Preferential Matchmaking Vehicles in Update 1.2

In May we shared our plans for preferential matchmaking, which were later detailed in July. We walked through how we aim to improve the vehicles themselves and current issues with the matchmaker.

It’s a very important topic, and we're pleased to share the latest information on improvements to preferential matchmaking vehicles. These tweaks and changes will make them much more competitive in both Tier VIII and IX battles. The team’s been hard at work finishing the first stage, and we’re ready to share the results.

Here's a brief overview of what’s happened to these special Premium vehicles:

Here’s a brief overview of the current situation.

The Situation

• Problem: Vehicles with preferential status are likely to get matched into dual or single-tier battles, where their status combined with combat parameters does more harm than good. In certain battles, they can’t compete with Tier IX and feel inferior against regular Tier VIII vehicles.
• Goal: Improve the experience for preferential vehicles while keeping the preferential matchmaking parameter and their unique characteristics intact.
• Solution: All-around vehicle rebalances on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis to improve their statistics combined with matchmaker rule revision. The latter is aimed at reducing instances of getting matched at the same position (top/middle/bottom) on the list for several battles in a row by fixing the current template distribution. Vehicles with the same base model, such as the WZ-111 and the WZ-111 Alpine Tiger, will get the same improvements.

The First Stage — What Has Been Done

Here are the steps we have already taken. We started with making characteristic and statistical changes to the 10 preferential matchmaking vehicles we currently have in-game to make them more competitive in same and +1 Tier battles, without making them perform better than non-preferential vehicles, as they will see +2 Tier battles.

All of this was done on the Supertest and we believe we got the desired result. In terms of combat effectiveness, these special Premium vehicles are now much closer to non-preferential matchmaking ones.

The Iterations

• First iteration: Level the preferential matchmaking vehicles with each other
• Second iteration: Choose the parameters for improving the vehicle’s characteristics on a case-by-case basis
• Third iteration: Polishing these changes

Using statistics, it’s easy to see the big things that need changing, but stats alone are not enough. We also wanted to make minor changes, however, and this is where your feedback is vital. A request to increase the number of shells the IS-6 carries, for instance, doesn’t affect its combat effectiveness but will impact gameplay and how players feel while commanding the vehicle.

Work is complete for this step but we'll continue to monitor the stats and feedback in case additional changes need to be made. Now onto the more pressing issue for these vehicles: the matchmaker.

Next Steps

After the release of 9.18, the new matchmaker was introduced (with the 3-5-7 format). Yet, this system is not efficient for preferential matchmaking vehicles: after all, they aren’t as effective against their own Tier and the Tier higher. So, what can be done?

Our initial plan is to look at ways to change the matchmaker and control distribution among all six template possibilities. We cannot improve the current system without a full rework of the architecture, however, and this is planned for the future.

We are actively disassembling the current matchmaker, making important changes, and then adding them to the new system. A complex adjustment, to be sure, and one that needs time to ensure nothing breaks!

Due to the complexity of the issue, we'll have upcoming articles on the matchmaker and the changes required. In short, it requires delving into the entire matchmaker architecture, and is much more complicated than individual vehicle changes. We understand you want as much information as possible regarding this issue, and we'll release more as soon as we can.