The fact that you can enter a game with a team 6 kills ahead and two turrets ahead means matchmaking in this game is a joke.

[Arch0wl]

Matchmaking is absurd. I just entered a game where the opposing team was 6 kills ahead and had just finished taking out a second turret on the team I was paired with. This should not happen, ever, but this is the second or third time this has happened out of the last 15 games I've played. You should start from 0 each time, like every other MOBA game on the planet. There is no way a game can have anything close to real competition with such a short-sighted feature. That someone came up with the idea to allow players to enter games already in progress and a higher-up said "yeah, this seems like a good idea, let's do this" is infuriating to think about.

Where do I contact the Awesomenauts staff about this? I can't believe anyone thought this was a good idea. I attempted to go on the official forums and found that my IP was "blacklisted", even though I've never been there before on any IP, nor has anyone from my household. This is absurd -- their forum system is ridiculously unprofessional and there is no way to contact their staff for complaints. Do they even monitor what the playerbase says at all?

It seems like if you're going to make a MOBA game at the very least you'd want to make sure it is competition-friendly and provide adequate avenues to contact the staff.

[Eric]

yup.

[dazkgal]

What exactly is so bad about it? Or rather what possible reason could there be to not be able to join mid-game? If someone leaves during the game or the team isn't full from the get go I most certainly wouldn't want to be forced to play with bots until the very end.

[Arch0wl]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Smertnik:

What exactly is so bad about it? Or rather what possible reason could there be to not be able to join mid-game?

You're not serious, are you? Please tell me you're joking.

The chances of someone's rating and win/loss ratio accurately representing their real skill level dwindles enormously with such a flawed matchmaking system. It would be one thing if there was an "unranked" mode where this didn't happen, but for this to happen in a system where win/loss will inevitably be tied to a position on the leaderboard destroys the competitive balance of the game.

From the OP: "You should start from 0 each time, like every other MOBA game on the planet. There is no way a game can have anything close to real competition with such a short-sighted feature."

[Kazu]

Go play another MOBA game if you play for competition. Awesomenauts was clearly designed to be a quick casual game.

[Arch0wl]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kazual:

Go play another MOBA game if you play for competition. Awesomenauts was clearly designed to be a quick casual game.

Yeah, I absolutely predicted I'd get people from the school of thought that if someone points out a game is lacking in one way or another, they must white-knight the game's flaws by claiming the game didn't even intend that to be a flaw anyway. People who think like you are toxic to progress because this sort of criticism ambulance makes the creators believe a feature is perfectly fine when, in fact, it's not. I just got out of playing Glitch, wherein the playerbase coddled the game's creators and yes-manned them into believing everything was fine when, in fact, it wasn't: the game's creators had to shut the game down.

The matchmaking system is a real problem and you can't intent-away the problematic nature of it. Not just because you're wrong but because there isn't even reason to believe the game's creators *intended* the game to be entirely noncompetitive; there are:

- leaderboards

- leagues

- varying degrees of balance between characters

- marketing strategies positioning the game as in the same genre as League of Legends and other games which are notoriously competitive

so to act like the creators didn't intend the game to be played competitively is not supported by reality; it is entirely possible the game's creators had no idea how to manage a competitive game and kept the casual angle as a parachute in case they wanted to abandon the competitive angle halfway down the road, but with the addition of leagues it's entirely clear that they *do* intend for this to be treated competitively and acting like it's not is, for all intents and purposes, lying.

The fact of the matter is that this is an embarrassing feature for a game to have. Whether Awesomenauts is intended to be casually competitive or esports competitive is beyond the point; it is clear that they intended leagues to function as a sort of pseudo-ELO, what with the rating system that they have serving that purpose. So at the very least, their matchmaking system UNDERMINES the very feature they have most recently created.

[TMK]

Man when i launch Awesomenauts i just want to enter a game fast and have fun, if you want to play a moba game whit great depht go play dota, rly i love to not wait even 10 seconds to find a game, i just hop in and have fun, the toxic person here is you, not Kazual, if you dont like the matchmaking play inhouses whit 6 players or just dont play, i think almost everyone love Awesomenauts just because its fun you just hop in, play, and leave, dont change whit its not broken.

[Duplo]

Matchmaking has a preventative measure to not let you in any game where the second turret is damaged past 50%. You can still join a game as a turret is being damaged to 50% while you are on the characters loadout/selection screen, however- for example, the turret is at 70% health and you are selecting your character, when you get in, it is then below 50%. Currently that is how the system works.

