That’s not what it does now, not at all. Where previously, in Halo 3 for example, the SBMM system took your visible rank, and specifically matched you with players within 5 ranks of it. In a ranked playlists you would never see a General (50) if you weren’t at least a Brigadier (45), and you would never see a Brigadier if you weren’t at least a Colonel (40). And the algorithm purposely tried to match you with people as close to your level as possible. So as a level 30 player for instance, it would first look for level 30 players, then extend to 29-31, then 28-32 and so on.
The current matchmaking system instead looks at your win/loss rate, and if it is above 60%, it tries to match you into games you are supposed to lose, comparing your skill and the skill of your teammates with those of your enemies. And if you’re below 40%, it tries to do the opposite. Instead of trying to find similarly skilled players to play with, so that each match feels winnable for as many players in the match as possible. It does the opposite, it builds a team of players who’s “turn” it is to lose, then finds a team of higher skilled players who’s “turn it is to win” and makes them play against eachother.
Sure, this new version of SBMM helps to ensure everyone wins about half of their games. But instead of it being because they are playing at their skill level, where going on a win streak is a sign of improvement, as you overcome other players that used to give you trouble, it’s because they are matched with weaker players roughly half the time, and stronger players the other half of the time. If you go on a win streak in Infinite, it’s not because you got any better, it’s because the game put you in matches you were supposed to win several times in a row.
It’s a really awful system. Especially since it creates a poor environment for improvement in the first place. Spending half your games playing against significantly weaker opponents reinforces bad gameplay habits, and spending the other half getting steamrolled prevents learning opportunities. Even matches, where you know winning consistently is an accomplishment, and where small improvements will make a noticeable impact on a match is where players learn, and grow the best.
Also, if you didn’t already know this get ready. But your win/loss rate is purposely fixed between 40 and 60% regardless of skill level because of the system, and is NOT taken into account when determining your actual player rank. Instead it looks at things like how often you kill or die to other players, and compares that to their rank.
The ranked playlist’s system of ranking is actually a sham. It will always push you towards your global “rank”. When it determines how much exp you gain or lose when you win or lose a game, it scales it based on how close you are to that rank. Which is why you rubber and a lot. When you are below the rank the game already considers you, you get almost no penalty for losing, and a large gain for winning. And when you’re above it you’ll get the opposite effect.
I, for instance, gain very small amounts of XP if I win at Platinum V. But will lose a significant amount of XP if I lose, so no matter how hard I push if I get matchmade into a win streak, that first loss will sent me right back to Play V.
Lucid on the other hand (just taking an extreme example), would still be gaining tons of XP per match at Plat V, but would lose almost nothing if he lost a match. Because the game would be pushing him to Onyx. Infinite would still match me with Lucid if it was my turn to lose a match and his turn to win. And neither of us would get anything out of the match, it would just be an easy game for his team, and an impossible game for mine.
I’ve never been too exceptional at Halo, at all. But I always felt like most of my matches were fair, and like I could contribute to a win if I just tried a little harder, played a little better, or learned a little more about the game. Modern SBMM has completely removed that part of the game. Now I walk in expecting about half of my games to feel unwinnable, and the other half to be pub stomps.
Also, to address the TWAB, it’s specifically the line where they said they intend for the new SBMM system to keep players between a 40-60% win rate. That directly implies the system is going to start pushing you into matches you’re supposed to win or lose to bring that average up or down. Which is how modern games, including Infinite, have started doing it. It’s not a good system, not in the slightest.