Matchmaking and Ladder Improvements

As part of our continuing efforts to ensure fair matches and an enjoyable ladder system, we've identified and recently addressed three notable issues through hotfixes:
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 adjustmentsto 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.
We're continuing to monitor the matchmaking system on all levels, reading feedback, and playing the game ourselves to ensure that it's providing a fair and fun system for players of all skill levels. Please let us know if you have any additional feedback or have already noticed some improvement from these changes by posting here.



