I am a relatively new player (Level 64). I actually took the time to learn the game, got decent at it, and managed a 75% winrate getting into Platinum. And what is my reward for actually trying and winning? The genius developers at World’s Edge decide to completely break my matchmaking and match me against absolute sweatlords and obvious high-level smurfs who completely stomp me into the dirt.
I looked into why this is happening, and apparently, because of this stupid “Hidden MMR” system, the game thinks I’m a smurf and is aggressively forcing me into unwinnable matches just to “correct” my winrate back down to 50%. The community literally tells you that your only options are to “take the beatings” until the algorithm decides you’ve lost enough, or go play custom games.
Are you kidding me? I paid full price for this game. I spent my hard-earned money on a product, and the reward for being naturally good at it is that the developer’s algorithm actively ruins my fun and forces me to lose on purpose just so their broken math balances out. Why am I fighting Diamond and Conqueror alt-accounts in Platinum just to earn Platinum points? It makes zero sense.
I feel completely scammed. You buy a game to have fun and compete, not to be used as a punching bag by the matchmaking system because you had a good winstreak. Fix your broken ladder and tie visible rank directly to matchmaking. Right now, your system completely sucks the fun out of the game for anyone new who actually tries to win.
It sounds like you’re performing fairly well for a Platinum. If you look on the AoE IV world leaderboard for this season’s Solo Ranked ( Solo Ranked – Leaderboard – AoE4 World ) you’ll notice that the top 100 players have at a minimum 60% winrate, but are frequently where you described being (75-90%). Going to page 15-20 or so, you can see that players at Conq 2 have a high winrate (70-90%) with a low number of games played, but those with over 100 games average 50%. Pretty much what you’ve identified!
Climbing the ladder is certainly easier with a higher winrate, but as long as you average +50% winrate you can eventually climb to Conq 3 (given 100s of games played). For many of us on the ladder it is not the placement or winrate, but the level of contest in the games played that brings the most interest. I’ve found myself fighting for my life at Diamond 3 against Platinums. Some times they have the obvious signs of a smurf, but most times it is a player who is just as dedicated as I am to being the victor. I find that most thrilling!
I hope you continue playing. The fun offered by this system is the challenge of other players, who are very often much better. The place you are at, just having reached Platinum, serves as a kind of plateau in skill. If you observe the distribution of players in the ranks most are at Gold 2-3. ( Solo Ranked – Ladder – AoE4 World ) As soon as you hit platinum you are thrown against vicious opponents, unlike anything you faced in Gold and below.
So take heart, this is where the real ranked experience begins!
Maybe you just smurfing on a new account
And you wonder why you are penalized?
With that win rate, what was your strategy??? What civ did you use? What type of army mix? Fast castle? Eco boom? Tell us all!