Blizzard Found and Addressed a Skill Rating Bug on Overwatch Control Maps

ffronw

I am a meat popsicle
Oct 24, 2013
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Blizzard Found and Addressed a Skill Rating Bug on Overwatch Control Maps

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1333/1333544.jpgA bug on Overwatch's Control maps wass affecting skill rating adjustments, but Blizzard has found and squashed it.

Earlier this week, Overwatch Principal Designer Scott Mercer talked on the forums about a possible bug that could be affecting Control maps in the game. Users were reporting that stats on those maps would stop recording after the first round, leaving them short on XP, and making those matches have very little effect on player rankings.

Mercer said [http://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20745665016?page=3#post-54] at the time, "There are legitimate reasons for the magnitude of skill rating change to vary on a match per match basis, but we did get the feedback so we're investigating to see if there's a consistent bias or simply an error on Control maps (Ilios, Nepal, Lijiang Tower). If we can identify it, we'll then work to address it quickly."

The bug turned out to be real, as Game Director Jeff Kaplan confirmed [http://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20745755424?page=1#post-20] yesterday. In a post to the forum, he wrote, "Last night, though, we uncovered a bug that is causing skill rating to not be adjusted properly in our Control Maps (Nepal, Lijiang Tower, Ilios). This bug is a top priority right now and we're hoping to have a fix ASAP." Further down in the same thread, he also said that the company has "No plans to reset skill rating," in the wake of this bug being discovered.

Last night, Overwatch Community Manager Lylirra reported [http://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20745635535#post-1] that the bug had been squashed. "Last week, several players reported that wins and losses on Control maps (Ilios, Lijiang Tower, and Nepal) during Competitive Play were not correctly influencing Skill Ratings. The exact problem causing this to happen was identified early this morning, and we were able to develop a fix shortly after. That fix has now been implemented on PC and Xbox One in all gameplay regions (and will be in place when Competitive Play goes live on PlayStation 4)."

It's always unfortunate when a bug like this affects a game, especially one with a competitive play mode like Overwatch just rolled out. It is nice to see Blizzard reacting to and fixing the issue in a timely manner, though.



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SlumlordThanatos

Lord Inquisitor
Aug 25, 2014
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The infuriating thing about this was that they didn't disable these maps or Competitive as soon as they found out about it, like they should have. The bug existed for a couple of days before it was fixed, which meant that a multitude of people were affected by it.

Seriously, if such a serious bug is found in your game, you should disable the mode (or at least, the maps) until the bug is fixed, in order to limit the damage. Doesn't matter if the mode is brand new, such a serious problem demands an immediate response.
 

ffronw

I am a meat popsicle
Oct 24, 2013
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SlumlordThanatos said:
The infuriating thing about this was that they didn't disable these maps or Competitive as soon as they found out about it, like they should have. The bug existed for a couple of days before it was fixed, which meant that a multitude of people were affected by it.

Seriously, if such a serious bug is found in your game, you should disable the mode (or at least, the maps) until the bug is fixed, in order to limit the damage. Doesn't matter if the mode is brand new, such a serious problem demands an immediate response.
From what I could glean from the posts Kaplan made, they chose not to disable it because it affected everyone equally, and therefore really didn't destabilize things that much. I'n not saying they're right on that one, but that was the impression I got for their reasoning. They did say those maps would be removed if it persisted, but since they got it fixed, they decided not to.
 

Zhukov

The Laughing Arsehole
Dec 29, 2009
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Ohhh, is that why I was sometimes getting bugger all rank increase for some wins?

I didn't notice that it was happening on certain maps. I just thought the game was telling me I sucked and got carried.
 

chozo_hybrid

What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets.
Jul 15, 2009
3,479
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Zhukov said:
Ohhh, is that why I was sometimes getting bugger all rank increase for some wins?

I didn't notice that it was happening on certain maps. I just thought the game was telling me I sucked and got carried.
It's the reason I have yet to dive in to the competitive mode yet. Will be doing so tomorrow though :)
 

Rednog

New member
Nov 3, 2008
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chozo_hybrid said:
Zhukov said:
Ohhh, is that why I was sometimes getting bugger all rank increase for some wins?

I didn't notice that it was happening on certain maps. I just thought the game was telling me I sucked and got carried.
It's the reason I have yet to dive in to the competitive mode yet. Will be doing so tomorrow though :)
It takes 10 placement matches to get a rank, from what I can tell the maps you play for placements are meaningless. Rather it's based on your performance.
 

chozo_hybrid

What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets.
Jul 15, 2009
3,479
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Rednog said:
chozo_hybrid said:
Zhukov said:
Ohhh, is that why I was sometimes getting bugger all rank increase for some wins?

I didn't notice that it was happening on certain maps. I just thought the game was telling me I sucked and got carried.
It's the reason I have yet to dive in to the competitive mode yet. Will be doing so tomorrow though :)
It takes 10 placement matches to get a rank, from what I can tell the maps you play for placements are meaningless. Rather it's based on your performance.
Ah, thanks for that detail, I haven't had the time to play anyway, but good to know. By the way, I loved Jack of All Trades :D