We had a very special Titan Talks yesterday with Isiah, Kilgon, and Max 'Innocent Rabbit'. In this episode, they dove into the complexities of matchmaking and ranked systems, addressing community concerns, upcoming updates, and new competitive formats. They also discussed ranked resets, toxic queues, and the technical work behind offering a balanced gaming experience.
Here is what you missed!
1. Upcoming Update Reminders
- OB5 Launch: Scheduled for Monday (exact date provided in-stream).
- Patch Notes:
- Full patch notes go live soon, with a Monday patch overview stream.
- Includes behind-the-scenes logic on balance changes and bug fixes.
- Console vs. PC Parity:
- All platforms generally receive the same hotfixes and updates, but console patches may be delayed slightly by certification times.
2. Esports & Community Tournaments
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Inbound’s Tournament (“The Bobby Tourney”)
- Taking place over the current weekend (after the show date).
- Features high-level/pro players competing for prize pools sponsored by Hi-Rez.
EU Tournaments by Nika & Hazer- Scheduled to begin on March 15.
- Sign-ups require a high-level ranked standing.
Chris T. Dixon’s Joust Cash Cups- Joust-focused cash prize events.
- Great opportunity for 3v3 enthusiasts to compete.
Smite Lovers United Tourney- Crowdfunded community tournament with sign-ups open.
- Additional details available on social media.
Potential Additional Esports Announcement- Teased further reveals after the show.
- Check @Smite2Esports Twitter for the latest updates.
3. Matchmaking & Ranked: Key Updates
Max provided a high-level timeline of matchmaking changes from Closed Beta through Open Beta 4:
3.1 Open Beta 1
- Match Quality Metric:
- Combined skill-based (SR) and experience-based data to evaluate potential matches.
- Level/SR Ranges:
- The matchmaker began with a tight range and gradually widened if queues went on too long.
- Party Composition Rules:
- Aim to prevent extreme scenarios (e.g., large premades vs. all solo players).
3.2 Open Beta 2
- Team Averages:
- New check on average player level/SR per team to refine balance.
- Backend Skill Ratings:
- Enhanced how hidden MMR and SR data are used for both casual and ranked matchmaking.
- Trio Queue Updates:
- Adjusted how three-player parties are handled to avoid mismatching them.
3.3 Open Beta 3
- New Player Experience & QoL:
- Focused on UI improvements, pick/ban sound cues to lower accidental lobby abandonments.
- General bug fixes and improvements rather than direct changes to matchmaking rules.
3.4 Open Beta 4
- Final Lobby Rule Adherence:
- Prevented outliers (e.g., very high-SR players waiting too long) from warping all in-progress matches.
- Soft Capping Top Players:
- Ensures top SR players (e.g., 6000 SR) match with similar-level opponents faster, rather than waiting extreme lengths or diluting other matches.
4. Current Priorities & Future Plans
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Logical Team Balance
- Seeking ways to ensure that if two big skill outliers are in the same lobby, they end up on the correct teams.
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Top-Ranked Experience
- Want high-level matches (e.g., top 0.1% of players) to be more consistent in quality and skill parity.
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Exploring Alternate Matchmaking Styles
- Potentially combining “count-up” (current style) with a “countdown” approach for top-tier players.
- Looking back at SMITE 1’s systems for inspirations or hybrid solutions.
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New Player Experience
- Improve how true newcomers are introduced and avoid them being matched against far more experienced players.
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New Competitive Formats
- Additional modes or tournament-style features are “in the works.”
- Could offer more serious (or alternative) competition without overly fragmenting the existing player base.
5. Q&A Highlights
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Why Not Hard-Cap SR Differences?
- Off-peak times and lower population hours cause severe queue times for players, especially at high SR extremes (e.g., 14+ minute waits).
Casual vs. Ranked Matchmaking- Casual: Primarily level- and hidden-MMR-based; can broaden quickly to reduce wait times.
- Ranked: Stricter SR constraints initially, then expands to ensure players find matches before leaving queue.
Party Size & Skill Gaps- Technical limitations currently prevent restricting parties by SR gaps.
- Planned future improvements to limit wide SR gaps in parties (e.g., 2500+ SR differences).
Ranked Rewards- God Borders tied to ranked achievements are planned as a key reward.
- Additional incentives in development; details coming later in the season.
Individual Performance in Ranked- In-game performance metrics (KDA, gold, damage) can be misleading.
- Risk of incentivizing “bad behaviors” (e.g., farming stats in a lost game).
- Devs remain open to possibilities but want to avoid damaging the competitive ecosystem.
More Leaderboards & Tracking- Enhanced backend support coming, which could enable worshiper leaderboards or other ranking formats.
- Front-end UI/time is needed to display these properly.
Console Update Delays- Typically minor, due to platform certification requirements.
- Server-side fixes often arrive simultaneously on all platforms.
6. Closing Thoughts
- OB5 Patch: Releasing Monday, featuring various updates and a patch overview show.
- Community Engagement: Encouraged to watch or participate in ongoing tournaments and keep an eye on SMITE 2 Esports social channels for more announcements.
- Future Titan Talks: More info on new competitive modes and further matchmaking improvements will be discussed in upcoming shows.