Unranked matchmaking in Rainbow Six: Siege is completely brain-dead. Here’s why
This post won’t be dealing with rocket science. It will be about absolute basics, unfortunately. I say “unfortunately”, because unranked matchmaking in Siege seems to be botched at the very basic level.
First things first: in unranked, there’s still rank and MMR/Elo, they are just hidden. Everybody has two MMRs: ranked and unranked. If you go to a site like R6 Tracker, it will show both ranked and unranked (“casual”) ratings for any player.
The unranked MMR is there because the game needs to match players according to their skill, even if they don’t play ranked. Ideally, all players in a match should be of similar skill so that the match is balanced.
How do we know how balanced a given match is? The fundamental measure is to add MMRs of all players on one team, then on the other, and compare them. These sums should be close to equal. For example, this is close to ideal:
- 2400 + 2500 + 2600 + 2500 + 2500 = 12500
- 2500 + 2600 + 2500 + 2400 + 2500 = 12500
It is a rudimentary metric, because we’re only considering sums, meaning that players might be of different ranks. For example, compare these teams:
- 2500, 2500, 2500, 2500, 2500 — the sum is 12500
- 5000, 4000, 1500, 1000, 1000 — the sum is 12500
A match between these teams probably isn’t going to be very good, because on the second team there are two very skilled players and three very unskilled players. But at least the sums are equal.
This brings us to a problem I want to talk about here. What would you say about a match in which MMR (Elo) sum of one team is 17000, and of the other 13000? Who’s gonna win? Is this game going to be fun for anybody?
This, unfortunately, is not a fantasy. It’s a sad reality. Look at these Elos.
To make this match balanced, the orange team would need an additional player with 3765 MMR. Think about it. Add one Plat 1 to these gold/silver players, and it would be a balanced 6v5.
Also note how on the stronger team there is a Silver 4 unranked smurf, who’s Plat 2 in ranked, so in reality it’s closer to 18k vs 13k.
This one is particularly bad, but it’s not the first time I got an unranked match like this. Nor the second. Nor the third.
Now you may say, it’s better to have a match like this than no match at all. Maybe. Maybe not. Let’s say it is.
When there are few players queuing, it’s difficult to match them evenly. This is true. However, the match pictured was found quickly. It was maybe 15 seconds. Compare this to CS GO, where games routinely take a few minutes to find.
If the matchmaking system comes up with a match like that in 15 seconds, instead of waiting, whatever — another 15 seconds, another 30 seconds, another 45 seconds — a minute is still a perfectly acceptable time — what does it say about the matchmaking system? Probably the Champ-Plat-smurf trio had been waiting too long and was let into a silver/gold match.
The really sad part
Let’s look a little bit closer still. The two highest ranked players are queued together, so they can’t be split. They have the silver smurf with them. On the other team, there are two people queued together. How do I know? R6 TAB shows you who a given player queued with.
On the blue team, there’s a player with 3100 MMR. That’s way higher than anyone on the orange team. He queued solo. Why the holy fuck did the matchmaking put him on the stronger team? Why isn’t he on the orange team so that the match could be at least a little more balanced?
Here’s another example of this.
Why are the stacks in one team? It makes sense to put a stack against a stack, not two stacks against a bunch of solos.
If you must have the stacks together, why are the guys in red not swapped at least?
Forget waiting for more players in matchmaking. Let’s matchmake in 15 seconds. We have 10 people of whatever skill, go now. Some are queued together. Let’s make the teams as even as possible. Basic arithmetic. Plus and minus only. A task appropriate for an average 10-year old with a calculator.
But for Ubisoft developers, it’s been too difficult.
And that’s why, my friends, we can freely say that the unranked matchmaking in Siege is completely brain-dead. It’s not mediocre. It’s not bad. It’s fucking pathetic.
Update
If you queue after 1AM, you are guaranteed to get one of these matches.
One guy is a barcode, so it’s difficult to check his stats. However, for the game to be even, he would have to have MMR of 6766. In other words, a high champion. It’s a bit unlikely, given that he ended fourth in the team on the scoreboard.
Let’s assume that he had about 3000, like the rest of the team. That means that the orange team would need a sixth player with 3700 MMR for the match to be balanced.
And why, for the love of God, are the two strongest two-stacks in the same fucking team? WHY?
“We have three two-stacks in the match, let’s take the two stronger ones and put them together.” That is the Ubisoft’s unranked matchmaking logic right before your eyes.
Update nr 2
Friday, 11 PM. At the beginning of the match R6Tracker overlay said the orange team had 99% chance of winning. I wonder why.
On the left agold three-stack with two solo golds, on the right a diamond/plat four-stack with a solo plat. The orange team has over 3000 MMR advantage.
NOTE: I was a bit confused because R6Tracker showed the unranked elo for the 1st and 4th orange players as 1997, while showing true skill as 2843 in smaller letters. This is probably because these guys haven’t played much — ranked will work like that later in this year: instead of showing the true elo/skill, the game will show lower ranks initially to create a sense of progress.
Notice again how there are three guys solo: 2832, 2987, and 3205 MMR. Which of these solos is the server going to put in a team with the strong four-stack? OF COURSE THE ONE WITH THE HIGHEST ELO.
Get a brain, Ubisoft. GET A FUCKING BRAIN.
Also, when matchmaking in unranked, the game should look at both ranked and unranked MMR of each player, and pick the higher one for calculations.
