PVP Solo Queue Event Review

The devs tried a different approach and additionally filled a major request by introducing a test solo queue two weeks ago. How did it fare and what does the community say? We try to find out in this review!

PVP is finally being talked about again

First and foremost it’s good that the devs try to do things regarding PVP. It looked like the gamemode would eventually shake hands with the Foundry in the Fugue Plane, but apparently there’s hope. It’s baby steps anyway and one week of testing something is certainly better than nothing, although it doesn’t suddenly make PVP great again. The devs additionally announced some follow-up with another solo and possibly duo queue at some point. So there’s more to come.

An overall success

Most of the community welcomed the solo queue with open arms, because they generally expected more equal matches. One issue of the common PVP queue is the mix of premades and casual folks. Paired with an ELO system that doesn’t shy away from matching anybody in case it can’t find equal competition created the mess we have right now. A solo queue is a logical option to help here and it in case did. Through all tiers players reported better matches and more competition.

[su_quote cite=”tolkienbuff”]The solo Queue event has been a success in terms of increasing PVP activity. There seem to be a lot of people testing the waters, it’s been especially enticing to players who routinely Queue solo anyway or to players who want to dabble in PVP. This event does offer freedom from the likelihood of running into a full premade by its nature, so it at least presents the appearance of a more balanced Queue system.[/su_quote]

Especially the fact that more players tried out PVP or came back is encouraging. With a higher population a lot of issues within the matchmaking can entirely or at least partially be solved.

Pairing issues

The overall positive reception doesn’t mean however that they were no issues. Next to the usual balancing stuff a specific issue of how the matchmaking works has frequently been brought up.

[su_quote cite=”emilemo”]As far as I know matchmaking actively looks for and places together people with similar PVP prowess. It also forms a group of 5 and tries to match it to another group of 5 instead of for example, randomly putting 10 people in an instance and dividing them into teams. So naturally bis pvp players who queue at the same time have a high chance to be auto grouped in a full 5-man bis party and face off a party of undergeared guys. That is a flaw with matchmaking.[/su_quote]

This is an interesting dilemma and might not be fixable short-term. The matchmaking indeed seems to build groups of five similar players and also respects friend and guild affiliations. BIS players sync queuing more likely ended up in the same team than against each other, which is not what most had hoped for. This could actually become a big problem going forward. Now that the cat is out the bag we are probably going to see more exploitation of the mechanic. There already have been teams that were far from random and it’s going to get worse. What matchmaking obviously should do is search for ten similar players and distribute them into two equal teams.

Vote kicking

Another issue that popped up during the week of solo queue was vote kicking. Some players felt this might be exploited in a way that guilds and friends might vote kick players to get the replacement they want. That’s questionable though. Other comments we received doubted it’s viable and that the replacement is completely random. Vote kicking is a sensitive topic anyway. It’s probably needed in a format where random players (and bots) queue up together, but of course it’s bound to cause problems sometimes.

Conclusion?

I personally would label the solo queue week a success. It’s not the savior of PVP, but you could actually experience how such a queue option could vastly improve the situation. The attached Leaderboard is a single players ranking and logic demands that only single players take part. By bringing back the Neverwinter Combat League or another reward system, PVP could become more attractive again.

[su_quote cite=”etelgrin”]I think the event was most successful PvP event held in Neverwinter since Neverwinter Champions League and by doing this comparison, the rewards were the part I was missing the most from this event. While it was great at neglecting premades and allowed people with low gear score to confront similar team, not always but it did – it wasn’t rewarding which is a real pity for such great event and is something Cryptic should work on improving.[/su_quote]

The feedback on the forums has been overly positive and most players want the solo queue as permanent feature. I agree here as well, but I’d like to see another system for premades (lobby, team ranking) implemented at the same time. It takes pressure off the solo queue and fills another important need. But let’s take on step at a time and see with what the devs come up next. The future of PVP at least got a bit brighter with the event.


Next to the folks quoted in here I’d like to thank @clonkyo and our blog team for providing the opinions that were used in this article. Have anything to add? Share it in the comments below or visit the corresponding thread on our message board.

j0Shi

j0Shi plays the Neverwinter MMORPG since the open BETA in 2013 and is a regular contributor to the blog and the whole UN:Project. Originally a Guardian Fighter, he has built up ALTs of all classes and plays on BIS/near-BIS level.

4 thoughts on “PVP Solo Queue Event Review

  • September 27, 2016 at 7:58 am
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    What would stop players from removing gear then queue up for solo pvp and once in a match put BiS gear back on?

  • September 27, 2016 at 11:57 am
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    @Conan Swanson

    They could have it to where you cannot swap any of your gear as soon as you enter queue and keep it locked throughout the match until its conclusion?

  • September 27, 2016 at 5:20 pm
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    It only takes a value that stores your highest gs, so even when you haven’t your BiS gear on you you’ll play with others with your gs.

  • October 3, 2016 at 3:59 am
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    I hated it. It is no where near good enough. Sure on my pvp geared toon it went fine, but my newly level 70 got slaugtered and had no chance of getting the pvp gear to be competitive. This had so much potential but ended a complete failure and will not invite more players to play PVP

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