The Secretive Streamer Lobbies Of Black Ops 6 (0.5KD)

[@TheTacticalBrit]

happy to have had the opportunity to work with the guys over at thetechieteam.co.uk for getting my PC tuned and helping me collect the content for this video! #gifted

[@blakeeggleston2716]

It's worth having the conversation, without sbmm in place, the lobby would never be players with 0.1-0.5kd, it would be on a wide variety and alot fairer, it's a system in place for no reason, that needs parameters to fix problems it itself creates. Part of the game was getting destroyed playing the better players and trying to recreate what you'd seen them do to you in the killcams 😔 maybe leave sbmm in place for ranked, and casual playlists prioritise connection 🙏

[@TheTechieTeam]

Was an absolute pleasure working with you bud!

[@johnhoward5450]

@TheTacticalBrit I'm curious what would happen if this test were to be performed with a "low stat" player joining a "high stat" player. How much does the "algorithm" control? With the 2 boxing method, it seems like the overall connection is better, almost like the "algorithm" completely ignores whatever the stats may be of the joining account. Good players are gonna be good no matter what, but sometimes it feels like the game decides a lot of the outcomes and manipulates the connection to make said outcome a reality.

[@fry__236]

The quickest way to bring about actual change is making the method public knowledge.

[@omegacon4]

ALL you content creators ruined multiplayer gaming. Simply because you get get real jobs in the real world. To hell with you all.

[@sweetbabyrayso5262]

i think we have to remember that these kind of lobbies is NOT what happens or what happened when sbmm was largely nonexistent in the older cods. These lobbies arent average players. They are the bottom of the bottom, super bad at the game. The great players, the good players, the bad players, and the inbetween players. The majority is the inbetween and both the bad and great players are anomalies on the spectrum. To anyone reading this, recognize that 2 boxing lobbies like this is NOT indicative of what would occur without sbmm.

[@obsequey96]

exactly. nothing beats organic lobbies and this is what the new generation of cod players never experienced. People believe that those who don't like sbmm just want bot lobbies .

[@BaldDemon]

This will be overlooked as it always is during this discussion. 2boxing doesnt turn off SBBM, it manipulates it.

[@yoxyox6434]

So true. I think people just want to have random lobbies. Even players who consider themselves to be very good, who in some lobbies will get smashed and some lobbies will smash. Then the majority of lobbies will be a mixed bag where they have an average game. Don't want to play bots every game, but don't want to play against 6 sweats either. Just want random.

[@Thiccness_Is_Delicious]

Nah there are legit bot lobbies like I ended up in one the entire team agreed to not kill the enemy team after realizing how bad they were and we could not only run around them but they'd miss shots at less then 10ft which is impossible unless you don't have thumbs.

[@awake9749]

You don't remember Christmas noobs You could get lobbies like this not often but it would happen

[@2SSlowLy]

As someone who has played cod for the last 16 years, I prefer the old organic lobbies that were mixed skillset as opposed to sbmm.

[@SlickDangler10]

Exactly. It's no fun going 16-15 or whatever. I'd rather have a high kill game and then a low kill game next because of the skill of the teams I go against

[@aaymenxi6326]

just like everyone , besides ppl who barely can aim at enemys

[@Farat9622]

I'm just tired of sweating my balls off against people in my skill bracket. Mixed lobbies are the best. You can learn against better players while still being able to actually do something.

[@Night_City_Vibes]

@@Farat9622 you don’t want to play people as good as you. You want to take advantage of people are just learning. What a feminine state of being bro

[@DaVizzle_Bro]

Exactly, I want to come home and have a couple of nice games with a good KD ratio to brag about after working a 10-hour shift but then it's just like I have one good game and then for the rest of the night every game after that is me getting 0.5 KD ratios on all my matches. The latest game that I can think of where I actually had a really fun experience because of no skill-based matchmaking was X Defiant from Ubisoft. I had so much fun with that game because I didn't have to worry about logging in and constantly getting one shotted from an AR across the map

[@ImmortalMachine]

​@@DaVizzle_Bro well go and play that then. 🤷

[@DaVizzle_Bro]

@ImmortalMachine well at this point I'm just enjoying myself with cod zombies and we'll wait and see how Warzone plays out when it gets released but other than that I'll probably just make Delta Force my main go to when they finally release that game

[@sullentamp9140]

100%

[@thatguywhodropshots3277]

I grew up on cod 4 there wasn't sbmm back then all you done was play till you got good you i cant count how many time i went extremely negative but after you play for a while you get better thats how it works

[@WeinerTouchy]

Same thing happens with SBMM, the difference is you now realize you aren’t as good as you think you are and you don’t like that.

[@HashBandit]

Remember you would load up Modern Warfare 2 (2009) - Within 1 minute of the game loading up you were searching for a game. After 10 seconds you found a lobby full of people who are local to your connection. You make friends with people who live in the same areas as you who you're still friends with to this day. Whenever a game would finish - you stayed in the same lobby with the same people that you just had an enjoyable match with. Bulletproof system yet it's been exchanged for this horrible algorithmic BS system to "engage" you to play as long as possible. Manipulation of the consumer is what is occurring. But I'll never forget 2009.

[@deejeh9494]

It's funny because the algorithm pushes away the fans and seems to be trying to tempt new players.

[@varunaX]

@@HashBandit haha i remember exactly that. I'd mash the A button on the multiplayer menu and get into a tdm game so fast. It was great

[@FREVQUEBEATS]

servers were reactivated not too long ago, it’s definitely still worth playing

[@xreve_]

@@deejeh9494 you hit the nail on the head, and it’s honestly pretty straightforward. Activision's patents ensure “protected” lobbies-for example, for disabled players and absolute beginners. These groups are meant to be off-limits for anyone who would exploit them, which is why “two-boxing” (smurfing) and trashing these players is especially low. Beyond that, they have separate brackets, mostly filled with regular casuals. Then there are just a few reserved for the more skilled, sweatier players. Now, think about it: how many sweats are there compared to casual players? Very few. The sheer number of casuals would make for the kind of authentic lobbies we all loved back in the day. But now, those casual players are shielded from players like me. Sure, I know I’m skilled-but not exactly a “sweat.” I can casually get nukes in MW2; I just don’t need to strain to make it happen. But because my stats are solid, I’m permanently assigned to these sweaty brackets, with zero chance of escape. Activision’s goal is clear: create a safe space for the “casuals of the casuals.” They don’t want these players feeling outmatched or under-skilled-heaven forbid someone feel less skilled in 2024, because that’s just “discriminatory.” Why should someone who’s invested years in the series and developed skills have any edge over a newcomer, right? Skilled casuals like me end up lumped with the sweats, where we’re stuck for good. It’s all about catering to the masses and making sure the majority of casual players have fun, while the skilled players? We’re in gaming purgatory. So the irony here is not to git gud, its about being so average, you are not getting punished and can then "enjoy" the game.

[@xreve_]

Activision's system works like this: Win, lose, win, lose-rinse and repeat. They think this artificial back-and-forth keeps players hooked. But for those of us who started in COD’s golden era with MW2, did we really care about winning or losing every match? Not really. Winning was nice, sure, but the real thrill was in the grind, getting better every single day. We put in hours to improve our map routes, sharpen our accuracy, and hit our goals. After a long session, we logged off satisfied, maybe tired, but always with a sense of achievement. In those days, lobbies were random mixes of players near you with similar latency, not some concocted skill-based setup. Some were better, some were worse-it was all part of the fun. Sometimes you'd have a stellar 60-20 match, sometimes you’d go negative, and it didn't matter. The drive was always to improve. The time we invested meant something. Over months and years, you’d “master” certain guns, maps, spawns, and grind new camos. Now, all that effort and skill? Pointless, thanks to systems that handicap you on purpose. I’m fine with playing against others at my skill level-it’s the rigged latency and real-time manipulation in BO6 that’s maddening. You’re not just playing a game; you’re playing against the system itself. It’s EOMM, SBMM’s bigger, badder sibling-not matching based solely on skill stats, but constantly adjusting to “engage” you by throwing obstacles in your way mid-session. The result? The most frustrating experience imaginable. The irony of SBMM and EOMM in Call of Duty is that, while designed to enhance “fairness” and “engagement,” they often ruin the fun for veteran players. Instead of rewarding skill, the system punishes experienced players by trapping them in sweaty, exhausting lobbies, making the game feel more like a chore than a challenge. COD, once about improvement through organic competition, now insulates casuals, preventing growth while frustrating skilled players who just want a casual experience. And the biggest twist? New players now taunt veterans with “skill issue” claims, without ever having faced the true competitive grind.

