The Arena S10 TrueSkill has not Reset

Games Other Halo
1

Every season previous to this one I have searched solo for about 50ish games. I go in solo and stat -Yoink!- early in the season for fun. Early in all previous seasons I have found matches quickly, without exception. This season I have not.

I have played two games this season. In both games I have been matched both with and against players who were single digit onyx last season. One out of every 200 players in Arena are top 10%+ onyx. Five out of the eight players I have played against have been inside 10% onyx. Two more were high onyx, and the last was not ranked last season (he was searching with a high onyx). The mathematical likelihood of getting matched exclusively against such players is astronomically unlikely. The essentially impossible. ([1/200]x [1/200]x[1/200]) In addition, they were not all searching together. They were searching 1s and 2s. This further decreases the likelihood of them being matched together.

In 9 previous seasons this has not happened to me a single time.

There is more to this, though. If I had searched and found two quick matches against these highly ranked players then I would have just called it bad luck. However, my time spent searching for a game made me suspicious before I had even played my first match. In previous seasons, without exception, I have been able to find matches in a matter of seconds at the very beginning of the season. This time, it took me about 10 minutes of searching both times I found a game. There were 2 other times this season that I searched for about 15 minutes to no avail. In previous seasons these long wait times have not come into play for me until I was high Onyx.

The only other explanation for the long search times would be my own internet connection or server issues. This is not the case, though. I searched other playlists and found matches quickly in each one.

It is not low population either. This season’s numbers are about the same as they have been the last two, and both of the last two seasons I have had no trouble finding matches this early.

To put the nail in the coffin, I am not the only one experiencing this. ALL of my Season 9 high Onyx friends are experiencing the unusually long search times and exclusively matching against other Season 9 high Onyx players.

The mathematical probability that all of this is a coincidence is unreal. The chances are literally less than one in a million.

343i, it would be very much appreciated if you would address this issue. You have to know what is going on. It’s frustrating enough that you have not updated Arena for 9 months even in the face of community outrage. For these things to be allowed to continue is - from a paying customer and longtime Halo fan - unacceptable. For them to continue without even being addressed is borderline criminal, not to mention bad for business. If you don’t get your act together you are going to continue losing player support and population.

Please respond.

2

Is it really a bad thing you don’t get to beat up on lesser players for 20 games? You should be happy you are getting competitive matches.

3

I get competitive matches 85 out of every 90 days in any given season. I enjoy kicking back and pooping on some uglybadkidz every now and then. Is that so wrong, I ask?.. IS THAT SO WRONG!!?

Aside from that though, the simple fact is that I am not getting what was promised me - Arena ranks that reset with the beginning of each new season. The fact that this has not been acknowledged or fixed by 343i urks me a bit, too.

4

> Is it really a bad thing you don’t get to beat up on lesser players for 20 games? You should be happy you are getting competitive matches.

As long as we’re rated accordingly- fine, whatever. I was hoping there would be a quick response about what was up but no dice. I guess I’ll find out in a couple days.

5

I have also noticed more competitive games but I question the conclusion with this:
http://www.bungie.net/stats/reach/gamestats.aspx?gameid=864121277&player=Jaymzzzz

Other team:
40% Onyx
85% Onyx
5% Gold
70% Gold

My Team:
15% Gold
15% Silver
Not Rated (0 Games played)
Not Rated (20 Games played)

Now I know that the pairing is very loose, but I’m pretty sure this is impossible if they were using previous ranks. Sure you can occasionally get a Bronze player, but not without equally high players to offset them, and never 2 no-ranks together.

I can’t explain your search times… perhaps there’s something strange going on, but if that’s the case, it’s more than just S9 ranks. Either that or it’s just a severe case of selective memory, combined with less bad players bothering to search. We may actually see a competitive season.

6

There is no way to argue against the mathematical probability of my matching up with exclusively high ranks. I looked through some of my friends games who were 1% last season. I looked at 13 games between 2 players. Every single game saw them matched up against exclusively onyx.

There is something wrong. It’s in the numbers.

