(i am roughly 400 in 1v1, 850 in 4v4. also sorry for the novel. i have thoughts on this being on the lower end and very interested in growing.)

the map pools, i really like that low ratings have their map pools restricted to prevent overwhelming them but at the same time i think some of the maps put into the lower ratings are straight up "you learn X or lose your rating instantly". which is a practical necessity and i really do appreciate that, but having to play navy heavy/cut up maps at this rating in 1v1 fucking sucks ass. crossfire canal, point of reach, eye of the storm, and seraphim glaciers are all maps that dissuade me from queueing up for 1v1. 4v4 doesnt have this issue as much as i can rely on others for help if need be.

300 customs vs 354 ladder. i strongly prefer matchmaking over customs due to the rampant astrogap. however my experience on 1v1 ladder is mixed. sometimes its a glhf; ggs, and go next. sometimes its silence and gameplay. but sometimes its screaming cyrllic.

at first i played more customs while learning the game, but i've reached a point where if its not a mapgen or standard-ish map, im either incredibly bored or instantly convinced im dead weight and will lose the game. since growing a hatred for astrogap and its fanatics, i've gravitated towards MM heavily. the longer i stay around, the more i stick to MM.

a steadier progression for lower ratings to the real various stuff like 20/15km, navy heavy maps. i know it sounds scrubby as fuck but when i open the map pool and see crossfire canal, theres a real heavy chance i just wait till the next pool. or even a map veto. a map veto would probably make me feel a shit ton better about queueing in. knowing theres a chance that it'd roll a map i just do not want to play and can not begin to give it my all being rerolled would keep me hanging in there, even if it rolls the maps i dont want to play, multiple times.

my ultimate problems with ladder is the map pool stuff. there are maps i have negative fun playing and would genuinely rather crtl+k as soon as i drop into them. take the points, i'd rather keep my time and sanity. maybe spend that time in a lobby waiting 45 minutes for 2 people to join and instantly leave. at first i thought how BOs worked in this game was really cool. how it was so different map to map. having crawled my way through the game a bit, i can safely say that i actually really dislike this. its variable to a degree i cant properly wrap my head around. which compounds with the map pools feeling like the actual gate keeper.

i want to add that i fully understand a majority of what i said is skill issue, but they're skill issues that i have a hard to justifying attempts at too seriously. ideally, i would enjoy 1v1 up to the point where things start to get really slow/schedule-y. then at that point it'd be customs or smurf, one of which is banable. (thankfully i'll never be good enough to get to that point)

i just asked about the replacement for 4v4 NS in the matchmaking pool feedback thread. it'd be a shame if 3v3 wasnt played. i know 2v2 isnt too popular outside of a couple of friends queueing, but surely there are groups of 3 friends out there too. i know 4v4 can get quite popular in peak hours.

@SpikeyNoob i think different queues are worth a shot at least. nothing says they cant be swapped out or cut.

(i am roughly 400 in 1v1, 850 in 4v4. also sorry for the novel. i have thoughts on this being on the lower end and very interested in growing.)

the map pools, i really like that low ratings have their map pools restricted to prevent overwhelming them but at the same time i think some of the maps put into the lower ratings are straight up "you learn X or lose your rating instantly". which is a practical necessity and i really do appreciate that, but having to play navy heavy/cut up maps at this rating in 1v1 fucking sucks ass. crossfire canal, point of reach, eye of the storm, and seraphim glaciers are all maps that dissuade me from queueing up for 1v1. 4v4 doesnt have this issue as much as i can rely on others for help if need be.

300 customs vs 354 ladder. i strongly prefer matchmaking over customs due to the rampant astrogap. however my experience on 1v1 ladder is mixed. sometimes its a glhf; ggs, and go next. sometimes its silence and gameplay. but sometimes its screaming cyrllic.

at first i played more customs while learning the game, but i've reached a point where if its not a mapgen or standard-ish map, im either incredibly bored or instantly convinced im dead weight and will lose the game. since growing a hatred for astrogap and its fanatics, i've gravitated towards MM heavily. the longer i stay around, the more i stick to MM.

a steadier progression for lower ratings to the real various stuff like 20/15km, navy heavy maps. i know it sounds scrubby as fuck but when i open the map pool and see crossfire canal, theres a real heavy chance i just wait till the next pool. or even a map veto. a map veto would probably make me feel a shit ton better about queueing in. knowing theres a chance that it'd roll a map i just do not want to play and can not begin to give it my all being rerolled would keep me hanging in there, even if it rolls the maps i dont want to play, multiple times.

my ultimate problems with ladder is the map pool stuff. there are maps i have negative fun playing and would genuinely rather crtl+k as soon as i drop into them. take the points, i'd rather keep my time and sanity. maybe spend that time in a lobby waiting 45 minutes for 2 people to join and instantly leave. at first i thought how BOs worked in this game was really cool. how it was so different map to map. having crawled my way through the game a bit, i can safely say that i actually really dislike this. its variable to a degree i cant properly wrap my head around. which compounds with the map pools feeling like the actual gate keeper.

i want to add that i fully understand a majority of what i said is skill issue, but they're skill issues that i have a hard to justifying attempts at too seriously. ideally, i would enjoy 1v1 up to the point where things start to get really slow/schedule-y. then at that point it'd be customs or smurf, one of which is banable. (thankfully i'll never be good enough to get to that point)

hopefully vetos can find its way in at some point. i cant fucking stand pina coladas as an ~800 4v4 player.

i just asked about the replacement for 4v4 NS in the matchmaking pool feedback thread. it'd be a shame if 3v3 wasnt played. i know 2v2 isnt too popular outside of a couple of friends queueing, but surely there are groups of 3 friends out there too. i know 4v4 can get quite popular in peak hours.

@SpikeyNoob i think different queues are worth a shot at least. nothing says they cant be swapped out or cut.

i can attest to not being able to easily tell moonlight swamps had a lake in the center, i know its kind of in the name but it doesnt look like one.

has there been any conversation about a veto system? i know there are maps in every pool that people dislike. cant avoid them forever but i think a properly implemented system would help mix up the variety a bit, especially in 4v4 where the <500 rating maps are more likely to be selected in the 0-1000 brackets.

sidenote; i didnt see pina coladas in the june 4v4 map pool post, but when i logged in and looked at the map pool it was there. was kind of annoying when i was hoping that map would be pulled this month. im sure its a great map with plenty of options at higher ratings, but <1000 its nightmare.

thank you to the matchmaking team, i deeply appreciate the efforts made into making this all work. been enjoying learning a game i never bothered to learn. just wish it was more populated so us americans didnt have to be up so early for some TMM games. looking forward to future adjustments.