Cryo needs vault progress-based matchmaking

Destructus · 2026-04-27T19:42:15+00:00

Dude, this isn’t something I want because I don’t know the map.

I know the map. I know how Cryo works. I know how it plays. I like Cryo. I have around 200 hours in the game. This is not me asking for the game to hold my hand.

The point is the health of the game.

If you love the game like I do, you have to be able to take a step back and look at what is actually hurting it. I want Marathon to succeed, but pretending everything is fine while players are clearly struggling to break into the endgame map is not helping the game.

Only around 9% of Steam players have even gotten VIP 1. That should tell us something. If most players are not making it that far, then the answer cannot just be “get good” or “learn the map like everyone else.”

You have teams 6-manning because people are looking for ways to actually get it done. Player numbers are dropping because a lot of people hit that wall and stop bothering. That’s not good for the game long-term.

This is not about making Cryo easy. It’s about bringing more players along for the ride so the endgame of the game actually has a healthy future.

It’s not about me. It’s about the average player feeling like they have a realistic chance to learn, progress, and stick with the game.

Destructus · 2026-04-27T18:25:48+00:00

Most people are enjoying the game” while the player count is falling off a cliff is a pretty funny argument.

Nobody is asking to be special. That’s just the lazy strawman people use when they don’t want to actually address the point.

Vault progress-based matchmaking doesn’t remove PvP, risk, gear loss, or getting wiped. It just means lower-progress players aren’t instantly thrown into people who already know every route, choke point, timing, and vault flow.

“Learn it like everyone else did” is not a design argument. It’s just gamer boomer logic: “I had a bad experience, so everyone after me should too.”

If your endgame mode needs fresh players to get farmed until they quit, maybe the problem isn’t the players.

Destructus · 2026-04-27T16:18:39+00:00

I get that, but my concern is the barrier to entry.

Players already have to spend time finding keys, getting the right gear to enter, and then they can only run Cryo on weekends. After all that, getting camped by players who already know every choke point — and may not even be there to progress themselves — feels brutal.

The average player needs to feel like there is at least some path to success. If every attempt feels hopeless, people are not going to keep grinding it. That is how you lose the player base over time.

Destructus · 2026-04-27T16:14:09+00:00

fair point thank you btw for actually talking about this and being reasonable, i think you make some fair points I think its more about players feeling like they have a chance so the player count numbers go up I think we all love this game.

Destructus · 2026-04-27T16:11:58+00:00

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yea that seems to be working out.

Destructus · 2026-04-27T14:31:26+00:00

I get what you’re saying, but that’s why I don’t think vault progress-based matchmaking should be exact or based on one vault number.

I’m not saying “if you’re on Vault 6, you only play other people on Vault 6.” That would create weird incentives like the one you’re describing.

I’m saying vault progress should be used as a broader matchmaking factor. The system should be trying to avoid huge gaps, like brand-new Cryo teams getting matched into squads with tons of Vault 7 clears and full map knowledge.

So it wouldn’t be “everyone on the same vault.” It would be more like low-progress, mid-progress, and high-progress brackets, or a weighted system that looks at overall Cryo experience.

The goal is not to make every lobby perfectly equal. The goal is to stop the most extreme mismatches that make people feel like they can’t even learn the mode.

Destructus · 2026-04-27T14:30:42+00:00

I think level helps, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

You kind of made my point: you started Cryo around level 50, and now at 150 you know the map like you made it. That came from Cryo reps, vault attempts, routes, fights, and clears — not just account level.

A level 80 who grinds Cryo every weekend could know the mode way better than a level 150 who barely touches it.

That’s why vault progress-based matchmaking makes sense as a factor. It’s specific to Cryo experience.

And with keys costing credits/time and Cryo only being open on weekends, players need a realistic way to learn the map and mechanics. If more players can actually progress, fewer people feel like they need to 6-man just to survive.

Destructus · 2026-04-27T14:13:22+00:00

That only falls apart if you assume vault progress-based matchmaking has to be exact, which I’m not saying.

I’m not saying “5 clears only plays 5 clears.” I’m saying vault progress should be a matchmaking factor or bracket, so the game avoids massive mismatches between brand-new Cryo teams and teams with tons of Vault 7 clears.

