Hello Aces!
I wanted to give you an update on where we are with Matchmaking after the release of the first iteration of Group Finder. This letter will talk about 3 things:
- The Current State of the Group Finder
- Group Finder Next Steps
- Turning Off the Previous Matchmaking System
The Current State of the Group Finder
As you know, in my first Letter to the Community, we talked about how we were not happy with the matchmaking solution that had initially shipped with Towerborne. So much so that we opted to turn off Discovery Mission matchmaking and work on building a true Group Finder.
The first iteration of the Group Finder has been out for several days now and it makes some fundamental changes to how you find a party. This iteration is quite basic: You select the type of group you’re looking for and the Danger Level ranges you’re comfortable playing in. After that, we match you into any open groups that meet your criteria.
Group Finder Next Steps
These changes are merely a stop-gap while we continue the work on the larger changes; changes that will put more control into your hands.
Over the coming months we will be focused on improving the experience of finding, and playing with, a group. Some of the future changes to Group Finder include:
- Use Group Finder on the Map or on the Belfry, and be able to move between the two spaces without canceling or resetting the Finder.
- Show a list of Parties with an opening and filter according to your preferences.
- No more “blind” searching and hoping you get added.
- Change/Edit the Group Finder “rules” at any point while searching for players.
These are just some of the improvements that we have in store, with others in discussion as you read this.
Now, I wasn’t born yesterday (in fact, it was the day BEFORE yesterday), so I know one of the unspoken questions you might have: “What about join-in-progress?”
Well that one is a bit tricksy.
You see, join-in-progress is a lot more complicated than you might imagine and it will take no small amount of effort to implement if we decide to pursue this. Rest assured, we are going to be looking at this functionality and what it will take to support it. That said, don’t expect it anytime soon, or even SOON™.
A Quick Note About Finding a Group
Right now you can’t see how many players are searching for a group–we know this is an issue, but we wanted to get this out so we can continue to improve it over time. This will be fixed in a later iteration (as noted above), but in the meantime, we highly recommend that you SEARCH for a group first before you start a group.
Turning Off the Previous Matchmaking System
Now that we’ve released the Group Finder we are going to turn off the on-tile Matchmaking system on Ventures and on the special group tiles we released last month. This should encourage everyone to move to using the Group Finder and reduce the number of spaces where players are looking for a Party and help us focus our efforts into improving the new system.
Expect this to happen in the coming days.
Closing Thoughts
Finally, thank you SO, so much for your patience and continued support of Towerborne. We cannot thank you enough and it’s amazing to see all your thoughts and feedback. Rest assured, we are working to continue to improve the game, and we absolutely cannot wait for you to see what else we have in store for you.
Please, continue to give us feedback and we will continue to improve this system AND the game!
From the bottom of our Gauntlets: Thank you!
-Not Really a Jedi