Matchmaking disparity, why it's worse than you think

There's always been some disparity in matchmaking, it's nothing new. The devs allow it to decrease matching times, and whether you agree with it or not that's just the way it is. We all know that infamy is the sole factor used for matchmaking so it's very disconcerting when we see more than a gap of 1000 infamy between the top and bottom players on a team. It's such a simple system that there's no hiding the fact that there is no one else available. It is happening more and more and with greater disparity than I've ever seen. I played a match earlier where the disparity was 2000! That's absolutely ridiculous. Thinkgaming.com estimates battle bay is downloaded 1,584 times daily so there are new people coming in but that's just counting downloads, it doesn't reflect how much they play or if they play at all. Has the new system really caused an exodus from the game? I'm not willing to shell out the $300/mo subscription fee to find out so I can only speculate but I suspect the traffic numbers aren't as good as they were before the update, especially among those who joined under the old system. Rovio and the battle bay development team have those numbers and it would be interesting to see them posted here.

These high disparities lead me to the conclusion that people are playing less now than they were before the last update. They're losing people's interest and the game hasn't even launched worldwide yet. Will they gain a bunch of players when they go global? Of course they will but their ability to retain those new players is questionable. The in-battle game play hasn't changed much, it's still fantastic, but it's now the only reason to play the game and without the payoff of constantly upgrading both items you are using and items you plan to use later it might not be enough. The enthusiasm is gone. The thrill of finding that item you were waiting and saving for in the shop is gone. The anticipation and the joy have been sucked out of the game and replaced with the hollow experience of a slow grind. Sadly, unless this trend is reversed, this game will be dead on arrival.

 

You bring up very good points.

In regards to the matchmaking vs player activity:
Before the update, I found MM to be quite balanced and consistent, at mk2 I played games vs mk2/mk3 sometimes the odd mk4. After this recent update I play matches with everyone from mk1 to mk6 and infamy gaps of +/- 5000 for everyone, the games are so unfairly balanced that they are the prime recipe for dissatisfaction. As a result of that, people play less contributing to that MM dynamic happening more.
Like you Kyle, I play War Robots, I brought 15 members from my clan over to start our BB guild, only 2 are left after the changes...

From my perspective, rectifying that issue, testing out team & guild squadding with a smaller player base already knowledgeable about the game, and modifying the shop & upgrade/evolution process before global release would be a primary factor to maintaining player growth & sustainability after a ton of new players come onboard. When you see a game has been out for a year but is riddled with issues that affect customer satisfaction & playability, you'll leave instead of remain and you'll drop game ratings. Which in turn affects profit.

 

Yep, it should be polished before global release but the devs seem to think going global will solve their problems. It will bring in new players and it may help for a time but that's a one time deal and if they can't retain the new players they won't get another shot at it. But we don't know what corporate pressures they're under, they're certainly burning capital (thinkgaming.com estimates bb is earning just $256/day in revenue) and the company won't allow that to go on forever. Maybe the push to go global is a risky venture but it may also be the only way to save the game from being shut down.

 

Do we really need another thread about this? I feel everything said here has been said in multiple other threads and this one adds no new value to the discussion.

 

Can you please point me to the thread about the game dying because that's what it's about. Disparity has been talked about but it's just a symptom of the bigger issue and that's what I'm pointing out. Maybe you didn't read it all the way through or didn't understand it because saying it's all been said before is BS

 

I think it was just said, but:

The OP was discussing a different aspect from the oft discussed subject matter, actually reading, or comprehending before slagging off, might work better for you.

 

Yet they have happened, matches with player & infamy level differences as I stated have happened in a number of games I've been in. I haven't recorded these games in a while, but I'll be happy to as confirmation, more than a few in my guild have had the same experiences.