Apex legends, skill-based matchmaking (rant)
I’m just going to get straight to the point here Apex legends, skill based matchmaking sucks. I am currently silver and in my most recent game I got match make with a masters and a platinum. This als...
Forum Discussion
@Magic_pug_1010
I hate to always be the apologist for sbmm, but I'll say out of the gate that I'm an apologist for the THEORY of sbmm, never for the implementation.
And that's what you're experiencing here. The priority for sbmm should be skill, right? That what it says in the name after all. But it isn't. It's speed. A quick match is far more important to the system than an accurate match. And in my experience that's not just an Apex thing. It's true of every game ever for all time.
So you will square off against a wide skill range of players, and your own squads will usually have a very, VERY wide range of skill. This is sbmm trying to balance the entire lobby, rather than every individual squad. Which wouldn't be possible unless players were willing to wait 20 minutes for a match. Players at the high end of the spectrum would wait even longer.
It's a horrible compromise that satisfies nobody. But the only real solution (build a game with lower skill ceiling) is not on the table for a lot of different reasons.
And you're right about people coming into the game for the first time. That's a one way ticket to hell. I can't imagine why anybody would start a competitive game that's already been around for five years. Apex sbmm has a feature where it supposedly eases new players into the pool slowly, but I still pity those fools for trying.
I hate to always be the apologist for sbmm, but I'll say out of the gate that I'm an apologist for the THEORY of sbmm, never for the implementation.
And that's what you're experiencing here. The priority for sbmm should be skill, right? That what it says in the name after all. But it isn't. It's speed. A quick match is far more important to the system than an accurate match. And in my experience that's not just an Apex thing. It's true of every game ever for all time.
So you will square off against a wide skill range of players, and your own squads will usually have a very, VERY wide range of skill. This is sbmm trying to balance the entire lobby, rather than every individual squad. Which wouldn't be possible unless players were willing to wait 20 minutes for a match. Players at the high end of the spectrum would wait even longer.
It's a horrible compromise that satisfies nobody. But the only real solution (build a game with lower skill ceiling) is not on the table for a lot of different reasons.
And you're right about people coming into the game for the first time. That's a one way ticket to hell. I can't imagine why anybody would start a competitive game that's already been around for five years. Apex sbmm has a feature where it supposedly eases new players into the pool slowly, but I still pity those fools for trying.
this makes more sense now that I understand the process. and I agree that it would be incredibly hard to find a lobby for the skill of everybody in your squad. Let alone the whole entire lobby. Definitely helps. is there anything I can do to try to improve skill matchmaking in my servers?
@Magic_pug_1010
"is there anything I can do to try to improve skill matchmaking in my servers?"
Matchmaking will be better (which is not to say "good") at peak times. So avoid playing in the middle of the night.
You have the ability to choose servers based on geography - U.S. servers are typically the best populated and that also puts sbmm in the best light.
Avoid playing with friends. Contrary to popular logic, I know, but when you team up with people then you're essentially telling sbmm to step it up because you're ready for tougher lobbies.
Lastly - very unpopular opinion inbound - don't try too hard with this game. Everything you do that demonstrates the willingness to sweat guarantees progressively tougher lobbies. If the system sees your win rate, kill rate, k/d, or even damage numbers, starting to look good then it will think it's going too easy on you. Try less hard. Conventional wisdom says you leave a match by dying or winning, but there is another way out and you should use it liberally whenever you find yourself in a suspicious situation. Iffy teammates, hyper-aggressive enemies, bad position, bad ring close, anything at all. The more you tell the system that you're intolerant then the less it will ask you to tolerate. Not the way anyone imagines playing the game, but managing sbmm is a game in itself. Learn to play it.
