Matchmaking FAQ :: SmiteFire

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Making sure players experience quality matches as they play SMITE is one of our top priorities. We wanted to give you insight into how the system works at a base level, as well as how the system varies when it comes to League matches.

What is Matchmaking?

Matchmaking is a term used to describe how we determine which players are going to be paired up to fight. The matchmaking system tries to ensure each team has an even chance at winning any given match. It does this by pairing similarly skilled players with and against each other.

General Matchmaking FAQ

How does the system work?

The system we use is a modified version of the TrueSkill System. The system tracks how players perform and assigns a Matchmaking Rating and a Variance score to the player. The Matchmaking Rating (Hereby called MMR) is how skilled the system thinks a player is. The Variance value is how confident the system is that the assigned MMR is accurate.

When paired together, Variance is used to determine how fast a player’s MMR should change from any given match, and MMR is used as the main tool for pairing players together. As we collect more data on a particular player, the Variance value will go down showing the system’s increased confidence that it has an accurate MMR.

What does the system consider a good match?

The system itself is running through thousands of simulated matches every second looking for a quality game for players. It looks for similar MMR values, similar levels, and wants to make sure the highest MMR isn’t too far away from the lowest MMR value. It also has to make sure players don’t wait too long and parties of 4 or 5 are heavily favored to play with each other. If all of these values are close together, the system views this as a good match, and pulls all of those players into a match.

Sometimes the system can’t meet all of the requirements, leaving players in a longer queue. To make sure these players will get a match, as the time in queue rises the qualifications for what is considered a good match becomes more and more relaxed until a match is found.

An example of a good match would look like this:

If a match isn’t considered even, there are systems in place to compensate a team. The underdog will lose less MMR and TP (League) for losing, and if they win they gain more. This also goes for the reverse scenario; the favored are expected to win and will gain less for winning, and lose more for losing.

How does player level affect the matchmaking system?

Player level is considered in all casual queues. The system heavily favors pairing players within similar level groups, but sometimes it will grab players from other level ranges if a good match cannot be found within an allotted amount of time. Since the system heavily favors pairing similar MMR and similar level, finding matches during low populations times can be difficult, and as such the restrictions are lowered if players have to wait in queue for an extended time.

How does party size affect the matchmaking system?

Party Size affects matchmaking in a few ways. First, when parties are paired together, their MMR is calculated using a formula to approximate what their MMR is together. This considers the idea that being in a party adds synergy that wouldn’t otherwise be there, and experienced players in a party adds greater synergy. Second, parties of 4 or 5 are heavily favored to fight against similarly sized parties. Parties of 2 or 3 don’t have any restrictions applied to them.

Do I have different MMR Values and Variances for the different game modes?

Yes. Each game mode is tracked separately as they all require different skillsets to be measured.

My play has recently seen a large improvement. Will the system recognize this and let me rise?

Yes. We make sure the variance always stays high enough to allow significant movement if a player is able to establish a new level of play.

What extra rules are in place for exceptional players?

We have rules specifically designed to place players at the highest end of the spectrum together. Players at the top will be heavily weighted to only face other players at the top, but this isn’t always possible at any given time. If no suitable match can be made within an allotted time, this rule is discarded as it can result in very long queue times.

This rule is in place for the main causal queues as well as League.

League Matchmaking FAQ

How is League Matchmaking different?

The specific differences are the inclusion of Qualifying Games, stricter restrictions on who can play each other, and how Tier Placement relates to your MMR. Besides these, the system follows the same rules as Casual Matchmaking.

How does my Tier Placement relate to my MMR?

Tier Placement isn’t considered when it comes to matchmaking, only a player’s MMR is considered. A player’s Tier Placement should be seen as an indication of where their MMR is likely around (Gold III being around 1200-1400 MMR). In a situation where a player’s MMR begins to deviate positively from where their Tier Placement would suggest, the system becomes more generous with Tier Point gains, and less punishing with Tier Point losses until a player’s Tier Placement matches their MMR.

Below is a chart explaining the MMR ranges of each Tier :

What are Qualifying Games?

When first entering League, you will be required to play 10 Qualifying games. Your MMR starts at the average MMR for everyone in the system, and your Variance is set to be very high. After playing 10 games, the system will place you into a Tier.

How high can I be placed after my Qualifying Games?

The highest players can be placed after Qualifying games is Gold I.

(This is a recent change that will take effect as of the Xing Tian Patch for PC. Xbox players can expect to receive this change when they receive Xing Tian.)

What are the goals of Qualifying Games?

Qualifying Matches help to get a rough feel for the skill of the player, and where their initial placement in the League system should be. After 10 games the system will place a player on the lower side of their skill band once qualified, allowing for room to grow. It is important to note that your variance will still be high after these 10 games. This means if you got lucky/unlucky in these first few games, you aren’t stuck too high or too low. The system still keeps a high variance until it becomes more sure. The system is confident with the majority of players as it gets closer to 40 games.

What extra rules apply only to League?

Qualifying players will never be matched with a Platinum, Diamond, or Masters player.

Also at the most extreme MMR differences players will not be matched regardless of time waiting in the queue.

Thanks for reading our matchmaking FAQ! We hope this answered questions you may have had about our system! For any other questions regarding matchmaking, tweet @smitegame.