A question regarding the magic of Halo 4 matchmaking
A question regarding the magic of Halo 4 matchmaking
I've been playing with a group of folks and most of the players are at a very high skill level. The competition we are matched against make me feel like I just picked up the controller for the first time or lost my thumbs in a freak shredder accident! They mostly play BTB which isnt my strongest game but even in other games I still struggle.
When I do not play with them and play a 4v4 and just go solo (to play Halo) most of the time I do well and have 15 to 20 kills, 5 to 10 assists with 10 or so deaths.
Does it average the true skill in the BTB scenarios and because there are a lot of great players on my team it jacks the other team talent up. Or does it just take the best persons skill level and try to match that? Why the huge difference?
Thanks for your thoughts
Sparty
I have no clue, but I DO know i play decently with certain people, and go negative double digits with others. I like all of them. I guess my playing style works with some people's style and clashes harshly with others. Are you playing with a particular group or is it with anyone of "high" skill?
A particular group thats let me play with them over the last few weeks, I definitely would not actively screen to play just with "high" skill due to my average skill with competitive tendencies that dont match my skill or lack thereof.
It seems to take an average and match opponents within a certain range based on my experience.
Hmm so it could be the "true skill" thing or the problem I have with some of my friends.
Someone in here has to know stuff about the true skill crap...Dixon? LB? Ghost??
edit: I think Laser answered lol
In ranked, it used to go by +/- 10 ranks to the highest player on the team (+/- 5 if you got into higher ranks). Now? I'm not sure. It really does seem to be all over the place. We played three games, all slayer on Skyline last night and annihilated the opposing team in all three games, despite having different opponents each game.
tl; dr: I have no idea.
Xbox TrueSkill
super short answer it is an average of the party you are in.
Not super short answer, it also has to try to match you up with the closet average available. For exampe if your group average is 20, but the only other available group to match you up against at that momment is a 30,10,45. You will get the 30.
If you go in alone chances are you will find people closer to your Trueskill level, but by playing with better players you will naturally run into tougher competition which improves your skills.
And no you cannot see you true skill ranking. Some sights claim to be able to show you it, but you would be taking that at face value.
and this is in every play list? even BTB?
as far as I know yes. Until the ranked playlists come out.
Now, also keep in mind 343 could be using trueskill as a base but not as absolute. I "think" I read just before launch they added a little secrect sauce to the formula. But I am too lazy to go and research that. rofl.
I think what they have works best for people new to the game. When my tag was in H4 limbo I have to play on one of my other tages and WAS LIKE A GOD! Then 4 or 5 days later I really started to notice a change in the skill level of the people it was matching me up against and was brought back down to my simploe crapstain level.
[img]http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001574329/412587188_hold_your_breath001...
Doubt there will ever be anything "ranked" only. Supposedly they are running TruSkill in the background, but that is REALLY not in any list that I am aware of. I play with people who aren't the best, and I clean the floor against the opponents. They really aren't using rank to match anyone, nor do I anticipate them to. ;)
Matchmaking is pretty frustrating. Skill is no longer an indicator as to "matches", party size is a major indicator and I believe the only factor in matchmaking as "tough" opponents happen only once a night (if then).
Yeah, those games we played last night weren't even close. One of them was 60-16, if I remember right.
I really want to comment on this, but... I will say this: I miss playing with people who know how to control a map and choke points. It was reminiscant of playing Domination in Black Ops where you have 2 bases and the choke points on lock.
I also miss not having to have my mic muted bc the kiddos are SCREAMING bloody murder over the ipod touch or kindle, but that can't really be fixed quickly :)
That's not even it. I enjoy playing with you. I can help people out, if they are willing to listen to me :)
I didn't realize how much I miss playing with people I can mesh with :)
Sparty, It most certainly feels like it teams us up against beasts. I have to work hard to not go negative. I have been playing with these guys for years. I know their play style and where everyone is on the map and what they are doing. That helps a lot. I'm not sure what anyone's true skill is, I do know that I am usually the lowest skilled person on the team. My K/D ratio is 1.10 and the highest on the team is 1.61, everyone else is in the 1.30s. I also have a much easier time when I go into mm by myself. So, I think it does matter who you play with. That being said, we do enjoy playing with you. None of us care about skill, we just want to have fun. You will eventually get a feel for team play. It just takes a while to figure out everyone's play style.
