happy to have had the opportunity to work with the guys over at thetechieteam.co.uk for getting my PC tuned and helping me collect the content for this video! #gifted
It's worth having the conversation, without sbmm in place, the lobby would never be players with 0.1-0.5kd, it would be on a wide variety and alot fairer, it's a system in place for no reason, that needs parameters to fix problems it itself creates. Part of the game was getting destroyed playing the better players and trying to recreate what you'd seen them do to you in the killcams 😔 maybe leave sbmm in place for ranked, and casual playlists prioritise connection 🙏
@TheTacticalBrit I'm curious what would happen if this test were to be performed with a "low stat" player joining a "high stat" player. How much does the "algorithm" control? With the 2 boxing method, it seems like the overall connection is better, almost like the "algorithm" completely ignores whatever the stats may be of the joining account. Good players are gonna be good no matter what, but sometimes it feels like the game decides a lot of the outcomes and manipulates the connection to make said outcome a reality.
i think we have to remember that these kind of lobbies is NOT what happens or what happened when sbmm was largely nonexistent in the older cods. These lobbies arent average players. They are the bottom of the bottom, super bad at the game. The great players, the good players, the bad players, and the inbetween players. The majority is the inbetween and both the bad and great players are anomalies on the spectrum. To anyone reading this, recognize that 2 boxing lobbies like this is NOT indicative of what would occur without sbmm.
exactly. nothing beats organic lobbies and this is what the new generation of cod players never experienced. People believe that those who don't like sbmm just want bot lobbies .
So true. I think people just want to have random lobbies. Even players who consider themselves to be very good, who in some lobbies will get smashed and some lobbies will smash. Then the majority of lobbies will be a mixed bag where they have an average game. Don't want to play bots every game, but don't want to play against 6 sweats either. Just want random.
Nah there are legit bot lobbies like I ended up in one the entire team agreed to not kill the enemy team after realizing how bad they were and we could not only run around them but they'd miss shots at less then 10ft which is impossible unless you don't have thumbs.
Remember you would load up Modern Warfare 2 (2009) - Within 1 minute of the game loading up you were searching for a game. After 10 seconds you found a lobby full of people who are local to your connection. You make friends with people who live in the same areas as you who you're still friends with to this day. Whenever a game would finish - you stayed in the same lobby with the same people that you just had an enjoyable match with. Bulletproof system yet it's been exchanged for this horrible algorithmic BS system to "engage" you to play as long as possible. Manipulation of the consumer is what is occurring. But I'll never forget 2009.
@@deejeh9494 you hit the nail on the head, and it’s honestly pretty straightforward. Activision's patents ensure “protected” lobbies-for example, for disabled players and absolute beginners. These groups are meant to be off-limits for anyone who would exploit them, which is why “two-boxing” (smurfing) and trashing these players is especially low. Beyond that, they have separate brackets, mostly filled with regular casuals. Then there are just a few reserved for the more skilled, sweatier players. Now, think about it: how many sweats are there compared to casual players? Very few. The sheer number of casuals would make for the kind of authentic lobbies we all loved back in the day. But now, those casual players are shielded from players like me. Sure, I know I’m skilled-but not exactly a “sweat.” I can casually get nukes in MW2; I just don’t need to strain to make it happen. But because my stats are solid, I’m permanently assigned to these sweaty brackets, with zero chance of escape. Activision’s goal is clear: create a safe space for the “casuals of the casuals.” They don’t want these players feeling outmatched or under-skilled-heaven forbid someone feel less skilled in 2024, because that’s just “discriminatory.” Why should someone who’s invested years in the series and developed skills have any edge over a newcomer, right? Skilled casuals like me end up lumped with the sweats, where we’re stuck for good. It’s all about catering to the masses and making sure the majority of casual players have fun, while the skilled players? We’re in gaming purgatory. So the irony here is not to git gud, its about being so average, you are not getting punished and can then "enjoy" the game.
Activision's system works like this: Win, lose, win, lose-rinse and repeat. They think this artificial back-and-forth keeps players hooked. But for those of us who started in COD’s golden era with MW2, did we really care about winning or losing every match? Not really. Winning was nice, sure, but the real thrill was in the grind, getting better every single day. We put in hours to improve our map routes, sharpen our accuracy, and hit our goals. After a long session, we logged off satisfied, maybe tired, but always with a sense of achievement. In those days, lobbies were random mixes of players near you with similar latency, not some concocted skill-based setup. Some were better, some were worse-it was all part of the fun. Sometimes you'd have a stellar 60-20 match, sometimes you’d go negative, and it didn't matter. The drive was always to improve. The time we invested meant something. Over months and years, you’d “master” certain guns, maps, spawns, and grind new camos. Now, all that effort and skill? Pointless, thanks to systems that handicap you on purpose. I’m fine with playing against others at my skill level-it’s the rigged latency and real-time manipulation in BO6 that’s maddening. You’re not just playing a game; you’re playing against the system itself. It’s EOMM, SBMM’s bigger, badder sibling-not matching based solely on skill stats, but constantly adjusting to “engage” you by throwing obstacles in your way mid-session. The result? The most frustrating experience imaginable. The irony of SBMM and EOMM in Call of Duty is that, while designed to enhance “fairness” and “engagement,” they often ruin the fun for veteran players. Instead of rewarding skill, the system punishes experienced players by trapping them in sweaty, exhausting lobbies, making the game feel more like a chore than a challenge. COD, once about improvement through organic competition, now insulates casuals, preventing growth while frustrating skilled players who just want a casual experience. And the biggest twist? New players now taunt veterans with “skill issue” claims, without ever having faced the true competitive grind.
I'm just tired of sweating my balls off against people in my skill bracket. Mixed lobbies are the best. You can learn against better players while still being able to actually do something.
Exactly, I want to come home and have a couple of nice games with a good KD ratio to brag about after working a 10-hour shift but then it's just like I have one good game and then for the rest of the night every game after that is me getting 0.5 KD ratios on all my matches. The latest game that I can think of where I actually had a really fun experience because of no skill-based matchmaking was X Defiant from Ubisoft. I had so much fun with that game because I didn't have to worry about logging in and constantly getting one shotted from an AR across the map
@ImmortalMachine well at this point I'm just enjoying myself with cod zombies and we'll wait and see how Warzone plays out when it gets released but other than that I'll probably just make Delta Force my main go to when they finally release that game
Exactly. It's no fun going 16-15 or whatever. I'd rather have a high kill game and then a low kill game next because of the skill of the teams I go against
I don't get why there can't be both.... ranked would basically be sbmm, then casual could just be a mixed bag. I used to play old school shooters back in the day (quake 3 / UT) and matches definitely felt more unique and memorable.
One thing that's REALLY IMPORTANT and I wish people paid attention to when talking about SBMM and K/D is the fact that recent form (K/D in the last 10 games or so) is SIGNIFICANTLY more important to SBMM than your overall "career" K/D. And by significantly more important I mean I'm pretty sure your overall K/D isn't even part of the SBMM calculations.
Right there with you. I think my K/D is 1.28 and every match feels like the COD World Championships. I’m already burnt out on the game and probably done with it.
Same. 1.4 here. Reality is we are all actually around one since assists count as kills. Just not a fun experience anymore. Most people are going about even which is how the game is designed.
We need dedicated people to tank and stay in these lobbies who only play for real when a streamer joins and just spends the whole game ruining their clips.
the problem with this is that they would just say "see guys? I get sweats as well!" and move on. The problem are the clips and general k/d that they use to advertise while hiding that these were made exploiting sbmm
SBMM shouldn’t be in casual Lobbies. My friend last night went 1-31 and kept dying repeatedly in my lobbies and couldn’t have fun. SBMM is the worst thing about CoD right now
He couldn't have fun? Well he was matched up with players around the same KD/skill level as him so maybe he just wasn't on that night. 1-31 with players around your skill level isn't expected, maybe he was sick or something during the match.
@@rorymclaughlin1609 Everybody is on the same map, it's not like playing on Babylon gives your friend a unique disadvantage. But oh well, it's a video game. Raging in video games shouldn't be what adults strive for. There's a big world out there.
Y’all have no idea what you’re talking about. You would have been paired with people on his skill level since he’s so bad at the game. It’s not going off your skill level, it’s evening the playing field. SBMM can be a little strict, but overall it’s been in COD since day 1. It’s not new, the only thing new is people’s egos and believing they should be going 35-2 every match.
@ Nah not even.. we played like 7/8 games.. the lobbies where pretty difficult. Especially for my friend. Which suck ass for them. I was doing decent. Not great. Sometimes a struggle. But don’t sit and think I’m out here thinking I’m Optic Scump and should be destroying kids. Just saying my friend had many horrible games. But 1-31 is crazy
I grew up on cod 4 there wasn't sbmm back then all you done was play till you got good you i cant count how many time i went extremely negative but after you play for a while you get better thats how it works
@@WeinerTouchyclearly don’t get it with sbmm you get good you suffer you may be good but call of duty will make sure you have 5 potatoes to carry vs a descent enemy team to guarantee your loss
@@rando6854 yeah no shit sometimes u can pop off. sometimes u are shit at the game. we arent fucking robots little jonny. doesnt mean we need to be thrown into sweats after sweats after one or two good games. what happens when i want to casually play? you dont get a say because of sbmm. use ur head will you
I run a 1.3 K/D so I’m not crazy at CoD. The issue with SBMM even at this rating it makes using off-meta weapons pretty hard to do and camo grinding. The issue is that I’m essentially playing the same match over and over and I don’t want that. Even more so if I’m just trying to mess around. Mainly I just want varianty. Keep in mind the SBMM/EOMM is super manipulative too, you’re ignoring that. Part of the issue with strong SBMM is that it in turn makes it easier to manipulate. Plus SBMM also takes into account how much you move, how you move, Score Per Minute, accuracy. Basically every statistic on your account possible.
You have a 1.3kdr because of the sbmm.. the game tries its hardest to keep your kdr as close to 1 as possible. Idk how good or bad you actually are. But theres a chance if sbmm were to be removed you could possibly a 1.5-2.0kdr. You are forced to sweat within your skill bracket forever, if you put in work to improve your skill bracket just increases and your back to likely having a 1.0kdr even tho you have actually improved. Its a frustrating system that punishes you for becoming better, but also makes you feel like improving is a pointless effort. It makes you feel like you dont improve.
@ which you’re right and that’s a big problem, I never play ranked but I get with people with Top 250 and Diamond rank emblems and player cards in the past 2 games. So that’s what I gotta go based on. My issue is it feels like the same problem over and over
@@Nil2none yes, and I feel like I’m playing the same match over and over. If I wanted that, I’d play ranked, I want variety It’s also EOMM so it’s manipulated more than that to determine when you should win or lose a match
The biggest misconception is that only the top 1% are affected and that just isn’t the case I’m barely average and get wrecked by sbmm just as much I don’t understand how anyone can defend it
Anyone who defends it must be legit trash at the game because my KD is a pathetic 1.2 yet every match is like the cod world championships Ofc exceptionally sweaty players would defend it because they get matched against the noobs for some reason despite them being clearly above most people’s pay grade in this game You see it all the time. Most players doing mid, and one or two guys on each team absolutely popping off, spamming non stop CUAV’s and UAV’s. Those are not the hallmarks of an average player, but those who manipulate SBMM because they’d get clapped if they played against their own KD
It’s not just the top 1.%…i struggled with sbmm all throughout mw2 and mw3. I used the harder lobbies aa motivation improve. If you are above average sbmm will kick your ass
Honestly, I disagree.It’s been five years since MW19 and despite player complaints, Activision’s sales keep breaking records every year. This success means they have little incentive to change, and when they do communicate about matchmaking, it feels dismissive or vague. It’s like we’re being gaslighted into thinking this is normal, but in reality, the experience for a lot of us has just gotten worse.Bottom line is,the casual player base is still much bigger,and we are being gaslighted and sacrificed.
@@TescoRoadmanyeah if you have a pathetic 1.2 KD you would feel like every game is the grand finals because you will never know what being in the grand finals feels. Perspective is a thing that you don't have to say something like that.
Sbmm should be in ranked playlists only. They need to get rid of it in casual playlists. Then we have the option to play with or without sbmm. It should literally be that simple.
@blahblahgdp yeah, I doubt it will ever change. I've already uninstalled it. If everyone else who hates sbmm as much as me did the same we might not have this issue anymore. I stopped playing cod a few weeks into MWII and didn't even bother with MWIII. I only tried bo6 on gamepass. I wish I never bothered. I was right to give up on it a couple of years ago.
