Making HoN Fun Again

[sharbarachu]

HoN has gone downhill. This thread is about a simple solution: How to fix the community from ripping itself apart on a constant basis, and making the game more fun than stressful for the average player in the average game. The main issue is the matchmaking system, as this is the single handed most important factor in deciding how games are played. It determines your teammates - there is nothing more important in a extremely team based game.

This system is fatally flawed - and it shows. Matching random strangers with random strangers, simply based on average performance, is just not good enough. There are many factors unaccounted for, and it's just rubbish without a massive overhaul. But, there is an alternative to a massive rework.

1) Rated TMM: You must queue with 4 teammates, and will only be matched vs another 5 man team. Stats (KDA/Wardsetc) and Rating are tracked as they are now. This is for any serious player of any rating bracket, who wants to play a game totally devoid of feeders/trollers/leavers, etc. With it setup like this, MANY more 5 man teams would form, and organized 5v5s would have much larger support.

I would also suggest in-game support for creating 5 man teams. Such things as a friend-finder sort of deal, suggesting other similar-stat players, in a similar time zone, who play compatible roles with you.

2) S/TMM: You may queue alone, or with up to 4 friends. Stats are tracked, but rating is NOT tracked. This means you can still play this mode to practice, enhance your play, and semi-seriously compete. Trolls/griefers/feeders may have the power to ruin the game, but they do not have much power over effecting all your tracked stats (since Rating is not tracked, and no ones forcing you to suicide in with them). This makes the average player somewhat immune to trollers/griefs/feeders, and makes the game in general slightly better for retaining player motivation to succeed. Stats mean a lot to people - that's just how it is. Without rating queue times would also drastically improve (akin to midwars queue time).

The only note I would make here is about win-streaks being tracked. Players/teams that queue up and constantly win should have this tracked, and the system should attempt to match them against a similar situation. This would help curb 4-5 man queues of high level players from constantly stomping everything in their path. This may not be entirely important, though, as there are realistically only so many "high level players" who can stomp everyone.

Some of you may go crazy about this one. But think about it for a moment. Dota on WC3 was more or less this mode for all of its entirety, and guess what, it was very successful. It's not inherently a bad thing to have a big mixed pool of skill; in fact, it even spices it up with more games being unique and requiring a different input on your behalf. It only becomes problematic to do this when permanent repercussions, from random teammates, exist (ie, lower rating that causes a worse experience for all future games).

3) CTMM: Casual TMM could stay as it is, or potentially be entirely removed to enhance RTMM and TMM. It would certainly be more casual than TMM, but possibly not enough to justify its existence. Perhaps relegated to being a public game only setting, and no longer part of the matchmaking setup.

I believe the above is how HoN is meant to be played. Ill-will feeds on ill-will, and the current vicious cycle of players ruining games for other players, who then proceed to get fed up and ruin games for other players will never end in the current setup. This can be greatly limited with a system like the above, which would require very little tweaking to the current in place systems.

Just for some information on my background: I'm currently a totally solo MMR queuer at 1870 rating. I barely ever play anymore because of how un-fun hon has become due to a majority of games (in 1850+ bracket and low level alt acct brackets) being ruined by angry/non-serious/trolling players.