[Locked] Matchmaking Feedback Update – November 21

• We’ve allowed Champ and Onyx players to match down into mid-Plat in the HCS list to reduce matchmaking wait times during the testing period.
• We have a target to add Slayer to the HCS list by the end of next week. It will be a mix of Slayer and Oddball, with higher weighting on the Slayer maps since those will be the focus during the next testing pass.
• For those who are curious, we have collected our first round of Pro player feedback. This round targeted the previous settings and not the current Oddball list. We'll use it to inform updates to the previous game modes. We'll be soliciting feedback about Oddball today and collecting that in about a week, but that feedback won't get applied till we make our next pass at Oddball after the other modes finish their first pass.

ZaedynFel wrote:

Minor updates:

• We’ve allowed Champ and Onyx players to match down into mid-Plat in the HCS list to reduce matchmaking wait times during the testing period.

lLockout wrote:

eLantern wrote:

ZaedynFel wrote:

Minor updates:

• We’ve allowed Champ and Onyx players to match down into mid-Plat in the HCS list to reduce matchmaking wait times during the testing period.

If I'm ever able to reach Mid-Platinum within this playlist I'll be sure to avoid it until this tweak is changed.

Btw, is this being done because the population within this playlist has plummeted severely and you guys really want feedback from Pro (aka Champ) level players?

If you reach mid-plat could ya maybe at least try playing the playlist for a few games and see what ranks you’re matching with? It doesn’t mean you’re going to be matching champs every game, it just means it’s possible to match them. Trust me, The game will obviously not match you with them unless there are no other onyx/champ level players to match with, meaning the onyx/champ players will more than likely be searching well over 3 minutes before The game allows them to match mid-plat.

And even if if you do match them and lose, you’d hardly even notice a drop in your CSR from it.

Just a suggestion. I know it’s not ideal, but i don’t think it’s gonna be an every-game problem here.

BansheemanX wrote:

Thanks for the update. to clearify, once Slayer is added to the HCS test playlist, the slayer games will be weighted heavier on your overall rank. Also the move to allow onyx and champs match mid platinum is good for those players and may deter smurfing, it completely screws the people in mid platinum who are solo or double Queuing trying to reach diamond, only to find they get dominated by full teams of high onyx and champ players. Those are my immediate concerns

As for oddball it would be cool to have a higher base movement speed so you can make plays with the ball instead of grabbing the ball being a death sentence.

Also, if Br starts are going to be a thing, shouldn't the paid team skins have br variants added at no additional cost?

I'll conclude with the Battle Rifle feels inconsistent. maybe something can be done to reduce the spread so it doesn't feel so sluggish/weird. I like the direction the Br is going in bringing it back to its classic halo roots. but the inconsistency of the Br was the worst part about H3.

lLockout wrote:

eLantern wrote:

ZaedynFel wrote:

Minor updates:

• We’ve allowed Champ and Onyx players to match down into mid-Plat in the HCS list to reduce matchmaking wait times during the testing period.

If I'm ever able to reach Mid-Platinum within this playlist I'll be sure to avoid it until this tweak is changed.

Btw, is this being done because the population within this playlist has plummeted severely and you guys really want feedback from Pro (aka Champ) level players?

If you reach mid-plat could ya maybe at least try playing the playlist for a few games and see what ranks you’re matching with? It doesn’t mean you’re going to be matching champs every game, it just means it’s possible to match them. Trust me, The game will obviously not match you with them unless there are no other onyx/champ level players to match with, meaning the onyx/champ players will more than likely be searching well over 3 minutes before The game allows them to match mid-plat.

And even if if you do match them and lose, you’d hardly even notice a drop in your CSR from it.

Just a suggestion. I know it’s not ideal, but i don’t think it’s gonna be an every-game problem here.

ZaedynFel wrote:

Freebie1403 wrote:

So people who are mid-plat players have an increased chance of matching against champions and Onyx players? It doesn't seem fair on paper, I'm sure you have already thought about that and will be suggesting to people who will complain about this on how to make it a less of a chance. However, this will only make the mid-plat players not wanting to play the HCS list because they have the slightest chance of matching someone/some people who are leagues above their skill level; and with the population count of Halo 5 is depleting, this will only speed up that process (in my opinion anyway).

Also, I am glad you are slowly adding different game-types into the Oddball playlist but I think it should have been Strongholds. As CTF and Slayer seem to be a lot slower due to the nerf and players will eventually get bored of it. Can you maybe put magnum starts back into the HWC Oddball playlist? As currently the new BR isn't consistent and can be often dropped for another weapon; as well as, not bothering with the gunfighter magnum... because it's a weird idea for a secondary (again in my opinion).

I think we'll see an additional tweak on the weapon tuning down the road that will address BR and other weapon feedback, but the magnum is now over-powered and so doesn't work for competitive. There would basically be no reason to have any other weapons on the map, which given our current history we have found to not be a successful approach. We're currently only putting actual HWC candidate map/modes into that playlist.

BansheemanX wrote:

Thank you for the response. I usually place mid platinum in HCS. But, this time around I placed high Gold probably because I had some bad games while adjusting to the new settings. Overall I find it uber difficult to get out platinum and into diamond without consistently playing with a full team anyway. Thanks for listening to my 2 cents.

ZaedynFel wrote:

blue/red balance (near 50/50)

ZaedynFel wrote:

Jolly Josh wrote:

You state you are only putting actual HWC (assume you mean HCS) candidate map/modes into the playlist yet Overgrowth which has been vetted and removed previously is in the rotation.

Looking at stats that measure competitiveness (OG is more competitive than at least half our pre-existing maps), blue/red balance (near 50/50), and quit rates (lowest playtest quit rate), Overgrowth is performing very well.