@Cheese9Man
Part of this conversation involves a definition of “casual”.
The onset of online multiplayer games had one definition. Casual meant that in non-ranked modes, a game put players of all skill together. This produced certain outcomes, and they looked like: players above average had better outcomes than players who were below average. To any sane person this looked ok. Below average players had below average outcomes and above average players had above average outcomes (performance ratios).
But the culture shifted. People became tired of losing to people more skilled than themselves. People desired a space where they can win too. Some people think this is good and some people think this isn’t good. Companies realized that if they catered to this shift, they would make money. They were right, and matchmaking shifted towards an experience that tries (imperfectly) to address this.
Make no mistake, lower skilled players are still winning more than they typically would have, but the experience feels manipulative, and in the occasion that lower skilled players do obviously play higher skilled players, people feel “cheated”.
So what’s better: random matchmaking or SBMM/EOMM? Above average players typically hate it and below average players typically like it. I don’t blame either side. Whatever the case, gaming companies are going to do what’s need to maximize profits; regardless if it’s fair or not.
