• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 13:09
CEST 19:09
KST 02:09
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Team TLMC #5: Winners Announced!3[ASL20] Ro8 Preview Pt2: Holding On9Maestros of the Game: Live Finals Preview (RO4)5TL.net Map Contest #21 - Finalists4Team TLMC #5: Vote to Decide Ladder Maps!0
Community News
5.0.15 Patch Balance Hotfix (2025-10-8)60Weekly Cups (Sept 29-Oct 5): MaxPax triples up3PartinG joins SteamerZone, returns to SC2 competition275.0.15 Balance Patch Notes (Live version)119$2,500 WardiTV TL Map Contest Tournament 154
StarCraft 2
General
5.0.15 Patch Balance Hotfix (2025-10-8) PartinG joins SteamerZone, returns to SC2 competition Geoff 'iNcontroL' Robinson has passed away Classic Games #3: Rogue vs Serral at BlizzCon Team TLMC #5: Winners Announced!
Tourneys
SC2's Safe House 2 - October 18 & 19 RSL Offline Finals Dates + Ticket Sales! SC4ALL $6,000 Open LAN in Philadelphia Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament $2,500 WardiTV TL Map Contest Tournament 15
Strategy
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 494 Unstable Environment Mutation # 493 Quick Killers Mutation # 492 Get Out More Mutation # 491 Night Drive
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ I'm making videos again Question regarding recent ASL Bisu vs Larva game Whose hotkey signature is this?
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL20] Ro8 Day 4 Small VOD Thread 2.0 [ASL20] Ro8 Day 3
Strategy
Siegecraft - a new perspective TvZ Theorycraft - Improving on State of the Art Current Meta Proposed Glossary of Strategic Uncertainty
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread ZeroSpace Megathread Dawn of War IV Path of Exile
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion LiquidDota to reintegrate into TL.net
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
SPIRED by.ASL Mafia {211640} TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI Stop the Construction YouTube Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club! The Happy Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion 2024 - 2026 Football Thread MLB/Baseball 2023 NBA General Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
SC2 Client Relocalization [Change SC2 Language] Linksys AE2500 USB WIFI keeps disconnecting Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
Inbreeding: Why Do We Do It…
Peanutsc
From Tilt to Ragequit:The Ps…
TrAiDoS
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1397 users

Blizzard's Broken Automatcher

Blogs > Mora
Post a Reply
Normal
Mora
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
Canada5235 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-12-24 07:10:37
December 24 2010 07:10 GMT
#1
So i'm swimming in a pool of pity, and i thought where better to turn than my home of teamliquid.net.

You see, Blizzard's automatcher is broken.

After going on a 25ish game losing streak, i am rated 1300 diamond, and the automatcher pitches me against 2100~2700 diamond players every game.

Now, you might say: "Yes yes, but it's about your hidden rating, not your displayed rating".

To which i repeat: i have lost the last 25 games, in a row. Why is my hidden rating not diminishing?

Being that i work for a development studio, and, specifically, i've worked with automatch systems, i can tell you: forcing a player to lose 25 games in a row before it matches you with a fair match is a poorly designed system. And worse? after my 27th loss in a row, it pitted me against a 2700 player (and called me favoured!).

So, my question to you, teamliquid, is how many games will it take before the automatcher will match me correctly?

Place your bets.

*****
Happiness only real when shared.
Megaliskuu
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United States5123 Posts
December 24 2010 07:15 GMT
#2
Lose 443 in a row and you *might* hit a 2.4k.

Have fun.
|BW>Everything|Add me on star2 KR server TheMuTaL.675 for practice games :)|NEX clan| https://www.dotabuff.com/players/183104694
Ryusei-R1
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States2106 Posts
December 24 2010 07:16 GMT
#3
Perhaps they plan to throw you back into Platinum? You never know with Blizzard, but might as well keep playing.

In tennis, it is a huge opportunity to play someone leagues above you just to gauge how far you are. If you can do good against them, then that means you're doing great. If you do bad against them, then that just means you have more to learn at the sport.

This is the same thing, at least until you get knocked out to platinum.
Jaedong plz
Mora
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
Canada5235 Posts
December 24 2010 07:17 GMT
#4
Ethics question: would it be bad of me to give free-wins, checking in every 10 games or so to see if the automatcher has matched me properly?
Happiness only real when shared.
LuckyFool
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States9015 Posts
December 24 2010 07:19 GMT
#5
wow Mora how are you so terribad at sc2. SHEESH. :D
Mora
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
Canada5235 Posts
December 24 2010 07:20 GMT
#6
On December 24 2010 16:16 Ryusei-R1 wrote:
Perhaps they plan to throw you back into Platinum? You never know with Blizzard, but might as well keep playing.