[@wheatyasf9093]

The problem with SBMM that you don’t bring up is that it nearly completely eliminates the purpose of the videogame as a whole. The thing that makes video games so charming to so many people is the ability to improve. Many people like myself enjoy getting on the game on day one and getting slammed, then being able to progress and improve to be the one who is slamming people. That’s what gives video games charm, the progression. The reality with SBMM is that it completely eliminates the idea of improving, every lobby is going to feel the same. This is why I believe they actually hurt their player retention in the long term, it gets stale always feeling like you’re average.

[@alessandromorelli5866]

that's not necessarily true though easy case is league of legends, you slam people at bronze and as a result you go up to silver and so on until you stop slamming them. Every LoL match feels like a struggle and not because of it you stop playing, do you? you will always struggle with the match, the goal is that you are shown you are at a better rank now, there are other ways to show skill level

[@xLionsxxSmithyx]

@@alessandromorelli5866 nobody cares about MOBA games.

[@WeinerTouchy]

@@xLionsxxSmithyx No one cares about your stank ass opinion either, yet here you are.

[@H8Magnet]

Keeping a positive k/d is so sweaty. I have a 1.4 and it feels like work.

[@blackjack19811]

Right there with you. I think my K/D is 1.28 and every match feels like the COD World Championships. I’m already burnt out on the game and probably done with it.

[@foxxrider250r]

I am 1.4 too.

[@rickjames3249]

😂😂😂 feel like everyone is a 12.0 KD

[@rlsu3663]

Same. 1.4 here. Reality is we are all actually around one since assists count as kills. Just not a fun experience anymore. Most people are going about even which is how the game is designed.

[@william9922]

Try 2.0

[@DrkInf]

Im placed into lobbies where 1 of 2 things happen: 1- My whole team quits 2- The enemy team quits I played about 10-15 matches yesterday and i would say 80% of those matches were outcomes not predetermined by the dopamine drip feeding EOMM and more so by people simply leaving the match.

[@Contendforthefaith1]

It’s been like that for me the past few days more than normal. Also, seems like my connection has been super laggy which is uncommon as well

[@sillyweebanimeisforkids3413]

We need dedicated people to tank and stay in these lobbies who only play for real when a streamer joins and just spends the whole game ruining their clips.

[@Ogchampayne]

This would be beautiful. A white knight group protecting new and lower skill players from the cancer that is clip and content farming

[@DarkLordLinkOfficial]

You’ve just inspired me.

[@focus_sr3416]

not gonna lie this could be good content for the one doing it

[@spiedi7272]

the problem with this is that they would just say "see guys? I get sweats as well!" and move on. The problem are the clips and general k/d that they use to advertise while hiding that these were made exploiting sbmm

[@Stormthorn67]

That would be a very funny niche for someone to do as their own channel.

[@SlCKNESS_]

One thing that's REALLY IMPORTANT and I wish people paid attention to when talking about SBMM and K/D is the fact that recent form (K/D in the last 10 games or so) is SIGNIFICANTLY more important to SBMM than your overall "career" K/D. And by significantly more important I mean I'm pretty sure your overall K/D isn't even part of the SBMM calculations.

[@notperry717]

Headshots sure would be easier in this instead of the lobbies I play in against people trying out for Optic.

[@CrazyPanda688]

Fr fr

[@chrisestep1948]

Me too

[@mrjoeboe1]

You know that, the dream lol

[@varunaX]

@@notperry717 same here

[@ArnisGoldberg]

fr i feel like i'm in CDL top 250 everytime i jump on nuketown 24/7

[@rorymclaughlin1609]

SBMM shouldn’t be in casual Lobbies. My friend last night went 1-31 and kept dying repeatedly in my lobbies and couldn’t have fun. SBMM is the worst thing about CoD right now

[@RobL350]

He couldn't have fun? Well he was matched up with players around the same KD/skill level as him so maybe he just wasn't on that night. 1-31 with players around your skill level isn't expected, maybe he was sick or something during the match.

[@rorymclaughlin1609]

@ Nah it was Babylon or that map. They were pissed and haven’t played since. I honestly felt horrible about it tbh 1-31 is crazy

[@RobL350]

@@rorymclaughlin1609 Everybody is on the same map, it's not like playing on Babylon gives your friend a unique disadvantage. But oh well, it's a video game. Raging in video games shouldn't be what adults strive for. There's a big world out there.

[@CrownxMe7]

Y’all have no idea what you’re talking about. You would have been paired with people on his skill level since he’s so bad at the game. It’s not going off your skill level, it’s evening the playing field. SBMM can be a little strict, but overall it’s been in COD since day 1. It’s not new, the only thing new is people’s egos and believing they should be going 35-2 every match.

[@rorymclaughlin1609]

@ Nah not even.. we played like 7/8 games.. the lobbies where pretty difficult. Especially for my friend. Which suck ass for them. I was doing decent. Not great. Sometimes a struggle. But don’t sit and think I’m out here thinking I’m Optic Scump and should be destroying kids. Just saying my friend had many horrible games. But 1-31 is crazy

[@triggamanful]

If SBMM wasn't so strict then this exploit wouldnt be so common

[@NHGXCII]

Exactly, this is where the point is being missed.

[@CrazyPanda688]

This. Nobody would even be doing this if it was actually fair

[@superjke718]

This. I’ve only been 2boxing the last few days because of the insanely sweaty sbmm that currently exists.

[@rando6854]

​@@superjke718 You are in sweaty lobbies because you are sweaty.

[@spelunky5765]

@@rando6854 yeah no shit sometimes u can pop off. sometimes u are shit at the game. we arent fucking robots little jonny. doesnt mean we need to be thrown into sweats after sweats after one or two good games. what happens when i want to casually play? you dont get a say because of sbmm. use ur head will you

[@prodbymalek]

I do agree that the lowest of the lowest should be protected, especially if they’re just playing 1-2 times a week after work. But any other casual player should be playing in mixed lobbies, I didn’t learn to get good at the game by constantly playing against other terrible players, I learned by dying thousands if not millions of times and evolving from that… so while I do think SBMM is a necessary evil like you said, I think casual players (not beginners) should be getting mixed lobbies.

[@Bloodline2009]

There should be a protected bracket for newer players and no sbmm for everyone else. If we had a server list in game, most of us would play in our own countries to get the best ping. Or if we fancied, a server close by. I met many Day of Defeat and Battlefield friends this way. Sadly, Activision will never do it.

[@THX-1138]

The protected lobbies create a fake experience and prevent the average player skill rising

[@cryptodipso]

We need a full time job lobby where you can only play in if you have less then 5 hours gameplay a week 😂

[@ray_collins]

XDefiant did exactly that. A protected playlist with SBMM, that disappears as soon as you hit level 26, at which point there's no more SBMM. It works great.

[@WellyWonkaDonka]

oh so you know like how games used to do it...

[@TheTacticalBrit]

I agree

[@tonycuciniello6373]

Thank you for bringing this to light. I just recently got an argument with a content creator just promoting a paid service to do exactly this. It’s just crap ruining the game for everybody. Don’t understand how it can be enjoyable to go in and just destroy a whole lobby that’s not fun for me.

[@UGAfan12132]

The biggest misconception is that only the top 1% are affected and that just isn’t the case I’m barely average and get wrecked by sbmm just as much I don’t understand how anyone can defend it

[@CrazyPanda688]

Anyone who defends it must be legit trash at the game because my KD is a pathetic 1.2 yet every match is like the cod world championships Ofc exceptionally sweaty players would defend it because they get matched against the noobs for some reason despite them being clearly above most people’s pay grade in this game You see it all the time. Most players doing mid, and one or two guys on each team absolutely popping off, spamming non stop CUAV’s and UAV’s. Those are not the hallmarks of an average player, but those who manipulate SBMM because they’d get clapped if they played against their own KD

[@nicholasgangwer4895]

It’s not just the top 1.%…i struggled with sbmm all throughout mw2 and mw3. I used the harder lobbies aa motivation improve. If you are above average sbmm will kick your ass

[@reckless_iguana6143]

Honestly, I disagree.It’s been five years since MW19 and despite player complaints, Activision’s sales keep breaking records every year. This success means they have little incentive to change, and when they do communicate about matchmaking, it feels dismissive or vague. It’s like we’re being gaslighted into thinking this is normal, but in reality, the experience for a lot of us has just gotten worse.Bottom line is,the casual player base is still much bigger,and we are being gaslighted and sacrificed.

