With MP, revenge spawns are definitely a thing. That alone lets you know they are willing to manipulate gameplay.

Bro, they have patents that admit the manipulation

1. To shrink any possible skill gap. 2. To safeguard the experiences of average and lesser-skilled players (majority of the player base). 3. To stimulate longer session times among the majority of players, thus increasing the profitability of the player base. 4. To mask when server-side meddling kicks in to influence the outcome of a battle when 'needed'. All popular titles have their own mix of techniques to achieve this; competitive integrity is dead, and has been for quite some years now.

You wouldn’t have to worry about losing player engagement if you were to set matchmaking to connection based vs skill based

I don’t feel like they are putting me up against people that play like I do. They are putting me up against CDL league players

We're all just mice in a cage. The algorithms are in control. Authenticity is dead. RIP

Thank you! Really well thought out, and researched. We really appreciate how much time and effort you put into all your videos. Please keep them coming!

22:34 Name a single COD game before EOMM was put in place were that happened? I'll wait.

I might have missed it ... If I make a team does the rating apply to all people in the team or the team leader or the best person in the team?

Here is my take on the "SBMM problem". Back in the day, Verdansk/Caldera, Warzone had so much more players overall. So, in a match in regular solos you had about 10-15 players that had an average KD over 1.5. Then you hade a majority of players, somewhere around 80 that had a KD of 0.8-1.2 and some players lower and higher than that. However Warzone 2 was a brutal change to the simple mechanics of warzone 1. Suddenly you had a backpacksystem, worse movement, (yes even bad players could move more easily in warzone 1), stale Metas, bad sound, and a map that didnt really made it easy for anyone moving, without a car. Plus lots of new features like perkpackages, Birdseye, vests, redeploy flares and much more stuff that no one today still isnt really using, like inflatable decoy. This killed off the bigger casual player base and more of the "watching videos people" were left in the game, because why would you play a game if you got stomped on by a team with Birdseye. So a player like myself, not the best, not the worst, went from a slightly above average player in wz1 to becoming cannonfodder. Even though some players might have found their way back, all the millions of players That were the lower 50% hasn't. Maybe bringing back Verdansk as a nostalgia will bring back some players, but the simplicity of Warzone 1 is not here today. You looted for a loadout, bought some stuff for the team and just played the game from there, and the games took almost 10 minutes longer so you actually had time to do recons if you wanted. Warzone 1 players just wanted a new map and some new ideas, instead we got a game that no one wanted. Some people adapted, but most people just dropped off. I will still play warzone 3 with my friends, but I dont think we ever will come back to what it was. I think the player base needs to tenfold for that.

Would you say the systems behave similarly in multiplayer?

Can you suggest a good VPN for enhancing the COD experience?

I strongly suspect that activision tests your abilities by placing you in bot lobbies with very good ai. They deliberately push you to test reaction speeds and temperament. My issue is not sbmm apart from that it ruins casual play with my buddies. Eomm is terrible. It's talking about fifa, they artificially nerf your players and boost opposition dependent on how well you are playing. Their algorithm must be fucked with me, I drop in casual solos in quick play and I will stay in all games apart from when I start straight away in a terrible team with spawn camping set up.

I think the respawn modes are their attempt to fix the “mixed skill friends” problem, everyone gets more time playing and it’s so chaotic that it is not a foregone conclusion that the highest skill player wins.

Very well written, researched and presented. I got to play in a lobby you hosted fir COD UK Gamebifht in UK. I was playing on East Ciast United States, and thought the servers were pretty good.

A VPN won't turn it off completely but it will definitely help you find better lobbies.

EOMM is basically the Soviet Russia meme coming to life. In Soviet Russia, GAMES PLAY YOU

It’s like putting a new chest player with a pro. That is what you want to justify and give 3 seconds for the advanced player to make a move and give one hour to the new guy

This video is top class. A real look into sbmm very fascinating great research! 👍

35:37 this made me laugh bc back in Warzone 1 (MW19 era), I played 3 matches of BR Duos with a mate from Uni who was much much better than me. Kill count and result for each game was: 1) me 1, mate 7 - eliminated early when caught between 2 teams 2) me 3, mate 13 - eliminated mid-game by campers 3) me 6, mate 21 - won, despite me having accidentally turned my M4 to single-fire before the final gunfight 💀 Afterwards he speculated that my abysmal K/D ratio may have resulted in us getting lobbies way below his skill level. I didn't know enough - and still don't - about SBMM to be able to say whether that was true.

