Gear score is a step towards proper matchmaking!

I think the devs have laid a great foundation by implementing the "Gear Score". The apparent next step is to now include it in matchmaking. I've been suggesting for months that the matchmaking/infamy system include your ship level, captain level and "gear score" somehow. I hope this update is only a stepping stone as they test how to add it to matchmaking.

https://forum.battlebay.net/threads/battle-bays-biggest-problems-rant.16154/#post-94963

https://forum.battlebay.net/threads...orst-in-every-update.16999/page-2#post-104078

https://forum.battlebay.net/threads/matchmaking-m6-vs-m3.16695/#post-100401


I even took the time to create an "Infamy Floor" spreadsheet... but was unable to finish it because nobody would fill out the EXP requirements.
https://forum.battlebay.net/threads/i-need-your-help-exp-required-per-captain-level.17413/

 

Nope.. It just pushes you towards a different mean. There would be a transition period, but it would trend back towards 50%.

 

Firstly, I've been suggesting that it be implemented as an "infamy floor" so you can never be matched below that infamy floor. This would prevent drastic seal clubbing.

Secondly, I would be fine if it was included in the entire calculation, but the gear score should never be the main matchmaking component. But I'm really confused as to how you could see this as a bad thing at all.

That is a good thing. The game would favor skill. Who wouldn't want that?

That's a lot of assuming. If they are less skilled, then they should win less. That is how any multiplayer works. They can then improve their skill and progress. I think people with less skill are already quitting because they are getting matched against skilled players with better gear at purposefully low infamy.

this is a stretch. It will be more based on skill... but I doubt I'm in the minority when I say I'd rather the game be more about skill than wallet size.

 

I think you are greatly exaggerating how much including gear score would affect things. It should be a minor part of the formula. Infamy first and foremost, then your gear/ship/captain level to even the playing field better.

Also, how would including the gear score be any worse than the current crap with including ship Mks???

If spending money is not favored, then AmericanMarauder has wasted a lot of money.

The current balance is an artificial balance created by pushing higher Mk ships down, lower Mk ships up and allowing players to fight way below their weight class. If you think this current system is better than one that includes a gear score, I highly disagree.

And you aren't "granting more wins to skilled people". Lol. They are winning because they are skilled. That is better than winning because you have way better weapons.

I'd really love for you to provide some solid evidence on how including gear score would "destroy the balance" and "progression would be nullified". You'd still have to level your items to move forward in infamy. Most of your statements are just hyperbole.

 

I am not sure the gear score in matchmaking would be a huge benefit.
At low infamies (sub 1000) it would be great as it would group all the clubbers together.

However as you progress it will be harder to improve.

As an example your infamy is stuck at 1500 for 3 months.
You dig in deep, and have increased all your rares to level 40 and your epics to 30, ready to hit the battlefield.
What do you find, all the opponents weapons have upgraded too, so you are still stuck at the same infamy.

How does one improve their rank?

Buy a better ship - Will have a negative impact on their infamy
Upgrade their gear - Will have no effect on infamy
Git Gud - Not possible for some players

I think we will see a lot more players "stuck" at the same infamy, and essentially upgrading your gear makes no difference as everyone else in your match would have increased gear also!

 

Yea, exactly. I don't want the matchmaking to be totally based on your gear/ship/captain. That would be boring because the skilled players would squash their opponents. I think it could work as a second step in the matchmaking. First you find 10 players within an infamy range. Then you balance the teams based on gear score. Obviously the devs would need to test it to make sure it is not easily manipulated.

Just wait till you hit Mk6. I didn't believe it either, but I recently jumped from Mk5 to Mk6. The difference is that you are now considered stronger in the formula, so you get faced against harder opponents on average. I have been increasing in infamy, but that is mainly because I've greatly improved my setup over the last couple of weeks. It is just weird that they kinda punish you for upgrading your ship. I know that including gear and captain level is very similar, but all of those need to be scaled down to be more minor than it is now. There is no reason that somebody should upgrade to Mk6 and immediately lose several hundred infamy.

Yes, your current equilibrium infamy would likely change. But it would trend towards your actual skill level. They've already destroyed the equilibrium infamies once by adding the ship Mk into the equation. If they want to include things in the matchmaking formula other than infamy, then they need to capture all of it, not just ship Mk, because that doesn't tell the full story. They've gotta be all or nothing.



Of course, if infamy was working properly (you couldn't manipulate it and you were actually rewarded much more for maintaining a high infamy), then this would be a moot point and nothing additional should be added. But I think the devs are going to have a really hard time figuring out how to prevent seal clubbing if they don't just explicitly restrict it.

 

My suggestions were originally to just use gear score/captain level/ship Mk to create an infamy floor to prevent seal clubbing. That is still very valid and would benefit everyone (except those dirty seal clubbers).

The one big argument I have to not including gear score in matchmaking is why do they include ship mk? Do you think ship mk is more important than having maxed out T5 epics? I don't. If they are going to include anything additional to infamy, then they gotta include all of it. All or nothing.

The ideal, likely unrealistic, solution would be to remove ship mk from matchmaking and then greatly scale the rewards based on infamy. But that sounds a lot harder to balance than just slapping a hard floor on a player that they can't be matched below.

 

They tried to get rid of it.. but I believe it is still possible. Now all you have to do is wait like 2 weeks and your infamy ceiling resets (AFAIK).

If they can't naturally get rid of seal clubbing, then they need to do something like putting in an infamy floor based on your ship/gear/captain levels to totally restrict it.

 

Having seen gear score introduced, I think introducing lower limits to avoid blatant seal clubbers is a very workable and realistic proposition now. Seal clubbers days could be numbered, which would be very welcome and help the new player experience.

However, I would still advocate just a pure infamy matchmaking system (with the above mentioned seal clubbers limits) as the fairest method of matchmaking.

I do agree that tracking gear score against infamy would be an interesting tool for determining ‘skill’ (I think I said that a long time ago on one of snapshots threads).