Then why are 90% of the SBMM complaints about “sweaty matches”??? I’m all for relaxing the algorithms at the extremes of the skill/ connection curve so that everyone has reasonable playing conditions. But for every complaint I read about laggy connections it long queue times, I read 10 complaining about “I don’t want to sweat all the time!!” Those people you are complaining paid their money to play this game. They have as much a right to enjoy the game as you do. And every competitive endeavor worth being called that is skill-stratified. Baseball doesn’t thrown 8 year-old Little Leaguers into the batters box with Major League starters and then tell them to “get gud.” NBA starters don’t advocate for their “right” to beat up on local middle school teams to “relax”.

Your examples about paying to play are ridiculous, frankly. Nobody is denying you the right to access the content, play , practice and improve if you so desire. It did not write on the box that you could not play and be protected by average players. If you wish to engage in a pvp mode then you have to accept that there are better players. You can not expect bungie to feed you easy games without mastering the game dude. It is extremely fair to expect to be average to compete in pvp. Those who arent can make very easy changes in positioning to compete better. I certainly accept that there are better players and id consider myself good but then i get humbled too and i can respect that. Do top 1% players destroy? Yes. Do they exist in every game? 100% no. The game is composed of average players dude, you need to accept this. Your examples of nba teams facing middle school teams is so wrong. This is a quickplay arcade pvp mode whereby wins and kd do not matter. You do not face nkuch, frostbolt and top 0.1% each game, its impossible because the top 1% are rare. Qp is composed of average basketball players and there are a couple good ones dotted around. You do not play them every game and you definitely arent matching superstar squads each day. Infact i could go through your match history and show you elo's and stats of all your recent opponents to prove my point but i can't be bothered. I can assure you they will be silver, gold players at most barely 1.0 kd's. People stating every game is a sweat with sbmm is somewhat true and those names I reeled off, i faced them all daily- nkuch frosty cammy all of them in sbmm. You had to use meta in laggy lobbies with 10 min queue times. Now, average players can have fun using anything they want with fast queue times and its much more relaxed. If one is below average then it will be tougher though people who want to become average can do so by simply watching a 10 min video online. It is not right for the people who play pvp the most to be punished for being good by long queue times and unplayable connections. If dedicated servers existed then id see an argument for it but the way p2p operates then it doesnt work. You ever played the likes of nkuch? Frostbolt? Cammy? While being the otherside of the world with another 5 continents thrown around the game? You have any idea how higher skill games play compared to lower skill? Its split second decision making that does not work in p2p. The changes to mm benefit the largest majority, being the average to above average players. The below average can seriously cross the line to average. Most below average players hardly play pvp though. Nobody is sending you to a tournament vs panduh are they and expecting you to win? Thats your bball analogy. You are going into qp and facing average players.

Ever stop to wonder why Activision always puts a new CoD game in your hands every year? Why EA cranks our Battlefield games every two years? While Overwatch is still going strong after 4 years? Simple. SBMM retains players, and makes it easier for new players to join the game when old players leave. CBMM sets up a game that eats its own young. It rots from the bottom up as those at the bottom (yet rising) tier of the skill pyramid get frustrated with being cannon fodder and leave. So Activision is alway in a race to get the new game out before the old game dies. Oh, and your math about lobby composition in CBMM is off. Google the “Pareto Principle” or 80/20 Rule.

Oh so strawman arguments are your way of a rebuttal? Hmmm. I wonder why there isnt a new overwatch every year? Maybe because it isnt a simple fps cash cow? You have any idea how hard it is to create balance in a game like overwatch? Talking of overwatch, its numbers are vastly down. And cod? Cod has sbmm..... You wana know some facts? Ya know, not strawman? You say sbmm retains players? Lol. Destiny pvp is up since cbmm was introduced. By 30,000 this time last season with sbmm. Cbmm in destiny retains players. I dont need a poor mans google for team composition. I just looked at your match history. Your teams are filled with silvers and golds. They are average. I have 35k kills this season, i know how teams are composed and i know how lobbies are balanced. Average player is king in cbmm. If one is bad and leave it is not because of cbmm. In sbmm they would die as much as they kill. Mobility of skill ceiling is reduced almost infinitely. Do you like crucible because you dont seem to play it much in general. Im happy to offer some tips. Its a great time to learn man, i promise you that cbmm benefits average players the most

Not a strawman. It’s called an “example”. Of why SBMM is becoming industry-standard for all online competitive games. Shooters and their pubstomp culture are just the last holdouts. Overwatch is a four year old game. It was never going to retain 30 million players. But it is still a very healthy, very profitable game for Blizzard. And Crucible numbers aren’t up. Destinytracker combines Gambit and Crucible Numbers into a single pvp engagement number. So about 250k of those 690k players played gambit. So crucible engagement is where it has always been. About 500k plus or minus.

Here are the numbers for Monday.