Matchmaking and Bots
I logged into the game today and I see the Devs changed the matchmaking again. I have a 5 slot hanger but I only have 3 decent bots to play. 25k XP and 1500 Squad power. Before I was getting matched up with low level bots and players because my XP is low because I only play in the tournaments and do not do the daily missions for xp. Then I started getting matched up with players closer to my squad power about 2 weeks ago. I think they changed the matchmaking to use the average mech power of your hanger (hence people using one strong mech and 2 -4 mechs with no weapons). Now I think they are matchmaking based on your strongest mech. Because I ranked up my KillShot more than my other mechs, I am now getting matched up against players that have a hanger power of 2500+, that is double my hanger. Also the bots are impossible to handle because they are all 4 or 5 star bots with 4 or 5 star weapons and with legendary pilots and implants. The most annoying is the Zephyrs that stun you forever as all the bots turn and attack you at the same time. Mind you, my XP is only 25k so I can't even purchase a Zephyr yet.
What the Devs do not realize is that matchmaking should be about matching players together. Bots should always be underpowered and never really decide the outcome of a match. We are not playing the game to get our butts kicked by bots all day. We are playing to out play other players. Matchmaking is always difficult in games where you can improve equipment and skills. If you make matchmaking too strict, it will be hard to find a suitable player to match up against you. Make it too loose and you get strong players against weak players. You will always have players trying to figure out the match making come up with ways to take advantage of the system. But I think it is especially a problem in this game because of the difficulty in acquiring A-Coins to upgrade our mechs and weapons. That is why people to try to manipulate their hangers to do well in tournaments, that is the only place to win A-Coins. So here are a few of my suggestions.
1) Award more A-Coins to players who finish 2-10 in the tournaments so that people will find it worthwhile to play in the tournaments even though they know they will not win. Right now if you do not place in the top 3, its really not worth playing.
2) Use a lower matchmaking system to match bots to players, so that bots play a part in the match but do not overwhelm the players.
3) Improve the point system to determine squad power. As you rank up bots and weapons, squad power points should go up exponentially, so a 3 star mech with 3 star weapons may be 600 squad power but a 6 star mech with 6 star weapons could be 6000 squad power. Then add up the mechs and get an average mech power. This way, if someone with one 6000 power mech and 4 low level mechs with 200 power each (Average is 1360) They can be matched against players with 5 mechs around 1400 power each and the game will be more even. I haven't worked out the numbers but with some smart people crunching numbers, I'm sure a decent algorithum can be worked out.
Anyway, those are some of my thoughts. Until some changes come, the game is not worth playing for me and I will not be spending any more money on the game. I doubt I'll be playing much as things are right now. I'll log in to get my free rewards each day, but wont be back playing until there are some significant changes.