Matchmaking needs a patch very badly.

Far too often, I see matches where the teams are split in a way that gives one team much better players.

Example 1
Level 30
Level 35
Level 32
Level 43
Level 28
Level 50
(=218)

vs

Level 38
Level 2
Level 12
Level 0
Level 18
(=70)

Since the upper team has more experienced players, plus an extra player due to an odd total number of players, they have a severely unfair advantage.

When the teams are being selected, the game needs to make the total level of each team as close as possible. Also, if there are an odd number of players, give the team with the smaller number a slight total level boost.

Ideally, it should be divided up like this:

Example 2
Level 35
Level 38
Level 43
Level 28
Level 0
(=144)

vs

Level 30
Level 32
Level 12
Level 2
Level 18
Level 50
(=144)

Of course, the game would probably have to create a bunch of different scenarios to make the second example happen. That could cause longer loading times, which nobody wants.

If the second example can't be done for whatever reason, here's another possibility:

Example 3
First, the game would randomly assign one team the letter "A" and the other team the letter "B".

Player with highest level goes to team A
Player with next highest level goes to team B
Player with next highest level goes to team B
Player with next highest level goes to team A
...

Which would result in these teams:

Level 50
Level 35
Level 32
Level 18
Level 12
(=147)

Level 43
Level 38
Level 30
Level 28
Level 2
Level 0
(=141)

Example 3 should be easy to do, and in most cases the teams would be balanced.

Also, when a player enters a match that is already in progress, that player should receive some extra money in addition to the $300 they start out with. The amount of money should depend on how much time has elapsed in the match.

I think that around $50 per minute would be about right. Right now, when you enter a match that is halfway through, your Pro isn't as upgraded as the Pros, which gives you a significant disadvantage and makes it harder to earn money for upgrades.

Thoughts?

I agree with both of your points, as I've seen the first many times. However, the team with the higher average rank doesn't always win. Exp doesn't always mimic the player skill. Also it's a team game and many players don't work together anyway. Having said tht, I like your idea.

I play with a partner constantly and we're both around 50. Every time it puts us in a lobby with xxxScorpion, which somehow happens quite a bit (I think he's like 99), it puts him on our team. It then proceeds to stack the other team with 2s and 8s, as if the game has some grudge against new players.

Player level is nothing more than a way of seeing how much you've played. It has nothing to do with a player's skill.

True, but don't you think that a lvl 50 has more experience at playing the game than a lvl 5? He has better understanding of the classes (knows their pros and cons) and knows the layout of the maps. So even if he may not have more skills than the lvl 5, he definitely has an advantage over him.

I've seen you guys post this multiple times, but are we really supposed to believe that a bunch of people under level 10 are somehow as good at the game as a full group of level 40+? My friend and I have a running joke in lobbies because of how frequently the matchmaker stacks the teams. We'll say "Okay we'll take xxx, xxx, xxx" and just ramble off all of the high levels for our team. A lot of the time we'll get those players. Sometimes everything seems to work right and the teams are pretty balanced, but then sometimes it seems like the the game is purposely trying to stack the teams and, as expected, the game doesn't last longer than 5 minutes. How do you even get a skill value for a level 2? "Well he really dominated that tutorial, let's throw him to the wolves and see what happens." I don't want to give you guys a hard time, you did a great job with the game and are very active with the community, but anyone who's played the game a good amount can see that something isn't right with the matchmaking.

How would it do this if you bring a 6 player group into a lobby? Wouldn't it split them up to "make it as close as possible"?

Rank = Experience
Skill = Experience + Other Knowledge (including innate skill)

Thus rank is in one form relative to skill. At the lowest possible skill with the highest rank you have someone that clearly cheated, played only Blitz, or has played Crossfire maps more than anyone at his current rank.

All things being equal, we can rule out cheating and high-rank losers. In the end, you will either have blitz team players or someone that is competent at the game based on their level.

You show me 6 rank 1 pros, and I'll show you a plethora of lvl 40+ that know what they are doing.

So Uber, what do you think of my two suggestions?

Do you at least acknowledge that matchmaking has the issue that I described?