Autobalance

[knightfeng]

Can we please remove the restrictions on autobalance. Most games just degenerate into a stack vs. random pubs, with autobalance we can at least get a half decent game going. The only reason why autobalance is not filling up is because of the ELO restriction. It wouldn't hurt to remove the restriction to see if auto-bal games fill.

[JunZzi]

Its definitely a good suggestion, which game are you referring to?

The reason why AutoBal has a ELO restriction is so new accounts don't effect the Balancing.

[knightfeng]

I was specifically referring to DotA. It seems there have been quite a few posts in the archive sections that have asked for the autobalance restrictions to be removed in order to encourage more balanced games. If I recall correctly, prior to the restrictions autobalanced games filled faster than normal apem or ap games.

Furthermore, I understand that new accounts that participate in autobalanced games and thus making it not truly balanced. Of course autobalanced is not without its faults, but nonetheless it's an attempt to have games that are usually less one sided without the constant !scores spam and shuffling to players with higher ELO. I think most people who want fun games and good match ups wouldn't mind the occasional smurfing that ruins the balance

[iightfyre]

(Just FYI - Dota A-Bal games do not have an ELO restriction. They have a 10 win restriction.)

My experience with the LTD A-BAL bot is that it tends to fill with 90% awful players. That is why I stopped playing it.

A change in the restriction could be a good thing - but I wouldn't expect good players to go play on those bots so I doubt it would solve your dilemma.

PS -

The bots aren't being used at all with the restrictions in place:

Bot ID Games in last week Last gamename
66 0 [ENT] DotA sdem A-BAL us/ca #1
68 0 [ENT] DotA ap AUTOBAL us/ca #1
69 0 [ENT] DotA apem A-BAL us/ca #1
93 0 [ENT] DotA apem A-BAL euro #1

So.. removing the restrictions wouldn't really have any negative effects at all imo.

[knightfeng]

Ye, I realized while testing out the restrictions that it was a 10 win restriction and not an ELO restriction. Nonetheless, win restrictions still prevent games from filling up just because not everyone plays on ENT all the time or change accounts often.

Even though your experience with autobalanced games is anecdotal, I don't disagree that a lot of games fill with awful players. I never made the claim that autobalanced games would improve the quality of the players. I was merely stating that having awful players on both teams as opposed to having only awful players on one team makes the matchups more balanced and fun instead of 13 minute stomp fests. Hence, I think autobalanced games improve the quality of the balance (it's not that unattainable given that the idea of stacking implies there is no balance).

The current system caters mainly to people who derive enjoyment from stacking. All I am asking for is to remove the restrictions from autobalanced, be it ELO or wins, and see if they naturally fill up. People who enjoy stacking can still continue to play stacked games, while those who want somewhat balanced games can do so too.

[nabo.]

Autobals dont fill anymore due to declining player base not due to its win restriction. i guess we could remove restriction seeing how unpopular it is now.

I doubt itll fill like how it used to though.

[knightfeng]

@Nabo

You have raised this point before, but I'm not convinced that with a declined player base people would choose stacked games as opposed to autobalanced games. Furthermore, the win restriction seems quite trivial now that I realize it is only 10 wins. If you are playing DotA 1 it's highly likely that you have had at least 10 wins in your dota career and thus the only thing preventing you from joining an autobalanced game is due to switching accounts. But all I'm asking for is what you have suggested, let's just remove the restriction and see how it goes.

[Kougetsu]

I strongly second this suggestion,

especially in the [ENT] DotA ap euro # (ENT91) games, every (really, i mean it, EVERY!) player uses !sd XXX or !Score(s) on every damn player.

I only know of ONE higher ELO player who doesn't switch the team to play in the team with high(er) ELO players, just to keep the game interesting. Other players either switch the team or leave, if the better team is full.

It's ridiculous how every game ends in a high(er) ELO team farming up their stats, against the other team. That's why I've reduced my daily DotA needs on ENT to about 2 games.

An implemented A-Bal would force those ELO stackers to either stay and finally have a decent match or leave and play on another bot, hence making there stats go to waste. They can't just leave and wait for the next game, just because they can't be in the high(er) ELO team, because the next game, and every following game, would A-Bal itself again.