How For Glory's matchmaking works

[Zeepington]

After a few months of playing 1v1, I found a general idea of how the matchmaking works in 4G. This is still not clear, so I'll come up with more info later. It might also work similarly with Team Smash and Smash, but that hasn't been checked.
Take note that what is stated may not be true for all players, this has been personal my experience with the matchmaking system and this is how it goes for me. I consider myself as an average player, and my win rate is 69%. Just above average.

The basics of the MM ​

First off, let's use this image for a better understanding of how the system works. Let's call this the Skill Graphic. or as any other human being puts it, a rank.

The numbers in the skill graphic represent the skill level, as 1 is where the top players are, while players in 10 still needs to learn the basics of the game. Players are set in these sections automatically every time they start up the game, thanks to the win rate value. X represents where in the skill graphic you start when you go online for the first time ever in the day if you have, let's say, a 50% win rate.

If it's the first game of the day, they'll take someone with a lower win rate than you to make an actually possible challenge, maybe 40% or 30%. If you manage to win a % of games, your win rate inbetween 10 matches will go higher, and a new opponent will be brought to you to lower this rate. Basically, the more games you win against a single user, the harder the next user will be to face. If your win rate is high by the start of the day, tougher the opponents become.

NEW // Obviously, the match win rate is in effects, but the matches played in total acts as a multiplier. If you have lost 3 matches out of 5, the next opponent should be easier but by barely. However, if you lost 15 matches out of 20, the opponent will be much more easier, and vice versa.

NEW // If you find yourself facing an opponent tougher than the previous one, it's because the game isn't based by actual skill, only by the Win Rate. You could face a god with a win rate of 50% or a new player with that same rate. This explains why the nature of meeting other players feel random.

How the GSP fits in the MM system ​

GSP also plays a decent factor in this when you first start playing, and takes a backseat the more you've played online. If you haven't played Online for a while and mostly been playing Singleplayer, GSP will change your position in the Skill Graphic. However, it is proven easier to level up in the SG than to level down. I believe it's this way to prevent jerks from getting a lower skill rate intentionnally to troll newer players.

The importance of GSP varies according to the gamemode you're playing. The GSP will be mostly based off of Classic, Orders and Multi-Man Melee modes, as they're the closest to resemble a regular 1v1 game. Target Blast and Home-Run Contest takes less importance in matchmaking.

Side notes ​

Another thing, however it needs more evidence : if you keep picking a single character, the game will take note that you often play with that character and try finding an opponent that can easily defeat this said character.

The obvious factor played in matchmaking is the location of the opponent. They'll find the nearest opponent in order to prevent lag. It's basically required for proper matchmaking in all multiplayer games, so no big surprise.

However, the unexplained ridiculous ramp between opponents remains unexplained. It's probably because of the win rate in 10 matches value, I dunno. I'll update this post when I figure it out.

Conclusion ​

TL;DR : It's the ELO system, with a few changes to fit best Smash 4's multiplayer.

I will keep this thread up-to-date, so that people can understand how the matchmaking system works in this game. If you have anything you'd like to share, please do. I'm open for feedback, so if I've got something wrong, do tell.
If this gets confusing for people, I might aswell do a more visual explanation.

​

don't worry i didn't actually took my time to study this
and this is my first thread, if I broke a rule somewhere don't be surprised :V

 

[Just_Die]

Thanks for posting this.

When I started play For Glory, I used to get matched up with players with a lot of variation in skill level. Eventually I started getting matched with better players, and now I seem to be hitting players which are really at their top of their game. Another thing happened also, while I used to get matched with someone immediately, now it can take quite a while to get matched, up to 10 minutes and it'll sometimes be with players I've played with before. Some of them are really insane.

Also, I sometimes recall that my first match of the day will be ranked. The system will tell me: "this is a global rank match" and give me +5 points if I win, or +2 if I lose by one stock I think.Might this have something to do with the matchmaking?

 

[Zeepington]

When I started play For Glory, I used to get matched up with players with a lot of variation in skill level. Eventually I started getting matched with better players, and now I seem to be hitting players which are really at their top of their game. Another thing happened also, while I used to get matched with someone immediately, now it can take quite a while to get matched, up to 10 minutes and it'll sometimes be with players I've played with before. Some of them are really insane.

Also, I sometimes recall that my first match of the day will be ranked. The system will tell me: "this is a global rank match" and give me +5 points if I win, or +2 if I lose by one stock I think.Might this have something to do with the matchmaking?

First off, thanks for being the first post, and welcome to SmashBoards.
Now, what I'm about to explain has not fully been confirmed and might be if some people notice the same exact thing.

You'll always start with players of varied skills. It happens in all games, as the game is trying to set you somewhere in the rank, but sets you in the "to be picked" rank, which is basically where everybody go when they start.