[@UGAfan12132]

@@CrazyPanda688 same I’m about a 1.2 as well

[@BlueLightningSky]

​@@CrazyPanda688yeah if you have a pathetic 1.2 KD you would feel like every game is the grand finals because you will never know what being in the grand finals feels. Perspective is a thing that you don't have to say something like that.

[@jcuttyfoe]

SBMM rewards bad players for being bad and punishes good players for being good. So bad players will never ever learn how to get good since they will always be in a bot lobby. But also, SBMM doesn’t save bad players, it actually hurts them and holds them back

[@Stormthorn67]

It does neither of those things. How do you imagine it does those? It puts like players with like. A .5KD player isn't being rewarded. He's just being put with players on his same sweat level.

[@jcuttyfoe]

@ if someone is bad, and gets put with other bad players, then it’s a win for them. You can’t get any worse than the worst. But if someone that is average has 1 good game, then they get put with players that aren’t, on average, their same skill level. They get put with players that on average do better than this average player in question. Not that hard to understand.

[@Pfish98]

I run a 1.3 K/D so I’m not crazy at CoD. The issue with SBMM even at this rating it makes using off-meta weapons pretty hard to do and camo grinding. The issue is that I’m essentially playing the same match over and over and I don’t want that. Even more so if I’m just trying to mess around. Mainly I just want varianty. Keep in mind the SBMM/EOMM is super manipulative too, you’re ignoring that. Part of the issue with strong SBMM is that it in turn makes it easier to manipulate. Plus SBMM also takes into account how much you move, how you move, Score Per Minute, accuracy. Basically every statistic on your account possible.

[@TheHollowBlade]

You have a 1.3kdr because of the sbmm.. the game tries its hardest to keep your kdr as close to 1 as possible. Idk how good or bad you actually are. But theres a chance if sbmm were to be removed you could possibly a 1.5-2.0kdr. You are forced to sweat within your skill bracket forever, if you put in work to improve your skill bracket just increases and your back to likely having a 1.0kdr even tho you have actually improved. Its a frustrating system that punishes you for becoming better, but also makes you feel like improving is a pointless effort. It makes you feel like you dont improve.

[@Pfish98]

@ which you’re right and that’s a big problem, I never play ranked but I get with people with Top 250 and Diamond rank emblems and player cards in the past 2 games. So that’s what I gotta go based on. My issue is it feels like the same problem over and over

[@Nil2none]

That's the point. Your supposed to be gamingvwith other gamers at your level....

[@Pfish98]

@@Nil2none yes, and I feel like I’m playing the same match over and over. If I wanted that, I’d play ranked, I want variety It’s also EOMM so it’s manipulated more than that to determine when you should win or lose a match

[@Kemkachi]

@@Pfish98 I don’t even understand why they have this system if they have ranked. Leave pubs random.

[@Historicallygamified]

SBMM has no business in casual playlists.

[@sweet_psycho_]

@@Historicallygamified I second this. As someone who has a 1.20 ish kdr (I'm not grate at the game) I'm just doing camps. One game I got a positive game the Next I'm getting my ass handed to me that I'm getting board

[@bpw8214]

they do it for business reasons hense more money $$$....i do it because its the way it should be...and its more fun....because its the way its always been in previous og cods....sbmm is for people that have no business playing a fps shooter game....like what are u doing....get better like the rest of us...or just sit this one out....in hindsight they created something to create more money for themselves...by screwing over the fans...

[@RayRayNickens]

I understand that 31 to make sure people can play but I was under the understanding if you want to become good at something you have to practice now for kids fell down we're not going to tell them all we're going to tell our kids to get up and do it again when I first start playing call of duty I used to get tore out the frame I was lucky if I got 10 kills and be 20 something in the negative and I still kept playing and that's why I got better

[@BadPandaWoodworks]

@@sweet_psycho_ My KD is about yours. I had a great game one time... Hit like 4.5KD.... Next game..... Got spawn trapped and ended up with a .2kd.... It was horrific. The other team all hit 5+kd.

[@sweet_psycho_]

@RayRayNickens honestly I feel that, I think when I started my kdr was 0.60 maybe less. I both hate and love the challenge...I love it when I'm not working because it makes me get better but when I just want to play a chilled game after work I don't want to have a constant sweat fest

[@xreve_]

As a long-time Call of Duty player since COD4 with a solid K/D history (2.8 in COD4, 3.6 in MW2, 3.4 in MW3, 3.2 in BO1, and 3.4 in BO2), I haven’t bought a COD game since Ghosts, which I felt was a letdown. Recently, I tried BO6 through Xbox Game Pass (I’d never pay €80 for it) and noticed my K/D dropped to 1.4. Despite maintaining my skill over the years, BO6 leaves me stressed. I miss the casual, authentic lobbies with balanced players and similar latency. I don’t want to play against algorithms that constantly adapt to my playstyle, create “optimized” lobbies, or attempt to keep me engaged at all costs. I just want a fun, mixed lobby experience, not the repetitive, artificial matchmaking that SBMM has introduced.

[@TheMagicJ07]

@@xreve_ blud really kept track

[@xreve_]

@@TheMagicJ07 it was what made me play the game, the motivation to keep improving. And one way was my KD.

[@TheMagicJ07]

@@xreve_ I respect that

[@johncapewell7520]

Sbmm should be in ranked playlists only. They need to get rid of it in casual playlists. Then we have the option to play with or without sbmm. It should literally be that simple.

[@blahblahgdp]

I swear we have been saying this for years, but they just dont wanna listen..

[@bannedmann4469]

@@blahblahgdpSilly Brit wants to stay on Activisions good side. He’s pathetic.

[@johncapewell7520]

@blahblahgdp yeah, I doubt it will ever change. I've already uninstalled it. If everyone else who hates sbmm as much as me did the same we might not have this issue anymore. I stopped playing cod a few weeks into MWII and didn't even bother with MWIII. I only tried bo6 on gamepass. I wish I never bothered. I was right to give up on it a couple of years ago.

[@StevenP726]

@@johncapewell7520 people would hate it, I have the opinion that anything can change and that result of the change will always be undesirable from the cod community’s pov

[@johncapewell7520]

@@StevenP726 only the people who are protected by sbmm would hate it. But they could just practice to get better without getting punished for it.

[@joelheidrich8779]

Good for you speaking about and being honest about how they exploit the system. Watching Shotzzy running at between 2-4 highlights how much a lot the streamers are exploiting things. Guys like mark of a hero is ridiculous claiming a nuke with every gun, 20+ kd and every camo completed. It’s really sad beating up on people who don’t know how to aim but also making money off streaming and videos.

[@erk489]

90 percent of the rebirth sweats been doing this for years

[@TheTacticalBrit]

Yes, but not as efficiently as the method I noted

[@LukjoJak]

Thank you for the info. I am an old cod player that came back for b06 and wanted to get to know some generally good basic weapon builds online and noticed the complete madness and variance of videos where some guns are either mediocrely built or just complete wrong for the type of weapon they are building, all that while dropping nukes every video.

[@TheRealNagster]

I don’t mind SBMM, but it shouldn’t come at a cost to connection and stability. Bullets registering on an opponent should be the same every match.

[@djmerc100]

Yea I wouldn't care to fight sweats as often if my guns worked like they did in the previous matches

[@merrickx]

Okay but SBMM is merely an aspect of EOMM

[@StevenP726]

@@merrickxit’s so funny how that’s a term because, in my experience older cods were way more engaging and I was willing to spend hours playing a single lobby with the same people

[@MillVillage]

@@djmerc100 Sweaty lobbies with bad connections are infuriating. It doesn't help the ping display is completely fake.

[@pedrogamma]

I play with a 60ms latency all the time :(

[@cholo_478]

i’ve played older cods like og mw2 and compared to the sbmm in todays cod it’s not bad ppl just don’t wonna get better , bo6 is prolly the best cod to me in a long time. any old players trying to get into it again, feels like it’ll be a breath of fresh air. New movement is fun imo

[@edgemclean]

My biggest problems with COD's matchmaking are: its not optional, and it's too manipulative. Genuinely it makes zero sense why there cant be an option to play with or without SBMM. I know they addressed that in their white papers, but their agrument was just that they felt bad players wouldnt enjoy that playlist, which is a no brainer, they can stay in their protected lobbies then. The reason why I feel that is manipulation is because the only rational reason I can see, is that they want to try and fool bad players into thinking they are way better at the game. If they had a playlist with SBMM off, and a bad player joined in and got destroyed, that bad player would now know just how much COD holds their hand.