Anyhow, the preventative measures aside, the game has always been marketed as "drop-in, drop-out." You are given late game gaining Solar based on the average level of everyone in the game. So if someone on the enemy team is level 25, and someone on your team is level 18, then chances are you will be about level 22 or 23. So even if your team has a disadvantage, you coming into the game could very well turn the tides. If you want to play a game from the start with those people in the game you drop into, then stick around and type in all chat "Hey, let's rematch." Since it is a very friendly community, most people will oblige.

As far as Leaderboards, those were there in the console version as well. Of course games like this are semi-competitive, but they are far from the tryhard nature of other MOBAs- as far away as you can get. It's like saying a scoreboard in Pong or Pac-man makes it the next e-sport, just because it has a leaderboard.

The Leagues are there not as a "Oh my gosh, I am teh pwnzor League 1" at all. They are there to differentiate skill levels so people of lower skill level don't get frustrated from being stomped in what is meant to be a casual and fun experience. In all honesty, if you want a tryhard MOBA that starts from the beginning, DotA2, LoL, HoN, etc are all options for you. The Leagues are purely there for a balance of who faces who and to reduce rofl-stomping.

To close things out, regarding the blacklist on the forums, that was an accidental issue they had and has since been resolved

[superdedupe]

That would kind of break the game. You will end up playing only bots at the end of each round... Also you might find yourself joining games were your team is fastly superior. People tend to ignore it wen that happens and only complain wen they lose.

[Mr Hipster]

the way i see it. being on the losing team is a great way too show how good u and ur teammates are by either turning the tides off the game or putting up one hell of a fight before the end. unless u join a game in which the base is literally about too go i dont see how u cant help. if u just want 2 avoid this all together get some friends too play with u. pre-made teames are less likely too join a late game unless people quit before the end and u take there place. i would be happy 2 play a few games with u if u like :)

[Hamtier]

To be honest,i think this should be an option kind of like what TF2 has. in which you can Choose whenever you want to join a game that already started or want a game that hasn't started yet. it would solve the issue imo,cause joining mid-game games will get you quicker into a game while the other will take longer but you begin at the start..there's a target group for both so having the option would be nice.....
for now however,your best bet would be to get 2 others to play and make a team so you'll be alot less likely to join a started game.

[ack ack]

It would help to have a server/host selection screen with scores, pings, and turrets, but no character loadouts (since no one can strategize their character selection at the start), or an option to enable such a screen. That way the quick battle guys can jump in without looking, and the DOTA guys can study the list and pick a game they think they can win.

[Edd Balls]

You know, I play Awesomenauts to have fun, not as some super serious esport. If you find the matchmaking so bad then go and play something else, we're not making you stay.

[Arch0wl]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von The Edditaur:

You know, I play Awesomenauts to have fun, not as some super serious esport. If you find the matchmaking so bad then go and play something else, we're not making you stay.

This sort of thought is really irritating because it's so shallow. Do you honestly think that the spectrum of Like | Dislike looks like this:

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ HATE: yes/no (pick one)
BEST GAME EVER: yes/no (pick one)
(cannot pick same answer twice)

Because more than likely, it looks something like this:

1/10 HATE |--------------------------------------------------------------| LOVE 10/10

And I'm saying Awesomenauts right now is here for me:

1/10 HATE |------------------------------------------Awesomenauts-------------------| LOVE 10/10

When it could be over here:

1/10 HATE |---------------------------------------------------------Awesomenauts----| LOVE 10/10

with PRETTY EASY fixes to matchmaking, such as by adding a better ranked option.

[Eric]

honeslty this is game is becomming a drinking game for me.

everytime you see a coco, gnaw or a chuck take a shot.
everytime you die to gnaw's dot dmg, take a shot.
everytime you die to the same chuck combo take a shot.
everyimee you die because of coco's lightning ball take a shot.

the majorotiy of this community doesn't relize that there is no divericty in builds or hero choices. every gnaw's going to have split spit for example. this is normally a indaction that a aspect of the game is not balanced enough. you see that kind of stuff in every game and it eventually gets changed, mostly.

[Fish]

Darnit, Dupe beat me to it. Indeed, it is Drop-In/Drop-Out... so why would you change the game so much?

Just play some private matches with your friends if the matchmaking bothers you too much.