@@johncapewell7520 people would hate it, I have the opinion that anything can change and that result of the change will always be undesirable from the cod community’s pov
@@merrickxit’s so funny how that’s a term because, in my experience older cods were way more engaging and I was willing to spend hours playing a single lobby with the same people
@@Historicallygamified I second this. As someone who has a 1.20 ish kdr (I'm not grate at the game) I'm just doing camps. One game I got a positive game the Next I'm getting my ass handed to me that I'm getting board
they do it for business reasons hense more money $$$....i do it because its the way it should be...and its more fun....because its the way its always been in previous og cods....sbmm is for people that have no business playing a fps shooter game....like what are u doing....get better like the rest of us...or just sit this one out....in hindsight they created something to create more money for themselves...by screwing over the fans...
I understand that 31 to make sure people can play but I was under the understanding if you want to become good at something you have to practice now for kids fell down we're not going to tell them all we're going to tell our kids to get up and do it again when I first start playing call of duty I used to get tore out the frame I was lucky if I got 10 kills and be 20 something in the negative and I still kept playing and that's why I got better
@@sweet_psycho_ My KD is about yours. I had a great game one time... Hit like 4.5KD.... Next game..... Got spawn trapped and ended up with a .2kd.... It was horrific. The other team all hit 5+kd.
@RayRayNickens honestly I feel that, I think when I started my kdr was 0.60 maybe less. I both hate and love the challenge...I love it when I'm not working because it makes me get better but when I just want to play a chilled game after work I don't want to have a constant sweat fest
This is the best CoD channel on UA-cam right now! Great topics, long enough to not contribute to TikTok brain rot, but not too long as to have good retention! Super informative, while also being very entertaining! GG, brother!
Thank you for bringing this to light. I just recently got an argument with a content creator just promoting a paid service to do exactly this. It’s just crap ruining the game for everybody. Don’t understand how it can be enjoyable to go in and just destroy a whole lobby that’s not fun for me.
There should be a protected bracket for newer players and no sbmm for everyone else. If we had a server list in game, most of us would play in our own countries to get the best ping. Or if we fancied, a server close by. I met many Day of Defeat and Battlefield friends this way. Sadly, Activision will never do it.
XDefiant did exactly that. A protected playlist with SBMM, that disappears as soon as you hit level 26, at which point there's no more SBMM. It works great.
My biggest problems with COD's matchmaking are: its not optional, and it's too manipulative. Genuinely it makes zero sense why there cant be an option to play with or without SBMM. I know they addressed that in their white papers, but their agrument was just that they felt bad players wouldnt enjoy that playlist, which is a no brainer, they can stay in their protected lobbies then. The reason why I feel that is manipulation is because the only rational reason I can see, is that they want to try and fool bad players into thinking they are way better at the game. If they had a playlist with SBMM off, and a bad player joined in and got destroyed, that bad player would now know just how much COD holds their hand.
As a long-time Call of Duty player since COD4 with a solid K/D history (2.8 in COD4, 3.6 in MW2, 3.4 in MW3, 3.2 in BO1, and 3.4 in BO2), I haven’t bought a COD game since Ghosts, which I felt was a letdown. Recently, I tried BO6 through Xbox Game Pass (I’d never pay €80 for it) and noticed my K/D dropped to 1.4. Despite maintaining my skill over the years, BO6 leaves me stressed. I miss the casual, authentic lobbies with balanced players and similar latency. I don’t want to play against algorithms that constantly adapt to my playstyle, create “optimized” lobbies, or attempt to keep me engaged at all costs. I just want a fun, mixed lobby experience, not the repetitive, artificial matchmaking that SBMM has introduced.
Has 3.0-4.0 k/d games 5 times in a row sweating my ass off. I then had 4 games in a row of 100ms+ latency with wallhackers/aimbotters. I've been shadow banned by the algorithm for playing too well. I can't play by myself because of this, I can't play with friends because they don't enjoy themselves in my lobbies. Thank you, Activision, for ruining what was once my favorite shooter.
Wait you mean Theseknivesonly getting a Nuke and holding a 2+KD isn’t legit!!! Well I never! 😂 So glad you’re exposing these frauds it’s crazy how many people are just gullible enough to believe some of these gameplays! Great work Sir I subbed!
Dude I saw that the other day and was thinking I was out of my mind. Some of my highest streaks have been knife only in previous cods but this guy almost dropping 2 nukes, during a live commentary, just seems crazy.
@ I mean he has a 2 kd right? So he should be playing against people with 1.5 - 2.5 kd roughly? My kd is 1.2 and I there’s a huge difference between the players I face and the players he faces (who all seem to have either run out of ammo or had a controller disconnect) I wouldn’t even mind if he/they were honest and just said like yeah u know it’s just easier to make content this way. But u read the comments and people are thinking it’s just a legit lobby and he’s that good! There are way better tomahawk users out there than this guy!
@frothdoff4546 he has been in the game before sbmm was even a thing... I don't think he's exploiting to that extent. What I think is the likely solution is he plays horrendous a couple games then pops off 1-2 games and the cycle repeats. That usually results in a 2 kd.
@@Boo-QuiQui sbmm has ALWAYS been a thing. It’s just been more extreme and noticeable in the latest cods. 2 boxing isn’t a new thing it’s been going on for years! Now don’t get me wrong he’s obviously very good with knives and throwing knives but if you got him in a free for all with the legit 10 best tomahawk/throwing knife players he would come last! I sound like I hate him but I assure u I don’t and I do enjoy his content but that’s just it, that’s what he’s good at, content/voiceovers! I’d just like him to be honest with his fans about he gets those gameplays!
My opinion on current state of SBMM is that if you are average or above, your experience will inherently be worse compared to older call of duties. There is no variance in the games. Want to use something else than the meta? Well, get ready to get stomped 5 matches in a row until matchmaking decides to put you in a lesser skilled lobby. Fun right? There is nothing to work towards. Usually games with SBMM contain ranks, something to works toward. Yes, games might get harder but atleast you ranked up right? In CoD however its hidden, therefore you NEVER feel like you improve because the matchmaking immediately punishes you for doing good without nothing to show for it. The fact that the CoD experience is essentially falsly advertised through youtubers and streamers makes it even worse. Atleast before you could trust the gameplay and therefore know that if you played enough you might end having yourself a good game yourself. SBMM just makes it even easier for youtubers and streamers to manipulate the matchmaking and get gameplay videoes, not to mention by having SBMM so strict the skill gap between new and veteran players becomes even wider than it used to be. I fully support having a protected bracket for new and bad players, but I think the game is trying to harshly, and at the detriment of connection also, to matchmake evenly skilled players in a game that has always been casual, creating a dull experience. I understand why its in place, but if the game is a worse experience for me personally because of it then that just means the game is not for me anymore. This is not even mentioning that if you play with a group of friends, the lower skilled ones in the group has a much worse experience. I've literally lost the ability to play with friends because of it.
Bullshit. I have 1.38E/D while camogrinding, i play on mouse and keyboard and i have a W/L ratio of about 1. I have no troubles in my lobbies while camogrinding with whatever gun i use. This is just purely a skill issue. Yes, sometimes teams are extremely poorly balanced where i get all the timmy-no-thumbs, but even then i can do just fine. I only agree with the connection issue being really annoying. I legit never connect to the closest server in stockholm, unless i play hardcore. Otherwise from finland i mainly connect to frankfurt, paris, london, dublin and so on. Especially london and dublin give me the shittiest experience at 44ms/49ms latency. Legit feels worse than a 105ms USA east coast lobby. This is of course due to the UK having awful internet ;)
@dillon_r_hansen all my NA friends play at 10-35ms latency only. Most of them are in the east coast. You might need to get better internet for yourself, open the ports and stop using wifi, connect your device with an ethernet cable.
I think it’s worth noting the skill based matchmaking can be pretty unfair to above average but not amazing players. Because the top 1% and top 0.1% make up such a small percent of the player base, they often end up in regular lobbies with above average players because there just aren’t enough players on their high level searching for a match at a given time
Good for you speaking about and being honest about how they exploit the system. Watching Shotzzy running at between 2-4 highlights how much a lot the streamers are exploiting things. Guys like mark of a hero is ridiculous claiming a nuke with every gun, 20+ kd and every camo completed. It’s really sad beating up on people who don’t know how to aim but also making money off streaming and videos.
Im placed into lobbies where 1 of 2 things happen: 1- My whole team quits 2- The enemy team quits I played about 10-15 matches yesterday and i would say 80% of those matches were outcomes not predetermined by the dopamine drip feeding EOMM and more so by people simply leaving the match.
We never had protection in the early days of CoD, just had to want to improve because the game was fun to play. Those very bad players will never improve by playing equally bad players, CoD has became an algorithm and its playing you.
I’m a casual player who tbh isn’t very good at COD. But I have game pass and currently have a broken foot. So I’m playing quite a lot of COD. The last cod I played online was MW2 on the 360. I think SBMM in theory is correct, but it’s just not there yet. Even at my painfully (probably) below average skill level if I have one “good” game and then I know the next hour is gonna be unenjoyable. I just wanna play and have fun not sweat till I wanna quit playing
I always call myself so trash at cod, but seeing this kind of lobby makes me think im actually not nearly as bad as i thought i was. As tempting as it may be to look into this strat to max out my camo grind quickly, I dont want to ruin someone's day to do it. I'm at the very least better than that.
Implement SBMM enabled up until level 54, then it’s disabled. Players can then filter into ranked, or continue playing connection based matchmaking where they can leave at their leisure if they’re getting frustrated.
The problem with SBMM that you don’t bring up is that it nearly completely eliminates the purpose of the videogame as a whole. The thing that makes video games so charming to so many people is the ability to improve. Many people like myself enjoy getting on the game on day one and getting slammed, then being able to progress and improve to be the one who is slamming people. That’s what gives video games charm, the progression. The reality with SBMM is that it completely eliminates the idea of improving, every lobby is going to feel the same. This is why I believe they actually hurt their player retention in the long term, it gets stale always feeling like you’re average.
that's not necessarily true though easy case is league of legends, you slam people at bronze and as a result you go up to silver and so on until you stop slamming them. Every LoL match feels like a struggle and not because of it you stop playing, do you? you will always struggle with the match, the goal is that you are shown you are at a better rank now, there are other ways to show skill level
@@ValyaLoona that's literally what I am saying. What I said is wrong is that then OP tries to imply that no SBMM is the ONLY way to enjoy the Game. I am trying to show there's nothing wrong with SBMM, you just want to kill a lot at the expense of people below your skill level, and it's possible to have fun playing with people of your skill.
@ I’d have to strongly disagree as a solo player. I come across way to many 2-3 stacks that organize themselves far better than the randoms on my teams.
the thing is that sbmm actively punishes players for doing better, if you have a good match its likely the match after you'll get absolutely stomped. skill progression is no longer linear, the better you play the harder matches would be.
I first got suspicious of this back in the rebooted Modern Warfare. There was a you tuber (Hero on YT) that was dropping nukes against brand new players on the regular and we were sweating it out every single game. Spent some time trying to find ways to join a bot account and found the join in progress method. We were able to consistently get into 0.1kd lobbies with our regular accounts. And when we were testing we found a lot of players were doing it. And not hiding it. You'd see an account in your lobby, then one with a similar name would join. And then obviously the first account then leaves. And what do you know, most of the accounts doing it had YT or TTV in their names. Same thing has worked in every game since. And it's 10 times easier now with family share and game pass. And the same UA-camrs are still doing it even with the spotlight now on a very old exploit. And it can be fixed so easily. All they need to do is remove the ability to join in progress. Only let players join each other in the lobby before searching. I can't see why they have left such a vulnerability in the game when they are so protective of SBMM. I can only assume it's because they know the effect it would have on a large number of content creators.
If Activision’s motives were noble, then I would agree. However the system only exists to manipulate every skill level in the game into playing longer. Sweats and ultra casuals experience is the same. So you’re a little critical of people manipulating the manipulation?
Exactly, the games manipulating the lobbies to make you play more, but it’s unethical to manipulate the matchmaking to bypass their manipulation. To much manipulation if you ask me, just let people play whoever 😂
I dont get it though how you guys are being manipulated to play more? I get sweat lobbies 2 games in a row I'm exhausted and coming off. Doesn't make me play more at all makes me play far less
SBMM rewards bad players for being bad and punishes good players for being good. So bad players will never ever learn how to get good since they will always be in a bot lobby. But also, SBMM doesn’t save bad players, it actually hurts them and holds them back
It does neither of those things. How do you imagine it does those? It puts like players with like. A .5KD player isn't being rewarded. He's just being put with players on his same sweat level.
