see ladder queue / nfy when about to be matched

[nine2]

I don't really understand how the ladder queue works but my guess is it gathers potential game players, waits 3 minutes then matches everyone in the queue with the best candidate

For me seeing the 3 minute countdown is really useful because without that it just looks like it does nothing

It would be great to know if I am about to matched with someone, or if I am just staring at the screen for 3 minutes for no reason. This could be as simple as saying "matched" on the screen or as complex as displaying the entire queue, perhaps not with names but with number of people in the queue divided by rating.

Something like this:

< 500 = 0 players
< 1000 = 2 players
< 2000 = 1 players MATCHED
> 2000 = 0 players

When someone else joins the queue and I am about to play, it would be cool if there was a notification. This may be the case already I'm not sure

[armacham01]

As I understand it, when you are matched, it immediately launches the game. I believe there is no "tentative matching" that happens during the 3-minute waiting period. So I don't think the server CAN tell you if it has a match planned for you (which could change if someone joins or leaves the ladder queue).

FAF could be programmed to guess at whether you are likely to get a match, and to update you on that while you are waiting, but the devs probably think it's just not worth it at this point to implement. Also, they want people to wait a few minutes for a match. Some people, if they see a message (that there are no matches for them) might get discouraged and not wait for a game.

If you want to see who is getting matched, you can look at the "live replays" tab and it's pretty easy to tell which ones are ladder matches.

You don't have to "stare at the screen." Once you start looking for a ladder match, you can open up a web browser, check your emails, etc.

I do agree it would be nice to see how many people are getting matched at each interval. That would at least make players feel like something is happening, instead of just waiting with zero feedback. Again, I don't know if the devs think it is a good use of their time to implement that.

[nine2]

When I play (9pm australia) it is common to wait 30 mins for a game. In this scenario it would be great to have a massive noise play when tentatively matching. Then I could crank the volume, walk to the other side of the house and do some jobs.