The time to take your match is explained by the fact that the game is trying to look for an opponent who's available, but nobody is available next to you. Imagine a big circle starting from your house and growing through the world. It'll try tracking someone with skills that best suits you, and since it can't always be in the same country as you, it'll take time to find someone. (I've fought a few people over in France, took me some time before it hits)

Another thing, which thanks to you for reminding me I will clarify in the first post, is that even if you lost the match, if you have 2 stocks off, the game will consider this as a match won. It will only affect the data used for matchmaking and your personal stats page (KOs and falls). Win rate is only based on matches won.

I'll go check what you said soon and write anything that is worth writing. I'll credit you on the paragraph if it makes in.

 

[Turrin]

So what's your whole process for figuring this stuff out? Are you just judging players based on whether or not you think they're good? FG tells you absolutely nothing about your opponents, so how do you know all the minute stuff about how the GSP affects matchups and so on? The whole explanation makes perfect sense, but it would be cool to know how you figured it all out.

 

[Gotmilk0112]

Thanks for posting this.

When I started play For Glory, I used to get matched up with players with a lot of variation in skill level. Eventually I started getting matched with better players, and now I seem to be hitting players which are really at their top of their game. Another thing happened also, while I used to get matched with someone immediately, now it can take quite a while to get matched, up to 10 minutes and it'll sometimes be with players I've played with before. Some of them are really insane.

Also, I sometimes recall that my first match of the day will be ranked. The system will tell me: "this is a global rank match" and give me +5 points if I win, or +2 if I lose by one stock I think.Might this have something to do with the matchmaking?

I've been playing FG for months, and it still seems to be completely random as to whether I get a good player or a total scrub. Over 1500 matches played, currently at 85% wins last 100, 90% last 50, it doesn't seem to matter. Sometimes I'll get matched up with ZeRo in disguise, other times I'll get matched up with people who...apparently put their controller down after starting the match.

 

[Zeepington]

I've been playing FG for months, and it still seems to be completely random as to whether I get a good player or a total scrub. Over 1500 matches played, currently at 85% wins last 100, 90% last 50, it doesn't seem to matter. Sometimes I'll get matched up with ZeRo in disguise, other times I'll get matched up with people who...apparently put their controller down after starting the match.

1. Idle people are either trying to lower their win rate to troll newcomers. That or they forgot there's a timer and went to go get a beer.
2. Newcomers aren't placed with beginners. They're placed with any other player, wether they're good or not.
3. There's always idiots smurfing, AKA pretending to be a lower skill level while the actual skill is much higher.
4. "Everybody's experience differs."

So what's your whole process for figuring this stuff out? Are you just judging players based on whether or not you think they're good? FG tells you absolutely nothing about your opponents, so how do you know all the minute stuff about how the GSP affects matchups and so on? The whole explanation makes perfect sense, but it would be cool to know how you figured it all out.

Since I have a decent knowledge on how matchmaking in other games works (CS:GO, LOL, etc.) It was just a matter of comparing how close it is to the most important stuff in an average MM system and take notes on what's different. For GSP, it's because I've been going back and forth inbetween singleplayer and multiplayer.

I'm not expecting anybody to think this research is perfect anyways, I'm just trying to put an end to those constantly saying that for glory is broken when it comes to matching with other people. Connection is still horrible, if only it could be like netplay.

 

[Nexin]

So, we actually need to care about our win rate now?

In all seriousness, this is pretty interesting. It's cool to finally get an idea of how the matchmaking system possibly works, but what especially interested me was the part how the game may match you against somebody who is really good at beating a particular character if you use them too much since I only really use Ryu and Palutena.

The next few times I play online I'll keep an eye on what kind of players I play against, how much of a challenge they were for me, and how often I was using only one character. If I notice anything unique, I'll let you know.

 

[Arrei]

I'm not convinced. I've had days where I just keep trouncing one opponent after another only to be matched with even worse opponents. I'm still of the mind that it's totally random and they just didn't give much thought to matchmaking.

 

[rjpageuk]

I remain unconvinced there is any matchmaking done as well - it seems completely random to me how good an opponent is. The bad players I get matched up against are certainly not losing on purpose through not moving or anything like this. Most of the time they get owned on their first stock then SD their second and immediately leave indicating they didnt want to be matched up against me.

A lot of it is time dependent also - certain times of day you are more likely to face better people than other times of day.

Thanks for posting this.

When I started play For Glory, I used to get matched up with players with a lot of variation in skill level. Eventually I started getting matched with better players, and now I seem to be hitting players which are really at their top of their game. Another thing happened also, while I used to get matched with someone immediately, now it can take quite a while to get matched, up to 10 minutes and it'll sometimes be with players I've played with before. Some of them are really insane.

