I posted this as a solution to somebody commenting on people force-quitting. I think it's worthy of a post in its own right. This came to my mind as I was grinding my alt to rep 3.

So - If you add 4v4 playlists with gear-stats disabled advantages are:

  • New players or alt levelers have an even playing field to get started without being farmed by geared teams
  • 'Geared mode' matchmaking becomes more competitive and balanced due to low-geared players playing non-geared playlist
  • Fewer dropped sessions caused by leavers who feel they've had unfair matchmaking
  • It is optional, so super awesome players can still play geared mode without gear and win and feel extra awesome


Disadvantages:

  • Playlists would have to be split again - I know this was a concern for the elimination/skirmish split, but haven't seen any real impact on queue times as of yet
  • Geared mode would become more 'elite' and be harder for players with low-level gear who actually want their gear to count, but I'd prefer reliably hard with an easy alternative to the luck-of-the-draw matchmaking we have today


It sort of comes down to how reluctant you guys are to split the playlists again. I have no idea what the stats are and the amounts needed to keep queue times low, or your timetable for ranked and other modes. This could be a quick temporary solution until then or a permanent thing - either way I think it's something to be considered.