Rated solo shuffle is great, but it leave me wondering, why not just add a random match maker element to the standard 3v3 arena ladder?
Whilst you’re unlikely to climb super high using randomized groups due to lack of communication, it is a good chance to find potential partners by playing games, rather than finding a partner by sitting in LFG.
It’s like speed dating, rather than sitting on a dating app swiping 24/7!
Because it makes about 18 times more sense to have a standard bracket for it?
Why is it a good idea to split an already dwindling player base? Just because you don’t want to face a team who is using voice communication?
Its good that people who wants to play coordinated can do that against each other and people who wants to pug gets to do that.
It sucks playing coordinated and then your friends are gone for two weeks and you dont want to play because you dont want to tank rating or endure MULTIGLADS who behave like dicks in chat (if you even get a group).
PvP will have a MUCH higher overall participation with rated solo queue.
You’ve gotta ask yourself what the retention rate will be though. No doubt that many more people will try it out, but rated has always been about overcoming setbacks and challenges, and it’ll be like that in rated shuffle too.
So it remains to be seen how many people will continue participating despite suffering setbacks (i.e. without overcoming them), how many people will overcome those challenges, and how many people will quit once they start suffering such setbacks.
The difference in attitudes between people who knows the fundamentals vs. those who doesn’t, might also cause occasional clashes in rated shuffle as well. Which is another type of challenge for people to overcome, but let’s not pretend that there haven’t been people who quit PvP because they encountered such people in the group finder one too many times.
Holinka explained it in past Q&A’s. I’m not gonna even try to remember exactly what he said, because it was many years ago, but a very quick summary is that Blizzard doesn’t see it as fair to mix premades vs. randoms without a chance for people to talk to each other beforehand, and the lobby timer isn’t enough for that.
(In other words, Blizzard chose to “even the odds” by making it separate. It’s also why they came up with this “shuffle” format, because as Holinka put it, in other solo queue games you get to choose what to play in the lobby or everyone plays the same, which you can’t do in WoW. And this matters to them as designers since they’re designing it for people on a macro scale.)
Now, of course, people choose many times to not say anything or only say “Hi” and then queue up after using the group f***er, but at least people are subjected to the same chances as everyone else like that. If Blizzard would turn that process entirely automatic, then it’d remove that chance and eat into the lobby timer instead, and train people even more to not talk to each other.
Avoiding the “toxicity” of LFG seemed to be a big reason for people wanting solo queue, but I don’t think it really solves the issue. It feels like every other shuffle I play, there is flaming and insulting going on between rounds. Just the other day people in my game were telling eachother to kill themselves because they kept dying in the opening after being repeatedly trained to death.
Also at higher ratings, what is stopping people jumping into the ingame voice chat? That would surely confer huge advantages if they could coordinate with each other over voice.
Not everyone got a microphone, not everyone speaks English and not everyone wants to talk to other people over voice coms. Might be more reasons, but those are a couple of reasons off the top of my head. Keep in mind that they’re designing this for a macro scale, not just for what you are ok with personally.
Yeah I agree with those points, but I was wondering if the top title is going to be the preserve of people who are willing to jump into voice comms each game.
I suspect people will start getting used to jumping into the in-game voice coms eventually on higher ratings. But only time will tell, it might never become the norm to do that.
It used to be that way but id argue it hasnt been that way for two expansions, 100% sure not for SL. Rated has been about gear and thats why boosting has been at an all time high all through SL. Pushing higher than 2.1k (or 1.8k in 3s this season) is another thing, but thats for such a small % of people. We will see, i guess.
That is a form of challenge, since you’ve had to overcome gear differences. It’s not just about how to beat comp X as comp Y, it’s anything and everything that is a challenge to overcome. Social challenges are part of that too. Emotional challenges too. Anything that presents a challenge, that is a setback, has always been part of rated PvP in WoW, in one way or another.
Just focus on the point itself, which is that the retention rate is a big question mark right now. Only time will tell how many will stay, and for how long, after rated shuffle is released.
Easier to exploit and ruin games for others?
because solo que is SOLO QUE, in 3v3 you’d queue vs 3 prematch friends? what chances you’d stand ?
I’m glad I skipped pvp in shadowlands almost entirely but yeah, I’ve seen people complaining about it and listings of boost on LFG / chat were HUGE
You have the opportunity to add people to your friend list as you play random groups. Then if you wish to push to a high rating, you can group up with your new-found friends.
you’d probably lose in match with randomly found coplayers anyway so highly doubt it anyone would want to start a friendship, and for that you have skirmish anyway
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