[@KAY0DE]

I love how ranked is just sbmm but for some reason cod needs 2 ranked modes.

[@Waynside]

Even if sbmm remains, it needs to be toned down. Doing this I believe will cut down on the problems of manipulation, give casuals an opportunity to play with better players a little more often and improve while not mushing them into the dirt, and make the top percent a little more happier over all.

[@_Bradley]

It’s not even an “if it remains”, it will always be in cod now, they’ve made that clear. You either deal with it or you manipulate it by “two boxing” or using a VPN/GeoFence

[@dsfgklfdgdh]

My opinion on current state of SBMM is that if you are average or above, your experience will inherently be worse compared to older call of duties. There is no variance in the games. Want to use something else than the meta? Well, get ready to get stomped 5 matches in a row until matchmaking decides to put you in a lesser skilled lobby. Fun right? There is nothing to work towards. Usually games with SBMM contain ranks, something to works toward. Yes, games might get harder but atleast you ranked up right? In CoD however its hidden, therefore you NEVER feel like you improve because the matchmaking immediately punishes you for doing good without nothing to show for it. The fact that the CoD experience is essentially falsly advertised through youtubers and streamers makes it even worse. Atleast before you could trust the gameplay and therefore know that if you played enough you might end having yourself a good game yourself. SBMM just makes it even easier for youtubers and streamers to manipulate the matchmaking and get gameplay videoes, not to mention by having SBMM so strict the skill gap between new and veteran players becomes even wider than it used to be. I fully support having a protected bracket for new and bad players, but I think the game is trying to harshly, and at the detriment of connection also, to matchmake evenly skilled players in a game that has always been casual, creating a dull experience. I understand why its in place, but if the game is a worse experience for me personally because of it then that just means the game is not for me anymore. This is not even mentioning that if you play with a group of friends, the lower skilled ones in the group has a much worse experience. I've literally lost the ability to play with friends because of it.

[@Manakuski]

Bullshit. I have 1.38E/D while camogrinding, i play on mouse and keyboard and i have a W/L ratio of about 1. I have no troubles in my lobbies while camogrinding with whatever gun i use. This is just purely a skill issue. Yes, sometimes teams are extremely poorly balanced where i get all the timmy-no-thumbs, but even then i can do just fine. I only agree with the connection issue being really annoying. I legit never connect to the closest server in stockholm, unless i play hardcore. Otherwise from finland i mainly connect to frankfurt, paris, london, dublin and so on. Especially london and dublin give me the shittiest experience at 44ms/49ms latency. Legit feels worse than a 105ms USA east coast lobby. This is of course due to the UK having awful internet ;)

[@dsfgklfdgdh]

@@Manakuski Not sure what you are referring to as bullshit or a skill issue.

[@dillon_r_hansen]

⁠@@Manakuskiman finding anything sub 50ms ping in the states really isn’t a thing either how sad.

[@Manakuski]

@dillon_r_hansen all my NA friends play at 10-35ms latency only. Most of them are in the east coast. You might need to get better internet for yourself, open the ports and stop using wifi, connect your device with an ethernet cable.

[@Manakuski]

@dsfgklfdgdh not being able to use other than meta guns is bullshit. Bo6 guns are quite well balanced with their own strengths and weaknesses.

[@iStayReddy]

Love this style of vid! And you’ve made some excellent points! I just miss feeling like I’m improving in a noticeable way

[@TheJynx2011]

Has 3.0-4.0 k/d games 5 times in a row sweating my ass off. I then had 4 games in a row of 100ms+ latency with wallhackers/aimbotters. I've been shadow banned by the algorithm for playing too well. I can't play by myself because of this, I can't play with friends because they don't enjoy themselves in my lobbies. Thank you, Activision, for ruining what was once my favorite shooter.

[@basedanon420]

@@TheJynx2011 you got spam reported for playing too well (on pc). Consoles are immune to shadowbans tho.

[@TheJynx2011]

@basedanon420 on PC. It's awful man...

[@thehammann6670]

That's my biggest problem with sbmm, my friends don't play cod with me anymore because i'm a sweat and it gets lonely

[@tyler_keeble]

I'm a casual player and a big advocate for SBMM. I like to use XDefiant as an example on why SBMM can hurt a game. I know for an undisputed fact that everyone I personally knew who played the game dropped it BECAUSE of the lack of SBMM. Lobbies were frequently unbalanced favoring one heavily over the other which made the game simply not fun for us casuals. Since BO6 dropped, most of these same friends have switched over to COD and are having MUCH more fun. Even those friends who have hardly ever played an FPS game in their life are getting paired with players of similar skill resulting in a more balanced and fun experience for them (literally their own words, not mine). I will say, while I advocate for SBMM, I know it's not perfect. Match making in a squad with players of various skill levels often leaves those of lower skill left to suffer, but I don't think removing SBMM would fix this at all. Using fighting games as an example is other reason I advocate for SBMM. Even in unranked matches, you simply don't see Diamond ranked Street Fighter players getting paired with Iron ranked players. Why should COD ranked FAZE clan players with "just got home from work, 9-5 dads?" Most people who advocate for no SBMM are high level players who have little empathy for lower skilled players. They are simply a stepping stone for getting clips and "just trying to chill." Now let me ask, if you're "just trying to chill", does that not suggest you are doing very well with little effort, which in turn suggests the players you are going against are worse than you, which in turn suggests that those players are in fact not having a good time? TL:DR - you wouldn't pit the 1990s Chicago Bulls against Rinky Dink High School Basketball team against each other. For those who say this is a poor example, even if you split the Chicago Bulls and Rinky Dink teams in half, and balance the two teams dispersing players equally, the Rinky Dink players are going to get curb stomped and the Chicago Bulls players are still going to sweat between each other (this would happen quite frequently in XDefiant). Let Rinky Dink High School play against Dinky Rink High School and let the NBA players play against, surprise, other NBA players.

[@BornSupreme28]

If Activision’s motives were noble, then I would agree. However the system only exists to manipulate every skill level in the game into playing longer. Sweats and ultra casuals experience is the same. So you’re a little critical of people manipulating the manipulation?

[@YORKSHIREMAN86]

Exactly, the games manipulating the lobbies to make you play more, but it’s unethical to manipulate the matchmaking to bypass their manipulation. To much manipulation if you ask me, just let people play whoever 😂

[@George-li1yv]

I dont get it though how you guys are being manipulated to play more? I get sweat lobbies 2 games in a row I'm exhausted and coming off. Doesn't make me play more at all makes me play far less

[@ChevyRedneckGFX]

@@BornSupreme28 you forgot the part to getting people to spend more money in the shop

[@BornSupreme28]

@ Indeed I did sir

[@BornSupreme28]

@@George-li1yv We’re not, it’s the ones who aren’t “in the know” that are being manipulated. They assume their experience is organic…we know better

[@primepete]

This matchmaking is straight-up predatory and manipulative. It’s engagement-based, not skill-based. Bullying their protected bracket is only possible because the system is so ridiculously overbearing in the first place. It’s their own fault that players can even do this. The reason there are CoD players that are this bad is because they never actually see how the game is played. This predatory matchmaking is responsible for these garbage 0.3KD players being stuck in their awful lobbies. I don’t feel bad at all for anyone getting stomped by someone 2Boxing. Players are the best they’ve ever been but also the worst they’ve ever been. Activision has the worst matchmaking ever made. Any way we can ruin it is good. Maybe we can scare those cash cows away and get them to remove SBMM.

[@frothdoff4546]

Wait you mean Theseknivesonly getting a Nuke and holding a 2+KD isn’t legit!!! Well I never! 😂 So glad you’re exposing these frauds it’s crazy how many people are just gullible enough to believe some of these gameplays! Great work Sir I subbed!

[@kungfukenny1540]

@@frothdoff4546 🤣

[@isaiahrichards9319]

Dude I saw that the other day and was thinking I was out of my mind. Some of my highest streaks have been knife only in previous cods but this guy almost dropping 2 nukes, during a live commentary, just seems crazy.

