Team Balancing

i hate to sound like a broken record

match parties with other parties then fill in with randoms

Different lobbies for different skill levels and matching teams to teams would need lots of players to make it work. I'm not sure MNC has the player base for that.

I'm not sure the skill calculation algorithm has to be particularly complex. Something like split the previous winning team and put half in each team (sorted by skill level) then sort the remaining players by skill level and distribute between teams.

If a team/solo player only option isn't viable, teamed up players can get a multiplier applied to their skill to simulate the benefit they get from being teamed. Previous match result also affects this multiplier. So a team that's stomping will always be matched up against the best players in the lobby, but a couple of friends who play together but aren't that good will only be considered to have a slight advantage.

"Skill level" could just be the players rank, or could be weighted by previous rounds k/d ratio, bot kills, etc.

That's just off the top of my head, and would obviously need to be tested and refined, but I'm sure this alone would result in much more evenly matched teams.

The problem youv'e got then is that friends will get split up an that should never happen. The best thing to do would be;
Mercinary crossfire - People playing solo
Team crossfire - Party of 6 needed

I dont think the game has the capabilities to match up players based on skill. Maybe Mnc 2?

I think this is the most effective way to do it w/o Uber having to do a ridiculous amount of work

No, this is not the main problem. Team balance for your average pub game of solo players needs fixing so the high skilled players don't all get put on the same team. That kind of imbalance happens way more regularly than teams stomping.

It's hardly a ridiculous amount of work to add even a rudimentary skill calculation and balance the teams based on that.

It's even easier to fix things like balancing the teams if people leave during the last 10 seconds.

the problem with my games is ime not in a party so when I get into a game with other all-stars them the game gets really stacked (against me)

A skill calculation system would be MORE work then simply making non-team games. Plus, a skill calculation system w/o a non-team game option would no doubt encourage pub stomping. I'm just saying that you have to start somewhere. There's a difference between what I want for the game and what I expect Uber to do anytime soon

I find the majority of unbalanced games I play are normal games with solo players only. A bunch of all stars often get put in the same team, no doubt leading other players to think they're partied up, and the other team get stomped.

So I'd welcome a non-team option (although I'm not sure the player base can support it - I imagine teams would spend most of their time sitting in the lobby). I just don't think it would do much to help fix the problem. Yes adding a skill calculation is MORE work but it's hardly rocket science. And ANY kind of balancing measure would be better than the current system, no matter how basic. A system that simply distributed players based on rank and nothing else would have fixed many of the horribly unbalanced matches I've been in.

This.

I wish I had a suggestion for how to fix it without splitting up the player base, but as a largely solo player this is what kills me. I'm an all-star slimbot, and I like winning don't get me wrong, but far too often it'll be me and an all-star gremlin against a team of newbies.

I have no problem with noobs, new blood is always good, but I'd much rather be on their team helping them learn than constantly killing them.

A quick win is hardly fun for either side.

Wait, wait, wait... calculating skill? How do you calculate skill on a game with an objective?

I understand the best way to calculate skill on deathmatch is KDR but MNC isn't deathmatch.

I mean, all star people are basically people who have A) simply played a long time or B) plays a lot of Blitz or maybe C) both.

Especially answer (B).

As I said in an earlier post

And there are other suggestions earlier about splitting up the teams each round. But yes skill isn't easy to define. My point is that even a basic skill calculation for random pub matches would make for much more balanced games.

The way I see it we have two distinct problems:
1. Team balance for matches with solo players
By far the biggest problem in my experience. One team ends up with the majority of good players and those players stay together for round after round even though they're not in a party.

2. A premade team/party pub stomping
Happens much less often. You can't split up parties. So either introduce mercenary/team only modes at risk of splitting the player base, or just accept it's going to happen, but at least make sure parties with less than 6 players don't also get the higher skilled solo players put on their team.