Overwatch Ranked: How, Why, and Cheater Issues

I would recommend fast forwarding the speed of the video to 1.25 or 1.5 speed since I am speaking slowly lol
This is a full video breaking down the history of ranked, how the system seems to work, and what is happening between MMR and SR in matches. Hope this clears up why your games are feeling so bad!
Video on Cheaters: • Cheaters in Overwatch:...

[@KKJazz]

I really like this discussion, I always think about it. But my first question is, how do you know that overwatch wants a standard distribution? Did the devs say that at some point?

[@aiongaming8916]

The devs have never explicitly stated how exactly the ranked system operates, outside of small clips about MMR, SR, and the fact that most players fall in gold and platinum (giving us a middle point for a peak). The biggest insight to ever occur was when Overwatch 2 released and the first players (regardless of past ranks in Overwatch 1) were being placed in gold and platinum. Stylosa a peak 3800dps player (equivalent to M3) from Overwatch 1 had placed gold 1 in the first week of Overwatch ua-cam.com/video/qALgp7wlcdI/v-deo.htmlsi=xYNetYl-en4aNcit (hopefully that link works lol).
My understanding is that OW2 did not have the same calibration period upon launch that OW1 had (about a month), and with the player base having shrunk dramatically between the two launches, the system was trying to recalibrate the average player with the current ones that were ranking in that first week (many streamers and longterm players). This forced a statement from bliz developers essentially saying that players placing after week two should have a more accurate placement. Thats also partly the reason why they boosted people in season 3 to help match with their mmr (my interpretation)
Ultimately, the actual percentages are something only blizzard has, and the current player base fluctuations would make a true standard distribution impossible. But the evidence indicates that the match maker was setup in a way to initially force players to the middle and let them separate over time. I would bet that when ranked first released in June of 2016 that the MMR estimated rankings across millions would have been very close to a standard distribution. Nowadays, I would imagine it’s much more flattened across silver to diamond, with a softer bell curve. This video was meant to illustrate a point I was making to some friends who wanted a visual ❤️ hope that helps