The real issue
Some people have a skill set that is much better suited to particular types of maps. This causes them to have a significant advantage on maps they are good at, while having a significant disadvantage on maps they are bad at.
This is a large part of why people dodge or early resign maps. Players take a quick loss on a map that they were going to probably lose on anyway, and then play on a map that they’re good at.
I’m not validating this behavior, I actually discourage it. But, I wanted to give some context and understanding for these players because people are jumping to push for punitive measures against these players without realizing the actual problem.
I would like to point out that even if you stop map dodging and early resigning, if we make it so they have to play the map out, it could still result in a situation where they are considered smurfing.
For example, my win rate on Arena/Islands is 70-80%, Arabia 40%, Nomad 20%. I spend most of my time practicing on Arabia, and it’s my most played map. However I still get into a situation where playing on Arena is pretty much smurfing. I can beat anyone my own ELO on that map.
The wins I get on Arena don’t feel satisfying anymore, while Arabia can be a challenge. For a month or two I tried banning Arabia to see how high I could climb and I got to around 1500-1600 ELO, then I stopped banning Arabia and gradually went down to 1300 ELO. Now, imagine at 1300 ELO I play against someone on Arena… it’s not even close. It’s a complete stomp.
For those who skimmed through and will suggest that I just get better on Arabia, I will mention again that it’s my most played map, and the map I practice the most on. So even playing the maps out it can create the smurfing situation.
The Solution
Make it so that each map type has it’s own ELO.
Open (Arabia, Acropolis, Megarandom)
Closed (Arena, Hideout, Black Forest)
Water (Islands, Baltic)
Nomad (Nomad, African Clearing)
A player with 1300 ELO Open maps, and 1700 ELO Closed Maps, will have a true ELO of 1500.
True ELO is used to match players, but you win/lose points based on map type ELO.
Problem solved.