Hey! I’ve heard other people think the same on this, how about adding an option of picking a ‘Favorite Map’ from the map pool? A map which you’ll have slightly higher chances of getting. I was thinking something like 30% or more.
There were many people who used to play Arabia only(most of us) but also Arena or Nomad and Black Forest in TGs before DE came (as you well know). If my favorite game style is fast and aggressive, it doesn’t necessarily make me happy to get Hideout 3 times in a row (it applies the other way around too). Variety in maps is very good, but sometimes… you just like what you like.
Also, not my idea but I think it could be good, before the match starts, adding something like two small boxes where players agree or disagree in both going random civs.
Definitely think this could help keep more players playing ranked matches, which I see as the biggest issue pertaining to mis-matches and 0 pt games in team games. When you don’t have enough volume, matchups become less balanced. Anything that makes play more fun will get more people in the pool.
For me in particular, this would help greatly. From my personal perspective, a large part of my playtime has decreased simply because I’m sick of opponents always picking the same civs in 1v1 matchups:
If this was a feature, I would likely go back to playing 20+ games a week like I was upon release, as opposed to maybe playing 5-10 at the moment. I’m not playing as much, because ranked isn’t as much fun anymore. Anything that happens to make matches more fun (less predictable, more competitive within Elo ranks, ect) is a boon to me.