[@frothdoff4546]

@ I mean he has a 2 kd right? So he should be playing against people with 1.5 - 2.5 kd roughly? My kd is 1.2 and I there’s a huge difference between the players I face and the players he faces (who all seem to have either run out of ammo or had a controller disconnect) I wouldn’t even mind if he/they were honest and just said like yeah u know it’s just easier to make content this way. But u read the comments and people are thinking it’s just a legit lobby and he’s that good! There are way better tomahawk users out there than this guy!

[@Boo-QuiQui]

@frothdoff4546 he has been in the game before sbmm was even a thing... I don't think he's exploiting to that extent. What I think is the likely solution is he plays horrendous a couple games then pops off 1-2 games and the cycle repeats. That usually results in a 2 kd.

[@frothdoff4546]

@@Boo-QuiQui sbmm has ALWAYS been a thing. It’s just been more extreme and noticeable in the latest cods. 2 boxing isn’t a new thing it’s been going on for years! Now don’t get me wrong he’s obviously very good with knives and throwing knives but if you got him in a free for all with the legit 10 best tomahawk/throwing knife players he would come last! I sound like I hate him but I assure u I don’t and I do enjoy his content but that’s just it, that’s what he’s good at, content/voiceovers! I’d just like him to be honest with his fans about he gets those gameplays!

[@JeekyWeeky]

nah the data activision provided does not seem real. your telling me the majority of players are like THIS? (9:34) Im sorry that is not a real player that is a bot.

[@alecfrancis2084]

I’m a casual player who tbh isn’t very good at COD. But I have game pass and currently have a broken foot. So I’m playing quite a lot of COD. The last cod I played online was MW2 on the 360. I think SBMM in theory is correct, but it’s just not there yet. Even at my painfully (probably) below average skill level if I have one “good” game and then I know the next hour is gonna be unenjoyable. I just wanna play and have fun not sweat till I wanna quit playing

[@Puffking42069]

The thing is sbmm and engagement optimisation ai stuff doesnt only negatively affect the 1% of players cuz just like you said if your 1 kd in a 1 kd Lobby it feels Like hell and thats basically the whole Game expierience, an average ratio of 0.86 of dopamine to 1 frustration and every match is the same. You basically dont get rewarded for your progression since you wont get good Matches and cant even get streaks because the ai will take you down, seriously. Just look at gameplay of anyone really and youll see that regularly occuring „odd“ moments lead to deaths especially after feeds or on streak and then through the rest of the game everyones kd miraculously balances out

[@samuelault4723]

K/d has become meaningless with sbmm though. Instead we should be using accuracy stats to define “skill”

[@BLEEDINGSKELOS]

@@samuelault4723 i think w/l ratio would be a better indicator.

[@samuelault4723]

@ I’d have to strongly disagree as a solo player. I come across way to many 2-3 stacks that organize themselves far better than the randoms on my teams.

[@Dr1ftop1a]

Especially that its Elim/D now lol. Be it a kill or assist, you get 100 for ,,elim". We actually dont know our K/D anymore.. 😅

[@dillon_r_hansen]

@@Dr1ftop1agood point, no more assist stat.

[@DarkLordLinkOfficial]

The game knows when you get a real kill and an assist for challenges I don’t know why they can’t just let us see it

[@megacluckcluck2302]

I really like these more structured vids when you do them, Lachy. Keep up the great work and I’ll catch you in the streams!

[@TheTacticalBrit]

Thank you

[@xjamiec]

We never had protection in the early days of CoD, just had to want to improve because the game was fun to play. Those very bad players will never improve by playing equally bad players, CoD has became an algorithm and its playing you.

[@mille_eintausend]

From the community that brought you the term 'soundwhoring' (a.k.a. using a headset and listening to ingame sounds to locate enemies) we now have creators exploiting the matchmaking system for 'content farming'. Call Of Duty has a 'creator problem'. The issue: Creators are hating on SBMM (again, like every year) and their followers are willingly joining them in the hate, not understanding that it's them that the SBMM is for. *edit: Thank you for this video. :)

[@stoplosinglilboy1461]

@@mille_eintausend ppl will prolly just complain about how sweats ruined cod if they got rid of sbmm

[@TheSceletonx]

funny thing is that the "hate" went so deep, that even below average evening couch gamers are hating it now, because they think they play vs "pros" because of how sweaty (aka balanced to their skill level) the games are for them without realizing how bottom of the skill level they actually are when compared to the whole community. But if suddenly SBMM didnt exists, a lot of those people would just get farmed and quit, because they would actually get good sweaty players in their games.

[@youtubehandle-u2l]

@@TheSceletonx i played consistenty during bo1,bo2,bo3. i was around 8-15, had less free time than I did now. I can recall playing enjoyable multiplayer games. I know im good at the game, mechanics, positioning wise, but the sbmm formula is “Play good, sweat a little bit. Next game Im matched with people who are sweating their asses off, next game is still sweating their asses off.” It’s genuinely a problem, but its simply a “i grew up with sbbmm so i dont know anything other than what ive had” vs someone whos had both. I only play zombies now, which sucks but knowing that the game is tailored with sbmm just ruins any feeling of playing multiplayer. My mind goes “If I play well, ill end up paying the price for it in 20 minutes and I dont want to be angry at a game or get into the habit of backing out.”

[@TheSceletonx]

@@youtubehandle-u2l but you are completly overlooking the fact that everyone (well not everyone, but majority of people) were shit at the game back that. What was standard average lobby back then, is not considered absolutly worst of the worst bot lobby. As it happens with every game that is 20+y old, the playerbase grow with it and there is less and less newer players and complete noobs. And what would be considered top of the ladder skill 10 years ago, is now pretty common. We are in the age that even couch dads are meta gaming (or at least semi metagaming) because of how spread out the information about the cod is atm, and how much experience average player have over the years. You can see it even with Warzone, back in early 2020, warzone was full of new players, either completly new players, new players to genre, or new players to cod. Thats why many people have such a good memories of verdansks times. RIght now it is very rare to meet such peopel. Even in very low skill lobby you will have several squads meta gaming etc.

[@Los714]

That was ME in the first clip!!

[@Chemical_Symphony]

So glad I stumbled upon your channel. Its hard to find anything worth following nowadays and content has been focused into the popular areas. I'm really appreciative of what you got going on here and the way you communicate the information. Instant sub after 5 minutes into the first video amd now I'm going down the list tonight.

[@kucikiro3343]

I've never heard of a content creator asking for the removal of SBMM so that they can encounter players you're showing. All I've heard and which I agree with, is to remove the SBMM from the "non-protected layer". There is a layer at the far bottom which is meant to only matchmake between these 'ultra bad' players, not the ones above it. I don't mean this as a negative thing, those players could have handicaps, be very young or very old. The layer that we want to matchmaking to be random with, is the general playerbase. Sometimes you get a lot of good players on both teams, sometimes you get many bad ones. I don't feel like sweating every. single. game. having to pull out META guns/attachments to stay somewhat reasonable in the game. I don't mind these games occurring every now and then, but when it is every game, it drains the fun out of it. I don't disagree with having a strict SBMM (or engagement optimized matchmaking, EOMM) for the players in your video. I don't think your video is bad, it's a good subject to discuss and it's presented well, I've never watched your channel before, a thumbs up from me.

[@CheesyCasserole]

As a 1.7 KD player with 80/90% of my games being 6 very good players I promise i would rather take my chances with a randomized lobby

[@overpoweredcasual2599]

I love how when I play with my girlfriend which she is not up to my skill level I'm now considered a cheater. Keep in mind I'm not even a super crazy good player either, I have like a 1.4 kd and she has like a 0.7 but the community now considers this as 2 boxing even tho I'm just trying to chill with my gf

[@chrisconel8384]

@@overpoweredcasual2599 They arent talking about you lol, they'de talking about people who make content... and purposely 2 box to make the content.

[@overpoweredcasual2599]

@chrisconel8384 I know that but because of the people who abuse the system I get reported when I do play with my girlfriend. And like I said my stats are nothing to brag about

[@TruckerBaz10]

​@@overpoweredcasual2599so if that's the case instead of stomping all over them and abusing the fact your gf isn't as skilled, relax enjoy the game with your gf and play for fun instead. Maybe set yourself some challenges like pistol headshots or something.