@ if someone is bad, and gets put with other bad players, then it’s a win for them. You can’t get any worse than the worst. But if someone that is average has 1 good game, then they get put with players that aren’t, on average, their same skill level. They get put with players that on average do better than this average player in question. Not that hard to understand.
an interesting way to potentially deal with this issue is to have an opt out system for sbmm. the people who do not want to have sbmm on can opt out and only play with other players that have opted out
Such a great video. So thoughtful and insightful, and correct. Whenever I talk about sbmm, I say I get why it exists in the modern era, and it has to. The thing that bothers me, is if they are manipulating the damage and ttk, etc.
I love how when I play with my girlfriend which she is not up to my skill level I'm now considered a cheater. Keep in mind I'm not even a super crazy good player either, I have like a 1.4 kd and she has like a 0.7 but the community now considers this as 2 boxing even tho I'm just trying to chill with my gf
@chrisconel8384 I know that but because of the people who abuse the system I get reported when I do play with my girlfriend. And like I said my stats are nothing to brag about
@@overpoweredcasual2599so if that's the case instead of stomping all over them and abusing the fact your gf isn't as skilled, relax enjoy the game with your gf and play for fun instead. Maybe set yourself some challenges like pistol headshots or something.
Even if sbmm remains, it needs to be toned down. Doing this I believe will cut down on the problems of manipulation, give casuals an opportunity to play with better players a little more often and improve while not mushing them into the dirt, and make the top percent a little more happier over all.
It’s not even an “if it remains”, it will always be in cod now, they’ve made that clear. You either deal with it or you manipulate it by “two boxing” or using a VPN/GeoFence
I've never heard of a content creator asking for the removal of SBMM so that they can encounter players you're showing. All I've heard and which I agree with, is to remove the SBMM from the "non-protected layer". There is a layer at the far bottom which is meant to only matchmake between these 'ultra bad' players, not the ones above it. I don't mean this as a negative thing, those players could have handicaps, be very young or very old. The layer that we want to matchmaking to be random with, is the general playerbase. Sometimes you get a lot of good players on both teams, sometimes you get many bad ones. I don't feel like sweating every. single. game. having to pull out META guns/attachments to stay somewhat reasonable in the game. I don't mind these games occurring every now and then, but when it is every game, it drains the fun out of it. I don't disagree with having a strict SBMM (or engagement optimized matchmaking, EOMM) for the players in your video. I don't think your video is bad, it's a good subject to discuss and it's presented well, I've never watched your channel before, a thumbs up from me.
the worst thing about being in the highest bracket is that you are forced to try your ass off for nearly every game you play, which just isnt a viable option if you play every day, that kind of mental focus will drain you
My biggest problem with SBMM is that I cannot play with my friends anymore, because they refuse to play with me due to my high KD. When a couple of my friends play with each other and without me, they can perform well or relatively well, but when they play with me, they get slaughtered. It has come to the point where they straight up told me that they were not going to play with me. How the fuck is this acceptable?
@@Achiez-z same has happened to me. I’ve played less because I don’t have anyone to have fun and play with because they don’t want to be with me until ranked. Just sucks…
The thing is sbmm and engagement optimisation ai stuff doesnt only negatively affect the 1% of players cuz just like you said if your 1 kd in a 1 kd Lobby it feels Like hell and thats basically the whole Game expierience, an average ratio of 0.86 of dopamine to 1 frustration and every match is the same. You basically dont get rewarded for your progression since you wont get good Matches and cant even get streaks because the ai will take you down, seriously. Just look at gameplay of anyone really and youll see that regularly occuring „odd“ moments lead to deaths especially after feeds or on streak and then through the rest of the game everyones kd miraculously balances out
cod streamers are the worst of any kind. hyping up for no reason, fast content, dumb content and doing everything possible to stay relevant and drop killing streaks for content. this was the case for mw3 and all mw titles and its getting worse. thanks for exposing this
So glad I stumbled upon your channel. Its hard to find anything worth following nowadays and content has been focused into the popular areas. I'm really appreciative of what you got going on here and the way you communicate the information. Instant sub after 5 minutes into the first video amd now I'm going down the list tonight.
1:32 "unethical" there is nothing more unethical than modern Call Of Duty SBMM/EOMM Nothing a player can do will ever come close to how manipulative the SBMM is. Activision are the only ones doing anything unethical here and this video proves it
I been playing cod all my life starting as little as 6 years old and one of my first being MW2. I would consider myself to be above average in terms of game play and game sense always being able to compete somewhat but nowadays with the SBMM being so so harsh on players like me it’s made me go to 2boxing and with this I haven’t had this much fun jus casually playing warzone or games with the boys for a min because of 2boxing it’s made me like the cod franchise again. Wanting to come home and play the game again instead of dreading getting constantly pummeled by kids that been on the game for 8+ hours now. I have a job, go to school and balance a relationship life I don’t want to deal with wannabe faze members anymore. I got dark matter without 2boxing but since I have tried 2boxing as of recent I’m not going back until they fix the SBMM which will never happen.
As a below average player who always felt like SBMM was non-existent or not nearly as strict as everyone makes it out to be and needs to be stricter, I now wonder if my lobbies are constantly getting crashed by some asshole.
I do not trust Activision's SBMM white paper. They have every incentive to lie and they did quite a lot in that paper. SBMM did not exist since MW1, we had solely team balancing which only looked at K/D. We know for a fact connection gets worse the higher up you are on the bracket. We know for a fact that turning SBMM off would only aid in the game being better for the vast majority of players. However we know from Xdefiant that without SBMM, newer cod players won't want to play the game because they think they're way better than they actually are
SBMM existed in OG CoDs BUT here is a thing that they didnt said. SBMM was only to protect really bad players like kids with disabilities, that can't even shoot.
i’ve played older cods like og mw2 and compared to the sbmm in todays cod it’s not bad ppl just don’t wonna get better , bo6 is prolly the best cod to me in a long time. any old players trying to get into it again, feels like it’ll be a breath of fresh air. New movement is fun imo
Thank you for the info. I am an old cod player that came back for b06 and wanted to get to know some generally good basic weapon builds online and noticed the complete madness and variance of videos where some guns are either mediocrely built or just complete wrong for the type of weapon they are building, all that while dropping nukes every video.
I legitimately hate SBMM. It leads to wildly swinging match quality, where after three games of doing really well, I then end up facing entire lobbies of dark matter speedsliders who drill my face before I even register they exist...and then after three games of that, suddenly I'm in the .5 kd lobby again. Also this video explains so much...now I know how these people with the highest tier camo keep getting matched into my lobby.
I work 10 hours a day and can spare few hours to play call of duty at night but I’ve got so sick of how sweaty my lobbies are that I decided to create a new acc to just see how the lower bracket of SBMM lobbies look like and I was astonished and furious at the same time.. because in normal SBMM lobbies I have to deal with kids constantly sliding under my gun, jumping and drop shooting with god tier aiming that don’t miss single shot. But in these lobbies no one is slide canceling no one is abusing Omni movement just casual players enjoying the game with little to lethal/tacticals spamming .. i just got so mad at how activision manipulates the match making putting you in constant sweatfest lobbies if you are a bit above average player.. now I dont want to play in these lower bracket lobbies because it’s boring but I also don’t want to play in constant sweat fest lobbies. I just want random matches with bad and good players.. there has to be a middle ground. SBMM should be in game to protect players with disabilities etc but it shouldn’t be the way it is now day.. it is just extremely strict and frustrating to play in..
Bro, yes these bad players might be getting home from work or school and just want play and enjoy their 0.5 KDs. But so did we 10-15 years ago playing Blops1 and then working to get better at the game. Why should these people have it so easy and now higher skilled players are punished by being forced against other high skilled players - this is what ranked play is for. We also have work and jobs, and want to unwind, not sweat. I agree that if these are bottom of the barrel players, they should be protected, perhaps they have disabilities or genuinely just don't play video games much. But there is no point forcing 2+ K/D players against one another and trying to hide it with Elim/D ratios rather than K/D. And I'm sorry but this gameplay is just reminiscent of Blops 1 - MW3 - Blops2 pubstomping days, being able to play solo, chase red dots and go for big streaks/nukes/MOABs, I miss it.
I have seen so many people two boxing, on stream, without even hiding in. Just to get into low skill lobby, just to trash talk they opponents after, how bad they are. Like... not shit sherlock, you literally manipulated the system to get those people into your game. at least fucking have some decency and dont be toxic moron.
The issue is not that i have to play good players. The issue is that i have to sacrifice connection to connect to a lobby half way across the country. And trust me, I FEEL IT when it happens. My ping goes from 5ms to 25 - 30ms and it makes a huge difference
Its funny because people who complain about being in nothing but sweaty lobbies are only there because they sweat. They just want to be number 1 without the effort.
From the community that brought you the term 'soundwhoring' (a.k.a. using a headset and listening to ingame sounds to locate enemies) we now have creators exploiting the matchmaking system for 'content farming'. Call Of Duty has a 'creator problem'. The issue: Creators are hating on SBMM (again, like every year) and their followers are willingly joining them in the hate, not understanding that it's them that the SBMM is for. *edit: Thank you for this video. :)
funny thing is that the "hate" went so deep, that even below average evening couch gamers are hating it now, because they think they play vs "pros" because of how sweaty (aka balanced to their skill level) the games are for them without realizing how bottom of the skill level they actually are when compared to the whole community. But if suddenly SBMM didnt exists, a lot of those people would just get farmed and quit, because they would actually get good sweaty players in their games.
@@TheSceletonx i played consistenty during bo1,bo2,bo3. i was around 8-15, had less free time than I did now. I can recall playing enjoyable multiplayer games. I know im good at the game, mechanics, positioning wise, but the sbmm formula is “Play good, sweat a little bit. Next game Im matched with people who are sweating their asses off, next game is still sweating their asses off.” It’s genuinely a problem, but its simply a “i grew up with sbbmm so i dont know anything other than what ive had” vs someone whos had both. I only play zombies now, which sucks but knowing that the game is tailored with sbmm just ruins any feeling of playing multiplayer. My mind goes “If I play well, ill end up paying the price for it in 20 minutes and I dont want to be angry at a game or get into the habit of backing out.”
@@youtubehandle-u2l but you are completly overlooking the fact that everyone (well not everyone, but majority of people) were shit at the game back that. What was standard average lobby back then, is not considered absolutly worst of the worst bot lobby. As it happens with every game that is 20+y old, the playerbase grow with it and there is less and less newer players and complete noobs. And what would be considered top of the ladder skill 10 years ago, is now pretty common. We are in the age that even couch dads are meta gaming (or at least semi metagaming) because of how spread out the information about the cod is atm, and how much experience average player have over the years. You can see it even with Warzone, back in early 2020, warzone was full of new players, either completly new players, new players to genre, or new players to cod. Thats why many people have such a good memories of verdansks times. RIght now it is very rare to meet such peopel. Even in very low skill lobby you will have several squads meta gaming etc.
@@Triggerhappy825 No people just want organic lobbies like they used to get back in 2007 where every game wasn't a fight for your life and you weren't getting systematically punished just for playing slightly above average or in the opposite case put in complete bot lobbies just because you lost a few games or tried out a class you weren't proficient with.
@@Triggerhappy825 Back in the day, we were all bad players. But we eventually got better and we were rewarded for it. Now if you get better, you just go up the mmr ladder. You never feel that same sense of progression..
@360PATCH I agree I prefer organic lobbies I hate the mind games the game plays. I like the fact sbmm keeps me fight good player but I hate it for giving me easy or harder games when I lose or win respectively.
I think u need a better definition of casual. I consider myself a casual player of games. I have a full time job and play games for fun. But since my KD is 1.2 the game punishes me because I’m good. How about not being woke and stop protecting bad people. “Everyone gets a trophy”. If ur not good then get better. Pubs are not ranked. This is a 17 and up game if u are above that age u should be able to learn and get better. I am almost to the point of 2 boxing. Have not done it yet. But I am almost there. Protecting people that are bad is for weak minded people.
I do agree that the lowest of the lowest should be protected, especially if they’re just playing 1-2 times a week after work. But any other casual player should be playing in mixed lobbies, I didn’t learn to get good at the game by constantly playing against other terrible players, I learned by dying thousands if not millions of times and evolving from that… so while I do think SBMM is a necessary evil like you said, I think casual players (not beginners) should be getting mixed lobbies.
It’s wild man. So I have a group of friends who don’t really play call of duty (they haven’t touched any of COD since Verdansk went away) anymore but since they have game pass, they gave it a shot. They knew that I play a lot. I have a 1.8 KD and they wanted to play with me so I joined in their lobbies. Everyone was below level 10 and I wiped the floor. It was just insane. I dropped 122 kills Like I felt bad. Then they want to play search and destroy I hate the mode, but I played and I got a chopper gunner like I understand. Skill base matchmaking now, but it’s still rough when I’m playing in my own hobbies.
