i empathize so much... i played 6 games of valorant yesterday because i was so close to plat... just barely ranked up this morning. its not good for me!!!!!!! but when i do well it is maybe the most fun ive ever had in a video game

the accuracy of "but when i do well it is maybe the most fun ive ever had in a video game" has been haunting me ever since i first read it.

i am imagining how consistently scintillating [the] games would be if matchmaking were designed entirely around architecting the closest matchups possible instead of optimizing for low queue times.

like i'm fairly certain the matchmaking just looks at account win/loss, but there's so much more you (hypothetical juicy team matchup designer + data freak) could take into account toward the goal of orchestrating the heart-poundingest nailbiters ever— and on the regular.

decisions that take place after a match is found but before a game begins could be moved to before queueing up also!! like the game doesn't have to feel like emotional gambling ("the computer wanted me to win/lose to bring my track record closer to 50/50" and/or "my teammates/opponents were abysmal/godlike, thus taking all the joy of struggle out of the game. a win or loss was inevitable due to forces outside of my control"). the most fun you've ever had in a videogame could happen more often, i think.

i dunno,,