This is only an assumption, but in your match I would imagine it is very likely that the no-rank players were partied with your other teammate. This may not be true, but seems likely.

The long wait times are a result of the system trying to match me with high onyx players. This has never happen in any other season. It has never even come close for me. I kept getting the thing where I’d find the same 2 or 3 teammates, and then when the game couldn’t find a match it would split us up, and the same thing would happen again. This has only ever happened to me when I’ve reached high onyx. I’ve been playing Arena hardcore since day 1. I can see what’s going on.

7

True skill not being reset for a new season? Good, it’s how it should have been from the start.

8

Further evidence: according to Halo Tracker, I have a 25% onyx despite winning just a hair over half of my games. No way I’d have this rating after a poor start any other season. But if I dropped from my rating last season, this is what you would expect.

9

The more I think about it, this is a very good thing (this is actually how I thought Arena was going to work originally).

The big question is, will player’s TrueSkills from previous seasons be taken into account when determining percentiles? If a player from last season does not play, he should not take up a slot (for example 1% Onyx) that would prevent a player who is currently playing from achieving. If that does not occur, this is a great system because it keeps players getting competitive matches, but forces them to maintain their positions by playing if they want to see those positions. Also, if someone took a break, they could still come back and get competitive matches, and not have to slog through games of lesser skilled players to regain their position.

10

Its stupid,

I’m a 1% onyx player

Today
I spent 1 hour searching as a 4 = 0 games found…
I then spent 2 hours searching in 2s = 2 games played…

So I spent 3hours trying to play arena and got 2 games…!!! and this was even on a weekend evening when the population is highest! pathetic.

Beginning of the season used to be the only time I cud get games without waiting 30mins for a game.

Now my first games of the season will take hours to find…

11

Yeah dude, wtf. I can’t believe that this isn’t a bigger issue… it’s terrible.

12

They put put in the update today and still did not reset the trueskill ranks.

Give me a break 343.

This is insulting.

13

I noticed the same trend after playing a few games, but I think it’s more due to the fact that the only people who consistently play Arena are those players in the upper echelon of onyx.

Playing single digit Onyx you see the same 50-100 people every game. Odds are you’re going to get matched against them since they’re the only real staples in the playlist.

The majority of players are “in and out” of that playlist, but a lot of high ranked players are fixtures.

However if you are right and trueskill did not reset I will be beyond disappointed…

14

Yeah, guess you were right about those guys from my earlier game just being in a party. Hadn’t thought of that but still seems strange that we would get paired against each other … though I guess Arena’s just “cool” like that sometimes.

Anyway, here’s some “visual evidence” for anyone who’s still in doubt:

30% Onyx with 9/16 games, shouldn’t be possible with Arena’s ranking. Too much too soon for too little… even if it’s the beginning of the season.

Oh and LOL @ me being ranked 58th in Arena. Guess that will change real soon but still found it amusing.

15

> 30% Onyx with 9/16 games, shouldn’t be possible with Arena’s ranking. Too much too soon for too little… even if it’s the beginning of the season.

I am now thinking it’s a cumulative score based on more than just season 9. I’ve seen players that skipped season 9 but frequented Arena and were onyx players in the past be rated very high. On the other hand, I’ve seen newer account that ranked onyx last season now be rated silver.

It seems silly. Half the population still didn’t understand the rating system before this- now it’s impossible to figure out.

16

> > 30% Onyx with 9/16 games, shouldn’t be possible with Arena’s ranking. Too much too soon for too little… even if it’s the beginning of the season.
>
> I am now thinking it’s a cumulative score based on more than just season 9. I’ve seen players that skipped season 9 but frequented Arena and were onyx players in the past be rated very high. On the other hand, I’ve seen newer account that ranked onyx last season now be rated silver.
>
> It seems silly. Half the population still didn’t understand the rating system before this- now it’s impossible to figure out.

Yeah, I’ve seen/been wondering the same thing tbh… maybe it just takes all previous seasons to determine who you match up with initially, but then bases your “new division” off of just the current season’s games?

I suppose if you’re only matching high Onyx then it would make sense to be able to get placed high with such few games.