In tennis, it is a huge opportunity to play someone leagues above you just to gauge how far you are. If you can do good against them, then that means you're doing great. If you do bad against them, then that just means you have more to learn at the sport.

This is the same thing, at least until you get knocked out to platinum.


The problem is that i have no intention of 'getting good'. I play on average 1 hour a week. (more like 4 hours in one session, once per month). While i used to be competitive (dare i say i was even decent) i just don't have the time or interest to be so anymore. I want to log on once in a while and play a well made RTS, without being stomped within 8-10 minutes, being absolutely crushed because of my non-existent multi-tasking.
Happiness only real when shared.
Mora
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
Canada5235 Posts
December 24 2010 07:20 GMT
#7
On December 24 2010 16:19 LuckyFool wrote:
wow Mora how are you so terribad at sc2. SHEESH. :D


Happiness only real when shared.
Mora
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
Canada5235 Posts
December 24 2010 07:23 GMT
#8
./end pity

off to go play World of Warcraft.

/shame
Happiness only real when shared.
SCdinner
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Canada516 Posts
December 24 2010 07:25 GMT
#9
What is your starcraft2 username? I'm cerious to look at your match history to see if you actually lost 25 in a row. I know when I have loosing streaks that seem like they're 20 games long I look at match history and they're actually only around 7 losses in a row. One factor the might be giving you better oppents than you should be playing against is avaiblity. Maybe there is no low diamond level players currently looking for a game that are close enough to avoid noticable lag.
My other car is a battlecruiser.
FuRong
Profile Joined April 2010
New Zealand3089 Posts
December 24 2010 07:29 GMT
#10
If you're not playing to climb the ladder, then why search for competitive 1v1 games?

You could try playing FFA. It's unranked and the players are generally pretty bad, so you can mostly just expand and play the game at your own pace. But at the same time, there is a challenge in taking on three guys at once.

In my experience the average game lasts between 30 to 40 minutes, and you get to see and use a lot of different unit combinations. If your goal is to "...log on once in a while and play a well made RTS, without being stomped within 8-10 minutes or being absolutely crushed because of my non-existent multi-tasking" then I think you might enjoy trying out FFA games.
Don't hate the player, hate the game
Mora
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
Canada5235 Posts
December 24 2010 07:33 GMT
#11
On December 24 2010 16:25 SCdinner wrote:
What is your starcraft2 username? I'm cerious to look at your match history to see if you actually lost 25 in a row. I know when I have loosing streaks that seem like they're 20 games long I look at match history and they're actually only around 7 losses in a row. One factor the might be giving you better oppents than you should be playing against is avaiblity. Maybe there is no low diamond level players currently looking for a game that are close enough to avoid noticable lag.


you are correct. i was exaggerating.

out of the last 23 games, i have gone 2-21.
Happiness only real when shared.
Mora
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
Canada5235 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-12-24 07:40:20
December 24 2010 07:38 GMT
#12
On December 24 2010 16:29 FuRong wrote:
If you're not playing to climb the ladder, then why search for competitive 1v1 games?


I didn't press on the "search for competitive 1v1 ladder match", i clicked on "quick match".

Automatchers have never been designed for competitive players. They're put in place to make sure that people play against others of the same skill level, so that everyone has fun.

You could try playing FFA. It's unranked and the players are generally pretty bad, so you can mostly just expand and play the game at your own pace. But at the same time, there is a challenge in taking on three guys at once.

In my experience the average game lasts between 30 to 40 minutes, and you get to see and use a lot of different unit combinations. If your goal is to "...log on once in a while and play a well made RTS, without being stomped within 8-10 minutes or being absolutely crushed because of my non-existent multi-tasking" then I think you might enjoy trying out FFA games.


I play 1v1 because i like strategy games. I like out-witting my opponent, and i find that 1v1 provides for that over other game modes. I'm actually decent at this aspect of the game, but i don't have the time to grind out mechanics/apm. Ideally, i would be matched vs people who have a distribution of strategy/mechanics that would allow either of us to win 50% of the time.
Happiness only real when shared.
LuckyFool
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States9015 Posts
December 24 2010 07:42 GMT
#13
the issue lies more in the lines of mora's skill being broken than the ladder or matchmaking system. :p

Playing WoW? Srsly??? :D
Mora
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
Canada5235 Posts
December 24 2010 07:45 GMT
#14
On December 24 2010 16:42 LuckyFool wrote:
the issue lies more in the lines of mora's skill being broken than the ladder or matchmaking system. :p

Playing WoW? Srsly??? :D


My skill isbroken. When i stopped playing actively i was 1650 diamond, (highest rank was 2k diamond, at the time). I come back after 5 weeks of not playing (and a patch), all my mechanics went to shit, the metagame shifted, and i've only really played terran. I continue to lose game after game, waiting for the automatcher to clue in that i'm no longer good, and it's taking too long.

