Hello everyone!
We wanted to take the time to address concerns users have been having with Ranked plus take some time to explain some of the history behind our Ranked system, where it currently sits, and what our plans are moving forward.
In this blog we go in-depth into some of the issues players have been experiencing, as well as some of the calculations we run when it comes to our internal systems. If you are not familiar with Ranked, TP, or MMR we recommend players view our Matchmaking FAQ Blog here : https://www.smitegame.com/matchmaking-faq/
The Problems
At the beginning of Season 3 we made a lot of changes to our Ranked System; specifically to how Tribute Points were being calculated. We also allowed Parties of 3 to join the queue, introduced Joust as a new ranked mode, and we added our new Grandmasters division.
Unfortunately, we uncovered an issue (thanks to community reports) that caused inflated TP gains for a small number of users, mostly those of exceptionally high or low skill who are more difficult to matchmake.
This resulted in those users being placed higher in Ranked than intended and their skill would allow for which created a poor experience for our users; mainly around the quality of matches players have and the amount of TP they gain and lose.
Once we fixed this issue a new problem was uncovered in that the calculations for TP gain no longer favored those players, and the system tried to violently pull them back down. (This is why some users were seeing their TP fall much more for a loss than a win on a regular basis).
Additionally, the TP system had been originally tuned with bad data (due to the bug), and was now poorly tuned that the issue was fixed. This resulted in stronger swings based on which team the system thought had an advantage, and overall Ranked became a less enjoyable experience.
What we have done
In our latest patch (3.12) we made an adjustment to how TP rewards are calculated:
We reduced how strongly players were penalized for being placed in a ranked division that was above their mmr. This will more gradually adjust users over time, while the system self corrects the issue.
Additionally, we had a hotfix released on July 8th to make further adjustments:
In matches where the matchmaking system believes one team is at a disadvantage (underdog matches), we’ve adjusted how tribute rewards are adjusted for both teams. The curve is now more smooth based on the strength of the disadvantage, and the maximum bonus (or penalty) has been reduced.
With these two changes, the vast majority of our users will no longer experience extreme cases of high Tribute losses and gains. In cases where there is still heavy weighting after this patch, it will only be in the truly extreme circumstances.
Going forward
- Over the next few months we will be analyzing the impact that 3-man parties have on our system in relation to Conquest. We will continue to research parties as the system self corrects from the above issue.
- Additionally, we are currently going through all of our Ranked data very carefully to ensure there are no other issues that have yet to be uncovered, as well as do the required Math to ensure the Matchmaking system is correctly tuned with correct data. This will be a gradual process with improvements being added over time as we tweak the system for better results.
- We are making adjustments to better handle the case when a player returns to the game after a long break. Specifically, we will be looking at building in a larger factor for skill degradation due to the long break.
- Through this process we will also look and see if a Ranked reset will be needed prior to Season 4. While the system will self correct, it will also take time to do so, and it’s on the table we might do a reset (with rewards granted) and start a special Autumn / Winter Split for the last part of Season 3.
- Finally, we also plan to thoroughly review the TP system, Advancement and Demotion systems, and make improvements and adjustments to it to ensure it is a positive system for players going into ranked.
Our goal is and always has been to make sure Ranked is solid for players of all skill levels, and the steps we plan to take moving forward should help us towards that goal. Through the rest of Season 3 and into Season 4 expect us to review, adjust, and ensure that the system moving forward is one that our users enjoy and have a positive experience with.
Thanks for taking the time to read this Mid Season update on Matchmaking, and we look forward to discussing new updates in the future!
