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I'd like to propose an idea to added functionality in the "Practice" section of the client.
As of now, the distinction between "private" and "public" practice games can be done through password protection, which is great when you have agreed to play a match with an opponent. However, where do you find the opponents? In DotA, because of the limitations of Battle.net and Warcraft III in general, searches for clan wars were to a large extent done on IRC. This is what many teams from back then are used to, and how they search their Dota 2 clan wars now.
This should be integrated into the client. Here's the sketch for an initial idea:
Captain of team A wants to find a match against an opponent of average skill. He doesn't want to play against beginners, but at the same time not against people with a very high experience in the game. He goes to the Practice section in which he clicks the "Find Clan War" button. This opens up a new window in which he selects preferred region (ACTIVE/INACTIVE just like Matchmaking), and chooses desired skill level - an initial idea for beta testing could be having the skill level scale be "Beginner--average--above average--experienced--professional". He clicks search.
[Waiting time]
Captain of team B queues on "average" skill. The matchmaking matches the two teams versus each other, and creates a lobby. No one is set as host, the hosting is done from the server-side; the game is already pre-configured: -cm, [host location based on search parametres], no observers by default (can be discussed whether observers should be a part of the model, and how). Both teams join in, just like in Matchmaking - if a player declines, the game is cancelled, and the search restarts (with high queue priority). When all 10 players are in the game, the captains (those who created the parties) click [READY]. When clicked by both captains, the game launches.
The more "external" functionality of DotA can be made "internal" in the Dota 2 client, the more complete it will be as a game. Clan war search is one of those examples. After all, it's about gathering everything and everyone at one place.
As of now, the distinction between "private" and "public" practice games can be done through password protection, which is great when you have agreed to play a match with an opponent. However, where do you find the opponents? In DotA, because of the limitations of Battle.net and Warcraft III in general, searches for clan wars were to a large extent done on IRC. This is what many teams from back then are used to, and how they search their Dota 2 clan wars now.
This should be integrated into the client. Here's the sketch for an initial idea:
Captain of team A wants to find a match against an opponent of average skill. He doesn't want to play against beginners, but at the same time not against people with a very high experience in the game. He goes to the Practice section in which he clicks the "Find Clan War" button. This opens up a new window in which he selects preferred region (ACTIVE/INACTIVE just like Matchmaking), and chooses desired skill level - an initial idea for beta testing could be having the skill level scale be "Beginner--average--above average--experienced--professional". He clicks search.
[Waiting time]
Captain of team B queues on "average" skill. The matchmaking matches the two teams versus each other, and creates a lobby. No one is set as host, the hosting is done from the server-side; the game is already pre-configured: -cm, [host location based on search parametres], no observers by default (can be discussed whether observers should be a part of the model, and how). Both teams join in, just like in Matchmaking - if a player declines, the game is cancelled, and the search restarts (with high queue priority). When all 10 players are in the game, the captains (those who created the parties) click [READY]. When clicked by both captains, the game launches.
The more "external" functionality of DotA can be made "internal" in the Dota 2 client, the more complete it will be as a game. Clan war search is one of those examples. After all, it's about gathering everything and everyone at one place.
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