Cover-Credits:
- Valorant's patch 2.0 is being heavily criticized for its broken matchmaking system and developers are working on fixes.
- Riot Games collected feedback earlier today on Reddit to see how they can improve the new ranking system.
- Some players are getting static gains and losses from their matches and they claim performance ratings are not being considered.
Valorant players are unhappy with how Riot Games has handled their latest ranked update. According to players, regardless of how your performance is inside of a match, you gain or lose the same amount of ELO. Fans are requesting changes all over the official forums and on Reddit. Others have complained about how their lobbies are full of players who are ranked much higher and should not even be in the same matches together. Multiple Riot team members, including Producer Ian Fielding and Designer Jon Walker, were present in the subreddit earlier today to collect feedback.
Ranked Reset Has Been A Mess
TenZ, who is regarded as one of the best players to play Valorant, was stuck in the queue for an hour because of how MMR reset works. One of the most common suggestions was that there should be a soft reset on hidden MMR for all Radiant players at the start of a season. TenZ was the top 1 player of the previous season, and he was unable to queue while others made their way through their placement matches against easier opponents.
Pros get matched against other pros because of how good their hidden MMR is. At the same time, lower ELO players can get ahead against easier competition because of how problematic matchmaking has been. There have been instances of players creating smurf accounts in the past just to play the game instead of waiting in the queue forever.
Designer Jon Walker responded to the issue stating, “We are currently investigating a solution to high MMR matchmaking problems. If we can make it so all players can get matches at the same rate, they are fair, and they are gaining and losing ranked rating affected by their hidden MMR, then suddenly we have a very fair environment for the leaderboard.”
How Does the New Hidden MMR Work?
Walker also revealed that the previous system that was in place before patch 2.0 was tied to a player’s MMR, but there were instances of the system deviating from your MMR, but it quickly self-corrected. The terms MMR and ELO can be used interchangeably, and the hidden MMR system could swing your rank a lot previously. The new system is supposed to give more points for a win and less for a loss if the game thinks you are higher MMR, but the system is allegedly not working according to many players. The game also has a 50:50 matchmaking system in place to ensure you have a fair chance of winning or losing every game you queue into.