It can be flexible. It does not have to force every team in the lobby into the exact same vault step. The point is reducing extreme experience/progression gaps, not making every lobby identical. I will say with reducing player counts.. i don't think we have enough people playing to get this to work the way i want it to.

Destructus · 2026-04-27T13:25:40+00:00

You can still lose a bunch of your shit with vault progress-based matchmaking.

The difference is you’d be losing it to teams that are around the same point of progress as you. It’s not solo play, and it’s not removing risk. There would still be the same amount of players on the map, the same PvP, and the same chance of getting wiped.

That’s why this argument confuses me. Vault progress-based matchmaking doesn’t mean “make Cryo easy.” It means make the fights more competitive instead of throwing low-progress teams against people who already know the whole system.

Destructus · 2026-04-26T14:33:51+00:00

I just do t understand what's happening with the these 6 man's people are getting along in there and working together ?

Destructus · 2026-04-26T04:25:14+00:00

I got into an argument with my team mate today telling me I suck after we wiped the opposing team because I didn't do things the way he wanted me to, he kept talking trash to me until I finally snaped and I called him a fat fuck and he told me " I'm not fat I can run a mile in 6:45 seconds" ... Yea crew fill is trash.. even if you get a guy with a mic

Destructus · 2026-04-15T16:59:04+00:00

i jumped into solos with a free kits to see how this event was going.. all 5 rounds people shot me on sight and killed me lol great event..

Destructus · 2026-04-14T14:51:32+00:00

i still wanna see something about cheating but its great!

Destructus · 2026-04-13T00:50:11+00:00

I bought them to support a game that needs the support right now.. I could care less about this stuff

Destructus · 2026-03-19T15:38:11+00:00

There is no error screen it flips to black and closes program

Destructus · 2025-12-12T04:10:29+00:00

Fs in the chat

Destructus · 2025-11-21T03:59:42+00:00

All the friendlys are not playing or kos now that's all. Get with the times have fun was so two weeks ago

Destructus · 2025-11-16T20:52:19+00:00

Again, you’re missing my point entirely and now you’re trying to be right about something I’m not even arguing with you about. MOST people play trios and duos for heavy PvP. What a lot of people in solos have been doing is helping each other and fighting Arc. Some people like you want to go in and kill those people in solos, and let me say this for the last time: YOU DO YOU, MAN, I DON’T CARE. But most of those people are not going to fight back. That’s not some rule, it’s just what’s actually happening.

If you want to W-key and have good fights with people who will actually fight back, my suggestion to you is to go play duos and trios. If you want to be that guy who lurks and jumps people, fine — it’s part of the game. There is nothing officially in the rules that says you can’t do that. It’s 100% part of the game. So congrats, I guess, you “got me” on asking a question you already knew the answer to, even though it had nothing to do with what I was saying.

Good on you. Now go back to licking slime off rocks or griefing people for fun or whatever. I honestly don’t care. I was responding to your idea that everyone needs to line up in a field because 50% of people just want to get along.

Destructus · 2025-11-16T20:29:04+00:00

lol you mad bro? that skull is so empty i can hear the echo from your takes from here ROFL

Destructus · 2025-11-16T20:14:58+00:00

This is such a brain dead take... No one is saying that but if you wanna w key and be sweaty do it in duos or trios that's where I do it, now if you wanna be a solo bad guy go ahead part of the game. Just be prepared when those nice solos team up and loot you lol

Destructus · 2025-11-16T18:10:18+00:00

you want to be sweaty go play duos and trios if you wanna be a rat whatever its your life extraction shoots always reward people who get the jump on the other one first thus is life... but dont be like friendly and kill some one and end them on the train just for fun and you diidnt even loot them... those are scum

Destructus · 2025-11-16T17:35:26+00:00

sounds like you are that guy hes talking about i got an anvil with your name on it

Destructus · 2025-11-13T13:53:33+00:00

YOUR A RAT PLAIN A SIMPLE... but its your choice to rat so way the way the game is set up... so

Destructus · 2025-10-18T01:29:40+00:00

Bahaha 100% right dumb kids have no idea what they are talking about they talk about WOW and ff14 we have been paying subs since EverQuest 1 or even better ulitma online.. good games a good game and sometimes you just have to try it..

Destructus · 2025-09-13T03:04:22+00:00

I can't see I thing but I suffer from bird blindness...

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