[@overpoweredcasual2599]

@TruckerBaz10 that's the thing I don't try but I'm not gonna just sit back and not play the game that's dumb

[@GoER9634]

I have 2.0kd in bo6 and 2.50kd in warzone. I might be weird but I love sbmm it makes the game more fun for me actually having to compete with equally skilled players. When I play with friends who are under 1.0kd the game just isn't much fun I almost feel bad for the enemy's. It was horrible watching the gameplay in this video those poor guys haha. People who want sbmm removed might want to take a moment to consider other people and there enjoyment, not just selfishly thirsting for easy kills. How would you like to be ran through game after game by players far superior to yourself ?

[@Mattchoo70-fk1jf]

@@GoER9634 You’re not weird at all. You sound like an adult that is capable of critical thinking as opposed to an “SBMM sucks” group-thinker. Very rare on these message boards. Congratulations!

[@DarkLordLinkOfficial]

I just want it toned down a bit to prioritize connection and give a more varied experience, not completely eliminated

[@bay0r]

cod streamers are the worst of any kind. hyping up for no reason, fast content, dumb content and doing everything possible to stay relevant and drop killing streaks for content. this was the case for mw3 and all mw titles and its getting worse. thanks for exposing this

[@xCriZzZ]

And then they say that game is great and we should buy it 💀😆 If there wouldn't be SBMM, most of these streamers would not exist

[@aliensKR]

My current problem is I play with my friends who are not good so much that my stats have inflated past what they should be, and now my solo experience is awful.

[@Achiez-z]

My biggest problem with SBMM is that I cannot play with my friends anymore, because they refuse to play with me due to my high KD. When a couple of my friends play with each other and without me, they can perform well or relatively well, but when they play with me, they get slaughtered. It has come to the point where they straight up told me that they were not going to play with me. How the fuck is this acceptable?

[@heroinmonsterj]

@@Achiez-z EXACTLY. I'm tired of sticking out lobbies with my friends going 20-50. It's like ik I'll be having more fun if I'm in a lobby by myself.

[@ArcAngelttv]

@@Achiez-z same has happened to me. I’ve played less because I don’t have anyone to have fun and play with because they don’t want to be with me until ranked. Just sucks…

[@HippieMagic]

I noticed this a while back when certain content creators could run circles around people and kill them like nothing with 100ms or higher latency meanwhile I have 15-25ms ping and people are lasering me across the map with submachine guns, sliding and jumping with ridiculously high sensitivity, and are acting like they are in ranked.

[@Anon-m9c]

I could give a shit if the SBMM was reasonable, but it’s cranked to fuckin 11, that’s my problem,

[@Dr1ftop1a]

Simple as that, well put.

[@253MC]

I feel like something you miss is that not all people who "came home from a long days work" are average or poor players. I myself don't play every day, I'm self employed and sometimes work very long hours. However, I happen to be a pretty decent gamer with a 2-3KD ratio. Every single match I play feels like I'm in the CDL finals. I am not even prestiged, I only have 1 gold camo gun. I get put into lobbies FULL of other 2+KD players who are 7-9th prestige and I have to play like my life depends on it. I am a casual player who just so happens to be good at the game, and I get PUNISHED for it. I dont think anyone wants to be in bot lobbies 24/7, but there HAS to be a better solution where talented players are rewarded and not punished, and the bottom 10% of players are protected. There must be some middle ground. It's unfair.

[@JustArry]

1:32 "unethical" there is nothing more unethical than modern Call Of Duty SBMM/EOMM Nothing a player can do will ever come close to how manipulative the SBMM is. Activision are the only ones doing anything unethical here and this video proves it

[@melvinluyindi7658]

@@JustArry say it louder for the negative kd players

[@ItsCiRO6]

Anyone who defends EOMM and SBMM in pubs needs a serious brain evaluation.

[@GT_177]

Nothing more unethical 😂😂

[@zantoxiv6373]

Bruv hahahaha my man is speaking facts crazyyyyyyy activision shithole…..

[@Lukes-PC-Flips]

I've seen a few of your videos, but this one made me subscribe. I love the data and critical thinking you bring to the conversation

[@MrKool951]

As a below average player who always felt like SBMM was non-existent or not nearly as strict as everyone makes it out to be and needs to be stricter, I now wonder if my lobbies are constantly getting crashed by some asshole.

[@Bestbiggsy]

I'm 41 yrs old, 1.6 kd on pc in mp, 2.6 kd in warzone, 3.5 kd in rebirth. If the game feels hard, take a break, the point is to have fun. If you are struggling, think strategically and try something outside the box. If 11 players in your lobby are running around like demons in mp, you can't out crackhead crackhead.. just place some blast traps and spring mines, and gate keep zones.

[@Mario-d1s7q]

I work 10 hours a day and can spare few hours to play call of duty at night but I’ve got so sick of how sweaty my lobbies are that I decided to create a new acc to just see how the lower bracket of SBMM lobbies look like and I was astonished and furious at the same time.. because in normal SBMM lobbies I have to deal with kids constantly sliding under my gun, jumping and drop shooting with god tier aiming that don’t miss single shot. But in these lobbies no one is slide canceling no one is abusing Omni movement just casual players enjoying the game with little to lethal/tacticals spamming .. i just got so mad at how activision manipulates the match making putting you in constant sweatfest lobbies if you are a bit above average player.. now I dont want to play in these lower bracket lobbies because it’s boring but I also don’t want to play in constant sweat fest lobbies. I just want random matches with bad and good players.. there has to be a middle ground. SBMM should be in game to protect players with disabilities etc but it shouldn’t be the way it is now day.. it is just extremely strict and frustrating to play in..

[@Triggerhappy825]

Stop reverse boosting

[@callafuryz8549]

Looking back when I started playing MW2 and BO1 I was very bad but seeing people with Fall camo or gold guns absolutely wrecking lobbies would make me want to get better and it was so cool seeing that. They should just take away the SBMM and keep it how it should be with a good connection to local players. I’ve been getting put into games with like 2-300 ping and it’s horrible.

[@CryoCare]

So sad. They almost all do it. Like playing against bots and flexing it.

[@TheSceletonx]

I have seen so many people two boxing, on stream, without even hiding in. Just to get into low skill lobby, just to trash talk they opponents after, how bad they are. Like... not shit sherlock, you literally manipulated the system to get those people into your game. at least fucking have some decency and dont be toxic moron.

[@Devil0rdante]

One thing that I hear absolutely nobody talk about is how back in the day when there was no SBMM, the topic of "I can't join a match without a prestige 10 player stomping the match" was still a thing. You just had all the time in the world to be the one stomping back then. (or at the very least decent enough to be in the middle). I also agree that most people are perfectly fine with how things are and the whole conversation is inflated. I play with quite a varied group of friends of different skill levels and we always have a ton of fun playing together because we aren't focused on winning the game or even getting more kills than the other. In MW2 (the new one, not OG) we'd use the gunsmith to make "let's try to make the worst gun" challenges, or some other equally stupid but fun in-game. Again. I'm most probably biased in this conversation because I already have fun with the game and have friends that also do, but I don't care about what happens to SBMM.

[@Matt-n3v]

Players played as a team back in the day , new kids today just rush and don't do team work. And cry that they died and call everyone a camper

[@flashpoint5292]

I do not trust Activision's SBMM white paper. They have every incentive to lie and they did quite a lot in that paper. SBMM did not exist since MW1, we had solely team balancing which only looked at K/D. We know for a fact connection gets worse the higher up you are on the bracket. We know for a fact that turning SBMM off would only aid in the game being better for the vast majority of players. However we know from Xdefiant that without SBMM, newer cod players won't want to play the game because they think they're way better than they actually are

[@xCriZzZ]

SBMM existed in OG CoDs BUT here is a thing that they didnt said. SBMM was only to protect really bad players like kids with disabilities, that can't even shoot.

[@andybayliss2318]

Amazing video, thank you for explaining the difference between the have and have nots when it comes to gaming.

[@MrPorko2c]

Here’s my view - I don’t care what you think about SBMM, whether you hate it or recognise that it serves a certain purpose. We can continue to have that debate. However, as long as SBMM is a thing, people who are proven to be reverse boosting and 2-boxing should receive temporary bans, and if they continue to do it, they should get perma-bans. Just let the 0.2KD people play without ruining their game. Despite what some people try to claim, they’re not going to improve getting stomped on my 4KD players.

