Team matchmaking (TMM) is an amazing concept developed by Valve. Gamers enjoy competing with other like-minded individuals whose sole ambition is to make Dota 2 their profession, collect mythical items as a hobby, and watch Purge troll. Long lasting titles are created when gamers become part of something greater than them and rise to the top with their fellow comrades.
Nevertheless, there are so many flaws in the current TMM system that it'd be fair to say that Valve paid too much attention to the e-Sports features. With some improvements to the current system, they could create a powerful community inside the Dota 2 client and take the gaming experience and trolling to another level.
Team Matchmaking (TMM) Ladder
I want to be #1. I want to be in the top 50. I want to be in the highest skill bracket possible. These are some of the typical thoughts gamers have as they play Dota 2. However, how is this measurable? What is #1, top 50, or the threshold for the high skill bracket? TMM introduced yet another great feature to the game, but there is one fatal flaw in this system: there is no official page in the client for teams in TMM to see where they rank on their server. Third party sites such as the famed Dotabuff.com cannot compile all the data and create these standings due to privacy concerns. For the casual gamer and fan, which is the majority of the Dota 2 population, this becomes an issue because teams are motivated by reaching a certain ranking (#1, top 10, top 25, etc.) or maintaining a higher level than a rival team. It gives them the ability to strive for a certain level and create a goal to move towards that’s measurable. So how can Valve solve this problem? What would the creator of all things Dota 2, Bulba, do to rectify this glaring issue?
To my knowledge, the online ladder is one of the best concepts around. For example: Blizzard developed this concept to create an experience that hooked players to WarCraft 3 and StarCraft 2. A player’s ambition to reach the top of a competitive ladder was like taking drugs. The ladder allowed players to be immune to overplaying a game because of the constant battle to maintain position (and insane amounts of ladder resets). It allowed the community to have a measurable, quantifiable goal and give them an incentive to compete for longer periods of time as well as the opportunity to confidently say that they are in the top 50, because it is officially labeled on the ladder.
In the spirit of what was said above, what are some questions that need to be answered in order to make this work?
1. How to access the ladder
Valve has done an incredible job providing any necessary information inside the Dota 2 client with a click of a button. Embedding the ladder in the client would allow teams to easily access the information without disrupting their normal Dota to Dota activities. Due to teams constantly checking their placement on the ladder, it would motivate them to increase their ranking, and in turn we can see an increase in TMM activity. Valve would benefit as well since the players would spend more time on the client itself rather than surfing.
2. How would we differentiate skill and prevent players from creating new teams for pub stomping?
This is the question that creates the most opposition for any ladder implementation. The community wants there to be a system that pairs teams with others of relatively the same skill level, regardless of the situation. With StarCraft 2, Blizzard created a system of leagues that effectively differentiated a player’s skill level even if they created a new team. The amount of players in the league would be a percentage of the total players in StarCraft 2 and players would climb, fall or change leagues depending on their performance. This concept could be a template for a new TMM system featuring three leagues: Amateur, Intermediate, and Experienced.
A note can be taken from the ladder system in Riot's League of Legends, which is not so much a practice environment for the very top teams but rather a catalyst for new rosters who wish to practice and climb the ranks.
New teams can be placed in a specific league based on a few placement matches and player gaming history. The leagues would allow teams with already established players compete with similar teams very early. The teams would then play others in their league who have almost the same points, and climb the ladder while not getting consistently stomped by more experienced teams. This would allow newer teams a chance to get acclimated with their teammates, and not play against competition with more experience. Teams can jump into the next league after doing well enough, thus creating a balanced and flexible ladder for all levels of competition.
3. Why not create one traditional ladder?
A one-ladder system has many flaws due to its simplicity and is very limited in terms of flexibility. For example, if a skilled set of players create a new team, they would be playing at a low level for quite a while before climbing up to their skill bracket. This is because traditional ladders are based solely on experience and levels, nothing more. If you add a matchmaking system to that, then it puts high level teams at risk due to there being very few good teams at the top. This would result in fewer possible matches and a loss in activity at the top (ask any high ranking player on the WarCraft 3 Ladder), resulting in mass new account creation.
Let’s face it, it’s very difficult to have five players consistently online at the same time. It would take a considerable amount of time and effort to climb a traditional ladder due to the XP system. Even if you win majority of your games, the XP gain makes it difficult to progress exponentially. It just wouldn't be feasible for the majority of the Dota 2 population.
4. So why hasn’t Valve done this?
I believe it’s fair to say that Dota 2, although officially released, is still under development. Heroes still need to be added, e-Sports features are continuously being implemented, and the constant feedback on every balance change consumes quite a bit of the resources Valve is using for Dota 2. One major concern with publicizing ladder results is privacy. Valve has made steps in order to protect each gamer’s Dota 2 profile such as allowing it to be hidden, which includes not allowing other sites to access them. Posting results can further create a privacy issue as players on top teams could be targets for hackers and account theft (something that was widely popular in WarCraft 3). Hacking is definitely a concern for higher ranking accounts, especially now that the new First Blood patch states that higher level teams have a greater chance of getting better items. This would be a monumental challenge for Valve and ultimately a concern that would not make the above possible for a long time.
Overall, this system could be a stepping stone to create a better experience for Dota 2 enthusiasts. However, it is a dangerous route as it puts Valve and the players at risk.
