be happening. That's just from ONE GUY being placed at a difference of about 200.

This is what happens when people play their alt accounts, the mm gets messed up even worse. Even more so if you duo queue.

I'm telling you people this kind of stuff is THE CAUSE of shitty match making.