The issue specifically is even with a protected bracket the system would allow better players to just make a new account and pub stomp these same players which is especially easy on console. Sbmm creates the scenario where better players can and will find ways to pub stomp players under their skill level on purpose in comparison of having good and bad and average players all playing together in mixed lobbies that are then balanced into fair teams.
Like the video! Pc part that failed, RMA. While waiting on that am playing on Xbox on controller. Am slowly getting better but man do I not have playing with a controller down. To those who are really good on it, hats off to you. To then make a start on controller, starting of really bad & have lobbies where people bypass SBMM though just isn't great. It actually got frustrating at first. Getting shat on just isn't great for learning either. There needs to be a challenge but not like that.
It’s also important to understand that the reason I’m top 0% is because of the old organic matchmaking that urged me to get better… Now with SBMM, you can be bottom 10% and think you’re really good at the game when you have no idea what a skilled lobby looks like We need new players to experience the urge to get better and the satisfaction and dopamine rushes that come along with it
thanks a lot for this video, finally somebody is saying something. i felt similar recently, and as a average player i do think sbmm in some ways is actually more benefiting players like me than detrimental. i dont wanna get stomped by the 1%. and big yt's always complaining doesnt help at all the major playerbase as they are protected from them aka the youtubers and stompers.
TheTacticalBrit - some questions, to flesh out my point 1) is it possible for players to choose game lobbies that have SBMM turned off? These players going in, know what will befall them as they are aware in advance. 2) Does SBMM have memory? Yes, you may be placed in a 0.75 lobby, but you're playing like a 1.1. have higher tier guns and perks, and your sustained rate of play is at a higher level than you lobby, rather than a small burst of excellence. So if SBMM has memory while you play, exceeding the average for this lobby may get you ejected from it, and the SBMM for your account will lean towards tougher matches (or lesser matches respectfully) Also if SBMM has memory, and has a record of the higher tier matches you have played etc this becomes your account's "experience rather than simply a number on file when you crank up a game 3) is the process to fudge the SBMM system widely known, or is it something only the upper tier players know (like a secret handshake) 4) is playing different modes capable of modifying your K/D I'll give an example: In battlefield, there were players that had 4.0 K/D's people thought they were cheating, when in fact, they were simply chopper whores. So do the different CoD game modes buff or nerf your K/D so actions like playing zombies for 72 hours straight would boost your K/D ?
The thing is what people (myself included) is not to have .5 kd twoboxed lobbies nor do they want the constant Y,Y sliding meta lobbies. What people want are lobbies of average ppl and above all put together. You can have a protected bracket for the barely able to play ppl
It’s hard to justify cods excuse for having sbmm the way it is. when they tested it, it was done in such a way that the results were pretty much guaranteed to be skewed in their favor. No one who wants to get rid of sbmm, wants to get rid of it in its entirety, we just don’t like how heavily lobbies and thus the player experience hinges on it to the point it feels like the experience is being manipulated by the game.
Ive never had an issue with the SBMM, but its the algorithm in this game is basically not using SBMM consistently, rather, it is giving you about 3-4 really bad games, and then 1 good game. There was a study done and this gave the highest player retention. That aside, i think it should just put people with simmilar K/Ds in the same game, so you also can't reverse boost for a few games. Also, where i have an issue is when SBMM starts putting you in matches with 100+ ping.
as someone who used to get nukes in every cod game i played within the first week, with my last cod being bo4 and just started back with bo6, it feels like nukes dont matter anymore. sbmm used to be a thing, but not as strong, i used to be able to be a 3.0-4.0kd player but now im at a 1.4 atm, playing against people who dont miss a single shot and 90% of the people in my lobbies seem capable of getting nukes without sbmm, but were all just mostly evenly matched bar a few games i have a 7-10kd or 0.5 0.6
Looking back when I started playing MW2 and BO1 I was very bad but seeing people with Fall camo or gold guns absolutely wrecking lobbies would make me want to get better and it was so cool seeing that. They should just take away the SBMM and keep it how it should be with a good connection to local players. I’ve been getting put into games with like 2-300 ping and it’s horrible.
OG mw2 sbmm is what I would prefer. We saw latency be the main priority and the lobbies were a mixture of good bad and in between players. The lobbies didn't disband and would reshuffle between games to find a bit of a balance. If you were running with a couple friends that were good you probably just rolled lobbies until you ran into an opposing squad, I think they should adjust for this. The priority would then be squad size -> latency -> mix of sbmm. There's also no reason why they can't pull players with less than X amount of hours and put them in a separate pool so they're either running into other new players or smurf accounts.
My Dad loves to play cod, but uses a controller and has a 0.9 k/d, and has an average of 15 kills per game, with a high of 48. I have a 2 k/d on KBM, and average 30 kills per game, with a high of 110. I went to his house and since i built his PC, i will sometimes go and make sure everything is updated like his drivers and OS, but last week i went to visit over night, and decided to run some games on his account. I played about 11-12 matches of multiplayer, and for the first 5-7 matches dropped 2 nukes, had well over 30 kills each game, and people looked as if they were just standing around and couldn't even fire a shot before i killed them. It was crazy how awful the average player in those lobbies were. After those first 7 games, the game took a massive turn. The lobbies got extremely harder out of nowhere, and now felt a ton more akin to the lobbies i have on my account. The game recognized within 5 games that my player skill was different to what normally occurred on his account, and changed the matchmaking in almost real time to match the average of those last 5-7 games i had played. My dad plays a lot, and regardless of his low k/d, his stat line is massive. With well over 5k kills and deaths, i would have to drop 50 kills a match for 100 matches in a row and die like 10 times in all of those matches to actually change his k.d. The time played or level has nothing to do with it either, as i have about the same amount of time played as him, and neither of us have max prestige. The game can recognize the speed in which you react to another person in game, the time it takes for you to kill, the gun skill and accuracy of each match, and then tailor the matchmaking experience to keep you playing against players of a similar stature in real time. This IMO pushes players out who get to good, as the game no longer becomes fun, but just insanely difficult the better you get, and if you have a good game in that regard, the next could be tailored to be harder for you as the game then recognized you did well and will reward that with more difficulty. This prevents you from getting better in a lot of ways, as your gradual growth and consistent change of pace that would normally lend to you getting better over time is stopped by the instant rework of your matchmaking, forcing you to get stomped the moment you do well. Its as if you were a high school JV basketball player, who learned a new shot technique, and scored 30 points as a guard against the opposing JV team, then the next game dropped 28pts, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists, and instead of promoting you to the varsity team, they say, "welp you had 30 point game, so for the next 4 games get ready to be starting guard for the Denver nuggets." There's no way that the student would be able to even compete, let alone preform to the same degree in that environment, and the gradual growth of skill in that regard could be immediately halted by the massive skill gap presented, no room to grow if you haven't taken the steps necessary to get to that position, even if at your current skill level you're doing well. That JV player could eventually be a part of the Nuggets in the future, but that's after gradually growing from JV, to Varsity, to College, then eventually hopefully being good enough to qualify for an NBA team or even G league. A gameplay loop like this only presents an addictive environment, allowing you to play well a few times, only to then force you to lose and chase the high of the first game where you popped off. Hopefully you play poor enough times in a row to be presented with the lower level opportunity again, then allowing you room to get better.
I’ve got no qualms about being put into competitive lobbies at this point it is what it is. I DO have a problem with the matchmaking thinking that in order to balance me being an above average solo player is to put me against teams of 3-6 of fairly good players, while I get new players/terrible ones because the algorithm averages our performance and thinks “balance!”. I can’t beat a coordinated team of 4 on my own, yet the game seems to think it’s fine? It’s just intentionally giving me losses
My only issues with SBMM in any game is how it affects performance by being implemented. When you come across lagging and shots not registering then it becomes a big problem. I’ve mostly played hardcore in any cod game I’ve bought, which isn’t many post BO2, and even there I’m regularly experiencing hit markers in this game. I did try core but when that happens it’s terrible, literally put a full mag into someone to then get deleted seemingly instantly. Actually felt post D1 Taken King PvP PTSD in this core playlist!
sbmm having broader buckets and taking significantly more input than one good game to start shifting your position would solve most issues and still give a good experience.
There should be some code added so if a player joins a party member after their lobby populated the game backs them out and requeues. Additionally they should make it so you cant join party members who are currently in a game.
happy to have had the opportunity to work with the guys over at thetechieteam.co.uk for getting my PC tuned and helping me collect the content for this video! #gifted
It's worth having the conversation, without sbmm in place, the lobby would never be players with 0.1-0.5kd, it would be on a wide variety and alot fairer, it's a system in place for no reason, that needs parameters to fix problems it itself creates. Part of the game was getting destroyed playing the better players and trying to recreate what you'd seen them do to you in the killcams 😔 maybe leave sbmm in place for ranked, and casual playlists prioritise connection 🙏
Was an absolute pleasure working with you bud!
@TheTacticalBrit I'm curious what would happen if this test were to be performed with a "low stat" player joining a "high stat" player. How much does the "algorithm" control? With the 2 boxing method, it seems like the overall connection is better, almost like the "algorithm" completely ignores whatever the stats may be of the joining account.
Good players are gonna be good no matter what, but sometimes it feels like the game decides a lot of the outcomes and manipulates the connection to make said outcome a reality.
The quickest way to bring about actual change is making the method public knowledge.
ALL you content creators ruined multiplayer gaming. Simply because you get get real jobs in the real world. To hell with you all.
i think we have to remember that these kind of lobbies is NOT what happens or what happened when sbmm was largely nonexistent in the older cods. These lobbies arent average players. They are the bottom of the bottom, super bad at the game. The great players, the good players, the bad players, and the inbetween players. The majority is the inbetween and both the bad and great players are anomalies on the spectrum. To anyone reading this, recognize that 2 boxing lobbies like this is NOT indicative of what would occur without sbmm.
exactly. nothing beats organic lobbies and this is what the new generation of cod players never experienced. People believe that those who don't like sbmm just want bot lobbies .
This will be overlooked as it always is during this discussion. 2boxing doesnt turn off SBBM, it manipulates it.
So true. I think people just want to have random lobbies. Even players who consider themselves to be very good, who in some lobbies will get smashed and some lobbies will smash. Then the majority of lobbies will be a mixed bag where they have an average game. Don't want to play bots every game, but don't want to play against 6 sweats either. Just want random.
Nah there are legit bot lobbies like I ended up in one the entire team agreed to not kill the enemy team after realizing how bad they were and we could not only run around them but they'd miss shots at less then 10ft which is impossible unless you don't have thumbs.
You don't remember Christmas noobs
You could get lobbies like this not often but it would happen
Remember you would load up Modern Warfare 2 (2009) - Within 1 minute of the game loading up you were searching for a game.
After 10 seconds you found a lobby full of people who are local to your connection.
You make friends with people who live in the same areas as you who you're still friends with to this day.
Whenever a game would finish - you stayed in the same lobby with the same people that you just had an enjoyable match with.
Bulletproof system yet it's been exchanged for this horrible algorithmic BS system to "engage" you to play as long as possible.
Manipulation of the consumer is what is occurring.
But I'll never forget 2009.
It's funny because the algorithm pushes away the fans and seems to be trying to tempt new players.
@@HashBandit haha i remember exactly that. I'd mash the A button on the multiplayer menu and get into a tdm game so fast. It was great
servers were reactivated not too long ago, it’s definitely still worth playing
@@deejeh9494 you hit the nail on the head, and it’s honestly pretty straightforward. Activision's patents ensure “protected” lobbies-for example, for disabled players and absolute beginners. These groups are meant to be off-limits for anyone who would exploit them, which is why “two-boxing” (smurfing) and trashing these players is especially low. Beyond that, they have separate brackets, mostly filled with regular casuals. Then there are just a few reserved for the more skilled, sweatier players.
Now, think about it: how many sweats are there compared to casual players? Very few. The sheer number of casuals would make for the kind of authentic lobbies we all loved back in the day. But now, those casual players are shielded from players like me. Sure, I know I’m skilled-but not exactly a “sweat.” I can casually get nukes in MW2; I just don’t need to strain to make it happen. But because my stats are solid, I’m permanently assigned to these sweaty brackets, with zero chance of escape.
Activision’s goal is clear: create a safe space for the “casuals of the casuals.” They don’t want these players feeling outmatched or under-skilled-heaven forbid someone feel less skilled in 2024, because that’s just “discriminatory.” Why should someone who’s invested years in the series and developed skills have any edge over a newcomer, right? Skilled casuals like me end up lumped with the sweats, where we’re stuck for good. It’s all about catering to the masses and making sure the majority of casual players have fun, while the skilled players? We’re in gaming purgatory.
So the irony here is not to git gud, its about being so average, you are not getting punished and can then "enjoy" the game.