[@Mettifrags]

So you think you are top 0.1% with your manipulated 3-4 kd but a "CDL PRO fighting for his life at a 1.2kd isnt?" lolololololol its YOU that doesnt understand how SBMM works.

[@Dr1ftop1a]

Tell us how is it then? I wont take ,,no" for an answer.

[@TheTacticalBrit]

That's the structure for warzone. When SBMM is efficient, 3-5KD players will be sitting at 2, max, if that.

[@Mettifrags]

@@TheTacticalBrit Yeh so you don't get how it works. I'll give you and the other comment the basic run down. SBMM has almost nothing to do with KD. Simple way to show this, a bunch of 0.5 KD people cant play against a bunch of 0.5 KD's because thats impossible to maintain that number across the board. Some people NEED to be higher. What is clearly the main metrics is actual skill, as in accuracy, the amount someone is moving, sliding, diving ect. KD means nothing because what you will find is no matter the bracket, the average KD's are exactly the same, but their KD work for THAT bracket, but ofc if the "0.5kd" guy was playing against everyone "sbmm off" he would actually be a 0.5kd or lower, but these guys you say have 0.5kd without any proof, likely have the 1 - 1.5 like everyone else that isn't manipulating the MM. Although I agree with the SBMM, needs to be in the game to some extent, but the state it is in now is just insanity. I have been playing since COD 1, Im on M&K, and have aimbotty aim but im sitting at around 1.4 kd and the lobbies im in are mind blowing, like I cant even slightly relax.

[@Mettifrags]

@@TheTacticalBrit Just to add incase I didnt explain the KD part right its because KD only matters if there is no SBMM, that way you will really see what your real KD is, but with SBMM, KD isn't a metric that matters in any way. Thats why when you have some bad games, nothing changes, you are still playing against the same people. It knows you are better than how you are performing because of the things I listed.

[@youtubehandle-u2l]

⁠@@Mettifragssame. it sucks having to explain where youre coming from too. Bottom line, sbbmm just makes the average player go through a “get dominated. play decently. have a close game thats intensely sweaty. get dominated” ontop of having to constantly alternate lobbies and players every game. Ive played since bo2, and i remember being dogshit and then getting into my groove near the end of the games life cycle. The very idea of SBBMM is just a dark cloud that hangs over every multiplayer match that i just stay in zombies now to avoid the frustration. Imagine playing the game ans thinking “damn, im gonna get destroyed next game.” or “is it even worth trying to win since if we lose, ill get an easier game.” its just bullshit

[@ConradWeasel98]

Bro, yes these bad players might be getting home from work or school and just want play and enjoy their 0.5 KDs. But so did we 10-15 years ago playing Blops1 and then working to get better at the game. Why should these people have it so easy and now higher skilled players are punished by being forced against other high skilled players - this is what ranked play is for. We also have work and jobs, and want to unwind, not sweat. I agree that if these are bottom of the barrel players, they should be protected, perhaps they have disabilities or genuinely just don't play video games much. But there is no point forcing 2+ K/D players against one another and trying to hide it with Elim/D ratios rather than K/D. And I'm sorry but this gameplay is just reminiscent of Blops 1 - MW3 - Blops2 pubstomping days, being able to play solo, chase red dots and go for big streaks/nukes/MOABs, I miss it.

[@shifterdude]

@@ConradWeasel98 found the guy who manipulates lobbies ^

[@ConradWeasel98]

@shifterdude I choose to play through SBMM, I just don't agree with it. Get better at the game!

[@shifterdude]

@@ConradWeasel98 What's your KD? I'm sitting at 1.45 and every game is so damn sweaty. Feels like I'm playing against CDL players

[@ConradWeasel98]

@@shifterdude 2, then I got shadow banned because people spam reported me :) Game is rubbish.

[@shifterdude]

@@ConradWeasel98 lmfao

[@iPropheci]

The argument isn’t above average players just want to stomp on average or below average players. The argument is for sbmm to not be the main factor for matchmaking in general. It should be connection focused first! I’m an adult I work a full time job and have kids, so I don’t have hours on end everyday to play. But I’m also from what you said an above average player with a 1.35-1.75 kd depending on the game, (bo6 has been brutal for some reason, leaving me with a lower than usual kd for me.) so when I get home I too don’t want to have to sweat my ass off just to play the game in a non ranked match. From what you said if there’s majority of players are in the lower brackets with less players as the skill goes up than that means the average matches would still be around a 1.0 kd. So I’m not understanding the argument that everyone needs to be in their bracket and their bracket alone. How would you expect to improve? Or even just have a different experience each time? It get mundane playing the same way each game just to keep up with the players in my lobbies. Keep people below a .50 kd in their own lobbies, everyone else should be fair game!

[@JohnnyHeracles]

Its funny because people who complain about being in nothing but sweaty lobbies are only there because they sweat. They just want to be number 1 without the effort.

[@acev3521]

@@JohnnyHeracles you clearly have no idea how sbmm works please stop talking

[@JohnnyHeracles]

@acev3521 all I know is im having fun as long as no one is cheating. I like playing people around my skill level.

[@Cpt.Zer0]

Thank you for taking this stand. Sbmm is there for a reason, if not the game will die. I am getting older, my reactions and eyesight is no where near what it was when I played call of duty 1 ( yes I am so old). So I hover around 1 in kd and have fun with the game. When i have a good day i get the higher skilled matches and they are not fun. Getting spawn killed the whole match makes me quit the game and play a rpg or strategy game instead.

[@BroManGuy7]

The issue is not that i have to play good players. The issue is that i have to sacrifice connection to connect to a lobby half way across the country. And trust me, I FEEL IT when it happens. My ping goes from 5ms to 25 - 30ms and it makes a huge difference

[@alfameqeagle]

Hahaha 30? Try 150 here

[@BroManGuy7]

@@alfameqeagle lol sorry for your loss

[@antsa85]

40-55😂

[@BroManGuy7]

Yall gotta get fiber

[@antsa85]

@@BroManGuy7 allready have one. 1000/100 fibre and wired connection. Still my ping is high. Other fps games my ping is like 5-15

[@kvltst]

Bring back Player Ran servers. Let the community decide where to play. Lobbies stick around. Clans can come back. All this control has been the downfall of PC games. Even if someone was hacking, we could kick them and ban their IP/GUID (punkbuster might not have been great, but we had tools to fight back). I don't even understand why Activision bothers paying for servers at all, unless it's for manipulating the experience...

[@jonathgn]

So people just want to farm bad players that's why they hate sbmm

[@aj7765]

Or it's because SBMM punishes you for improving at the game.. The game is trying its hardest to keep you at a 1 KD and a 50% W/L..

[@Triggerhappy825]

@@aj7765No people just want to farm bad players

[@360PATCH]

@@Triggerhappy825 No people just want organic lobbies like they used to get back in 2007 where every game wasn't a fight for your life and you weren't getting systematically punished just for playing slightly above average or in the opposite case put in complete bot lobbies just because you lost a few games or tried out a class you weren't proficient with.

[@aj7765]

​@@Triggerhappy825 Back in the day, we were all bad players. But we eventually got better and we were rewarded for it. Now if you get better, you just go up the mmr ladder. You never feel that same sense of progression..

[@jonathgn]

@360PATCH I agree I prefer organic lobbies I hate the mind games the game plays. I like the fact sbmm keeps me fight good player but I hate it for giving me easy or harder games when I lose or win respectively.

[@eliack95]

Imagine being a dad coming home from a 12 hour shift tired as fuck and your first thought is to jump feet first into the adderall-fueled hell known as CoD.

[@aaronthelegend]

I think u need a better definition of casual. I consider myself a casual player of games. I have a full time job and play games for fun. But since my KD is 1.2 the game punishes me because I’m good. How about not being woke and stop protecting bad people. “Everyone gets a trophy”. If ur not good then get better. Pubs are not ranked. This is a 17 and up game if u are above that age u should be able to learn and get better. I am almost to the point of 2 boxing. Have not done it yet. But I am almost there. Protecting people that are bad is for weak minded people.

[@nogi2167]

SBMM has always existed in competitive games, especially shooters. It’s only become an “issue” now because content creators benefit when it’s turned off. The obsession with winning and high kds and skill gaps has optimized the fun out of games. The lack of SBMM is one of the major reasons for the horrendous new player churn in XDefiant. Not having SBMM can let you absolutely seal-club, but what most people don’t understand is, statistically, you’re the seal, not the clubber.

