Pixelatorx2
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- Oct 2, 2012
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Welcome to an (at least) 2 part series of suggestions
This is going to be an essay, so settle in and grab some popcorn.
tl;dr: Split Survival Games into ranked and unranked play, and implement a ELO and Trust based matchmaking system
The idea, but in words:
Basically in principle the idea is simple: split SG into ranked and unranked play. Ranked play will follow a new ELO (eee-low) system, and it will have a trust based system akin to Counter Strike.
What would an ELO look like?
If you're unfamiliar with ELO, it's a ranking system most famously used in Chess. You can read up on it here. For MCGamer, an ELO system would give players scores. You'd start off with, for example, 1000. By winning a game full of other exactly 1000 rating players, you'd gain a smaller amount of points than if you won against a match full of people of a higher ELO rating. This way, you climb and fall through the leaderboards based on who is in your game, who you kill, and if you win or not. This way, even if you lose a game, it is not a waste. With ELO, the game can predict your percentage chance of winning a game based on who else is in the match. If you are predicted to have an <50% chance of winning, and you win, you would gain extra points. >50% chance, you'd gain less points than set as the default. By killing opponents in the game who have a higher skill rating, you would gain points. Dying, so long as you are past the point the game would 'predict you to be', you would still gain points.
With this system, losing points is only done through failing to meet the standards predicted for your skill level in a game.
What this idea solves:
1) Competitive players want the best way to accurately measure their skill level against other players. Wins cater to people who have played longer, and not who is currently best. This can be mitigated by having seasonal, daily, etc. leaderboards. At that point, we then have to ask the question. Are all wins equal? The answer is no, they're not. Some games you may face better players, requiring more skills. Some games you might not have a full lobby. Some games, you may get really lucky with loot. Point is, the best representation of a player's Survival Games skill level is an ELO based system of gaining ELO and losing ELO.
In ranked matchmaking, you would only have the opportunity to play against people of similar skill levels. The Survival Games matchmaking plugin with algorithmically determine the most fair and even match. Some players of a lower skill level may be mixed in to 'test' them, and you would play against people of a similar skill level, allowing you to get better at the game and experience real challenges.
2) How does this help the casual players?
Most of the time, casual players don't want to get stomped by the so called "sweats" and they'd simply like to enjoy a game with any number of their friends. If you're playing as a duo/trio/greater, you're going to play in unranked matchmaking. Here, you'll play against other people who just want to play the game casually, as well as new players in a more friendly, less competitive environment. Maybe you're playing with a new friend, or in a different region. Point is, by separating the competitive and non competitive players it creates a less hostile and more, dare I say it, noob friendly environment for the casual players.
3) How does this solve the cheating problem?
By separating the games unto 'ranked' and 'unranked' we can introduce what is called a 'trust factor'. A trust factor is for all intents and purposes a hidden score that the server gives to players that estimates how likely they are to cheat based on qualities of the server. For example, a player who has:
Now, this may seem like it would penalize people who do not use discord/the forums, but I think the opposite. I think it would incentive them to invest the time into the server. As for being a donor, this wouldn't be an "auto" boost into the 'trusted' category. More than one of the aforementioned requirements would need to be met in order to be considered 'trusted'. Note that this is also a score -- not just a threshold.
4) Teams would not be allowed in ranked matchmaking. No boosting, no large teams. Simple as that. Teaming would go into the 'casual' mode, and clans would use a clan system that is TBD.
5) Ping would have a limit for playing in ranked. In essence, it's "region locked", except if you have good enough internet to play anywhere.
That's all for the main idea. I'm going to mention some potential caveats right away.
1) Games would take longer to find.
This is an unfortunate byproduct of trust and elo matchmaking. One way to prevent this is have a variable threshold system, where you'd have the threshold for trust/ELO change based on how many people are interested in finding a ranked game.
2) New players might feel discouraged.
It would certainly be a new system for new players, however I feel that keeping them to unranked matchmaking for, lets say, 25 games, they will learn to play the game against other new players rather then Mr. Playing-Since-2012 who knows the ins and outs of every map.
3) Hard to develop.
It would take some time, and it would radically change how MCGamer is played in the future. However, I feel that it would really push MCGamer past the 2012 era of signs (which, btw, would still remain for unranked ) into the modern age. The technology is there!
Anyways, those are my thoughts (part one, at least) of one idea of how to improve MCGamer. Thoughts?
*Just to be clear, a 'trust factor' can also be implemented not into ranked matchmaking itself, but in terms of being allowed into ranked matchmaking. As in, some suggestions about being 'trusted' could be required to be completed before participating in ranked MM.
This is going to be an essay, so settle in and grab some popcorn.
tl;dr: Split Survival Games into ranked and unranked play, and implement a ELO and Trust based matchmaking system
- Replacing win based ranking with an ELO/other score typed system
- Broader range of skills to be appreciated in stats, i.e. kdr, wins, damage done, who you’re playing with, etc.
