GAC matchmaking...again

"Fluffy" does not impact you under current matchmaking. Matchmaking is primarily based on the total GP of your top X many units.

Which units you choose to invest in also does not impact current matchmaking. The difference the matchmaking algorithm sees between my G12 zBastila Fallen and my G13 zRose Tico is about 150 GP. That is because utilization is on you. Not on the algorithm. It assumes you have a plan to use everything you've invested in to the point where they're one of your top units.

They never said the goal was to give every matchup a 50% chance. They have explicitly said that is not the goal; that some matchups will have you at an advantage, others at a disadvantage. What they have talked about is keeping matchups reasonably competitive and reducing the blowout rate. But your performance remains mainly in your own hands.

A large part of performance in Grand Arena is knowing the game and the relevant threats, preparing defensive teams who are difficult to counter and offensive teams that can counter the relevant threats. If your opponent has developed a team that you have not developed a counter for, they have earned their win fairly.

Also, at this point, Darth Revan and Darth Malak are quite free to play accessible. I haven't dropped dosh, but I have both of them. It ain't a F2P/P2P divide. And JKR has been around for so long that leaving yours so low is entirely on you.

It seems that matchmaking is not the problem here. Roster development is. If you are 500k GP ahead of your opponents, but don't have the META characters, they do, you can't really blame it on matchmaking.

Ironically, there may be players complaining here on these forums, that they get matched with you, since you have higher GP. All while having a fluffy roster is not the disadvantage i used to be in GA, and it's also not an advantage in GAC unless you have the META characters.

"TheGraySatyr;c-1958978" wrote:
Congratulations on getting the characters already that I have grinded for everyday. I have a lot of frustration about this already, but I am glad to see it has worked for you. Since I have not been able to collect as many crystals in squad arena, (Lucky to make to close to rank 150, often 200+), I am doing the very best that rng allows. Again, on me not you. Matchmaking is on CG. That is my issue.

No, you did not fail to get Darth Revan because you did not spend money. And you did not fail to get Darth Revan because you had bad luck. And you did not fail to get Darth Revan because you don't earn enough crystals.

You failed because you managed your resources poorly.

Here is what it took to get Darth Revan second pass, worst case: One node refresh per day on Carth, Juhani, and maybe Bastila. One ship energy refresh every third day. That's 108 crystals per day. Daily activities are 65. GW is 25. Daily box averages out to around 20 crystals a day. That's enough crystals per day that you could have gotten Darth Revan second pass before considering any crystals from squad arena, fleet arena, the calendar, Territory Battles, the bounty board, or make goods.

Here is what it took to be ready for Darth Revan third pass. Starting on time. Zero crystals.

You say you have been spending energy on Carth for a "long long time," and you are still sub six stars. From the sound of things, you've been here at least long enough that you were part of the Carth marquee at the end of last year. That means to go from the 50 shards the marquee gave you to 6 stars is 180 shards. At 5 attempts per day and a 1/3 drop rate, that's 108 days of farming. While yes, luck can play a factor and there's some swing to that number, that's a swing of a couple of weeks. Not a quarter of a year.

So this leaves us with several possibilities.

POSSIBILITY 1: The most likely possibility. You have been farming Carth at five attempts per day since early June or late May with no node refreshes. For a character who went farmable in February. For an event that was announced in March. That means you were sitting on the farm for at least two months, maybe as much as four. Two months' farming at 5 attempts a day is 100 shards. Some of that window from Carth's release to when you started farming was at 8 attempts/day, and there was a double drop event in there, so starting on time would have yielded well over 100 shards, probably enough to be done by now.

POSSIBILITY 2: You are using node refreshes, and started significantly later than June, meaning you've been putting off the farm significantly longer.

POSSIBILITY 3: You have been "farming" Carth for significantly longer, but you haven't stuck to the farm, and have either done less than five attempts per day on a consistent basis or have stopped outright for other priorities for extended periods of time.

POSSIBILITY 4: You have had astronomically bad luck, to a highly implausible degree. This is the least likely possibility.

You do not have Revan right now because of your own decision making.

I’m not really sure what you are looking for here. The devs have said in Q&A that they will continue to tweak matchmaking, but that they don’t really want to take specific meta characters into account in doing so.

I’m sure you are not the only person who doesn’t have them, but you are likely in a division and at a matchmaking GP where your top characters are powerful enough that most people in your bracket do have those characters, especially now that they have all come around more than once.

What you can do is farm for the meta characters.

I did that before it became a problem for me, but if I didn't have them now, that's what I'd do.

Change the way you play, man. There's no question that GAC rewards a certain playstyle, and if you still haven't finished Carth, it isn't the one you've adopted by a long shot.

Chasing meta teams isn't that fun, believe me, I get it. But if you don't, you will lose GA more often than you win. There's never going to be a "fair match" because there's never going to be a roster that looks exactly like yours. So you need to adapt.

"TheGraySatyr;c-1959356" wrote:
That is true Liath. I just want a fair match. I will do the best that I can. I have read the Q&A and somehow missed them stating anywhere that the meta was not taken into account for matchmaking. It is the top 80 characters correct?
Thanks for your time.

This is from the prior Q&A (August):



Currently the primary consideration in matchmaking, within your division and league, is the GP of your top X characters, where X is 10 times the number of defense teams you set. So for divisions 1 and 2 that is 80, yes. Supposedly there are other factors, but we have not been told what they are and best as anybody can tell they appear to be minor.

Everyone has a different definition of what is fair, so when you say you “just” want a fair match, you are applying your personal opinion about what makes a match fair, which may or may not line up with what I, or most players, or the devs consider to be fair.

Just ignore the game mode. Matchmaking is broken at the boundaries. GP is a failed measure of whatever it is they're trying to measure with it. It accurately measures nothing. Just realize that if you participate in the mode, you are likely to get match-ups that seemingly make zero sense to you and that you've made choices that are not conducive to being successful in the game mode.

Ironically, this point is used by some of the same posters on here who also strongly advocate for the limited GP matching we currently have as opposed to the GA matchmaking. Apparently those choices deserved a free pass, but not chasing the meta doesn't. Relative, it is, mmmm?

I am in a similar position although a bit better. I wasted time getting Padme rather than work on Darth Revan and may not end up getting him this go round. I have had some great, close matchups (some wins and some losses) and a few where I have been blown out completely.

It stinks to get blown out but there isn't much that I can do in the short term. The best thing is to remember that this is a game and is supposed to be fun. In general, if part of the game isn't fun, skip it. That said, the rewards from GAC are good to get. Fight the battles that give you a chance, get as many points as you can for defense and take the rewards you get. Don't sweat your rankings and don't waste time trying desperately to win when you have no chance.

Keep building your roster and concentrate on the meta characters.

thank you all I appreciate these replies. @Liath I appreciate this quote. I missed that and am glad to see it. I wish you all well, and will focus my time on improving. Fair is relative to my opinion, that is true. This perspective gives me pause. Thanks again for all of your time everyone.