by Jeremy Waxman on Dec 15, 2015
For quite some time now, one of the biggest sources of complaints from Heroes of the Storm players has been the matchmaking system in the game. Horribly imbalanced games cropped up all over the place in both Quick Match and Hero League, and has been a continuing source of frustration. Blizzard listened to the players, and they've rolled out the first stage of sweeping changes.
As of today, multiple changes have been to the matchmaking system. First and foremost, players should begin seeing matches that consistently pair them with and against players of very similar MMR (matchmaking rating), creating games that are fair for both sides. This will also take effect in Team League, where player rankings should be very close to one another.
One of the reasons there were sometimes huge differences in MMR or player rank was that in the past, if a player was waiting for a match for more than 10 minutes, the game would pair them up with almost anyone, regardless of MMR. This will no longer be the case, as the matchmaker will prioritize MMR/rank when creating a game, giving priority to players that have been waiting in queue the longest.
There are also changes regarding matchmaking for parties. Rather than simply look at party size, the matchmaker will now attempt to create a game on matching in terms of skill. This means that there may be party size differences between teams, but the overall level of skill should be approximately equal. In addition, if you're playing solo against a party on the other team, your team will likely have higher individual MMR, to make up for the advantage the other side has in terms of communication.
Blizzard has also laid out their plans for what they want to accomplish in stage 2 of matchmaking improvement. For that list, as well as the full details of stage 1, check out the official post right here.