Do SCs need a makeover? Balancing?

[Saddlebutt]

I know SCs aren't very serious business (at least the advice chat in-game and the discord chat seems to think so), but I usually really enjoy the short bite-sized PvP options cause it allows me to not get stuck in chasing a warband for hours on end (or not being able to join said warband cause of level restrictions), and not get ganked running boxes in RvR. But SCs are kind of a mess, right? Either they're blowout 500-0 games that are decided in the first minute, or they end early cause of numbers or a surrender, premades... Worse when you know you're done for cause the enemy team has more healers.

I understand there's no real matchmaking other than "10 people in an instance" (or 6, or 3, etc), but is there a chance we can get fairer matchmaking? Match premades with premades, same amount of healers, maybe keep renown numbers closer together...

Is anything going to be changing or should I just accept that it's premade or RvR?

[trifaseba]

Thank you, that is exactly what I mean and I hope something will be done

[Alubert]

Sc must receive devs support.

First and foremost for healthy gameplay all wc barriers must be removed. It must be possible to retreat to a safe place to avoid senseless farming and give the opportunity after successful punts to change the score.

Secondly yes machmaking is essential.

[Ninjagon]

A matchmaking for scenarios will never be perfect, while players have the option to queue and then not to come in or leave early.
But the queue system can be better for sure.

Example:
- allow SC where BOTH factions have no healers or no tanks. If one side has them and the other not, its usually not fun.
- for classic SC, in every 6 people (and another 6,..), there must be at last 1 heal and 1 tank for both factions
- premade should have priority against another premade (if there is one on the other side)

And yes, barriers must be gone, and guards must be the part of the map.
+ discordant bonus event scenario for solo queue every week

[Nameless]

Dont allow 2 premades on same side
Remove barriers and make a way back to wc
Give renown from guars kills
When queu all while solo first min you are put at only discordand maps queu after that min you automatically enter all maps queu

Do this for a start then then when see how much more enjoyable scnen are could think about matchmaking

[anstalt]

First, it should be noted that the devs have spent a lot of the time in the past trying to "fix" matchmaking in SCs. They've implemented changes that force more balanced groups in an effort to improve things......but it just made things worse. SCs just wouldn't pop because ultimately, the population isn't balanced. And when SCs dont pop, people quit. So, they undid the changes, went back to unbalanced sides, and things got better (i.e. less people quit).

To get decent matchmaking, you simply need a much larger population than what we have, or you need a population that is much better balanced between the different roles. Without that, nothing the devs do will make things better. They can make small tweaks, like removing barriers, or perhaps buffing the underdogs somehow, but it won't make much difference.



So, the best advice I can give is to "be the change you wanna see". Play a tank or a healer, and be a proper tank or healer. Form your own groups for SCs and try to be supportive to your team mates and figure out how to work together. Sure, that takes more effort which is why few people bother doing it, but as with all MMOs, the more you put in, the more you get out of it.

[anstalt]

I also note that you mention level restrictions, so im assuming you're in the mid-tier. That's even harder to balance because the available population is even smaller. When I leveled my last alt (a squiggie) I noticed i was almost always playing with the same people, and hardly any of them were tanks. The few tanks that were available were almost all 2handed tanks, and rarely even acted like proper tanks (no guard...). It sucked.

But, there's nothing you can do about it, you can't force people to play something they dont wanna play. So, you either learn to accept the situation, or go do something else. Tier 4 has better class balance imo, but in tier 4 you have major power gaps between sov and not sov players, so you also have balance problems but for different reasons. Whats amusing is that when I have had balanced SCs in tier 4 (my premade vs another premade), you often just end up in a stalemate with minimal kills. I think this is why many veterans just don't bother with SCs at all.

[Sulorie]

Improving MM is no easy task and might be a futile endeavor, since you can't just summon archetypes missing in queue.
Give players information, that's all it takes.
The systems already exist, player pool information like we had/have in solo ranked queue.

Remove the nonsensical barriers, since they make almost all SC worse to play and no official explanation was given for their implementation. The dead silence on this issue boggles me the most.
Add guards back with a well defined perimeter, where they aggro. On SC like BattleForPraag it can be smaller , since there is enough protection in spawn area. Add obstacles to add protection where it is needed, so range DD can't shoot into spawns.

[Detangler]

Premade 6 should only get a pop if they face another premade 6. Anything else is just 6 people wanting to easy farm kills.

No pops unless both sides have at least 1 healer.

Duos, trios, etc. should not get priority in matchmaking over solos.

Barriers should not exist where map layout makes guards are a viable option.

Auto kicking for not throwing yourself at the enemy should be removed.

guard kills should provide renown and crests.

Finally, Thunder Valley should go back to 5 BOs open at all times with reduced point generation for flags. Bring back the best small scale scenario created.

Easy fixes all around.

[Culexus]

First, it should be noted that the devs have spent a lot of the time in the past trying to "fix" matchmaking in SCs. They've implemented changes that force more balanced groups in an effort to improve things......but it just made things worse. SCs just wouldn't pop because ultimately, the population isn't balanced. And when SCs dont pop, people quit. So, they undid the changes, went back to unbalanced sides, and things got better (i.e. less people quit).

To get decent matchmaking, you simply need a much larger population than what we have, or you need a population that is much better balanced between the different roles. Without that, nothing the devs do will make things better. They can make small tweaks, like removing barriers, or perhaps buffing the underdogs somehow, but it won't make much difference.

So, the best advice I can give is to "be the change you wanna see". Play a tank or a healer, and be a proper tank or healer. Form your own groups for SCs and try to be supportive to your team mates and figure out how to work together. Sure, that takes more effort which is why few people bother doing it, but as with all MMOs, the more you put in, the more you get out of it.

Good points.

The main problem is that the game is an old school mmo that's designed around players grouping together for content, but very few people want to play that way now. Sc matchmaking shouldn't be an issue as players should be doing it themselves, as it was designed. The fact that so many players scream and cry about players grouping together for content in an mmo shows how much mmo player mentality has changed.

I think making the standard queue require grouping before queueing as either a 1/1/1 3 man or 2/2/2 6man would be the best way forward. Use the ranked system so people can see what's in the queue already, and most importantly, lower the barrier to forming a group with as little requirement for initial interaction with other players as possible. Sadly, this is the only way a lot of people will group, but it's just the way it is.

Leave discordant to be the yolosolo free for all queue. Try and have it only pop with a balanced ratio of healers (actual healers, not dps healers) on either side, but besides that just let them go wild. No point worrying about tanks as they rarely guard in discordant anyway. I don't think having a weekend discordant event is a good idea as every time two players hit the same target that isn't a snb tank (I heard it happened one time) there will be cries to the GMs about premades in the queue.