Honestly, i'm going into free-win mode.
Happiness only real when shared.
Mora
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
Canada5235 Posts
December 24 2010 07:46 GMT
#15
on another note... i've been thinking about writing gay erotica. would anyone be able to give me a legitimate critique? LOL
Happiness only real when shared.
SCdinner
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Canada516 Posts
December 24 2010 07:53 GMT
#16
On December 24 2010 16:33 Mora wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 24 2010 16:25 SCdinner wrote:
What is your starcraft2 username? I'm cerious to look at your match history to see if you actually lost 25 in a row. I know when I have loosing streaks that seem like they're 20 games long I look at match history and they're actually only around 7 losses in a row. One factor the might be giving you better oppents than you should be playing against is avaiblity. Maybe there is no low diamond level players currently looking for a game that are close enough to avoid noticable lag.


you are correct. i was exaggerating.

out of the last 23 games, i have gone 2-21.

Ok but still that is significant enough for them to match you with much lower players than that. Ok I agree that is weird.
My other car is a battlecruiser.
SpoR
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States1542 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-12-24 11:39:54
December 24 2010 11:39 GMT
#17
I haven't been playing lately. And I went 4-7 last night. Mostly against the same rated players as you. I am about 1950 rating. I dropped about 20 ranks since I got to 1900 a few months ago.
A man is what he thinks about all day long.
d3_crescentia
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States4054 Posts
December 24 2010 13:11 GMT
#18
On December 24 2010 16:46 Mora wrote:
on another note... i've been thinking about writing gay erotica. would anyone be able to give me a legitimate critique? LOL

you should post it in a different blog so we can all read!
once, not long ago, there was a moon here
Excalibur_Z
Profile Joined October 2002
United States12237 Posts
December 24 2010 18:17 GMT
#19
On December 24 2010 16:10 Mora wrote:
So i'm swimming in a pool of pity, and i thought where better to turn than my home of teamliquid.net.

You see, Blizzard's automatcher is broken.

After going on a 25ish game losing streak, i am rated 1300 diamond, and the automatcher pitches me against 2100~2700 diamond players every game.

Now, you might say: "Yes yes, but it's about your hidden rating, not your displayed rating".

To which i repeat: i have lost the last 25 games, in a row. Why is my hidden rating not diminishing?

Being that i work for a development studio, and, specifically, i've worked with automatch systems, i can tell you: forcing a player to lose 25 games in a row before it matches you with a fair match is a poorly designed system. And worse? after my 27th loss in a row, it pitted me against a 2700 player (and called me favoured!).

So, my question to you, teamliquid, is how many games will it take before the automatcher will match me correctly?

Place your bets.


Maybe you should ask David what the deal is =)

Are you sure ALL of those 23 games have been against high-level Diamond players? Your hidden rating doesn't drop due to inactivity while everyone else's displayed ratings have been increasing, so it still thinks you're on the same level as them. You must have shown at some point that you're really a highly-skilled player if it's consistently placing you against those kinds of players.

I don't think the system is very well-equipped to deal with players in your situation, unfortunately. Sharp changes in skill are difficult for any automatcher to track. You should be seeing lesser-skilled players in the near future, I would have expected it earlier than 20 games but maybe you cemented yourself in that echelon when you stopped playing, which means it would take longer to pull you out of it.
Moderator
Colpan
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
United States196 Posts
December 24 2010 19:04 GMT
#20
i gave an account to my gf that i got to 19-2 with and was in platinum playing 2000~ diamonds.
The account is now 19-36 still playing 2200+ diamonds...seems around the same as yours. She is like silver level so i wonder if it realizes when she is getting stomped that it shouldn't be setting her up like that...
Schmieds
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States312 Posts
December 24 2010 19:33 GMT
#21
Your game's automatch is much better :p

I do feel bad for you though. What used to happen to me is I'd face like a bunch of high plat-low diamond players and get knocked down several times, then win against a bunch of gold and lower plat players, and the cycle repeated. But that just means I'm not improving lol. Your case is much worse.
8
Mora
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
Canada5235 Posts
December 25 2010 05:09 GMT
#22
Well, perhaps i need to take it all back. after playing for a few hours, i'm now back to winning roughly 50% of my games, and the players i'm playing against are still rated ~2500. Infact, in my last 9 games i am 8-1. Woot.

