wow Upcoming Arena Matchmaking System Change

[Staff 1,488]

 

After a long discussion on whether something was changed in the arena matchmaking system with pach 9.0.5, Blizzard jumped in to explain that there haven't been direct patch changes, but the regular nature of the system has created some issues - and it seems a very high participation level in Shadowlands is to blame! 

In addition to explaining what's happening and what precautions are already in place to prevent upper ratio levels from getting additional score and other high-rating issues, Blizzard have added that they will be incresing the upper bound of the matchmaking rating system. This change will come with the weekly reset and should result in fewer top level players will have matches that reward no points.

Arena Matchmaking Changes (source)

Shadowlands has seen tremendous participation in Arena with the number of unique players and total matches exceeding those seen in recent seasons. As some have noted, this level of participation has had some unintended effects at the very top of the ladder. The nature of our rating system means that the more people that participate, the more likely it is that the very best players in the world will reach extremely high matchmaking ratings. In this case, a number of players have reached the upper boundary of our rating system and as a result, they may achieve victories that don’t result in rating increases. Since the number of players capable of playing at this level is limited, if they choose not to participate, it becomes difficult for those players immediately below them to also gain rating.

We have two solutions to this problem, one of which is already in place and the other will take effect with weekly restarts on Tuesday.

First, over the past 7 years World of Warcraft has had a rating inflation system in place that increases the mean rating of competitors at a rate of 10 points per week (note: This is the rate of increase for clarity but the number is actually increasing with each second). This means that the number that all ratings – including the highest rating possible – are calibrated at increases by 10 points each week, so players that continue playing throughout the season have an advantage compared to those who stop when it comes to end of season rewards. Ultimately, if high end players choose not to play, their rating will be overcome by those who do.

Second, we are going to increase the upper bound of our matchmaking rating system with weekly restarts this week. This should mean that players at the top of the ladder should have less matches that reward no rating change.

We appreciate everyone letting us know about this issue and hope that the upcoming increase the matchmaking cap will improve the situation for the few players affected.

 

[FPBLOL 0]

I find it odd that this was the match making issue they decided to solve for arena with all the other issues going on with arena right now. Multiple streamers, many average players, and the statistics show a huge rating gap in arena right now due to the burst meta and gear issues. People are getting hard stuck in the 1400-1600 bracket because people have 226 gear from boosts or RBGs and are blowing up people in 2 seconds that are appropriately geared for that rating. Even glads on alts have admitted to the craziness of this bracket. It doesn't allow new players to enjoy the game and learn how to play. I think this should be addressed before helping 3k players maintain their rating.