Activision's system works like this: Win, lose, win, lose-rinse and repeat. They think this artificial back-and-forth keeps players hooked. But for those of us who started in COD’s golden era with MW2, did we really care about winning or losing every match? Not really. Winning was nice, sure, but the real thrill was in the grind, getting better every single day. We put in hours to improve our map routes, sharpen our accuracy, and hit our goals. After a long session, we logged off satisfied, maybe tired, but always with a sense of achievement.
In those days, lobbies were random mixes of players near you with similar latency, not some concocted skill-based setup. Some were better, some were worse-it was all part of the fun. Sometimes you'd have a stellar 60-20 match, sometimes you’d go negative, and it didn't matter. The drive was always to improve. The time we invested meant something. Over months and years, you’d “master” certain guns, maps, spawns, and grind new camos.
Now, all that effort and skill? Pointless, thanks to systems that handicap you on purpose. I’m fine with playing against others at my skill level-it’s the rigged latency and real-time manipulation in BO6 that’s maddening. You’re not just playing a game; you’re playing against the system itself. It’s EOMM, SBMM’s bigger, badder sibling-not matching based solely on skill stats, but constantly adjusting to “engage” you by throwing obstacles in your way mid-session. The result? The most frustrating experience imaginable.
The irony of SBMM and EOMM in Call of Duty is that, while designed to enhance “fairness” and “engagement,” they often ruin the fun for veteran players. Instead of rewarding skill, the system punishes experienced players by trapping them in sweaty, exhausting lobbies, making the game feel more like a chore than a challenge. COD, once about improvement through organic competition, now insulates casuals, preventing growth while frustrating skilled players who just want a casual experience. And the biggest twist? New players now taunt veterans with “skill issue” claims, without ever having faced the true competitive grind.
I'm just tired of sweating my balls off against people in my skill bracket. Mixed lobbies are the best. You can learn against better players while still being able to actually do something.
@@Farat9622 you don’t want to play people as good as you. You want to take advantage of people are just learning. What a feminine state of being bro
Exactly, I want to come home and have a couple of nice games with a good KD ratio to brag about after working a 10-hour shift but then it's just like I have one good game and then for the rest of the night every game after that is me getting 0.5 KD ratios on all my matches.
The latest game that I can think of where I actually had a really fun experience because of no skill-based matchmaking was X Defiant from Ubisoft. I had so much fun with that game because I didn't have to worry about logging in and constantly getting one shotted from an AR across the map
@@DaVizzle_Bro well go and play that then. 🤷
@ImmortalMachine well at this point I'm just enjoying myself with cod zombies and we'll wait and see how Warzone plays out when it gets released but other than that I'll probably just make Delta Force my main go to when they finally release that game
100%
As someone who has played cod for the last 16 years, I prefer the old organic lobbies that were mixed skillset as opposed to sbmm.
Exactly. It's no fun going 16-15 or whatever. I'd rather have a high kill game and then a low kill game next because of the skill of the teams I go against
just like everyone , besides ppl who barely can aim at enemys
I don't get why there can't be both.... ranked would basically be sbmm, then casual could just be a mixed bag. I used to play old school shooters back in the day (quake 3 / UT) and matches definitely felt more unique and memorable.
@Jake-yf3gv that is how it should be imo. Adding sbmm to casual playlist just makes it a ranked lobby with hidden ranks.
I disagree
One thing that's REALLY IMPORTANT and I wish people paid attention to when talking about SBMM and K/D is the fact that recent form (K/D in the last 10 games or so) is SIGNIFICANTLY more important to SBMM than your overall "career" K/D. And by significantly more important I mean I'm pretty sure your overall K/D isn't even part of the SBMM calculations.
Keeping a positive k/d is so sweaty. I have a 1.4 and it feels like work.
Right there with you. I think my K/D is 1.28 and every match feels like the COD World Championships. I’m already burnt out on the game and probably done with it.
I am 1.4 too.
😂😂😂 feel like everyone is a 12.0 KD
Same. 1.4 here. Reality is we are all actually around one since assists count as kills. Just not a fun experience anymore. Most people are going about even which is how the game is designed.
Try 2.0
We need dedicated people to tank and stay in these lobbies who only play for real when a streamer joins and just spends the whole game ruining their clips.
This would be beautiful. A white knight group protecting new and lower skill players from the cancer that is clip and content farming
You’ve just inspired me.
not gonna lie this could be good content for the one doing it
the problem with this is that they would just say "see guys? I get sweats as well!" and move on. The problem are the clips and general k/d that they use to advertise while hiding that these were made exploiting sbmm
That would be a very funny niche for someone to do as their own channel.
Headshots sure would be easier in this instead of the lobbies I play in against people trying out for Optic.
Fr fr
Me too
You know that, the dream lol
@@notperry717 same here
fr i feel like i'm in CDL top 250 everytime i jump on nuketown 24/7
SBMM shouldn’t be in casual Lobbies.
My friend last night went 1-31 and kept dying repeatedly in my lobbies and couldn’t have fun.
SBMM is the worst thing about CoD right now
He couldn't have fun? Well he was matched up with players around the same KD/skill level as him so maybe he just wasn't on that night. 1-31 with players around your skill level isn't expected, maybe he was sick or something during the match.
@
Nah it was Babylon or that map. They were pissed and haven’t played since. I honestly felt horrible about it tbh
1-31 is crazy
@@rorymclaughlin1609 Everybody is on the same map, it's not like playing on Babylon gives your friend a unique disadvantage. But oh well, it's a video game. Raging in video games shouldn't be what adults strive for. There's a big world out there.
Y’all have no idea what you’re talking about. You would have been paired with people on his skill level since he’s so bad at the game.
It’s not going off your skill level, it’s evening the playing field. SBMM can be a little strict, but overall it’s been in COD since day 1. It’s not new, the only thing new is people’s egos and believing they should be going 35-2 every match.
@
Nah not even.. we played like 7/8 games..
the lobbies where pretty difficult. Especially for my friend. Which suck ass for them. I was doing decent. Not great. Sometimes a struggle. But don’t sit and think I’m out here thinking I’m Optic Scump and should be destroying kids.
Just saying my friend had many horrible games. But 1-31 is crazy
I grew up on cod 4 there wasn't sbmm back then all you done was play till you got good you i cant count how many time i went extremely negative but after you play for a while you get better thats how it works
Same thing happens with SBMM, the difference is you now realize you aren’t as good as you think you are and you don’t like that.
@@WeinerTouchyclearly don’t get it with sbmm you get good you suffer you may be good but call of duty will make sure you have 5 potatoes to carry vs a descent enemy team to guarantee your loss
If SBMM wasn't so strict then this exploit wouldnt be so common
Exactly, this is where the point is being missed.
This. Nobody would even be doing this if it was actually fair
This. I’ve only been 2boxing the last few days because of the insanely sweaty sbmm that currently exists.
@@superjke718 You are in sweaty lobbies because you are sweaty.
@@rando6854 yeah no shit sometimes u can pop off. sometimes u are shit at the game. we arent fucking robots little jonny. doesnt mean we need to be thrown into sweats after sweats after one or two good games. what happens when i want to casually play? you dont get a say because of sbmm. use ur head will you
I run a 1.3 K/D so I’m not crazy at CoD. The issue with SBMM even at this rating it makes using off-meta weapons pretty hard to do and camo grinding.
The issue is that I’m essentially playing the same match over and over and I don’t want that. Even more so if I’m just trying to mess around. Mainly I just want varianty.
Keep in mind the SBMM/EOMM is super manipulative too, you’re ignoring that.
Part of the issue with strong SBMM is that it in turn makes it easier to manipulate.
Plus SBMM also takes into account how much you move, how you move, Score Per Minute, accuracy. Basically every statistic on your account possible.
You have a 1.3kdr because of the sbmm.. the game tries its hardest to keep your kdr as close to 1 as possible. Idk how good or bad you actually are. But theres a chance if sbmm were to be removed you could possibly a 1.5-2.0kdr. You are forced to sweat within your skill bracket forever, if you put in work to improve your skill bracket just increases and your back to likely having a 1.0kdr even tho you have actually improved. Its a frustrating system that punishes you for becoming better, but also makes you feel like improving is a pointless effort. It makes you feel like you dont improve.
@ which you’re right and that’s a big problem, I never play ranked but I get with people with Top 250 and Diamond rank emblems and player cards in the past 2 games.
So that’s what I gotta go based on. My issue is it feels like the same problem over and over
That's the point. Your supposed to be gamingvwith other gamers at your level....
@@Nil2none yes, and I feel like I’m playing the same match over and over. If I wanted that, I’d play ranked, I want variety
It’s also EOMM so it’s manipulated more than that to determine when you should win or lose a match
@@Pfish98 I don’t even understand why they have this system if they have ranked. Leave pubs random.
The biggest misconception is that only the top 1% are affected and that just isn’t the case I’m barely average and get wrecked by sbmm just as much I don’t understand how anyone can defend it
Anyone who defends it must be legit trash at the game because my KD is a pathetic 1.2 yet every match is like the cod world championships
Ofc exceptionally sweaty players would defend it because they get matched against the noobs for some reason despite them being clearly above most people’s pay grade in this game
You see it all the time. Most players doing mid, and one or two guys on each team absolutely popping off, spamming non stop CUAV’s and UAV’s. Those are not the hallmarks of an average player, but those who manipulate SBMM because they’d get clapped if they played against their own KD
It’s not just the top 1.%…i struggled with sbmm all throughout mw2 and mw3. I used the harder lobbies aa motivation improve. If you are above average sbmm will kick your ass
Honestly, I disagree.It’s been five years since MW19 and despite player complaints, Activision’s sales keep breaking records every year. This success means they have little incentive to change, and when they do communicate about matchmaking, it feels dismissive or vague. It’s like we’re being gaslighted into thinking this is normal, but in reality, the experience for a lot of us has just gotten worse.Bottom line is,the casual player base is still much bigger,and we are being gaslighted and sacrificed.
@@TescoRoadman same I’m about a 1.2 as well
@@TescoRoadmanyeah if you have a pathetic 1.2 KD you would feel like every game is the grand finals because you will never know what being in the grand finals feels. Perspective is a thing that you don't have to say something like that.
Thanks! I really enjoy your content
Love this style of vid! And you’ve made some excellent points! I just miss feeling like I’m improving in a noticeable way
Sbmm should be in ranked playlists only. They need to get rid of it in casual playlists. Then we have the option to play with or without sbmm. It should literally be that simple.
I swear we have been saying this for years, but they just dont wanna listen..
@@blahblahgdpSilly Brit wants to stay on Activisions good side. He’s pathetic.
@blahblahgdp yeah, I doubt it will ever change. I've already uninstalled it. If everyone else who hates sbmm as much as me did the same we might not have this issue anymore. I stopped playing cod a few weeks into MWII and didn't even bother with MWIII. I only tried bo6 on gamepass. I wish I never bothered. I was right to give up on it a couple of years ago.
@@johncapewell7520 people would hate it, I have the opinion that anything can change and that result of the change will always be undesirable from the cod community’s pov
@@StevenP726 only the people who are protected by sbmm would hate it. But they could just practice to get better without getting punished for it.
I don’t mind SBMM, but it shouldn’t come at a cost to connection and stability. Bullets registering on an opponent should be the same every match.
Yea I wouldn't care to fight sweats as often if my guns worked like they did in the previous matches
Okay but SBMM is merely an aspect of EOMM
@@merrickxit’s so funny how that’s a term because, in my experience older cods were way more engaging and I was willing to spend hours playing a single lobby with the same people
@@djmerc100 Sweaty lobbies with bad connections are infuriating. It doesn't help the ping display is completely fake.
I play with a 60ms latency all the time :(
SBMM has no business in casual playlists.
@@Historicallygamified I second this. As someone who has a 1.20 ish kdr (I'm not grate at the game) I'm just doing camps. One game I got a positive game the Next I'm getting my ass handed to me that I'm getting board
they do it for business reasons hense more money $$$....i do it because its the way it should be...and its more fun....because its the way its always been in previous og cods....sbmm is for people that have no business playing a fps shooter game....like what are u doing....get better like the rest of us...or just sit this one out....in hindsight they created something to create more money for themselves...by screwing over the fans...
I understand that 31 to make sure people can play but I was under the understanding if you want to become good at something you have to practice now for kids fell down we're not going to tell them all we're going to tell our kids to get up and do it again when I first start playing call of duty I used to get tore out the frame I was lucky if I got 10 kills and be 20 something in the negative and I still kept playing and that's why I got better
@@sweet_psycho_ My KD is about yours. I had a great game one time... Hit like 4.5KD.... Next game..... Got spawn trapped and ended up with a .2kd.... It was horrific. The other team all hit 5+kd.
