Another update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was released today. This might well be the most important patch of the year. The CS.MONEY blog is going to tell you why unranked matchmaking is so important.
List of changes
Before we start discussing the importance of the update, let’s list the changes introduced to the game:
- Non-Prime accounts will no longer receive experience points or post-match drop and won’t be able to earn status while playing.
- Only Prime accounts can now participate in ranked matchmaking.
- Unranked matchmaking is available for Competitive Mode, Danger Zone, and Wingman Mode;
- Prime players can play in both ranked and unranked modes.
There were a couple of other changes besides that, but we’re going to discuss those specifically mentioned above.
Prime now only paid for
Today’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive matchmaking has three problems: cheaters, burnout, and equipment. We’ve already told you how to improve player queuing in three ways. But Valve chose its own way. With a view to combat dishonest players, getting a Prime account is now only possible through payments.
The status itself appeared after the game’s transition to the F2P model. It helped separate those who bought the game from the newcomers. It’s a simple and straightforward solution: you can create a free account in just five minutes. If it wasn’t for the separation and Valve’s control, matchmaking would be chock-full of cheaters. With time, VAC and Prime were joined by VACnet and Trust Factor in the struggle against cheaters.
Now, the company has taken yet another step in that direction. Prime Status can only be bought from now on — you can’t earn it. Everyone who managed to get it or bought the game before F2P will keep the status. Again, there’s no need to buy the thing. New players will have to splurge though: to upgrade to Prime, you’ll have to pay 15 bucks.
Matchmaking & history
If you’ve played previous Counter-Strike games or, say, the first DotA, you know the automatic selection of players wasn’t always there. Namely, it was first introduced two decades ago. For a long time, matchmaking wasn’t the standard in the gaming industry.
However, its advantages are obvious. Automatic matchmaking benefits everyone. It’s easier for players to find a match, and a level playing field is way more fun. The devs benefit from this too, since it’s much easier to collect stats and issue patches when matches are standardized.
But matchmaking in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has a different ranking system. Each competitive match forces each participant to put their rank on the line. Defeat makes you lose, wins help you gain. It’s simple, but it’s exactly the ranking system that causes toxicity in the community.
Unranked play
If the odds of losing a rank lead to toxicity, the solution is self-evident. You just have to remove the influence of matchmaking on ranks. Which is exactly what Valve did. Now you can play one match in the evening and without sweating at a 16:14 score or screaming “clutch or kick.” You can just rush B with a P90 without harsh remarks from your teammates.
At least that’s what it looks like on paper. A similar trick with the division of game queuing into casual, ranked, and unranked was applied by Ubisoft in their shooter Rainbow Six: Siege. The outcome was good. Try-hards and those dreaming of esports now sweat 24/7 in ranked mode, and those who just like the competitive mode abide in unranked matches without having to spoil their own mood.
Most likely, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will witness similar developments. Over time, the community of the game will become divided, and everyone will benefit from that. That’s why today’s patch may be the most important patch of the entire year. Unranked matchmaking has the potential to fix one of the fundamental problems of player queuing — toxicity.
Valve stopped halfway through
The company has finally begun to revise the player queuing system, but these are just the first steps. Right now, matchmaking isn’t a pretty sight. There was already a division into regular competitive play and Premier. Now there’s another division. Valve needs to either get rid of Premier mode or use it as a core mode.
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And now we’re back to the technical problem again. Selecting players in competitive mode should be done on servers with a tick rate of 128. This is already the standard for third-party sites and esports. Only our favorite game is an unfortunate outlier in this regard.
The same applies to the experience system. As of today, it encourages grind rather than healthy and regular play. Valve, maybe it’s time to start rewarding players for correct and useful actions instead of penalizing them?
Today’s patch was certainly a welcome one. Debate about unranked matchmaking has been going on almost since the game’s release. Finally, the devs paied heed to the community! After all, better late than never, right?