So, kudos to you Blizzard - you have an automatch system that doesn't break down when a rusty player gets his mechanics back after a losing streak.
Happiness only real when shared.
TheAntZ
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Israel6248 Posts
December 25 2010 09:30 GMT
#23
Wait you're actually surprised blizzards product is bad?
43084 | Honeybadger: "So july, you're in the GSL finals. How do you feel?!" ~ July: "HUNGRY."
Dfgj
Profile Joined May 2008
Singapore5922 Posts
December 25 2010 12:58 GMT
#24
On December 25 2010 14:09 Mora wrote:
So, kudos to you Blizzard - you have an automatch system that doesn't break down when a rusty player gets his mechanics back after a losing streak.

I know they've mentioned that the MMR system expects you to something perform above/below your rating and takes that into account, so maybe you needed to lose even more before it started really shifting you. Hell, maybe it takes into account how active you are when you lose a bunch.

Yet another thing that should be properly explained, I guess.
SubtleArt
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
2710 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-12-25 13:59:20
December 25 2010 13:57 GMT
#25
Like...literally 25?? I almost hit my keybaord when I lost 7 yesterday O_o

Also my friend spent about a month and a half at bronze. He played over 200 games in Bronze, and was top of his division for about 2 weeks and still winning games until the thing finally decided to promote him.
Morrow on ZvP: "I'm not very confident in general vs Protoss because of the imbalance (Yes its imbalanced, get over it)."
Normal
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
PSISTORM Gaming Misc
15:55
FSL Team League: PTB vs ASH
Freeedom27
Liquipedia
OSC
15:00
Masters Cup #150 Qualifier
Liquipedia
Map Test Tournament
11:00
TLMC #15: Playoffs
ByuN vs LamboLIVE!
TBD vs Clem
WardiTV1664
ComeBackTV 1180
IndyStarCraft 305
Rex158
3DClanTV 81
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
IndyStarCraft 305
Lowko236
Rex 158
ProTech104
BRAT_OK 50
Codebar 21
MindelVK 18
gerald23 4
StarCraft: Brood War
Shuttle 1162
Mini 702
Flash 512
BeSt 390
sSak 354
firebathero 275
Soulkey 189
Hyun 112
Bonyth 85
Mind 82
[ Show more ]
Mong 67
Noble 63
Rock 38
Backho 35
soO 32
Movie 27
zelot 26
ToSsGirL 23
Hm[arnc] 22
HiyA 20
Sacsri 18
ivOry 14
JulyZerg 12
SilentControl 9
ajuk12(nOOB) 9
Dota 2
Gorgc10169
Counter-Strike
fl0m2372
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu497
Khaldor421
Other Games
singsing1946
FrodaN1716
B2W.Neo666
Beastyqt605
Skadoodle340
Hui .127
ArmadaUGS92
Fuzer 84
Trikslyr21
Organizations
Other Games
EGCTV1303
gamesdonequick335
BasetradeTV93
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 40
• Airneanach10
• printf 4
• Kozan
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• sooper7s
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 2908
Other Games
• WagamamaTV438
• Shiphtur343
Upcoming Events
[BSL 2025] Weekly
51m
Safe House 2
51m
Sparkling Tuna Cup
16h 51m
Map Test Tournament
17h 51m
TBD vs Spirit
TBD vs herO
OSC
18h 51m
IPSL
1d 1h
Bonyth vs Art_Of_Turtle
Razz vs rasowy
Afreeca Starleague
1d 16h
Barracks vs Snow
Afreeca Starleague
2 days
Soma vs Bisu
The PondCast
4 days
CranKy Ducklings
6 days
[ Show More ]
Safe House 2
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Acropolis #4 - TS2
Maestros of the Game
HCC Europe

Ongoing

BSL 21 Points
ASL Season 20
CSL 2025 AUTUMN (S18)
C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
WardiTV TLMC #15
EC S1
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025

Upcoming

SC4ALL: Brood War
BSL Season 21
BSL 21 Team A
RSL Offline Finals
RSL Revival: Season 3
Stellar Fest
SC4ALL: StarCraft II
eXTREMESLAND 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
SL Budapest Major 2025
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.