If I can add something back on topic:
Display of rating/ELO
Rating display on Voobly
Voobly has the superior system here. Mostly because of what is shown. Being able to see how many games the opponent played, or what his teamgame/1v1 rating is can be a good indicator of skill for a particular match (some players with 2k 1v1 rating, but 1600 TG rating, who self-proclaim to be arena-clowns, indeed turn out to be not much of a deal in teamgames. Good to know for balancing!)
Rating display in ranked matchmaking on DE
Matchmaking on DE is automatically. Therefore it is not necessary to show rating. Not showing rating might actually enhance the game experience for some players (those who are afraid for players with higher rated), but might also be a let-down for others (those that get satisfaction for beating someone higher rated).
In teamgames a similar dual effect can be expected: Without rating visible it is impossible to know who your weakest player is, or who the opponent's weakest player is. That can be frustrating (you might want to adjust the playstyle to defend your weakest flank, and let the other flank push) but it can also help to prevent negative attitude (players calling out the weakest link in the team for being trash).
Rating display in custom lobby on DE
A flaw of DE which many people would agree with me, is the lack of indiaction of playerskill in custom lobbies. Players who want to find a game on a map other than the ranked pool (arena, nomad, black forest, etc) will not know what skill their opponent is. With the huge skillgaps found in this strategy game this means that 9/10 games there is a significant discrepancy in skill in such games.
For teamgames the lack of skill display is also bothering. Even when you know all other players (friends) and you have slpit the teams in equal skill, a last unknown (random) player joining might throw off the balance and ruin the game.
Suggestion: more stats
Like I said before, I like the additional information on voobly (win/losses, winstreak, and several ratings). Personally I think the more info the better it is, but thats maybe because of me being an analist. Ideally, I would like to see a win/loss stat and ELO rating for every kind of map played:
BlackForest TG: 1600, 210wins/200Losses
Nomad 1v1: 1500, 0wins/2losses
Arabia 1v1: 1850, 65wins/12losses
DE's custom lobby dissapointing
Custom lobby isn't very popular on DE. Apperently a bug that prevents lobbies from displaying might be the cause of that. However, what I often hear from people from the community (especially from players coming from voobly) is that the custom lobby is not motivating since playing (and winning) games here is not rewarded with points or stats.
My suggestion:
- Ranked matchmaking stays like it is: very convienient for players who want to quickly get into a game on a diverse range of standardmaps (the mappool isnt perfect in my opinion but that's something for another discussion). The ranked matchmaking will focus on quick matching, and an accureate ELO system. Smurfing and even things like a rematch option can mess with the ELO system, so perhaps it is best to avoid adding those options. The ELO/rating achieved on the ranked matchmaking will be the main indicator of skill, and could even be used to determine seeding for tournaments.
- A ranked lobby. Here players can play with friends or random other users. They can play any map they like. The ELO of a player (from ranked matchmaking) is always displayed and is the best indicator of skill. Additionally extra information is displayed when hovering over a player's name: the number of games played, the winrate per map, achievements etc. The more stats the better (in my opinion).
The host of the lobby can select a map which automatically selects a rating type when the game recognises the map: Blackforest selected? then the outcome of the game will influence the BlackForest rating. Is the map unknown, then the ratingfor custom maps will be updated.
Additionally I would like to have a few other lobby improvements (such as: ignore player, reserve slot, spectator slots, return to lobby after a game, and ability to switch host in lobby) but that might be best discussed in another thread.
- A casual lobby. This is a lobby to play unrated games with friends. Ratings can be shown (+extra stats when hovering over a player's name) but the outcome of the matches played in this lobby are not tracked.
Anti-cheat, point-trading & smurfing
Cheating
For DE to have potential as a competitive platform a good anti-cheat must be implemented. If ELO can be adjusted manually (like on HD) and hackers can easily adjust the game to get an ingame advantage that will severely damage the integrity of the ladder. Also, for tournament games cheating must be prevented.
