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Valve continues to revamp matchmaking methods for Dota 2. The newest update has removed scaling MMR based on the relative skills of both teams and now defines fixed values of 30 MMR for solo games and 20 MMR for party games.
The previously introduced slow and fast queues have also been removed in favor of Ranked Classic and Ranked Roles.
Since MMRs are now separated by Core and Support MMR, playing a Ranked Classic game will cause both MMRs to go up or down depending on the result of the game.
Ranked Roles will now be locked behind a ticket system. Previously, players earned fast queue games by selecting every role to fill in-demand roles. Now, players will earn four Ranked Roles games when they select all the positions and will be eligible to play Ranked Roles if they tick the two support boxes.
So far, community reception has been lukewarm to the idea. The Ranked Roles game mode has been praised as one of the best additions to Dota 2‘s matchmaking, mitigating argument over positions in-game and role abuse. While it wasn’t a perfect solution, fans have remained positive about the continued existence of Ranked Roles.
Due to the affixed value for MMR, high-ranked players might be earning more MMR than they should be. There appears to be no changes to the matchmaking algorithm, meaning that high-ranked players and parties could be earning a lot more points than they used to under the old system. It’s unclear whether this will cause artificial inflation or balance out because of the equivalent losses.
The matchmaking updates are still rolling in and Valve doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Expect even more upgrades to come while Valve tries to figure out the best way to handle the system.