If sbmm was infact ensuring you’re playing against players similar matched to you and skill level… how do these streamers go into lobbies that are suppose to be equal playing capability but they just mow through them. It’s not just “vpn” to get bot lobbies.

but what's the point of playing game where every single match is rigged? Where game decided if you should win, or lose?

Bro - "We're the wierd ones" - you now have a friend in me. Liked/Subbed

Good informative video by the way GP.

Thank you really well throught out

Nice job! It wouldn't be Madden as the chances of drawing is VERY low because it plays an overtime period etc so the difficulty of a draw means it's almost always a win or loss. I'm thinking Battlefield 1 or Titanfall 2 both came out late 2016

Bro please create a tutorial on using sbmmoff for improved lobbies!

The issue is that these patents exist and activision has never acknowledged that they exist, or discussed how they are being used. Even though you presented your opinion very well, you still have no idea what you are talking about. Only activision knows. Until they fully discuss this system they use there will be a perceived “dark cloud” hanging over mw3. Activision said over a month ago that they would discuss sbmm and have yet to do so. If it is as simple as you say, the conversation should be a relatively easy conversation. The fact that they are taking their time leads me to believe that they are covering their asses. Great video.

on point

Warzone is legit nerfing controller sensitivity.i don't know if it's through a lag compensation method or an internal settings change.whatever it is it definitely messes with accuracy due to constant changes

Totally agree skill-based matchmaking is just not enjoyable anymore.

i think you're coping if you think good ping is their priority

Sometimes it's hard to tell as if SBMM were really a thing I should be in bot lobbies as my K/D in WZ is .34 lol as my bullets just seem to never register and I lose 80% of the gunfights I start and should be winning. My aim in fine and my K/D in multiplayer is 1.2 so I really don't know where this huge discrepancy is at. I seem to play WZ against sweats every single game but if SMBB were a think in WZ I should legit be playing against bots

It's really awesome.what an absolutely superb explanation of the matchmaking systems for COD.

We’re the servers better on older CODs ? When I first started playing cod, I was trash and felt myself getting better and better with the newer cods it’s no getting better they deliberately rig matches so everything is even Steven

It Should be illegal for them to use this eomm that's in warzone and mw3. They aren't being straight forward about the product they're selling. I hope someone finds a way to take them to court over this new system. They've literally lost so many players cause of how noticeable it is now. Activision is so shady.

I'm .8 kd yet I've ended up with players on 5kd

Possibly FIFA for the EA game? High amount of data on 1V1 with the possibility of win loss or draw

11:09 11:09 Nice game! I have never ever seen.

Good video. So tired of trying to defend SBMM because those guys never listen. Should help to have someone with a little clout go on record like this. Tho I think you might wanna do a shorter version because I know the average peabrain cod player never sitting through a 40 min video.

nice work

Here here!

so much fantastic and amazing play

funny thing about the europe servers is, the US servers are even more spread out over roughly the same surface area. I swear if I get a west coast server its like I'm playing with a handicap, the ping is almost doubled

Really good vid Geeky. Keep up the good content :)

I can tell you how this worked in apex, I was addicted to that game, but it has by far the worst sbmm of any game I've ever played and has a higher skill gap so the top players are obvious. It felt like every game I was getting killed by former masters and preds, I couldn't see how this was possible cause at the time I was never anywhere close to that rank. But it is not based on skill at all, it is based on a system that wants to keep you playing so you keep spending money on the game, which basically means it is a test to see how many hard lobbies can you handle until you tap out. It seems like the game wants to put you in the hardest lobbies, it doesn't want you dominating the game, it feels like it gradually puts you into harder and harder lobbies. What has happened where everyone that complains about sbmm are only playing this one game, they are stuck in the hell that the game thinks they want to play hard lobbies, keeps giving it to them, and thinks it is successfully giving you what you want. If you have the mental fortitude to stop, play a different game for a week, come back, all of a sudden you get bot lobbies. If you play a little until the games are too hard and stop, then next time you come back it will put you in easier lobbies again. Imo it is really a sinister system that basically punishes and actively makes the game worse for people who love the game so much that this is all they play, but this makes their system believe you actually love hard lobbies, and it wants to put people in these hard lobbies I think because many people stop playing when they get them that it is desperate to get people for them, and it doesn't want you ruining the experience for bots. Everyone I would ask who was so sick of sbmm and called it unplayable, I would tell this, recommend them to stop playing it so much, and every time they were like you are right this is the only game I play I guess I should just play less. It is so simple and obvious when you recognize this. Oh as well, it is important to never stop playing on a win. That a key reason this system is in place is how everyone stops when they win, it's even a somewhat regular phrase we can't end on a loss or we have to end on a win, it wants you to keep grinding so you can finally win rather than win 3 games in and stop playing as it thinks you will do.

