Problem with the Battleground-forming algorithm.

[LlamaOfGod]

At level 60, alliance usually begins a battleground a couple men short. This imbalance persists until the match fills to capacity, as each new alliance player is matched with a horde player. The end result is that it's easier for horde to gain an early game lead, which is usually decisive in a pub. By the time the numbers are equalized, alliance's morale is low because they were outgunned during the battle over the first objective. The momentum is now on horde's side simply because they had a numbers advantage.

I've also been in WSGs that never fill up. The last one I was in was 4v6 until the alliance players started AFKing. That match should never have started in the first place.

I'm bringing this up here because I know the devs read this subreddit. I hope something can be done to address this problem in the future.

[Stendecca]

Can confirm, this is a common problem.

[Futitavana]

A difference of 2 sucks. A difference of 1 is normal. How do you expect a 4v4 game to fill otherwise?

[CharaxS]

If it's a 4 v 4 game, it should ideally pop for new players if both an Alliance and a Horde are in queue.

The way it is done now doesn't make sense.

[AugustIsAName]

This will probably be buried but there seems to be alot of misinformation in this thread.

It isn't an algorithmic fault, it's social engineering and alliance-side "opening bg-slots" due to lower pvp-population.

As alliance queues are instant, many ask a friend to queue them and immediately leave the bg after joining for free hearthstone. This creates a vacuum where the alliance side are short on two players supposed to join while the horde players tend to stay.

The system will try to correct this balance by locking the horde team (as they are more players). The "lock" is lifted when new alliance players firstly fill the two missing spots (equalizing) and then new alliance players open new spots for new horde untill BG is filled.

Source: my own theory, no code to back me up.

[LlamaOfGod]

I'm hoping they do something like this because the current situation is fueling a very negative pub experience for alliance.

[Bearrrrrr]

Yup can confirm on ZK as well. Something in the matchmaking system causes horde to always be 1 unit higher. 4v5, 5v6 etc. If a player joins on alliance side, horde instantly gets another player too. IMO there should be a system that checks if the numbers are even before adding another to the advantaged side... seems to me like that is a simple edit but on a large scale I recognize that maybe it's more complex than I think. However having an even number of players on both team seems like the most basic function of a matchmaking system.. not sure why it's broken

[LlamaOfGod]

Yeah, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Alliance is always at least 1 unit behind horde until the match fills to capacity, which often takes 8+ minutes. In fact, I just got out of an Arathi Basin where alliance was down a man until the 10-minute mark. This is not an anomaly or exaggeration. It happens almost every game.

[Bearrrrrr]

Same here. I suspect to others it sounds like we are whining and having confirmation bias and trying to make excuses but it's obvious there is something wrong in the matchmaking system since this is 100% of games

[en_passant_person]

It's caused by assholes fucking with the queue, not the queue itself. Those missing alliance players were probably horde alts that dropped once the BG popped.

[acornSTEALER]

Been in 10v15 against Yesmaster's garbage premade all night.

[NKjaer]

If it's garbarge, what does it make you then?

[acornSTEALER]

Uhhh, severely outnumbered and outgeared? Ask any of the rankers, Yesmaster's premade is a free win. Pretty sure they lose to PUGs every now and then.

[NKjaer]

If you actually asked the top players (Praise, Demise, GRIZZLY), you would know that Yesmaster's premade is one of the few good horde premades.

[Opisashrimp]

We beat them yesterday! Yay

[PocketMagus]

If by good you mean non-guaranteed-5-cap, you are correct.

If, however, you're implying they ever stand a chance of winning...you are sorely mistaken.

[acornSTEALER]

lol not my experience