@RayRayNickens honestly I feel that, I think when I started my kdr was 0.60 maybe less. I both hate and love the challenge...I love it when I'm not working because it makes me get better but when I just want to play a chilled game after work I don't want to have a constant sweat fest
This is the best CoD channel on UA-cam right now! Great topics, long enough to not contribute to TikTok brain rot, but not too long as to have good retention! Super informative, while also being very entertaining!
GG, brother!
Thank you for bringing this to light. I just recently got an argument with a content creator just promoting a paid service to do exactly this. It’s just crap ruining the game for everybody. Don’t understand how it can be enjoyable to go in and just destroy a whole lobby that’s not fun for me.
Just read through all the comments on this video. Makes me want to play COD even less. Two boxers justifying their existence.
There should be a protected bracket for newer players and no sbmm for everyone else. If we had a server list in game, most of us would play in our own countries to get the best ping. Or if we fancied, a server close by. I met many Day of Defeat and Battlefield friends this way. Sadly, Activision will never do it.
The protected lobbies create a fake experience and prevent the average player skill rising
We need a full time job lobby where you can only play in if you have less then 5 hours gameplay a week 😂
XDefiant did exactly that. A protected playlist with SBMM, that disappears as soon as you hit level 26, at which point there's no more SBMM. It works great.
oh so you know like how games used to do it...
I agree
My biggest problems with COD's matchmaking are: its not optional, and it's too manipulative. Genuinely it makes zero sense why there cant be an option to play with or without SBMM. I know they addressed that in their white papers, but their agrument was just that they felt bad players wouldnt enjoy that playlist, which is a no brainer, they can stay in their protected lobbies then. The reason why I feel that is manipulation is because the only rational reason I can see, is that they want to try and fool bad players into thinking they are way better at the game. If they had a playlist with SBMM off, and a bad player joined in and got destroyed, that bad player would now know just how much COD holds their hand.
I love how ranked is just sbmm but for some reason cod needs 2 ranked modes.
90 percent of the rebirth sweats been doing this for years
Yes, but not as efficiently as the method I noted
Amazing video, thank you for explaining the difference between the have and have nots when it comes to gaming.
As a long-time Call of Duty player since COD4 with a solid K/D history (2.8 in COD4, 3.6 in MW2, 3.4 in MW3, 3.2 in BO1, and 3.4 in BO2), I haven’t bought a COD game since Ghosts, which I felt was a letdown. Recently, I tried BO6 through Xbox Game Pass (I’d never pay €80 for it) and noticed my K/D dropped to 1.4.
Despite maintaining my skill over the years, BO6 leaves me stressed. I miss the casual, authentic lobbies with balanced players and similar latency. I don’t want to play against algorithms that constantly adapt to my playstyle, create “optimized” lobbies, or attempt to keep me engaged at all costs. I just want a fun, mixed lobby experience, not the repetitive, artificial matchmaking that SBMM has introduced.
@@xreve_ blud really kept track
@@TheMagicJ07 it was what made me play the game, the motivation to keep improving. And one way was my KD.
@@xreve_ I respect that
Has 3.0-4.0 k/d games 5 times in a row sweating my ass off. I then had 4 games in a row of 100ms+ latency with wallhackers/aimbotters. I've been shadow banned by the algorithm for playing too well. I can't play by myself because of this, I can't play with friends because they don't enjoy themselves in my lobbies. Thank you, Activision, for ruining what was once my favorite shooter.
@@TheJynx2011 you got spam reported for playing too well (on pc). Consoles are immune to shadowbans tho.
@basedanon420 on PC. It's awful man...
That's my biggest problem with sbmm, my friends don't play cod with me anymore because i'm a sweat and it gets lonely
Wait you mean Theseknivesonly getting a Nuke and holding a 2+KD isn’t legit!!! Well I never! 😂
So glad you’re exposing these frauds it’s crazy how many people are just gullible enough to believe some of these gameplays! Great work Sir I subbed!
@@frothdoff4546 🤣
Dude I saw that the other day and was thinking I was out of my mind. Some of my highest streaks have been knife only in previous cods but this guy almost dropping 2 nukes, during a live commentary, just seems crazy.
@ I mean he has a 2 kd right? So he should be playing against people with 1.5 - 2.5 kd roughly?
My kd is 1.2 and I there’s a huge difference between the players I face and the players he faces (who all seem to have either run out of ammo or had a controller disconnect)
I wouldn’t even mind if he/they were honest and just said like yeah u know it’s just easier to make content this way. But u read the comments and people are thinking it’s just a legit lobby and he’s that good! There are way better tomahawk users out there than this guy!
@frothdoff4546 he has been in the game before sbmm was even a thing... I don't think he's exploiting to that extent. What I think is the likely solution is he plays horrendous a couple games then pops off 1-2 games and the cycle repeats. That usually results in a 2 kd.
@@Boo-QuiQui sbmm has ALWAYS been a thing. It’s just been more extreme and noticeable in the latest cods. 2 boxing isn’t a new thing it’s been going on for years!
Now don’t get me wrong he’s obviously very good with knives and throwing knives but if you got him in a free for all with the legit 10 best tomahawk/throwing knife players he would come last!
I sound like I hate him but I assure u I don’t and I do enjoy his content but that’s just it, that’s what he’s good at, content/voiceovers! I’d just like him to be honest with his fans about he gets those gameplays!
My opinion on current state of SBMM is that if you are average or above, your experience will inherently be worse compared to older call of duties. There is no variance in the games. Want to use something else than the meta? Well, get ready to get stomped 5 matches in a row until matchmaking decides to put you in a lesser skilled lobby. Fun right? There is nothing to work towards. Usually games with SBMM contain ranks, something to works toward. Yes, games might get harder but atleast you ranked up right? In CoD however its hidden, therefore you NEVER feel like you improve because the matchmaking immediately punishes you for doing good without nothing to show for it. The fact that the CoD experience is essentially falsly advertised through youtubers and streamers makes it even worse. Atleast before you could trust the gameplay and therefore know that if you played enough you might end having yourself a good game yourself. SBMM just makes it even easier for youtubers and streamers to manipulate the matchmaking and get gameplay videoes, not to mention by having SBMM so strict the skill gap between new and veteran players becomes even wider than it used to be.
I fully support having a protected bracket for new and bad players, but I think the game is trying to harshly, and at the detriment of connection also, to matchmake evenly skilled players in a game that has always been casual, creating a dull experience. I understand why its in place, but if the game is a worse experience for me personally because of it then that just means the game is not for me anymore.
This is not even mentioning that if you play with a group of friends, the lower skilled ones in the group has a much worse experience. I've literally lost the ability to play with friends because of it.
Bullshit. I have 1.38E/D while camogrinding, i play on mouse and keyboard and i have a W/L ratio of about 1. I have no troubles in my lobbies while camogrinding with whatever gun i use. This is just purely a skill issue. Yes, sometimes teams are extremely poorly balanced where i get all the timmy-no-thumbs, but even then i can do just fine.
I only agree with the connection issue being really annoying. I legit never connect to the closest server in stockholm, unless i play hardcore. Otherwise from finland i mainly connect to frankfurt, paris, london, dublin and so on. Especially london and dublin give me the shittiest experience at 44ms/49ms latency. Legit feels worse than a 105ms USA east coast lobby. This is of course due to the UK having awful internet ;)
@@Manakuski Not sure what you are referring to as bullshit or a skill issue.
@@Manakuskiman finding anything sub 50ms ping in the states really isn’t a thing either how sad.
@dillon_r_hansen all my NA friends play at 10-35ms latency only. Most of them are in the east coast. You might need to get better internet for yourself, open the ports and stop using wifi, connect your device with an ethernet cable.
@dsfgklfdgdh not being able to use other than meta guns is bullshit. Bo6 guns are quite well balanced with their own strengths and weaknesses.
I think it’s worth noting the skill based matchmaking can be pretty unfair to above average but not amazing players. Because the top 1% and top 0.1% make up such a small percent of the player base, they often end up in regular lobbies with above average players because there just aren’t enough players on their high level searching for a match at a given time
Good for you speaking about and being honest about how they exploit the system. Watching Shotzzy running at between 2-4 highlights how much a lot the streamers are exploiting things.
Guys like mark of a hero is ridiculous claiming a nuke with every gun, 20+ kd and every camo completed. It’s really sad beating up on people who don’t know how to aim but also making money off streaming and videos.
Im placed into lobbies where 1 of 2 things happen:
1- My whole team quits
2- The enemy team quits
I played about 10-15 matches yesterday and i would say 80% of those matches were outcomes not predetermined by the dopamine drip feeding EOMM and more so by people simply leaving the match.
It’s been like that for me the past few days more than normal. Also, seems like my connection has been super laggy which is uncommon as well
We never had protection in the early days of CoD, just had to want to improve because the game was fun to play. Those very bad players will never improve by playing equally bad players, CoD has became an algorithm and its playing you.
I’m a casual player who tbh isn’t very good at COD. But I have game pass and currently have a broken foot. So I’m playing quite a lot of COD. The last cod I played online was MW2 on the 360.
I think SBMM in theory is correct, but it’s just not there yet. Even at my painfully (probably) below average skill level if I have one “good” game and then I know the next hour is gonna be unenjoyable.
I just wanna play and have fun not sweat till I wanna quit playing
I always call myself so trash at cod, but seeing this kind of lobby makes me think im actually not nearly as bad as i thought i was. As tempting as it may be to look into this strat to max out my camo grind quickly, I dont want to ruin someone's day to do it. I'm at the very least better than that.
Implement SBMM enabled up until level 54, then it’s disabled. Players can then filter into ranked, or continue playing connection based matchmaking where they can leave at their leisure if they’re getting frustrated.
The problem with SBMM that you don’t bring up is that it nearly completely eliminates the purpose of the videogame as a whole. The thing that makes video games so charming to so many people is the ability to improve. Many people like myself enjoy getting on the game on day one and getting slammed, then being able to progress and improve to be the one who is slamming people. That’s what gives video games charm, the progression. The reality with SBMM is that it completely eliminates the idea of improving, every lobby is going to feel the same. This is why I believe they actually hurt their player retention in the long term, it gets stale always feeling like you’re average.
that's not necessarily true though
easy case is league of legends, you slam people at bronze and as a result you go up to silver and so on until you stop slamming them. Every LoL match feels like a struggle and not because of it you stop playing, do you?
you will always struggle with the match, the goal is that you are shown you are at a better rank now, there are other ways to show skill level
@@alessandromorelli5866 nobody cares about MOBA games.
@@xLionsxxSmithyx No one cares about your stank ass opinion either, yet here you are.
@@alessandromorelli5866the ranks system like bronze and silver is SBMM my guy 😂😂😂😂😂😂 it’s literally the same thing
@@ValyaLoona that's literally what I am saying. What I said is wrong is that then OP tries to imply that no SBMM is the ONLY way to enjoy the Game.
I am trying to show there's nothing wrong with SBMM, you just want to kill a lot at the expense of people below your skill level, and it's possible to have fun playing with people of your skill.
K/d has become meaningless with sbmm though. Instead we should be using accuracy stats to define “skill”
@@samuelault4723 i think w/l ratio would be a better indicator.
@ I’d have to strongly disagree as a solo player. I come across way to many 2-3 stacks that organize themselves far better than the randoms on my teams.
Especially that its Elim/D now lol. Be it a kill or assist, you get 100 for ,,elim". We actually dont know our K/D anymore.. 😅
@@Dr1ftop1agood point, no more assist stat.
The game knows when you get a real kill and an assist for challenges I don’t know why they can’t just let us see it
That was ME in the first clip!!
the thing is that sbmm actively punishes players for doing better, if you have a good match its likely the match after you'll get absolutely stomped.
skill progression is no longer linear, the better you play the harder matches would be.
I first got suspicious of this back in the rebooted Modern Warfare. There was a you tuber (Hero on YT) that was dropping nukes against brand new players on the regular and we were sweating it out every single game.
Spent some time trying to find ways to join a bot account and found the join in progress method. We were able to consistently get into 0.1kd lobbies with our regular accounts. And when we were testing we found a lot of players were doing it. And not hiding it. You'd see an account in your lobby, then one with a similar name would join. And then obviously the first account then leaves. And what do you know, most of the accounts doing it had YT or TTV in their names.
Same thing has worked in every game since. And it's 10 times easier now with family share and game pass. And the same UA-camrs are still doing it even with the spotlight now on a very old exploit.
And it can be fixed so easily. All they need to do is remove the ability to join in progress. Only let players join each other in the lobby before searching. I can't see why they have left such a vulnerability in the game when they are so protective of SBMM. I can only assume it's because they know the effect it would have on a large number of content creators.
