In online games, matchmaking is something that is very important, because players not only want to play someone who is on or near their skill level, but also someone show isn’t exactly like them in terms of the character or skill set they’re using. For something like Overwatch, this is very important, because skill levels definitely determine battles, and who the players use in the battle can help decide outcomes too. Some players though aren’t happy with how Blizzard handles it.
On the Blizzard forums, a gamer came forward and noted one solution to this problem:
“How about tuning the matchmaker to take into account the most played heroes on a person’s account to sort of ‘soft role queue’ players into games where the composition would end up as a 2-2-2 naturally? If someone has a certain % of their playtime on a certain role, the matchmaker would classify them as that role and not match more than two players with the same role on a team.”
It certainly is an interesting notion, and might fix certain aspects of it. Overwatch Director Jeff Kaplan came to the forums and responded to this:
“Thanks for the suggestion! It’s actually one we’ve debated on the team. One concern we have is anytime we – the OW team – make assumptions about what you want to do without giving you some agency in the situation. Our concern is, we believe there are a number of players who want to or like to play different roles but because they are thinking of “the good of the team”, they flex to needed roles. A player like this, under your design suggestion, is going to end up always having to play tank or support. We really want to avoid design solutions that further reinforce players being forced to play roles they don’t intend to.”
What say you? Should Blizzard try this? Or was the Overwatch team wise to avoid this idea? Let me know in the comments below!