- Higher level games, players can play against stronger opponents
- More detailed breakdown of how good a player is — don’t have to player forever to be considered ‘good’
- Trust based matchmaking implementation
- Must play x number of unranked matchmaking games before being allowed into ranked matchmaking, been on the server for x days, x playtime
- Link your account to discord, forums, to have a ‘trusted’ account
- Only play against ‘trusted’ players? — don’t get fresh accounts cheating
- Donor
- Region-locking
- There’s been issues with laggy players getting an unfair advantage
- If you ping is above x amount, restrict playability to only unranked matchmaking, if they fail x number of ping checks (during matchmaking time?)
The idea, but in words:
Basically in principle the idea is simple: split SG into ranked and unranked play. Ranked play will follow a new ELO (eee-low) system, and it will have a trust based system akin to Counter Strike.
What would an ELO look like?
If you're unfamiliar with ELO, it's a ranking system most famously used in Chess. You can read up on it here. For MCGamer, an ELO system would give players scores. You'd start off with, for example, 1000. By winning a game full of other exactly 1000 rating players, you'd gain a smaller amount of points than if you won against a match full of people of a higher ELO rating. This way, you climb and fall through the leaderboards based on who is in your game, who you kill, and if you win or not. This way, even if you lose a game, it is not a waste. With ELO, the game can predict your percentage chance of winning a game based on who else is in the match. If you are predicted to have an <50% chance of winning, and you win, you would gain extra points. >50% chance, you'd gain less points than set as the default. By killing opponents in the game who have a higher skill rating, you would gain points. Dying, so long as you are past the point the game would 'predict you to be', you would still gain points.
With this system, losing points is only done through failing to meet the standards predicted for your skill level in a game.
What this idea solves:
- Better competitive environment for PVP players
- A more enjoyable casual experience
- Cheaters
- Teams
- Ping
1) Competitive players want the best way to accurately measure their skill level against other players. Wins cater to people who have played longer, and not who is currently best. This can be mitigated by having seasonal, daily, etc. leaderboards. At that point, we then have to ask the question. Are all wins equal? The answer is no, they're not. Some games you may face better players, requiring more skills. Some games you might not have a full lobby. Some games, you may get really lucky with loot. Point is, the best representation of a player's Survival Games skill level is an ELO based system of gaining ELO and losing ELO.
In ranked matchmaking, you would only have the opportunity to play against people of similar skill levels. The Survival Games matchmaking plugin with algorithmically determine the most fair and even match. Some players of a lower skill level may be mixed in to 'test' them, and you would play against people of a similar skill level, allowing you to get better at the game and experience real challenges.
2) How does this help the casual players?
Most of the time, casual players don't want to get stomped by the so called "sweats" and they'd simply like to enjoy a game with any number of their friends. If you're playing as a duo/trio/greater, you're going to play in unranked matchmaking. Here, you'll play against other people who just want to play the game casually, as well as new players in a more friendly, less competitive environment. Maybe you're playing with a new friend, or in a different region. Point is, by separating the competitive and non competitive players it creates a less hostile and more, dare I say it, noob friendly environment for the casual players.
3) How does this solve the cheating problem?
By separating the games unto 'ranked' and 'unranked' we can introduce what is called a 'trust factor'. A trust factor is for all intents and purposes a hidden score that the server gives to players that estimates how likely they are to cheat based on qualities of the server. For example, a player who has:
- Purchased a donor rank
- Synced their account with the discord
- Synced their account with the forums
- Played a significant number of games
- Has posted on the forums more than a couple times
- Nitro booster
- etc.
- Just started playing MCGamer
- Does not use the forums
- Does not have discord
Now, this may seem like it would penalize people who do not use discord/the forums, but I think the opposite. I think it would incentive them to invest the time into the server. As for being a donor, this wouldn't be an "auto" boost into the 'trusted' category. More than one of the aforementioned requirements would need to be met in order to be considered 'trusted'. Note that this is also a score -- not just a threshold.
4) Teams would not be allowed in ranked matchmaking. No boosting, no large teams. Simple as that. Teaming would go into the 'casual' mode, and clans would use a clan system that is TBD.
5) Ping would have a limit for playing in ranked. In essence, it's "region locked", except if you have good enough internet to play anywhere.
That's all for the main idea. I'm going to mention some potential caveats right away.
1) Games would take longer to find.
This is an unfortunate byproduct of trust and elo matchmaking. One way to prevent this is have a variable threshold system, where you'd have the threshold for trust/ELO change based on how many people are interested in finding a ranked game.
2) New players might feel discouraged.
It would certainly be a new system for new players, however I feel that keeping them to unranked matchmaking for, lets say, 25 games, they will learn to play the game against other new players rather then Mr. Playing-Since-2012 who knows the ins and outs of every map.
3) Hard to develop.
It would take some time, and it would radically change how MCGamer is played in the future. However, I feel that it would really push MCGamer past the 2012 era of signs (which, btw, would still remain for unranked ) into the modern age. The technology is there!
Anyways, those are my thoughts (part one, at least) of one idea of how to improve MCGamer. Thoughts?
*Just to be clear, a 'trust factor' can also be implemented not into ranked matchmaking itself, but in terms of being allowed into ranked matchmaking. As in, some suggestions about being 'trusted' could be required to be completed before participating in ranked MM.
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