If Activision’s motives were noble, then I would agree. However the system only exists to manipulate every skill level in the game into playing longer. Sweats and ultra casuals experience is the same. So you’re a little critical of people manipulating the manipulation?
Exactly, the games manipulating the lobbies to make you play more, but it’s unethical to manipulate the matchmaking to bypass their manipulation. To much manipulation if you ask me, just let people play whoever 😂
I dont get it though how you guys are being manipulated to play more? I get sweat lobbies 2 games in a row I'm exhausted and coming off. Doesn't make me play more at all makes me play far less
@@BornSupreme28 you forgot the part to getting people to spend more money in the shop
@
Indeed I did sir
@@George-li1yv
We’re not, it’s the ones who aren’t “in the know” that are being manipulated. They assume their experience is organic…we know better
SBMM rewards bad players for being bad and punishes good players for being good. So bad players will never ever learn how to get good since they will always be in a bot lobby. But also, SBMM doesn’t save bad players, it actually hurts them and holds them back
It does neither of those things. How do you imagine it does those? It puts like players with like. A .5KD player isn't being rewarded. He's just being put with players on his same sweat level.
@ if someone is bad, and gets put with other bad players, then it’s a win for them. You can’t get any worse than the worst. But if someone that is average has 1 good game, then they get put with players that aren’t, on average, their same skill level. They get put with players that on average do better than this average player in question. Not that hard to understand.
Can we just appreciate how good the content is? For real mate, you are delivering good stuff! ❤
Always high quality, agreed.
He sucks
an interesting way to potentially deal with this issue is to have an opt out system for sbmm. the people who do not want to have sbmm on can opt out and only play with other players that have opted out
Such a great video. So thoughtful and insightful, and correct. Whenever I talk about sbmm, I say I get why it exists in the modern era, and it has to. The thing that bothers me, is if they are manipulating the damage and ttk, etc.
I love how when I play with my girlfriend which she is not up to my skill level I'm now considered a cheater. Keep in mind I'm not even a super crazy good player either, I have like a 1.4 kd and she has like a 0.7 but the community now considers this as 2 boxing even tho I'm just trying to chill with my gf
@@overpoweredcasual2599 They arent talking about you lol, they'de talking about people who make content... and purposely 2 box to make the content.
@chrisconel8384 I know that but because of the people who abuse the system I get reported when I do play with my girlfriend. And like I said my stats are nothing to brag about
@@overpoweredcasual2599so if that's the case instead of stomping all over them and abusing the fact your gf isn't as skilled, relax enjoy the game with your gf and play for fun instead. Maybe set yourself some challenges like pistol headshots or something.
@TruckerBaz10 that's the thing I don't try but I'm not gonna just sit back and not play the game that's dumb
Even if sbmm remains, it needs to be toned down. Doing this I believe will cut down on the problems of manipulation, give casuals an opportunity to play with better players a little more often and improve while not mushing them into the dirt, and make the top percent a little more happier over all.
It’s not even an “if it remains”, it will always be in cod now, they’ve made that clear. You either deal with it or you manipulate it by “two boxing” or using a VPN/GeoFence
I've never heard of a content creator asking for the removal of SBMM so that they can encounter players you're showing. All I've heard and which I agree with, is to remove the SBMM from the "non-protected layer".
There is a layer at the far bottom which is meant to only matchmake between these 'ultra bad' players, not the ones above it. I don't mean this as a negative thing, those players could have handicaps, be very young or very old.
The layer that we want to matchmaking to be random with, is the general playerbase. Sometimes you get a lot of good players on both teams, sometimes you get many bad ones.
I don't feel like sweating every. single. game. having to pull out META guns/attachments to stay somewhat reasonable in the game. I don't mind these games occurring every now and then, but when it is every game, it drains the fun out of it.
I don't disagree with having a strict SBMM (or engagement optimized matchmaking, EOMM) for the players in your video.
I don't think your video is bad, it's a good subject to discuss and it's presented well, I've never watched your channel before, a thumbs up from me.
the worst thing about being in the highest bracket is that you are forced to try your ass off for nearly every game you play, which just isnt a viable option if you play every day, that kind of mental focus will drain you
This was a great video u hit all points made tons of sense great job
My biggest problem with SBMM is that I cannot play with my friends anymore, because they refuse to play with me due to my high KD. When a couple of my friends play with each other and without me, they can perform well or relatively well, but when they play with me, they get slaughtered. It has come to the point where they straight up told me that they were not going to play with me. How the fuck is this acceptable?
@@Achiez-z EXACTLY. I'm tired of sticking out lobbies with my friends going 20-50. It's like ik I'll be having more fun if I'm in a lobby by myself.
@@Achiez-z same has happened to me. I’ve played less because I don’t have anyone to have fun and play with because they don’t want to be with me until ranked. Just sucks…
The thing is sbmm and engagement optimisation ai stuff doesnt only negatively affect the 1% of players cuz just like you said if your 1 kd in a 1 kd Lobby it feels Like hell and thats basically the whole Game expierience, an average ratio of 0.86 of dopamine to 1 frustration and every match is the same. You basically dont get rewarded for your progression since you wont get good Matches and cant even get streaks because the ai will take you down, seriously. Just look at gameplay of anyone really and youll see that regularly occuring „odd“ moments lead to deaths especially after feeds or on streak and then through the rest of the game everyones kd miraculously balances out
cod streamers are the worst of any kind. hyping up for no reason, fast content, dumb content and doing everything possible to stay relevant and drop killing streaks for content.
this was the case for mw3 and all mw titles and its getting worse. thanks for exposing this
And then they say that game is great and we should buy it 💀😆 If there wouldn't be SBMM, most of these streamers would not exist
Best channel for cod out here!
So glad I stumbled upon your channel. Its hard to find anything worth following nowadays and content has been focused into the popular areas. I'm really appreciative of what you got going on here and the way you communicate the information. Instant sub after 5 minutes into the first video amd now I'm going down the list tonight.
1:32 "unethical" there is nothing more unethical than modern Call Of Duty SBMM/EOMM Nothing a player can do will ever come close to how manipulative the SBMM is. Activision are the only ones doing anything unethical here and this video proves it
@@JustArry say it louder for the negative kd players
Anyone who defends EOMM and SBMM in pubs needs a serious brain evaluation.
Nothing more unethical 😂😂
Bruv hahahaha my man is speaking facts crazyyyyyyy activision shithole…..
I been playing cod all my life starting as little as 6 years old and one of my first being MW2. I would consider myself to be above average in terms of game play and game sense always being able to compete somewhat but nowadays with the SBMM being so so harsh on players like me it’s made me go to 2boxing and with this I haven’t had this much fun jus casually playing warzone or games with the boys for a min because of 2boxing it’s made me like the cod franchise again. Wanting to come home and play the game again instead of dreading getting constantly pummeled by kids that been on the game for 8+ hours now. I have a job, go to school and balance a relationship life I don’t want to deal with wannabe faze members anymore. I got dark matter without 2boxing but since I have tried 2boxing as of recent I’m not going back until they fix the SBMM which will never happen.
Congratulations on being part of the problem.
All I'm saying is, I've gone from a 4.06 kd in older Cods to a 1.46 KD in BLOPS6...
I've seen a few of your videos, but this one made me subscribe. I love the data and critical thinking you bring to the conversation
Thanks!
No problem!
As a below average player who always felt like SBMM was non-existent or not nearly as strict as everyone makes it out to be and needs to be stricter, I now wonder if my lobbies are constantly getting crashed by some asshole.
I do not trust Activision's SBMM white paper. They have every incentive to lie and they did quite a lot in that paper. SBMM did not exist since MW1, we had solely team balancing which only looked at K/D. We know for a fact connection gets worse the higher up you are on the bracket. We know for a fact that turning SBMM off would only aid in the game being better for the vast majority of players. However we know from Xdefiant that without SBMM, newer cod players won't want to play the game because they think they're way better than they actually are
SBMM existed in OG CoDs BUT here is a thing that they didnt said. SBMM was only to protect really bad players like kids with disabilities, that can't even shoot.
i’ve played older cods like og mw2 and compared to the sbmm in todays cod it’s not bad ppl just don’t wonna get better , bo6 is prolly the best cod to me in a long time. any old players trying to get into it again, feels like it’ll be a breath of fresh air. New movement is fun imo
Thank you for the info.
I am an old cod player that came back for b06 and wanted to get to know some generally good basic weapon builds online and noticed the complete madness and variance of videos where some guns are either mediocrely built or just complete wrong for the type of weapon they are building, all that while dropping nukes every video.
I legitimately hate SBMM. It leads to wildly swinging match quality, where after three games of doing really well, I then end up facing entire lobbies of dark matter speedsliders who drill my face before I even register they exist...and then after three games of that, suddenly I'm in the .5 kd lobby again.
Also this video explains so much...now I know how these people with the highest tier camo keep getting matched into my lobby.
I work 10 hours a day and can spare few hours to play call of duty at night but I’ve got so sick of how sweaty my lobbies are that I decided to create a new acc to just see how the lower bracket of SBMM lobbies look like and I was astonished and furious at the same time.. because in normal SBMM lobbies I have to deal with kids constantly sliding under my gun, jumping and drop shooting with god tier aiming that don’t miss single shot. But in these lobbies no one is slide canceling no one is abusing Omni movement just casual players enjoying the game with little to lethal/tacticals spamming .. i just got so mad at how activision manipulates the match making putting you in constant sweatfest lobbies if you are a bit above average player.. now I dont want to play in these lower bracket lobbies because it’s boring but I also don’t want to play in constant sweat fest lobbies. I just want random matches with bad and good players.. there has to be a middle ground. SBMM should be in game to protect players with disabilities etc but it shouldn’t be the way it is now day.. it is just extremely strict and frustrating to play in..
Stop reverse boosting
I could give a shit if the SBMM was reasonable, but it’s cranked to fuckin 11, that’s my problem,
Simple as that, well put.
Bro, yes these bad players might be getting home from work or school and just want play and enjoy their 0.5 KDs. But so did we 10-15 years ago playing Blops1 and then working to get better at the game. Why should these people have it so easy and now higher skilled players are punished by being forced against other high skilled players - this is what ranked play is for. We also have work and jobs, and want to unwind, not sweat. I agree that if these are bottom of the barrel players, they should be protected, perhaps they have disabilities or genuinely just don't play video games much. But there is no point forcing 2+ K/D players against one another and trying to hide it with Elim/D ratios rather than K/D. And I'm sorry but this gameplay is just reminiscent of Blops 1 - MW3 - Blops2 pubstomping days, being able to play solo, chase red dots and go for big streaks/nukes/MOABs, I miss it.
@@ConradWeasel98 found the guy who manipulates lobbies ^
@shifterdude I choose to play through SBMM, I just don't agree with it. Get better at the game!
@@ConradWeasel98 What's your KD? I'm sitting at 1.45 and every game is so damn sweaty. Feels like I'm playing against CDL players
@@shifterdude 2, then I got shadow banned because people spam reported me :) Game is rubbish.
@@ConradWeasel98 lmfao
Love your stuff lacky
Thank you for making this video! Very well said.
So sad. They almost all do it. Like playing against bots and flexing it.
I have seen so many people two boxing, on stream, without even hiding in. Just to get into low skill lobby, just to trash talk they opponents after, how bad they are. Like... not shit sherlock, you literally manipulated the system to get those people into your game. at least fucking have some decency and dont be toxic moron.
The issue is not that i have to play good players. The issue is that i have to sacrifice connection to connect to a lobby half way across the country. And trust me, I FEEL IT when it happens. My ping goes from 5ms to 25 - 30ms and it makes a huge difference
Hahaha 30? Try 150 here
@@alfameqeagle lol sorry for your loss
40-55😂
Yall gotta get fiber
@@BroManGuy7 allready have one. 1000/100 fibre and wired connection. Still my ping is high. Other fps games my ping is like 5-15
Its funny because people who complain about being in nothing but sweaty lobbies are only there because they sweat. They just want to be number 1 without the effort.
@@JohnnyHeracles you clearly have no idea how sbmm works please stop talking
@acev3521 all I know is im having fun as long as no one is cheating.
I like playing people around my skill level.
I just wanted to say, big fan of your presenting and speaking voice.
Thank you
Lachy is basically Jeremy Clarkson if he was a Cod content creator. As always great video. ❤
From the community that brought you the term 'soundwhoring' (a.k.a. using a headset and listening to ingame sounds to locate enemies) we now have creators exploiting the matchmaking system for 'content farming'.
Call Of Duty has a 'creator problem'. The issue: Creators are hating on SBMM (again, like every year) and their followers are willingly joining them in the hate, not understanding that it's them that the SBMM is for.