PointTrading
DE has a superior matchmaking system when compared to Voobly's lobby in regard to pointtrading. This is nearly impossible in the random matchmaking. The only flaw currently is the no-loss-on-resign during the first minute. This can be abused: if you resign in the last possible second, your teammates will be left playing an unfiar game. If they resign they will lose rating. Also, the option to leave a game unpenalized means players could restart games untill they face the opponent they want, or untill they find the map and civ-matchup they want.
With my proposed additional rated lobby point trading can become an issue. This is why it is important to have the ranked matchmaking rating the primary indication of skill, since pointtrading to boost that rating is nearly impossible. The other stats (aquired by playing rated lobby) are to be taken with a grain of salt.
Smurfing
On DE it is significantly harder to smurf than on the Voobly platform. Still it is possible to create alt accounts. Voobly however is better at tracking (sensitive!) information, and has better moderation. That means if a user has a negative smurfing experience they can notify voobly staff, who have the ability to track IP and give the smurfing player a warning, a ban, or even an IP-ban.
Social aspects
It is true that DE has potential to serve as a social platform. It is easy to switch to the steam's friendlists inbetween (or during) games, to have a chat with your friends. You can also add players directly as friend after/prior to games. In ranked lobbies, you can chat to some degree after the match, but after you close out the game your conversation will be over.
Voobly however, has a more advanced chat-system, where you can even talk to random online users, where you can post something on the wall of the player's profile, or you can leave a personal message (mail) on the website.
Again I can point out advantages and disadvantages of increased options for communication: The social aspect of Voobly is what makes it very attractive, especially for the established (competitive) community. However, it might also facilitate toxic behaviour, and unwanted spam.
My suggestions for DE
Returning back to lobby is crucial for custom lobbies. This is the least that can be added. Additionally I would like to have these improvements (from high to low priority):
1) return to lobby after game (except in ranked matchmaking)
2) a better feedback for inviting friends/players, now it is not clear if a player is already ingame, if they are AFK, if they are playing another steamgame, or if they are already queuing or in a custom lobby
3) order the list of users (friends, recently played), now it is quite a mess
4) follow player (to see if they are online)
5) ignore/blacklist player
6) Visit player profile: see stats of the player, leave a message on their profile etc.
7) add a live icon for streamers (twitch/mixer/other)
Display of rating/ELO
Rating display on Voobly
Voobly has the superior system here. Mostly because of what is shown. Being able to see how many games the opponent played, or what his teamgame/1v1 rating is can be a good indicator of skill for a particular match (some players with 2k 1v1 rating, but 1600 TG rating, who self-proclaim to be arena-clowns, indeed turn out to be not much of a deal in teamgames. Good to know for balancing!)
Rating display in ranked matchmaking on DE
Matchmaking on DE is automatically. Therefore it is not necessary to show rating. Not showing rating might actually enhance the game experience for some players (those who are afraid for players with higher rated), but might also be a let-down for others (those that get satisfaction for beating someone higher rated).
In teamgames a similar dual effect can be expected: Without rating visible it is impossible to know who your weakest player is, or who the opponent's weakest player is. That can be frustrating (you might want to adjust the playstyle to defend your weakest flank, and let the other flank push) but it can also help to prevent negative attitude (players calling out the weakest link in the team for being trash).
Rating display in custom lobby on DE
A flaw of DE which many people would agree with me, is the lack of indiaction of playerskill in custom lobbies. Players who want to find a game on a map other than the ranked pool (arena, nomad, black forest, etc) will not know what skill their opponent is. With the huge skillgaps found in this strategy game this means that 9/10 games there is a significant discrepancy in skill in such games.
For teamgames the lack of skill display is also bothering. Even when you know all other players (friends) and you have slpit the teams in equal skill, a last unknown (random) player joining might throw off the balance and ruin the game.
Suggestion: more stats
Like I said before, I like the additional information on voobly (win/losses, winstreak, and several ratings). Personally I think the more info the better it is, but thats maybe because of me being an analist. Ideally, I would like to see a win/loss stat and ELO rating for every kind of map played:
BlackForest TG: 1600, 210wins/200Losses
Nomad 1v1: 1500, 0wins/2losses
Arabia 1v1: 1850, 65wins/12losses
DE's custom lobby dissapointing
Custom lobby isn't very popular on DE. Apperently a bug that prevents lobbies from displaying might be the cause of that. However, what I often hear from people from the community (especially from players coming from voobly) is that the custom lobby is not motivating since playing (and winning) games here is not rewarded with points or stats.
