I've been thinking about the state of the game for a while now.  Months actually.  However, it is in the last couple of weeks that things have changed enough for me to start to see some other points of interest concerning match making.

I want to start by saying, in the last two weeks, the number of opponents I'm facing that are above 1000 Squad Power more than me has greatly decreased.  Great job!!  Seriously, this is GREAT!!!  I'm not getting steam rolled as often when I lose matches.

That being said, the bots are insanely agressive.  I will congratulate you on making them do less "dumb" maneuvers, but now they are more agressive than most players I face at my levels.  I'm certain I'll adjust, but just know that this really feels like the top end of what should be done for the bots.  I play this game to have fun, not to sweat every match.

Now for the two items I really came to mention.  First, the power ratings for items.  I've seen a lot of powerful builds lately that have made me certain the opponent is cheating to get into my SP bracket.  When I go look at their hangers, their SP is legitimately within my range (within 1k either way), but their gear is unbeleable - at least a few maxed weapons, maybe a maxed pilot, and less than maxed mechs.  Curious on how they are doing this, I started writing down power levels for all their items and I'm noticing one major thing - weapons are CHEAP as far as power levels go.  For example, a maxed Revoker 8 (which I'm seeing a lot of) is only 174 power.  Really??

Here is what I think is happening, people have slowly realized that weapons are cheap, mechs are expensive, and pilots a such a huge impact that they are worth the price of maxing out.  So a lot of people are maxing weapons and leaving high HP mechs down a couple of stars to save on SP cost.  This is really something that only long standing or paying players can pull off and its honestly making it miserable for people coming up through the ranks.  

My suggestion:  redo the power numbers for all weapons.  They aren't balanced right now.  Sticking with the Revoker 8 example, the difference between a 3 star and a fully maxed Revoker 8 is only a little less than 100 power.  But the difference in damage is just under 5k per shot!  Its too easy to sneak a high powered weapon down into the lower SP tiers.

The other thing I wanted to mention is with the Mechs and their tiers in the gear hub.  I've felt this way for a long time, and have said as much before, but I don't believe it's right to subject players to mechs of a higher grade than what that player has available to them or is in their hanger - regardless of SP power.  For example, if you have mechs from Tier 1 or 2 in your hanger and have not unlocked Tier 3, you should only face mechs in Tier 1 or 2 - period.  By the same token, if you have the same setup, but went a purchased Aegis to add to your hanger (a Tier 5 mech) this would open you up to having opponents with mechs from Tier 1-6 (Tiers 5 and 6 are kind of tied at the hip).  Finally, to put in the upper end of the example, since Tier 9 has been classified as a real step up from your normal legendaries of Tier 7 & 8, if you had mechs in Tier 7 or 8 OR had unlocked Tier 7 or 8, you'd only face mechs from Tiers 1 thru 8, no Tier 9 stuff.  

There is a real difference between the different "Grades" of mechs (common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary, Tier 9).  However match making doesn't take this into account for some unfathomable reason.  To me, this should be common sense. - and honestly, something like this probably should be done with weapons too, but that would be much more complicated and really not worth the time, just adjust the power ratings on those.

Players want to have a good time with a fun and interesting game.  What we don't want is a game that is allowing players with bigger wallets and/or better gear to be the reason we lose a match.  I just know that whenever a player beats me with better skill, I'm nearly always ok with the loss.  When I get beaten because a player is using equipment that I don't have or can't afford, I rage quit.  If I do that enough times, I'll quit the game for good.