Lets Talk About 'Skill-Based Matchmaking'?

Hi, found this thread after what happened to me yesterday so I thought I would share my thoughts on this from the perpective of a new(ish) console player and how quickly the matchmaking can change.

Previously I had been playing the game the on PC. I would consider myself average on PC, I have never played ranked and majority of the time queue solo. Yesterday I decided to switch to Xbox and have a few games...

I was level 11 with a K/D of 0.8 when I started playing and was being matched with people who I could be competative with. Slowly I started getting used to the controls and began to improve. In one game I won solo as the kill leader with over 2k damage and as it stands I currently have a K/D of 2.1 with 500 average damage per match however I am still only level 19.

I understand that maybe the players I had been playing were slightly worse than me having played on PC but I was by no means winning every match, far from it. Now however, despite still only being level 19, the game seems to think I am like some kind of prodigy and get constantly matched with ridiculously high level players. Champion squad is usaully Diamond level 500 with 1000s of kills. Sometimes, even my teammates quit before the game starts because of my low level. The style of the games have changed too. There are pre made teams all watching diffrent angles and covering each other backs. They are more cautious, alert and lock down areas. I know this is something you need to learn but I have only just started playing on console, it's like dropping into a lions den.

Needless to say I have been getting killed pretty much on drop since then and the fun has started to deminish. Maybe my stats are on par with these players, but you just cannot compare our stats like for like. They just have far superior game-sense and aim and it depends on match qaulity - their stats have come from playing at a high level where as mine have come from playing at a lower level.

I know it is a difficult problem to solve but having a high K/D and damage per match is not a clear enough indication of skill, more factors need to be taken into account such as play time, levels you have played previously, if you have played competatively or not. Level / rank seems irrelevant in pubs, it seems it is based on recent match performance irrespective of quality of opponents

No doubt as I inevitably start loosing more and more to these guys I will be placed back where I belong but with a massive hit to confidence and enjoyment and I know as soon as I start playing better I will be knocked back again. As the OP said the system currently makes it appear as though you are being punished for improving. There is no gradual increase in difficulty, the game is like "oh they just got 2k damage on some noobs last match, must be a pred in disguise".