Rift matchmaking, fellow players please share some data

[Lulero]

DISCLAIMER:
This thread is NOT the place to discuss how fair/enjoyable the algorithm is. It's just about gathering data.

REQUEST:
Post in this thread your rift data:

• Sum of your top 20 fighters FS (be as accurate as possible).
• Your current rift rating and tier (i.e. G4, G3, G2, D3, etc...).
• Your highest rift rating and tier.
• Do you feel like your are matched with collection strength or not?
• Other facts that you think to be relevant.

That's it. As for me:

• Top 20 fighters FS: 190k
• Current rift rating 1956, D3
• That's my best ever
• Facing similar collection strength
• Very long time wait, up to 4h constantly searching

You can safely ignore what follows.

"Ok, but why?"

3.2 changed the way matchmaking works by factoring collection strength.
Additional info came on Discord: collection strength is the sum of your top 20 FS (regardless if you use those fighters or not).

3.3 added a threshold (higher Diamond tiers) where collection strength is supposely not a factor anymore.
HV staff are relunctant to be more specific, saying they want to see how players feel about it.

Personal observations:
I started the game at 3.2 release. Since then I climbed in rifts and I'm now D3, past 1950 rating.
I have yet to be matched against someone with a collection strength much higher than me.
However, I've been matched with a D2 with similar collection who was at 2000 rating (2013 after our match).
My roster and collection strength history can be found here.

Observation from Discord:
Multiple players who never went past 1800, let alone reach diamond tier, don't seem to be matched with collection strength anymore.

What this seems to hint is that the threshold is not about league or rift rating but about collection strength.
I.e. if you get past, say 200k collection strength, then you can be matched against anyone who's past 200k too.
By the way, 200k is not an entirely arbitrary number. My top 20 FS is around 190k now and @TraiP, who seems to be slightly higher than me, claim to be matched with players way above his league for 2 weeks now.

This is only a guess though. For confirmation, there is a need for more data and hence why this very post.
Again, this is not the place to discuss how good/bad the current situation is.

Closing notes: "So, why exactly?":

• From my observations up to now, the wording from the patch notes might be misleading.
• Knowledge is power. Doesn't mean I want to abuse potential findings, if I did I would not be doing this publicly.
• If my guess is right, then I have plenty of thoughts to share on the matter and, if no-one did before me, I'll start a follow-up thread to discuss the result.
  
• A form of feedback to HV staff that might or not be needed.

Relevant quotes for reference:

From an answer to someone asking about the change to matchmaking in 3.3 patch notes thread:

Going to keep this one intentionally vague for now to see how players feel when experiencing the changes. Don't want to plant seeds before everyone gets their hands on it!

From 3.3 patch notes:

MATCHMAKING CHANGES

Previously, Rift Rating was the only metric used to match two players together. In 3.2, your collection strength will now be factored into the matchmaking algorithm.

• You shouldn't be matched with anyone that has a wildly different collection strength than your own. Battles should be at least competitive, and you can hopefully clear most or all of your opponent's base for Rift Coins even if you're the underdog.

• You may sometimes match with players way outside of your Rift Rating. This is because the matchmaker found your collections to be competitive, so there's no reason to be alarmed. These types of matches should be less common as time progresses.

• As a result, you may end up waiting a little bit longer for a fair match. We'll be keeping a close eye on this.

From 3.2 patch notes:

MATCHMAKING
In 3.2, matchmaking changes were introduced to ensure players weren't matched up against players with a collection that is significantly stronger than their own. Generally speaking, our data suggests that this has been successful in the lower Rift Rating ranges of around 1000 ~ 1750 Rift Rating.

That said, we're turning our attention towards an issue in 3.2 where you can't match with players far beyond your Collection strength, making it possible to hold a very high Rift Rating (ex: 2100) and continue to climb without ever facing off against players that are at the exact same Rift Rating.

In 3.3 once you climb high enough up the ladder (e.g. higher Diamond tiers), your collection strength will not be factored into matchmaking. If you want to be the best, you have to fight the best - and win. If you're in a Diamond Tier Rift Rating, and you're not a Diamond Tier player (in terms of skill, or your collection), then be prepared for some seriously tough battles!