This take is incredibly biased. I don't follow you, so I can't say for certain, but if I had to guess, I'd say you were a company plant trying to spread propaganda. If that's the case, tell your superiors to create an incentive based ranked mode to manipulate with their sbmm algorithm and keep the public lobbies strictly ping based so I don't have to use a VPN just to play with my low IQ mates. Why would the community care about the game dying off if the match making sours the experience? Give away 50 COD points for ranked wins and the good players would have something better to do than "Pub Stomp." But we all know that will never happen. Greed and incompetence has sent the franchise in a downward spiral. What a shame.

So using a VPN is the best way to counter skill-based matchmaking?

My research indicates the following. Manipulate the player base to increase retention (player spending) at the expense of skill obtained over time. A total contradiction with a "Last man standing FPS, that should reward the player with the greatest skill. This manipulation should NOT be applied to a Battle Royal. Multiplayer Arena shooter is another matter. Lets be realistic. These systems that are in place have absolutely nothing to do with serving the player base. Rather its a self serving manipulation to maintain player spending. In any game/sport, it is generally accepted that skill is required to be obtained over time. Not handicapped in order to accommodate the average masses. Participation awards not only cultivate a weak player base, but destroy the notion and spirit of raw skill based competition.

How about making a video on the benefits of turning off SBMM? Everyone's doing it!

how can you call changing the hitbox or changing weapon damage and others a fairplay system. Fair play isnt coming from providing everybody with diferent rules depending on their skill level, fair play comes from guaranteeing the same rules for everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's in their patent black and white

I really loved the xmas wz .. you're so right we where winning all the time

Really well thought out, u handled a lot of criticisms directly, thanks!

I'm in ireland and have indian American Asian in lobby

Im on/off player who plays once every few years if game for current year suits me for up to 100h so if i butcher some names and terms you know why ;) I would say multiplayer (6v6) is the place where EOMM could make all the job not a warzone,getting 99 more players to just "fit" the criteria is not doable where there is so many parameters. I think JGOD highlighted this in his spectator series in WM2019 where it was still possible to check some stats with some extension (dont know the name) he concluded that its just range of different skill within 100 players ( bell curve) With 6v6 im quite convinced that there is something going on , few weeks back i been at my buddys checking his new PC and i was playing at his account 6s i did play like i play carppy slide cancel throwing loads of grenades so on where he do play more Battlefield style (we are both same skill i would say but different style of play) within 2-3 matches enemy team where doing same as me from the start of the match i dont think its coincidence im not saying its 100% but man something is fishy. I dont mind sbmm but i do mind eomm in COD games there are always plenty of ppl playing so its possible to pull this off imho. Well made material 👍

I think what this paper misses (I have seen it before great work on summarizing it) is that this is how players will react to those w/l/d patterns when they know they are organic and not manipulated/predetermined. I would like to see the same study done but have the test subjects aware that the outcomes are being catered to make them play more. I don't think the results would be the same.

Great video.

I think that that SBMM does not take the skill level of the best player in a party, but the average of the players. Which results in an increased feeling that the lobbies are sweatier for the lower skilled players, as they still might play in a lobby which is above their experience until that point. anyhow, it's a very impressive video. thanks for sharing

Great video

Just because you're read up on something doesn't mean you know what you're talking about. That being said and is irrelevant, but I live in midwest America and play during peak times, constantly get connected to French speaking people

This game is the absolute most dogshit abysmal experience available on the market. I get blocked from running through doors when enemies are behind me. So many things that work against you to make you die and it beyond ruins the experience. Its infuriating to play even one match.