[@juliushibbert1091]

let's call 2-boxing for what it is - cheating. Manipulating the SBMM is against ToS and clearly unethical, especially for people earning money from the game in deceptive ways. glad you're talking about it now but it's way too late

[@Sunnyside845]

Feels like skill based teammates. Me and my buddy are constantly dropping a ton of kills while my teammates are going 0-20. 🤦‍♂️

[@chipps3134]

Honestly the best video about sbmm, a loud vocal minority (content creators) giving the masses a false impression of sbmm. For 99% of players it does its job and is there for a reason

[@Zangetsu8150]

My only issues with SBMM in any game is how it affects performance by being implemented. When you come across lagging and shots not registering then it becomes a big problem. I’ve mostly played hardcore in any cod game I’ve bought, which isn’t many post BO2, and even there I’m regularly experiencing hit markers in this game. I did try core but when that happens it’s terrible, literally put a full mag into someone to then get deleted seemingly instantly. Actually felt post D1 Taken King PvP PTSD in this core playlist!

[@Smokinjoewhite]

I remember the first time I played MW3 when it came out on GamePass. I usually hold a 2.5-3 KD in most COD titles and have been playing multiplayer since COD2 was released and have played pretty much every popular multiplayer FPS in between. The first game I played on mw3 (2023, the fact I have to specify that still hurts) I nearly nuked and wasn't even trying. I was getting used to the game, had never played the map and had nothing unlocked, yet I still went on a 28 kill streak. Because my battlenet account was not tied to my gamepass account the SBMM had not carried over like it had in other titles and my first 3 games were extremely easy, but from that point on it was the usual sweat fest I have become accustomed to. I can imagine just how easy these lobbies get and I don't blame people that have never seen a high skill lobby for thinking good players are just complaining and need to get good. They are protected and will never have to see it because they will never play against better players to improve. For someone that is getting on in years and will inevitably age but is still a good player, SBMM is even more of a struggle to deal with and I don't blame all my old clan mates that I played comp with back in the day for calling it a day. It is a futile exercise in frustration and it's part of the reason I am playing more xdefiant than COD now. At least the only manipulation is team balancing. I still have to carry, but at least I am playing against a variety of players and not just sweats.

[@skuzzyj]

The smurf is real. I remember once demonstrating to a friend of mine how strong modern SBMM is - he didn't really play (this was MW19) but he popped up online so I joined his lobby just before it filled up. I then went around 130/25 or so in core, just using pistols. He asked something to the effect of "damn, do you ever go outside?" and I had to explain that we're just not in the same skill bracket and I basically never would have been in that lobby naturally. The effect of us being partied up regularly would just be a bad time for him since he'd probably end up getting pulled into significantly tougher lobbies than he would see normally. Maybe he'd "git gud" but more likely he'd just stop playing the game entirely. There's a reason these systems exist but it should never be this easy to manipulate.

[@dancovich]

Funny how people talk about removing sbmm and getting back random lobbies but nobody tries to manipulate the matchmaking system to get into lobbies way above their skill level. They say they want randomness back but truth is that want "randomness" to mean "mostly lobbies below my skill level"

[@callumyt69]

No I’d like mixed between good and bad, a couple sweats per game is better then ALL sweats cos it’s factually more fun

[@xSimpii]

SBMM was introduced during BO2 (more than a decade ago) therefore I'm used to it. Sometimes in past cods I will intentionally just jump off the map 60 times a game to get better lobbies. For those who are bitching, it's been in every cod since BO2....

[@davidbath91]

I first got suspicious of this back in the rebooted Modern Warfare. There was a you tuber (Hero on YT) that was dropping nukes against brand new players on the regular and we were sweating it out every single game. Spent some time trying to find ways to join a bot account and found the join in progress method. We were able to consistently get into 0.1kd lobbies with our regular accounts. And when we were testing we found a lot of players were doing it. And not hiding it. You'd see an account in your lobby, then one with a similar name would join. And then obviously the first account then leaves. And what do you know, most of the accounts doing it had YT or TTV in their names. Same thing has worked in every game since. And it's 10 times easier now with family share and game pass. And the same KZbinrs are still doing it even with the spotlight now on a very old exploit. And it can be fixed so easily. All they need to do is remove the ability to join in progress. Only let players join each other in the lobby before searching. I can't see why they have left such a vulnerability in the game when they are so protective of SBMM. I can only assume it's because they know the effect it would have on a large number of content creators.

[@jj515789]

SBMM is such a horrible fail, just bring back random lobbies based solely off connection and location. Streamers and content creators always showing off like they are Call of Duty legends, but must be nice to be in lobbies where people are staring at the ground and almost never even fire back....

[@focus_sr3416]

Problem is that there is no variance and every match feels and plays the exact same. Im super bored after 30 hours on multiplayer. It just gotta be way way less strict. Back in the day good players was dunking on me so why do noobs now have the privilege that i cant dunk on them now that im good? Just penalized for getting good and spend thousands of hours in their games

[@Thinkagainbro]

Video starts @ 4:30

[@dillon_r_hansen]

I’ve never noticed the extreme in skill difference until this COD. I have been away for 5-6 years so this could just be that. But COD 4 through BO2 I ran a 1.8-2.5 KD on the games. Match making never really felt like an issue for skill level. But this game I get crazy differences in match results could be a 45-10 killer hard point game then turn around and go 20-21 and feel like someone always has the drop on me it’s wild. I’ve only put in 6 hours or so on MP the rest on zombies. The MP is so frustrating so quickly that it really takes the fun out of that part of the game.

[@daunenfreund8053]

I miss the times in which sbmm didnt exist. Mixed lobbies with some very good and some very bad players and the rest average. i would consider myself right in the middle and i averaged a nice 2kd back in the old days, had fun playing against noobs but also learned from the few very good players i was facing. Nowadays i always have sweaty lobbies right around my skillset and if i (very rarely) manage to drop a 50 kill game, my next game is gonna be full of movement demons. It just feels like shit when you compare it to older cods without sbmm.

[@daunenfreund8053]

but maybe thats just the mindset of all the old folks since we started our cod experience entirely without sbmm

[@PolyWaves]

Didn't understand why people with crazy animated gun skins were in my lobbies until now. Started yesterday with friends and we kept running into diamond+ skins getting 50+ kills over 2nd place getting like 20 kills lmao. thankfully we still had fun

[@g59dillonmeh]

as someone who used to get nukes in every cod game i played within the first week, with my last cod being bo4 and just started back with bo6, it feels like nukes dont matter anymore. sbmm used to be a thing, but not as strong, i used to be able to be a 3.0-4.0kd player but now im at a 1.4 atm, playing against people who dont miss a single shot and 90% of the people in my lobbies seem capable of getting nukes without sbmm, but were all just mostly evenly matched bar a few games i have a 7-10kd or 0.5 0.6

[@itsScottyJ]

I miss being able to know how I stack up against the rest of the player base. Now I feel very average, but that’s just compared to the people in my lobbies. How high is my bracket? I don’t know. Feels sweatier than any CoD I’ve ever played and I’ve never seen a single player like those in the video. Getting better only gets you in tougher lobbies which makes it feel like you’re not actually improving, pretty discouraging. Im almost 3rd prestige with a high streak of just 8, E/D 1.45 and dropping. I’ve not seen me or anyone else yet call in a scoresteak higher than a heli, that’s astonishing. It’s just crazy how competitive it feels now.

[@obezy8705]

Back in bo2 the way I got better at the game was to watch killcams of the much better players in the lobby to see how they had the upper hand, this made me get much better at the game much faster, now they are just coddling new/low skilled players and they will never get better at the game because they don't play with people who are actually good. I was playing with my nephew who has been playing the last couple of cods non stop and i can see that he is no where near as good as I was at the game at his age

[@JTree]

0:05 “whoa whoa there… if you keep playing like that we might have to give you a shadow ban if you get any better. We can’t be having our special star player base deciding to quit the game!” -Activision

[@Born-in-86]

The issue isnt so much SBMM. . Its the manipulation of your ping and all the coding thats in the game to get the outcome THEY want. Smh

[@zeusymoosey3348]

I almost solely play ranked, as I've never enjoyed pubs. But it was always a chill space with friends who didn't like league/ranked/comp play. Now pubs is as sweaty as comp modes

[@BuyBackGav]

Man your pushing out some great content atm!