Also, I sometimes recall that my first match of the day will be ranked. The system will tell me: "this is a global rank match" and give me +5 points if I win, or +2 if I lose by one stock I think.Might this have something to do with the matchmaking?

This sounds like you are in banland (see http://smashboards.com/threads/banned-online.411599/ and http://smashboards.com/threads/why-am-i-keep-playing-against-the-same-people.404378/). Please can you come back and let us know after a week if this stopped happening to you and you went back to being matched up with people frequently of varying skill levels?

 

[SinsOfApathy]

The obvious factor played in matchmaking is the location of the opponent. They'll find the nearest opponent in order to prevent lag. It's basically required for proper matchmaking in all multiplayer games, so no big surprise.

This got linked on my FB, so I wanted to point out this is a little incorrect.

Sure, location plays a factor thanks to the speed of light slowly increasing ping, but it's going to search within a ping range then randomize from that set. Routes come into play there, and a bad node could throw the whole system out of balance.

Most online game developers aren't dumb enough to put in a ranked system that looks for the lowest ping/closest player, that's asking for abuse. I only bring this up cause I'm in Mississippi and regularly paired with players that are in Mexico or elsewhere.

 

[FairyLip]

What we really need is a better explanation of banland and how banning works in FG.

 

[Tonetta]

Sorry but there is no algorithm to match you with players on your skill level. I can tell they're not "smurfing" or "elo tanking" based on how pissed off they are that they're being absolutely crushed by a samus of all things. when I 0-death someone in a combo it's a 50-50 shot on whether they just disconnect before attempting to fight with their second stock or wait until after the match to call me a *** and then leave.

occasionally I'll run into a god who actually gives me a run for my money but honestly it's not very often whatsoever (like once every other session) and this is with about 2300 fg games played.

 

[Zeepington]

Time to reply to some comments. I wanted to do that yesterday, but I didn't feel very well, so I waited until today.

Sorry but there is no algorithm to match you with players on your skill level. I can tell they're not "smurfing" or "elo tanking" based on how pissed off they are that they're being absolutely crushed by a samus of all things. when I 0-death someone in a combo it's a 50-50 shot on whether they just disconnect before attempting to fight with their second stock or wait until after the match to call me a *** and then leave.

occasionally I'll run into a god who actually gives me a run for my money but honestly it's not very often whatsoever (like once every other session) and this is with about 2300 fg games played.

I remain unconvinced there is any matchmaking done as well - it seems completely random to me how good an opponent is. The bad players I get matched up against are certainly not losing on purpose through not moving or anything like this. Most of the time they get owned on their first stock then SD their second and immediately leave indicating they didnt want to be matched up against me.

Just a reminder.
This is based on Win Rate and not actual skill. If they'd be actual skill calculators in the game, this would add more lag to online matches. So you can have a good player or a bad one in the same win rate.
And everybody's experience differs.
also to Tonetta, that's because everybody hates playing against as Samus because of the extra roll distance that nobody can remotely set up to punish + the unjustified extra grab distance. :V

What we really need is a better explanation of banland and how banning works in FG.

If you disconnect, target the same person in a FG/FF Smash, spam the same attacks (without any other variation, only slapping neutral b the whole time) or another bull**** reason, you'll get banned. If you next ban was close to your last ban, +10 minutes.

This got linked on my FB, so I wanted to point out this is a little incorrect.

Sure, location plays a factor thanks to the speed of light slowly increasing ping, but it's going to search within a ping range then randomize from that set. Routes come into play there, and a bad node could throw the whole system out of balance.

Most online game developers aren't dumb enough to put in a ranked system that looks for the lowest ping/closest player, that's asking for abuse. I only bring this up cause I'm in Mississippi and regularly paired with players that are in Mexico or elsewhere.

Thanks. I'll fix this.

I'll surely have to rewrite about everything written up there.

 

[Tonetta]

Like, i could win 50 games in a row and still get bad opponents.

 

[Just_Die]

Since I was asked. It`s been 2 weeks and I still get matched and rematched with very strong players exclusively. These guys are a cut above the rest of the others I used to encounter and I can only win 40-50% of the time, versus 90-95% previously.

I used to think they were misbehaved but not quite, they`ve been good sports most of the time. Not sure if this is ban land and why would ban land not have at least some weak players.

 

[rjpageuk]

@ Just_Die many thanks for the reply - and good observations.

I too am surprised that there are not more bad players in banland than there are but I still remain convinced its people being moved for being reported rather than a separate server for better players simply because a) there are other players much better than me at least who have never been in banland and played a lot more than me and b) because most people seem to get out of it pretty quick and irrelevant of winrate while in banland.

I suspect if you wait longer you will come out of it, but please keep us updated. Has anyone else had the same situation as Just_Die?

 

[Just_Die]

For the record I've played 5000 online matches. Not sure if maybe the system keeps track of how many matches were played and if that factors into the matchmaking.