*edit: Thank you for this video. :)
@@mille_eintausend ppl will prolly just complain about how sweats ruined cod if they got rid of sbmm
funny thing is that the "hate" went so deep, that even below average evening couch gamers are hating it now, because they think they play vs "pros" because of how sweaty (aka balanced to their skill level) the games are for them without realizing how bottom of the skill level they actually are when compared to the whole community. But if suddenly SBMM didnt exists, a lot of those people would just get farmed and quit, because they would actually get good sweaty players in their games.
@@TheSceletonx i played consistenty during bo1,bo2,bo3. i was around 8-15, had less free time than I did now. I can recall playing enjoyable multiplayer games. I know im good at the game, mechanics, positioning wise, but the sbmm formula is “Play good, sweat a little bit. Next game Im matched with people who are sweating their asses off, next game is still sweating their asses off.” It’s genuinely a problem, but its simply a “i grew up with sbbmm so i dont know anything other than what ive had” vs someone whos had both. I only play zombies now, which sucks but knowing that the game is tailored with sbmm just ruins any feeling of playing multiplayer. My mind goes “If I play well, ill end up paying the price for it in 20 minutes and I dont want to be angry at a game or get into the habit of backing out.”
@@youtubehandle-u2l but you are completly overlooking the fact that everyone (well not everyone, but majority of people) were shit at the game back that. What was standard average lobby back then, is not considered absolutly worst of the worst bot lobby.
As it happens with every game that is 20+y old, the playerbase grow with it and there is less and less newer players and complete noobs. And what would be considered top of the ladder skill 10 years ago, is now pretty common.
We are in the age that even couch dads are meta gaming (or at least semi metagaming) because of how spread out the information about the cod is atm, and how much experience average player have over the years.
You can see it even with Warzone, back in early 2020, warzone was full of new players, either completly new players, new players to genre, or new players to cod. Thats why many people have such a good memories of verdansks times. RIght now it is very rare to meet such peopel. Even in very low skill lobby you will have several squads meta gaming etc.
So people just want to farm bad players that's why they hate sbmm
Or it's because SBMM punishes you for improving at the game.. The game is trying its hardest to keep you at a 1 KD and a 50% W/L..
@@aj7765No people just want to farm bad players
@@Triggerhappy825 No people just want organic lobbies like they used to get back in 2007 where every game wasn't a fight for your life and you weren't getting systematically punished just for playing slightly above average or in the opposite case put in complete bot lobbies just because you lost a few games or tried out a class you weren't proficient with.
@@Triggerhappy825 Back in the day, we were all bad players. But we eventually got better and we were rewarded for it. Now if you get better, you just go up the mmr ladder. You never feel that same sense of progression..
@360PATCH I agree I prefer organic lobbies I hate the mind games the game plays. I like the fact sbmm keeps me fight good player but I hate it for giving me easy or harder games when I lose or win respectively.
I think u need a better definition of casual. I consider myself a casual player of games. I have a full time job and play games for fun. But since my KD is 1.2 the game punishes me because I’m good. How about not being woke and stop protecting bad people. “Everyone gets a trophy”. If ur not good then get better. Pubs are not ranked. This is a 17 and up game if u are above that age u should be able to learn and get better. I am almost to the point of 2 boxing. Have not done it yet. But I am almost there. Protecting people that are bad is for weak minded people.
I do agree that the lowest of the lowest should be protected, especially if they’re just playing 1-2 times a week after work. But any other casual player should be playing in mixed lobbies, I didn’t learn to get good at the game by constantly playing against other terrible players, I learned by dying thousands if not millions of times and evolving from that… so while I do think SBMM is a necessary evil like you said, I think casual players (not beginners) should be getting mixed lobbies.
It’s wild man. So I have a group of friends who don’t really play call of duty (they haven’t touched any of COD since Verdansk went away) anymore but since they have game pass, they gave it a shot. They knew that I play a lot. I have a 1.8 KD and they wanted to play with me so I joined in their lobbies. Everyone was below level 10 and I wiped the floor. It was just insane. I dropped 122 kills Like I felt bad. Then they want to play search and destroy I hate the mode, but I played and I got a chopper gunner like I understand. Skill base matchmaking now, but it’s still rough when I’m playing in my own hobbies.
The issue specifically is even with a protected bracket the system would allow better players to just make a new account and pub stomp these same players which is especially easy on console. Sbmm creates the scenario where better players can and will find ways to pub stomp players under their skill level on purpose in comparison of having good and bad and average players all playing together in mixed lobbies that are then balanced into fair teams.
Like the video!
Pc part that failed, RMA. While waiting on that am playing on Xbox on controller. Am slowly getting better but man do I not have playing with a controller down. To those who are really good on it, hats off to you.
To then make a start on controller, starting of really bad & have lobbies where people bypass SBMM though just isn't great. It actually got frustrating at first. Getting shat on just isn't great for learning either. There needs to be a challenge but not like that.
It’s also important to understand that the reason I’m top 0% is because of the old organic matchmaking that urged me to get better… Now with SBMM, you can be bottom 10% and think you’re really good at the game when you have no idea what a skilled lobby looks like
We need new players to experience the urge to get better and the satisfaction and dopamine rushes that come along with it
thanks a lot for this video, finally somebody is saying something. i felt similar recently, and as a average player i do think sbmm in some ways is actually more benefiting players like me than detrimental. i dont wanna get stomped by the 1%. and big yt's always complaining doesnt help at all the major playerbase as they are protected from them aka the youtubers and stompers.
Another great informative video. big up the casual game play workers lol! we need all the help lol
TheTacticalBrit - some questions, to flesh out my point
1) is it possible for players to choose game lobbies that have SBMM turned off?
These players going in, know what will befall them as they are aware in advance.
2) Does SBMM have memory? Yes, you may be placed in a 0.75 lobby, but you're playing like a 1.1. have higher tier guns and perks, and your sustained rate of play is at a higher level than you lobby, rather than a small burst of excellence.
So if SBMM has memory while you play, exceeding the average for this lobby may get you ejected from it, and the SBMM for your account will lean towards tougher matches (or lesser matches respectfully)
Also if SBMM has memory, and has a record of the higher tier matches you have played etc this becomes your account's "experience rather than simply a number on file when you crank up a game
3) is the process to fudge the SBMM system widely known, or is it something only the upper tier players know (like a secret handshake)
4) is playing different modes capable of modifying your K/D
I'll give an example: In battlefield, there were players that had 4.0 K/D's people thought they were cheating, when in fact, they were simply chopper whores.
So do the different CoD game modes buff or nerf your K/D so actions like playing zombies for 72 hours straight would boost your K/D ?
I have a 1.2kd since bo6 released, haven’t played since the release of mw3 where I had a 1.49kd. My lobbies sometimes feel impossible
The thing is what people (myself included) is not to have .5 kd twoboxed lobbies nor do they want the constant Y,Y sliding meta lobbies. What people want are lobbies of average ppl and above all put together. You can have a protected bracket for the barely able to play ppl
It’s hard to justify cods excuse for having sbmm the way it is. when they tested it, it was done in such a way that the results were pretty much guaranteed to be skewed in their favor. No one who wants to get rid of sbmm, wants to get rid of it in its entirety, we just don’t like how heavily lobbies and thus the player experience hinges on it to the point it feels like the experience is being manipulated by the game.
Ive never had an issue with the SBMM, but its the algorithm in this game is basically not using SBMM consistently, rather, it is giving you about 3-4 really bad games, and then 1 good game. There was a study done and this gave the highest player retention. That aside, i think it should just put people with simmilar K/Ds in the same game, so you also can't reverse boost for a few games. Also, where i have an issue is when SBMM starts putting you in matches with 100+ ping.
Its a good thing that the expliting of this system becomes more common, otherwise they wouldnt change it.
as someone who used to get nukes in every cod game i played within the first week, with my last cod being bo4 and just started back with bo6, it feels like nukes dont matter anymore. sbmm used to be a thing, but not as strong, i used to be able to be a 3.0-4.0kd player but now im at a 1.4 atm, playing against people who dont miss a single shot and 90% of the people in my lobbies seem capable of getting nukes without sbmm, but were all just mostly evenly matched bar a few games i have a 7-10kd or 0.5 0.6
Looking back when I started playing MW2 and BO1 I was very bad but seeing people with Fall camo or gold guns absolutely wrecking lobbies would make me want to get better and it was so cool seeing that. They should just take away the SBMM and keep it how it should be with a good connection to local players. I’ve been getting put into games with like 2-300 ping and it’s horrible.
OG mw2 sbmm is what I would prefer. We saw latency be the main priority and the lobbies were a mixture of good bad and in between players. The lobbies didn't disband and would reshuffle between games to find a bit of a balance. If you were running with a couple friends that were good you probably just rolled lobbies until you ran into an opposing squad, I think they should adjust for this. The priority would then be squad size -> latency -> mix of sbmm. There's also no reason why they can't pull players with less than X amount of hours and put them in a separate pool so they're either running into other new players or smurf accounts.
My Dad loves to play cod, but uses a controller and has a 0.9 k/d, and has an average of 15 kills per game, with a high of 48. I have a 2 k/d on KBM, and average 30 kills per game, with a high of 110. I went to his house and since i built his PC, i will sometimes go and make sure everything is updated like his drivers and OS, but last week i went to visit over night, and decided to run some games on his account. I played about 11-12 matches of multiplayer, and for the first 5-7 matches dropped 2 nukes, had well over 30 kills each game, and people looked as if they were just standing around and couldn't even fire a shot before i killed them. It was crazy how awful the average player in those lobbies were. After those first 7 games, the game took a massive turn. The lobbies got extremely harder out of nowhere, and now felt a ton more akin to the lobbies i have on my account. The game recognized within 5 games that my player skill was different to what normally occurred on his account, and changed the matchmaking in almost real time to match the average of those last 5-7 games i had played.
My dad plays a lot, and regardless of his low k/d, his stat line is massive. With well over 5k kills and deaths, i would have to drop 50 kills a match for 100 matches in a row and die like 10 times in all of those matches to actually change his k.d. The time played or level has nothing to do with it either, as i have about the same amount of time played as him, and neither of us have max prestige. The game can recognize the speed in which you react to another person in game, the time it takes for you to kill, the gun skill and accuracy of each match, and then tailor the matchmaking experience to keep you playing against players of a similar stature in real time. This IMO pushes players out who get to good, as the game no longer becomes fun, but just insanely difficult the better you get, and if you have a good game in that regard, the next could be tailored to be harder for you as the game then recognized you did well and will reward that with more difficulty. This prevents you from getting better in a lot of ways, as your gradual growth and consistent change of pace that would normally lend to you getting better over time is stopped by the instant rework of your matchmaking, forcing you to get stomped the moment you do well.
Its as if you were a high school JV basketball player, who learned a new shot technique, and scored 30 points as a guard against the opposing JV team, then the next game dropped 28pts, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists, and instead of promoting you to the varsity team, they say, "welp you had 30 point game, so for the next 4 games get ready to be starting guard for the Denver nuggets." There's no way that the student would be able to even compete, let alone preform to the same degree in that environment, and the gradual growth of skill in that regard could be immediately halted by the massive skill gap presented, no room to grow if you haven't taken the steps necessary to get to that position, even if at your current skill level you're doing well. That JV player could eventually be a part of the Nuggets in the future, but that's after gradually growing from JV, to Varsity, to College, then eventually hopefully being good enough to qualify for an NBA team or even G league. A gameplay loop like this only presents an addictive environment, allowing you to play well a few times, only to then force you to lose and chase the high of the first game where you popped off. Hopefully you play poor enough times in a row to be presented with the lower level opportunity again, then allowing you room to get better.
I’ve got no qualms about being put into competitive lobbies at this point it is what it is. I DO have a problem with the matchmaking thinking that in order to balance me being an above average solo player is to put me against teams of 3-6 of fairly good players, while I get new players/terrible ones because the algorithm averages our performance and thinks “balance!”.
I can’t beat a coordinated team of 4 on my own, yet the game seems to think it’s fine? It’s just intentionally giving me losses
My only issues with SBMM in any game is how it affects performance by being implemented. When you come across lagging and shots not registering then it becomes a big problem. I’ve mostly played hardcore in any cod game I’ve bought, which isn’t many post BO2, and even there I’m regularly experiencing hit markers in this game. I did try core but when that happens it’s terrible, literally put a full mag into someone to then get deleted seemingly instantly. Actually felt post D1 Taken King PvP PTSD in this core playlist!
sbmm having broader buckets and taking significantly more input than one good game to start shifting your position would solve most issues and still give a good experience.
There should be some code added so if a player joins a party member after their lobby populated the game backs them out and requeues. Additionally they should make it so you cant join party members who are currently in a game.