Thank you

i just suck at war zone is what i think because i can get up to 30 kills in dom or hardpoint i still try time to time

If you take EOMM I suppose all you need to do is substitute the draws for different tiers of placement (top 50, top 25, top 10, top 5) Although that just lights fire to the idea that gunfights and games are rigged with silly ideas like skill based damage and hit reg and such, as you touched on at around the 30 minute mark. I've always been under the impression that the average skill level of cod players is on a steady increase. Take Cod 4 for example, the majority of players would've been new, learning the controls, fairly low skilled with a very small percentage being fairly competent and decent and a tiny percentage being high skilled at FPS games. Say it was 95:4:1 (Low Skill: Mid Skill: High Skill) just for example. Over the years as cod gained popularity and its built its fanbase who buy and play every year religiously, gradually getting better. With less new to FPS players as a percentage every year. The ratios have moved each year where now it could be looking like 15:80:5 (Low Skill: Mid Skill: High Skill) These figures are just for example to convey the idea. To me anyway, this idea holds some water. The bottom 15% are likely in a protected bracket through SBMM but the other 85% are in a more random matchmaking type of affair.

i just wish i could get atleast one win a day. if im lucky i play for almost 3 hours

But why manipulate us? Just give us a difficulty slider.....

SBMM and EOMM are stupid for random play period.

I played Warzone years on end beta off console, and their people were teaming up on solos after me in a lobby more than half the years of playing COD Warzone If got above the top ten more than once so I never was playing COD ever to win all the time They have hackers that play with script And how did those individuals Make those hacking attempts before I could record them or have fast enough to live stream They would parachute drop on me with riot shields, full load out, and when I frag them, they instantly spawn on me with full load out. I even played the Timthetatman game where live feed them them creating a group in solos and DDOS his private severs, and there Devs doing bullying the players getting competitive

I don't think someone who only started making videos about the game in 2019 has enough credibility to discuss whether or not anything from the patents is or isnt in the game. Activision as a company goes to a lot of great lengths and deep pockets to hide things and in some cases lobby governments to allow them to continue unethical practices, which are clearly described in their actual patents. just because you watched some other content creators who claimed they couldn't see evidence of skill based damage or hit reg although its clearly described in the patents, doesn't mean its not in the game, or the game's algorithms isn't trying to foster the addiction. Not to mention, you glossed over the fact that the FIRST author on one of the patents that ALL interact together ( SBMM patent, EOMM patent and a third patent on adding indistinguishable bots to player games via one of the diagrams ) is none other than mark rubin who worked on COD ghosts and now xdefiant. If you strictly look at the people who wrote the match making pattens themselves, which is the document discussing how to skew and weight matches to favor or disfavor players of lower or higher skill, AND how to create a reserved bracket for specific players... every single one of those guys listed as author are NOT just game design guys. At least half of them on that specific patent have hardcore background and experience in computer science. You wouldn't hire people like this to simply draft an "idea" or theoretical patent that you have no intention of researching and using. The likelihood its written by people capable of bringing it to fruition in a practical sense means it was likely created first, tested, and then the patent was written. So it is very clear context here based on the identity of the authors and their backgrounds.... this is a patent DESIGNED specifically for call of duty. There are other patents too that suggest a design of making a large map dynamically using AI but these are not connected and referenced by the match making patents the way the others are referenced in the notorious figure 8. And there is evidence that the damage does not match up in game. Prior to WZ 2 allowing people like use Sym dot gg to pull damage values straight from the files other more data driven content creators like TrueGameData mentioned in more than one video that they had trouble getting their data set at times for certain guns because they had to test in live matches and it was also around the time of the first health bump in warzone 1 where we got iron trials. TGD said that sometimes hitting players in the exact same spot would not yield the same exact damage values and there were sometimes what appeared to be strange rounding values or truncations in damage. Or it seemed like plate armor not only gave an over all larger health pool but it mitigated damage from bullets, something that raven never said that it does and has typically leaned toward plate simply adding more health to the player. Lastly the fact that it is taking activision this long to draft a formal statement on such simple questions about the extent of influence these patents have on the game, but are so eager to talk through content creators like Xclusive ace who receives the yearly cod creator bundle from them is clearly a case of Occam's 's razor. The simplest answer is SOMETHING from those documents is in the game, and people have probably figured out what is in the game and stated they don't like it before its confirmed officially to be in the game. If this stuff was truly not in the game SHG would not have mentioned not only to look for something to come out addressing the matchmaking but feed back on how to change it. Again I don't see any evidence of you playing these games back in the early 2010s when it was completely different in even how the base match making was done. So who is to say your only experience with this game's match making was after you decided to try it because you watched destiny play it (who no longer plays it btw, wonder why ) You just looked at one academic white paper . TridTV's video on the actual patents is more informative and serves the discussion better than this video. You actually barely did research. That white paper is literally the beginning of the controversy.

