Greetings, Commanders!
We have just updated the multiplayer match-making servers to alleviate the issues you've been reporting. This is not an update to the game's client, so there is no download needed. This is a very complicated set of changes, so in short - match-making will now be much more fair both in terms of who gets matched against who, as well as in terms of the MMR (ranking score) awarded to each player. You can skip to the later part of the article, where we talk about changes coming in the patch we have planned for next week. But if you are interested in a deep dive into the system, just click on the "Show Details" button:
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Pitting high-ranking against low-ranking players
This was the result of the "matchmaker" trying to start a game as soon as possible and not giving enough of a priority to keeping players in the same MMR (ranking score) range. This algorithm has been reprogrammed, and the servers will now give higher priority to finding players within a close MMR range, only allowing more uneven games if a match cannot be assembled within a certain time frame.
Uneven teams matched against one another
Now only teams of the same size (+- 1 player) will be matched against each other. Meaning a 2-player team can only be matched against a team of 2 or 3 players, a 3-player team can be matched with 2, 3 or 4-player teams, a 4-player team can go against teams of 3, 4 or 5 players, and a 5-player team can encounter a 4-player or 5-player team.
We've also prepared a simple matrix overview of possible matches:
| Team Size | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | [/tr]
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Yes | Yes | No | No | [/tr]
| 3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | [/tr]
| 4 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | [/tr]
| 5 | No | No | Yes | Yes | [/tr]
Issues with the MMR (ranking score) calculation
The system was set up to award MMR based on earned XP, which was not clear to some players, and motivated others to focus on earning XP instead of winning, causing problems in teamplay and in extreme cases a player would be awarded 0 MMR even for a hard-earned victory in a long game. There were also differences between MMR accumulation in solo play versus in a team, and in general, one side could lose (or gain) more MMR than the other.
For those reasons we have not only increased the XP awarded for territory control by +25% (we also plan to add XP to the scout and spotter for damage to vehicles highlighted by them, and also to medics for successful evacuation of wounded infantry), but the MMR algorithm was reworked - XP will now be less of a priority and on the other hand, the player's and their opponent's MMR will be taken into account more. Detailed overview of the new algorithm follows:
For each player, the change in MMR is calculated using the ELO algorithm (a Wikipedia article for those interested here) with each of their opponents:
The final change in MMR is adjusted according to the difference in XP:
Correction of MMR change = my XP / (my XP + enemy XP)
- if XP is equal to the enemy’s XP, then the correction will be 0.5 for victory and defeat
- if the enemy’s XP is 4 times greater, then the correction will be 0.2 for victory and 0.8 for defeat
- if your XP is 4 times greater, then the correction will be 0.8 for victory and 0.2 for defeat
The final MMR of the player is calculated as the average of all new MMRs for a hypothetical battle with each of the opponents separately.
If the difference in MMR is 0, then you still get +1 for a win and -1 for a loss
Thus, the calculation is balanced, meaning it should add as many points to the winning team as were taken from the losing team.
Additional changes in MMR calculation:
- MMR change step initially = 40, after 30 matches it becomes = 20, when reaching 2400+ MMR step will be = 10
- The boost range from 1000 to 1400 is no longer valid
- Minimum MMR is now 1000
- There is no longer any difference in calculating MMR between playing in a team and playing alone
A New Patch is Coming Next Week
Beyond the server back-end changes for match-making that we have just set live, we are also hard at work on a more standard patch. This is scheduled for next week and as usual, we will provide full patch notes. But we are happy to share the highlights now already:
- Additional Steam Achievements - A significant amount of new and varied Achievements will be added. These will not just be awarded for completing missions and campaigns, but also for reaching milestones such as inflicting a set amount of total damage with certain units, completing optional tasks in missions or challenges such as killing a B4 Goliath. The total number of Achievements will grow to include more than 10 times what is currently available.
- FPS Limit Unlock - It will be possible to set or remove an FPS limit in Settings.
- Various Stability and Balancing Improvements - We have managed to fix several unpleasant crashes, and balancing tweaks to both Competitive and Realistic Settings.
- Map Updates - As part of an ongoing process, various visual and functional upgrades will be implemented to several maps. As a small example, here is a new screenshot from the updated version of the Dead River Map. Can you guess what's new?
These changes are only possible thanks to your feedback. If you encounter any problems or issues, please, let us know either here in the comments, in Steam Discussions, or even better, come join the conversation on the Men of War II Official Discord Server. And if you are already enjoying the game and want to support the development team, consider writing a review here on Steam - it really makes a difference.
We will see you on the battlefield soon, Commanders!