I agree with Edie :) The more often you play with people, the more you know their play style. Like Laser always saves me, because he knows I'm running into the other team yelling "being it bitches!" When we had our team, we did have our basic set ups....Matt and I ran together, Jim and Dan ran together, etc.
This conversation is making me miss being on a team :(
I've had true skill explained at length at least two or three times and the explanations came from people who could qualify their opinions with actual data. They also all contradicted one another.
My KPD typically hovers just under 1 and the reason is the people I play with. Or lag. Or a moderate NAT. Or the time of the month.
I personally think it's a rabbit hole trying to figure out why sometimes I'm better than others. I can say that when I'm relaxed and having fun I play exponentially better and when I'm pushing and trying to acheive I'm like a goddamn chicken with my head cut off. Who I'm playing with has a huge impact on either of these two scenarios.
The best players I play with are not that much better than me. They are however, infinitely more consistent and level headed. Their play is polished and responsive to situations and not mood. When they get rattled their play suffers too, they just get rattled a lot less often than I do.
I will say that if you are drawing from the same pool of talent I am (this site) then the best competition you are playing with is B players. The A players don't play here. If you don't believe me poke around the archives and find out what happens when polished old people go up against truly competitive teams. Despite the dwindling populations their are still a lot of people playing Halo that are better than you or anyone in your clan will ever be. The smaller the populations get, the more likely you are to run into those people. Strap in- it sucks.
Or maybe I don't know what I'm talking about and Gunnar makes a pair of Triple Kill Gamer Glasses and some little thumb thingys that will turn you into a mad dog killer. Give it a shot, and welcome to Wonderland.
I don't think that, but I'm pretty sure that if you think they will make you play better you probably will play better.
Despite the emphasis on fast twitch response and hand eye coordination, Halo remains a mental game as well. If you automate the mental processs of "feeling confident" then you free up that line of synapses to concentrate on things like tracking your teammates movements, absorbing the available information from the HUD, planning, decision-making etc.
Just as a for instance, Shutout.
My thumbs have logged so many hours on that map and its equivalents I will play over my head on it. The schema of data accessible to me as I spawn in immediately puts me in a less vulnerable position. I know for a fact that if I spawn in at snipe, they are at BR, probably ranged along the back ramp. Their objective will be to maintain top control and establish firing positions on top lift from library while the expected objective will be to stop me (or more realistically one of my teammates) from grabbing snipe and breaking their set up with it. I'm now free to create a decision tree based on new data that comes in as the match progresses.
What I don't have to spend mental energy on is "where the hell am I"? Am I ahead of or behind my team, is the weapon spawn two walls ahead of me or three? Who is shooting me? Where are they? What's the name of this callout so I can report my death?
If putting ridiculous glasses on or sporting little rubber thingies on your controller gets you to that mental place faster, than by all means get them.
As others have stated, I also notice a difference in opponents depending on if I'm alone or the skill of my teammates.
The game supposedly tries it's best to match based on the invisible TrueSkill, but as search times lengthen the parameters of skill widen and the match is filled with whomever.
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/trueskill/details.aspx
http://www.moserware.com/2010/03/computing-your-skill.html
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/trueskill/calculators.aspx
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/trueskill/faq.aspx
And T, if you play halo with me, you barely get shot at. I'm queen of the "distraction" medal lol!
I get them a lot too. :)
147 to be exact :)
Okay welI bet you never get "comeback kill"!
319 :) I would imagine those are dominion though :)
Lol probably
This is not meant to be negative, but you might just not be good at BTB. Halo is not just about who can shoot better, but where you play from and how aggressive you are and where you play in relation to where your teammates are located.
I am not very good at playing against a team of 8. I am 20x better at playing against a team of 4. than playing in BTB.
^^^^^^^^
Synopsis: Intimate familiarity of a map acutely enhances personal performance. Glasses be damned.
Corollary: Lost on a map equals confusion and poor personal performance. Glasses be damned.
Absolutely agree. My confidence goes to zero when I feel lost on a map. In real life too.