 

[BallotBoxer]

Top 20 total: 209k FS
Current Rift Rank: 1482 Silver 1
Highest Rift Rank: 1800-something Gold 1
Matched strength? Yes. Most battles are close, within a few hundred points. Too much emphasis is placed on winning a match with a blockbuster. If you choose survival (win the fight!) over style (hold out for a BB) it will ultimately cost you in the overall battle.
Other facts? Red Rift tickets are a joke. Who would go into the Rift more than they have to?
Top 20 insight: #1 = 20.2k Primed Parasoul (diamond), #20 = 7.3k Parasite Weave Filia (gold)

I've been playing the Rifts since the beginning, every week getting my quota of 7/7 (now 5/5) battles. It has been a slow slide into Silver. Weigh a week's battles on a scale and it will be almost even, but tipping towards losses. I refuse to use catalysts I think are cheap and not fun. Catalyst variety grading should be a thing. So many rifts I've seen where they use Armor Rating, Blockbusted, and Frost Armor on every node.

Now that we can see the Rift pyramid data, it is interesting to see how the Gold 1 tier doesn't exist anymore. Top 200 get ushered into D4 and up, so G1 is effectively empty. The pyramid is a jewel-encrusted narrow spike hovering over pile of crumbling bricks and mud.

 

[Dusty00]

This is a very well organized and objective post that will hopefully provide useful, constructive feedback to the Devs. Thanks for taking the time to set this up!

Top 20 total: 399.5k

Current Rift Rank: 2015 Diamond 2

Highest Rift Rank: 2119 Diamond 1

Matched Strength? No. I fall in the category of low collection strength & high rift scores. Since collection strength does not affect D1/2, I get matched with anywhere between Top3 and Gold2 players with similar collection. There are a handful of Gold 2s with way over 400k FS with their top 20.

Other facts: Highest win streak was 12/14 for the week when 3.2 first came out. Since 3.3 about half of my matches are against D1 and top 3 players which I lose to. I stopped doing 14 matches a week a while ago and just do the minimum 5 a week. If I play more than the minimum then I usually can place in D1. Otherwise I am happy being in D2 as it's less stress and time required.

I do not have a single lv60 diamond. My highest is lv59, and I have 27 diamonds all within lv45-lv55, a few that are lower. I find that lv45 is when it's not impossible to take out lv60s. If anything, Moves are definitely more important than character level and catalysts.

As @BallotBoxer mentioned, I have noticed that G1 has disappeared for the past 2 weeks and that is quite concerning. If you trace back to my earlier posts in the general rift battle thread, my thoughts had always been that we need a much larger player base in order for match making to work as intended. With only 4,000 players total playing rift... it's difficult to enjoy a diverse game mode. You can almost always never get matched unless you play at a certain time frame of the day.

 

[TraiP]

My current data:

• Total FS : ~209(round up to second decimal point) FS
• Highest RR ~1700 ,G3( mid-season)
• Rift rating(today): 1599, G3

In last 10 battles I personally consider same strength battles :

• 3/10

In overall (since 2.9 up until now,excluding last two weeks.)

• 5-6/7(before the decrease in min days)
• 4/5

and

• 3/5 in some seasons

My general thought is that you can't describe/determine a distribution of numbers solely by their total sum, in this discrete set of FS the algorithm should take in consideration the peaks(maxFS) of mentioned set.Having "tighter" limits will also decrease the "unbalance" a set of catalysts can create.

PS: My assumption for a match to be same strength is approximately at most 10-15% stronger than me (since i i mostly fight lvl68+ except the last one ,today, which was unbalanced in my favor)

 

[Luke]

Now that we can see the Rift pyramid data, it is interesting to see how the Gold 1 tier doesn't exist anymore. Top 200 get ushered into D4 and up, so G1 is effectively empty.

wait a hot second. thats...top 200=5% so we have 4k rift players. worldwide. spread over whatever number of time zones. oh la la.

 

[Blimeylimey]

Current information:
Sum of top 20: 435.7
Current rift rating/tier: 2067/D1
Highest rift rating/tier: 2103/D1
Feel matched by strength?: 3.2 yes, 3.3 no
Other information: I have never had difficulty finding matches. During 3.2 I won 42 of 71 battles and never placed in D1. Currently on 3.3 I’ve won 39 of 50 battles and stayed in D1 every week. Current highest fight score card is 24.5 Summer Salt, #20 is 18.8 Xenomorph. 3 of my top 20 are not used on offense or defense in rifts (furry fury, overclocked, Wulfsbane).