Hello, our dear Player Councilor requested that I make this into a forum post to discuss and document an issue myself and some others have: the rating allowance for matchmaking in TMM.
Up until about a couple weeks ago, it was difficult to tell (for me) whether or not allowing two people searching solo would be a fun and interesting idea. That was quite short-lived as the main drive for a "match found" was that the game was about a 90% combined skill rating game. I had about 1770 TMM rating at the start, and each time was paired with someone who was less then 1000 rating. You could say this is due to the fact that the system barely has any data, but each game proved to be me watching my teammate sit in his base and make t2 mexes rather make any effort to actually expand nor help his "teammate."
Often, the games were myself (1700+ TMM rating) and someone well below 1000 verse 2 people with 1400 + 1300 (or the likes). This led to me pretty much having to do EVERYTHING, and especially on 10x10 maps it was just a 2v1, not a fun game. I lost about 5 games in a row in less then 10, 15 minutes tops because the "matched teams" led to a huge disparity in game skill.
For me, I would rather the TMM match you with someone AT MOST +/- 300 rating as does the ladder matching system. There is absolutely no fun in a game where there are 3/4 participants.
Please, for the love of player retention in what we finally have called TMM, do not make solo searching such a terrible experience. I would much rather wait and get a good game then one that is so frustrating.
Thanks and and open to discuss.