When I am loosing I just turn up all the string to lag a bit and when I am winning I turn it down. That is my trick. Or play a video while you join a game. To trick the server but it readjust by its self now. I have to hack the system and cancel three times before I actually join a match it works most of time if you don’t mind waiting more than 5 min

What an absolutely superb explanation of the matchmaking systems for COD!! *Bravo & Thank You, Sir!!!*

The guy who is basically the blame for EOMM for cod has said this for years and the system has just caught up. Yes it is rigged when they idmit it them selfs.

28:00 So are we playing games, or games play YOU now?

EOMM is cancer. You aren't playing a game, you are playing an algorithm. Its not a game/competition Its a slot machine. At BEST you are essentially on a shitty frustrating ride.

nice video.A VPN won't turn it off completely but it will definitely help you find better lobbies.

I have done a ton of research about Activision and the sbmm. I play a lot and I'm also in room with children. All I ever see is Bots they come after me constantly to keep me busy while the kids can enjoy an easy game. It sucks I don't give a shit what you say

Cool video! While I agree with a lot that you have to say, good luck convincing the ones that have it stuck in their heads that the game is “rigged”, against them. Sad and hilarious, at the same time.😂

i play on xbox, have to make crossplay on. i play against PC players, who can bunny hop all the time and destroy you. game dont make fun

They are literaly rigging the match outcome by trying to put you in a lobby, where they determine if you gonna win or lose, so they can control engagement, and you think this system is good? you most be an activision employee or simply delusional

the engagement optimize match making (EOMM) is manipulative and the game feels very inconsistent and rigged. Even a former Activision employee mentions the nature of EOMM (kzfaq.info/get/bejne/m7RhZtt1uN_Kh4U.html)

Last few games I've spectated the worst player has been winning

Good video but doesn't explain how your gun that you have several kills with already suddenly doesnt even register a hit marker while shooting someone dead center of his back. 0 latency, 30 to 40 ping. This happens quite often and I'm not talking about missing shots here. And there are many players with ridiculous movement that look like a squirrel on crack.

sbmm and eomm are making the bad play a reverse boosted lobby and tell me its not drastically different tell me your ping isn’t significantly better

Using a VPN is now the only way to truly savor the game.

It's just very scummy that they only care about keeping us playing, not having fun or enjoying the game.... just playing. That is scummy, greedy, and SHOULD be frowned upon

Its just plane manipulation theres nothing genuine about eomm so the fact that u have no control over ur own gameplay is just ridiculous

A VPN won't turn it off completely but it will definitely help you find better lobbies

fortnite lobbies from my experience where 30 players and 70 ai, was more fun than warzone

Point of correction Geeky there are no African Servers! All African players get put into either Europe Server or Middle Eastern Servers, that’s if you’re geographically closer to the Middle East! 31:52

I don't care HOW it matchmakes I CARE about it manipulating my gameplay.

Without watching, it 💯 is

Wonderful video, but to maximize the experience watch it at 1.25x

if coping and linetowers created a video

So much research and effort and still have no solution for the cheating problem. Played COD titles for 15 plus years. It's still game play manipulation no matter how you dress it up. Ping should always be king.

It was never broken. Now it is. How that's a "good thing" idk? It used to be within a k/d and level range and never had any issues and got to meet a lot of really cool people. The current system was never meant to fix a problem players had. They want you engaged more because you might buy things. But that didn't work out too well so the Activisions of the world had to implement a ton of shady things on the back end (bots, pairing people who buy in game items with people that don't). Again, what problems did us players have with matchmaking that necessitated them manipulate every aspect of matchmaking for further profits? We see it in the decrease in quality, what they focus on vs what they should, and out of touch marketing that doesn't emphasize gameplay. The new system is to fix a shareholder issue with end over end profits. Your either intentionally pushing this, or just really hopeful.

I vote for Activision to disable skill-based matchmakers!

the acitve player numbers say it all. i respect your opinion but thats all this video was about and thats ok but the fact that all this casino slot machine mechanics destroy the game still has not changed

The game they are talking about is FIFA

You didn't say anything new or anything we know about. SBMM is bad, it should not be in the game at all. All COD games prior to 2019 had no SBMM, you played because your internet connection was good where Ping was King and older games did not have SBMM bud.

I think the skillbased hitbox thing is just lag tbh