Posted 31 January 2013 - 01:00 AM

My proposal relies on the combination of an elo ranking system with battle value.Definition:ELO -- A numeric number that represents the players skill.BV -- A numeric number that represents the combat capabilities of the players currently selected mech.I have nothing to say about determining ELO, This is a well studied problem.My ideas around BV :- Each mech chassis and variant should be assigned a BV.- Any upgrades like double heat sinks should have an impact on BV.- Weapon system may also have an impact. An ac20 should have a higher BV than a machine gun.- Clan tech should have much higher BV's than inner sphere tech.- BV values may be adjusted for balance reasons based on a variety of stats like how much the tech is dropped with,win rates etc.Now for the matchmaking algorithm:Step 1.Select 16 players with similar elo rating.Only elo is considered in step 1 because, skill peers playing together is of paramount importance.Step 2.Build 2 groups of 8 from the 16 with balanced total BV and mech class.Balancing the BV value is of higher importance than the classes.2 assaults vs 1 etc is allowed but the matchmaker makes a best effort to maintain the class balance whilefocussing on BV balance.I'm of the opinion that elo can be completely disregarded in this step.Step 1 has already made sure that the players are of similar skill level.I dislike the notion that an extremely high elo player must play with the worst of the rest on his team.Step 3.After the match is over. Adjust elo scores based purely on the normal elo math.Discussion.I really believe this matchmaking model will alow for balanced interesting matches. And this is achieved without the needto have boring perfect balancing of all mechs and variants. If systems like ecm or clan tech is deemed really strongtheir bv can be adjusted upwards. This will mean that if you use them your "weight" in the match is higher.Mechs like the awesome can now be competitive because they will have a lower BV value than an Atlas DDC.The power difference between clan and inner spher tech can now be introduced to the game withou obsoleting the inner sphere tech.And best of all this introduces another variable to consider when constructing a mech.

Edited by Decaysa, 31 January 2013 - 03:47 AM.