Why Players Blame Skill-Based Matchmaking for Losing in Call of Duty

The thing about skill-based matchmaking is that it's not as perfect as its critics think it is. And that's by design.

As satisfying as it is to dunk on esports pros for essentially complaining that they can’t play on easy mode (especially given the short-sightedness and lack of empathy on display in their desire to freely stomp on less-skilled players - everyone has a better time when skills are more closely matched), there’s also some fascinating psychology beyond that here.

While the article doesn’t provide citations for this beyond quoting Halo 2’s multiplayer lead, it claims that “every major multiplayer shooter since Halo 2” has had skill-based matchmaking in both ranked and unranked playlists, with the different lists existing to lure the hyper-competitive or more-toxic players to ranked and leave supposedly-unranked play more enjoyable for other players.

Halo 2 Changed The Way I Look At Games

Halo 2 is special game to me for many different reasons. It provided hours and hours of immeasurable fun and it pushed me to be more creative by allowing me ...

YouTuber Razbuten discusses how experimentation with custom modes in Halo 2 taught him to see games differently - not just as products to be passively consumed but toyboxes to be actively explored, resulting in limit-testing to find ways to play that can be even more fun than anything the designers came up with.

I wish I’d had this available to reference when I wrote my article about going beyond intended experiences - I absolutely would have quoted and linked to it.

The time I tried to ruin Halo 2

A former Microsoft user researcher writes about how you can’t always trust the data in front of you

John Hopson, former Microsoft user experience researcher, tells a story from the development of Halo 2. I’d love to get more insights like this into how UX research has shaped game design and what lessons have been learned from it.

This particular case is a reminder that people are often incorrect about what they’ll enjoy, but also and more pointedly a reminder that it’s easy to misconstrue your own data. Research telling you that users expect to dislike a design choice doesn’t tell you that they actually will dislike it. It’s important to design user tests carefully and understand what they actually teach you, lest you confidently lead yourself astray.