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Blizzard's Broken Automatcher

Blogs > Mora
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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 States12252 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)."
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