NHL 26: WOC Matchmaking = Abysmal

This isn't call of duty, man. There aren't enough people playing drop-in to have rank based matchmaking. It's never been that way. The "population" thing has said LOW consistently for like 9 years. 

I logged in JUST to look for this issue. I feel like these prestige 2/3 /4 players(and there were a few the second week we played) should not be playing against a team that plays maybe 3 hours, drunk, on a Friday. The amount of games we've quit is mind blowing, but I we're not going to finish a game we're losing 8-2 after the 1st. I'm not padding some try-hard's stats.

How hard would it be to find a match using the average RP of the players in the lobby? 

mister641 wrote:

a team that plays maybe 3 hours, drunk, on a Friday.

mister641 wrote:

How hard would it be to find a match using the average RP of the players in the lobby? 

Not hard at all, but matchmaking times would increase a lot and I think that's what EA is trying to avoid.

From my understanding, there are no rules when it comes to matchmaking during the regular season in WoC. Everyone matches up against anyone. It's during playoff time when matchmaking is split between Pro and Elite leagues (basically, Div 1-6 and 6-10 I think). 

Consider the complaints about how slow matchmaking is during playoffs and then consider how cumbersome it would be to deal with that all year long.

That being said, the entire WoC population is being split between Ones, Threes, 3v3 and 6v6. Combined with HUT, OVP and the offline modes - I think it's safe to say the herd has thinned out. 

At no point did I compare this series with any other franchise. Pay attention to details.

In any case, you're clearly missing the point: the matchmaking is completely and utterly garbage. And contrary to your belief, there's enough to go around. Meaning, as an explicitly solo random player, getting paired with other random players, especially in Threes Eliminator, we're often faced against teams of 2-3 practically side-by-side couch potatoes and a mascot. It happens quite often, as their team name isn't the random team name: it's custom. 

Just for some context, imagine that 2-3 random players, from a couple of countries, time zones, etc., are matchmade against 2-3 dorm room, living room, side-by-side, etc., players that are close to a server. Who's actually going to have a better game? That's a rhetorical question. 

The low population, average search time, and so on aren't what I'm questioning. I've posted this before, and it's relevant: randoms versus randoms and teams versus teams. This (failed) platform crossover crap hasn't yielded enough proper matchmaking. I've had many more and better games before the platform crossover, win or lose. What does that convey to you? 

Of course, off and on topic, the X-FACTOR crap bandaids weak hockey video gamers, Clubs are a group of people that need validity from their peers, and the fact that there's Ones, Threes, and EASHL 3vs3 & 6vs6 means that not only is this game watered down, there's clearly enough of a game population to warrant these modes. 

Bottom line, you don't make any sense. 

CapeBretonIslndr wrote:

Meaning, as an explicitly solo random player, getting paired with other random players, especially in Threes Eliminator, we're often faced against teams of 2-3 practically side-by-side couch potatoes and a mascot. It happens quite often, as their team name isn't the random team name: it's custom

Are aware that players from all over the world can join a team? it doesn't mean they're sitting on the couch beside each other. Maybe you're misunderstanding how matchmaking actually works? 

CapeBretonIslndr wrote:

imagine that 2-3 random players, from a couple of countries, time zones, etc., are matchmade against 2-3 dorm room, living room, side-by-side, etc., players that are close to a server. Who's actually going to have a better game? That's a rhetorical question. 

There's no way for you to know that and you're just making assumptions. 

CapeBretonIslndr wrote:

randoms versus randoms and teams versus teams.

This is how it is in the real modes (3v3, 6v6). You seem to be playing Threes Eliminator which is an arcade mode with no expectation of consistency and a playground for waterbugs. 

CapeBretonIslndr wrote:

This (failed) platform crossover crap hasn't yielded enough proper matchmaking. I've had many more and better games before the platform crossover, win or lose. What does that convey to you? 

Outside of lengthy searches during playoffs and the inability to match club size, matchmaking has been largely okay. I'm still not a fan of matchmaking not discerning between team ranking and matching up everyone versus everyone, but that's what needs to be done as EA has introduced way too many online team play modes - thinning out the herd across WoC entirely.