My suggestion:
- Ranked matchmaking stays like it is: very convienient for players who want to quickly get into a game on a diverse range of standardmaps (the mappool isnt perfect in my opinion but that's something for another discussion). The ranked matchmaking will focus on quick matching, and an accureate ELO system. Smurfing and even things like a rematch option can mess with the ELO system, so perhaps it is best to avoid adding those options. The ELO/rating achieved on the ranked matchmaking will be the main indicator of skill, and could even be used to determine seeding for tournaments.
- A ranked lobby. Here players can play with friends or random other users. They can play any map they like. The ELO of a player (from ranked matchmaking) is always displayed and is the best indicator of skill. Additionally extra information is displayed when hovering over a player's name: the number of games played, the winrate per map, achievements etc. The more stats the better (in my opinion).
The host of the lobby can select a map which automatically selects a rating type when the game recognises the map: Blackforest selected? then the outcome of the game will influence the BlackForest rating. Is the map unknown, then the ratingfor custom maps will be updated.
Additionally I would like to have a few other lobby improvements (such as: ignore player, reserve slot, spectator slots, return to lobby after a game, and ability to switch host in lobby) but that might be best discussed in another thread.
- A casual lobby. This is a lobby to play unrated games with friends. Ratings can be shown (+extra stats when hovering over a player's name) but the outcome of the matches played in this lobby are not tracked.
Anti-cheat, point-trading & smurfing
Cheating
For DE to have potential as a competitive platform a good anti-cheat must be implemented. If ELO can be adjusted manually (like on HD) and hackers can easily adjust the game to get an ingame advantage that will severely damage the integrity of the ladder. Also, for tournament games cheating must be prevented.
PointTrading
DE has a superior matchmaking system when compared to Voobly's lobby in regard to pointtrading. This is nearly impossible in the random matchmaking. The only flaw currently is the no-loss-on-resign during the first minute. This can be abused: if you resign in the last possible second, your teammates will be left playing an unfiar game. If they resign they will lose rating. Also, the option to leave a game unpenalized means players could restart games untill they face the opponent they want, or untill they find the map and civ-matchup they want.
With my proposed additional rated lobby point trading can become an issue. This is why it is important to have the ranked matchmaking rating the primary indication of skill, since pointtrading to boost that rating is nearly impossible. The other stats (aquired by playing rated lobby) are to be taken with a grain of salt.
Smurfing
On DE it is significantly harder to smurf than on the Voobly platform. Still it is possible to create alt accounts. Voobly however is better at tracking (sensitive!) information, and has better moderation. That means if a user has a negative smurfing experience they can notify voobly staff, who have the ability to track IP and give the smurfing player a warning, a ban, or even an IP-ban.
Social aspects
It is true that DE has potential to serve as a social platform. It is easy to switch to the steam's friendlists inbetween (or during) games, to have a chat with your friends. You can also add players directly as friend after/prior to games. In ranked lobbies, you can chat to some degree after the match, but after you close out the game your conversation will be over.
Voobly however, has a more advanced chat-system, where you can even talk to random online users, where you can post something on the wall of the player's profile, or you can leave a personal message (mail) on the website.
Again I can point out advantages and disadvantages of increased options for communication: The social aspect of Voobly is what makes it very attractive, especially for the established (competitive) community. However, it might also facilitate toxic behaviour, and unwanted spam.
My suggestions for DE
Returning back to lobby is crucial for custom lobbies. This is the least that can be added. Additionally I would like to have these improvements (from high to low priority):
1) return to lobby after game (except in ranked matchmaking)
2) a better feedback for inviting friends/players, now it is not clear if a player is already ingame, if they are AFK, if they are playing another steamgame, or if they are already queuing or in a custom lobby
3) order the list of users (friends, recently played), now it is quite a mess
4) follow player (to see if they are online)
5) ignore/blacklist player
6) Visit player profile: see stats of the player, leave a message on their profile etc.
7) add a live icon for streamers (twitch/mixer/other)