If you are a DOTA 2 player, then you are most probably excited about everything the game can offer – you know how to play with most of the heroes, you are constantly searching for new guides or writing ones yourself; and at the end of the day – you show off your skills in the online battleground. However, are you aware of your MMR?
As Valve will soon be updating DOTA 2 to feature ranked matchmaking mode, you should know how exactly the matchmaking in this game does work. Simple, yet not quite so, the rank you have in the game is measured via MMR system. But what is MMR? No one is sure yet. The only thing we are sure about is that MMR is the closest that Valve can get into ranking the skills of a DOTA 2 player.
However, even if we are not familiar with MMR, one thing is certain – it will be visible after the release of the new patch and it will have a huge role in the future ranked matchmaking update. This game mode will only be playable for players with 150 or more completed games, so you may rest assured that newbies won’t bother you. Coaches won’t be allowed and the mode won’t be playable, if you are in Low Priority. The only features that will be permitted in the ranked matchmaking game mode are the All Pick, Captain’s Draft and Captain’s mode, at least in the beginning. We will probably see that changing in the near future, but for now Valve is planning to stick to this decision.
The MMR will be visible to both you and your party, so don’t be worried that anyone else can see and comment/troll on your DOTA 2 experience. Moreover, the matches which you play in the normal matchmaking do not affect the MMR of your ranked games and vice versa. Another great feature that Valve has added is the ‘calibration’ process, which basically is a phase featuring 10 ranked matchmaking games which will calibrate your MMR, thus it won’t be visible to you.
We could only hope that the new ranked matchmaking system will work for DOTA 2 because if it does, the game will become a bit more exciting to play, especially for the hardcore players. The teams will be as close as possible to balance with the discrepancy in skill and experience being minimized.
Valve has been working quite harder on the new major update for DOTA 2 and this ranked matchmaking system seems like a true gem in the garden of opportunities. Will Valve be able to make the game more exciting and create balanced games between hardcore players? It is still soon to tell, but things are looking good. With League of Legends being its main rival and Heroes of the Storm being released by Blizzard, DOTA 2 is up for a fight in the upcoming year. How bright will the future of DOTA 2 be in 2014? Only time will tell.