Blizzard Matchmaking and Ladder Improvements

Written by Gradius  | Wednesday, 08 September 2010 20:21

News - StarCraft II

Blizzard has recently announced some improvements they've made to StarCraft II matchmaking and ladder system, namely in the realm of team games:

Improved Matchmaking for Teams

While the matchmaking system as a whole is looking very strong, one area we identified for improvement was matchmaking for arranged teams that were still in placement matches. We found these first few matches for arranged teams were giving them an unfair advantage against their opponents. Since so many new arranged teams were being created every day, this was resulting in a noticeable amount of imbalanced matches for team games. The corrections we've made should show an improvement for many team players, especially in the sub-Gold leagues.

Improved Placement for Teams

Another related issue we've received feedback on and experienced firsthand is the difficulty of placing in a high league while in an arranged team. We made two changes that should improve the experience. 1) The improved matchmaking mentioned above will help teams find opponents of similar skill sooner and, as a result, help to more quickly place teams in the league in which they belong. 2) We also found we were being too conservative in how teams were being placed in leagues and have made some adjustments to allow teams to be more easily placed in higher leagues. 3v3 random and arranged teams will likely notice this change the most.

Team Matchmaking Improvements

We found conditions where the matchmaking system was forcing certain teams and players to wait longer than needed for team matches. Those conditions have been addressed and the wait times should be reduced without affecting the quality of the matchmaking.

Battle.net matchmaking and ladder is arguably one of the most important things about StarCraft II that requires immediate attention. The long matchmaking process and underplacement of teams is definitely an issue that many players in the SC:L community have experienced, so it's good to know that Blizzard is working to resolve these issues.

Source:
Battle.net - Matchmaking and Ladder Improvements