MeinMMO editor Dariusz is convinced: Modern shooters have a problem that disadvantages weaker players and is therefore bad for your gaming friendships.
Skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) is a much-discussed topic. Especially in shooters like Call of Duty, there are many players who sharply criticize the system. The general criticism is that every match played is tiring because everyone plays at roughly the same level, leading to no relaxed, fun rounds anymore.
However, I have a completely different problem with SBMM in various games, as it divides the community into good and bad players.
SBMM divides your friend groups
In many shooters, SBMM calculates a sort of skill average of the opposing teams and tries to find a balanced gaming experience. The problem is that the weaker players are always disadvantaged.
For example, if the game assigns players to skill ranges of 1-10 and we take a team consisting of three players from skill range 8 and two from skill range 5, the average is 6.8 (rounded up to 7).
This results in the “better” players (level 8) having a comparatively easy match against opponents below their level, while the weaker players (level 5) have a difficult match against opponents roughly 2 “levels” above their own level.
This kind of match usually makes the affected players have little fun. I have experienced in my circle of friends how someone stopped playing a competitive shooter with us because the matches felt too difficult for him and he was frustrated. Similar situations are heard and read repeatedly in various shooter communities.
The once friend group then plays together less frequently because the different skill levels prevent collective fun in a competitive shooter. In extreme cases, the individual players may never play together again, and contact breaks off because they simply cannot play their favorite shooters together anymore.
Additionally, you will find it harder to make new friends in shooters, as the community is already split by the matchmaking system. You will never randomly encounter significantly better or worse players and therefore cannot get to know them.
And luring your friends into a shooter where they look bad could also prove challenging.
But shouldn’t SBMM prevent exactly that?
Yes, but that doesn’t work in friend groups. Because it’s about playing together. If this is frustrating for the weaker players, it’s a pity for everyone.
In shooters without strict SBMM, matchmaking is a bit more “random”, the teams are more mixed. While there can also be better players in the same lobby, the same applies to worse players – and there is always someone who is better or worse.
Without a skill-based matchmaking system, friend groups could play together without anyone being disadvantaged by the system. In every round, the opponents are at a different skill level, allowing for matches where even weaker players can succeed.
MeinMMO editor Dariusz is not a big fan of skill-based matchmaking and considers it a distortion of modern games. He believes the same about two types of shooters that have flooded the market in recent years: There are only 2 types of new, successful PvP shooters and both are trash
And luring your friends into a shooter where they look bad could also prove challenging.
But shouldn’t SBMM prevent exactly that?
Yes, but that doesn’t work in friend groups. Because it’s about playing together. If this is frustrating for the weaker players, it’s a pity for everyone.
In shooters without strict SBMM, matchmaking is a bit more “random”, the teams are more mixed. While there can also be better players in the same lobby, the same applies to worse players – and there is always someone who is better or worse.
Without a skill-based matchmaking system, friend groups could play together without anyone being disadvantaged by the system. In every round, the opponents are at a different skill level, allowing for matches where even weaker players can succeed.
MeinMMO editor Dariusz is not a big fan of skill-based matchmaking and considers it a distortion of modern games. He believes the same about two types of shooters that have flooded the market in recent years: There are only 2 types of new, successful PvP shooters and both are trash
