- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Posted by: maximus_asinus
Posted by: Baaaaaaaaaaaaah
So you are suggesting Generals should just automatically be ranked 50 in every playlist without having to rank up? Hardly seems reasonable. True Skill, as far as Bungie uses it, is per playlist only. Its not designed to give you the most optimal match across all playlists based on your performance on one only. The system should factor in every playlist AND the players progress in the single playlist when it is determining an acceptable match, it would give a more accurate depiction of where the player is at (of course playlists with little to no playtime wouldn't be taken into account). If you've reached 50 in one playlist you SHOULD be treated different than a player who can barely reach 30. Match them with other players their skill. I am sure there are plenty of level 45-50s playing in each playlist. Just look at it from this perspective; if Player A has achieved 50 in Playlist A and Playlist B and is going for a 50 in Playlist C should he be matched against Player B who highest skill is 30 and has yet to reach a 50 in any playlist at all? The answer is no, because Player A has far more experience than Player B. Now if you're Player B with a rank of 30 and you've been matched against Player A variants constantly in Playlist C you're probably not going to move anywhere in the playlist unless you show a vast improvement (sort of how the system intended it to be I guess, but it is less than ideal now with the number of boosters and second accounters running around). You've just become a stepping stone for each player that moves through this playlist. You might not be as good as the 50s you're being matched with game after game, but you COULD be better than the 35s that you aren't playing. The system should establish pools; groupings of players with relatively close overall Trueskill (lets say, within 5 points seperating the beginning of Pool A and the beginning of Pool B). Like swimmers in a real pool it would have your amateurs on one end, and the strong swimmers on the other. Players would be matched with people inside their pool to determine who is stronger, and when the time comes, when the player should be elevated into the next pool. So Player A is back, he has gotten his 50s in two playlists, he should be playing in Pool Z and not be matching against players in Pool M who are in the same playlist, the same as Pool M can't play Pool A and so on and so forth. The only hiccup in my idea would be the lack of players in Pool Z in a certain playlist would result in a harder time finding a match, but I think it is more acceptable to punish the few over the larger population.
You make some great common sense points about the issue. I don't enjoy gettings steaktaculared by 4 Generals either, but realistically it doesn't happen all that often. However, im not so sure it is fair to good players that they can't experience the ranking up experience in each playlist. It was the same way in Halo 2. Also, someone who is a 40 in saw LW's may truely only be a 25 in Team type games.
Remember, Trueskill needs you to lose a certain amount of games over your first 50-100 to get you to your true rank as quickly as possible. Having Generals roll over you provides some of those. I don't think it is game breaking or anything.