[2021] I understand that the player base of this game is a bit on the small side but how does a 3300 mmr master end up in the same ranked game as a silver

We have investigated many reports just like this one and the result is always the same - These are the only 10 players in the queue for that region on that mode at that time. Here is how Ranked matchmaking works:

1. the queue pops
2. all players who are in the queue are ordered by MMR from top to bottom, best to worst
3. matches get made from the top down - best 10 players are match 1, players 11-20 are match 2, etc (with some departing from this strict list based on pre-made parties or people who were already rolled over once before)
4. We always give a match to the best players (top10)
5. Players can be rolled over to wait again - "more time is needed to find you a match" - this can happen anywhere down the list depending on where bad MMR gaps are, but we never roll over the top 10, intentionally (see below)
6. Once the 10 players are selected, then they are split between Order and Chaos to have the closest average MMR between the 5 players on each side (there is no accounting for previous win/loss streaks, or any other factors)
7. Roles are assigned and the lobby and players enter the lobby

This approach serves 2 goals. The first being that the best players in the queue at the time are always paired up. This was favored by players at the extreme ends of the distribution of players. It also made sure players got a match. While some players have expressed they would wait infinite time for a more even match we have done experiments and most players would rather play rather than be bounced from queue pop to queue pop. This does mean that a match will pop though and your case shows the extreme side of that equation.

Your match looks like it was played on:

• NA-West (small region)
• at about 8am (off-peak time)
• on a Monday (off-peak day)
• Ranked Conquest
• Only the players who entered queue in the last 5 minutes

SMITEs population is solid, but when you divide it so many times it can get pushed to the extremes pretty often. You rarely see issues like this in our main modes and regions.

Solving the problem is a lot more difficult than explaining it. Hopefully this discussion helps players understand why things work the way that they do, and that we have to make some sub-optimal matches in order to make sure that people play SMITE instead of playing "Waiting Simulator".

EDIT: More matchmaking QnA in this thread: https://old.reddit.com/r/Smite/comments/ql4o3v/in_response_to_ajaxs_matchmaking_explanation/

We had that type of queue for many years. Players were generally unsatisfied with it. Its not that hard to implement as we've had them before, so we could re-enable them. Weve actually posed this question to the community before and it was pretty unanimously struck down.

Timed queues have 2 main advantages

1. players know exactly when the queue will be ready
2. its very easy to understand what the threshold is for players in a match - its exactly the best people we have at the time the queue pops

The old type of queues were unpredictable in timing and in matchmaking, and wouldnt solve for an extreme low pop issue such as this.

We should not think of Ranked vs Normal as "good" vs "bad". The actual difference is the type of experience you want:

• picks and bans vs blind pick
• having a visible rating experience vs an invisible one

Its up to players to decide which of this is good or bad.

Normal matches are actually more competitive in many cases. There are a lot more players, so MMR ranges are much closer. High MMR Normal Conquest is where some of the best SMITE players in the game reside. They just are turned away from ranked because of the wait times, the lobby times, pick/bans, or simply just don't want to have a rating assigned to their play.

So, why even have ranked? Because people want it. The people who do want those 2 features above are a smaller population, but a very vocal and engaged one. Ranked is better for preparing for competitive play and better for streaming because viewers appreciate the higher stakes of a visible rating system.

However, the smaller population in Ranked leads to these matchmaking issues. I think its important that we provide both experiences, even though the split between Normal and Ranked contributes to the matchmaking difficulties.

just link em back to this!