How to fix matchmaking

Marathon Needs Gear-Based Matchmaking, Not Just Skill-Based Matchmaking I think Marathon needs a matchmaking system that takes gear count and equipment tiers into account. I recently ran into an Outpost match using a sponsored kit with no shield, only to encounter someone running a purple shield. That's a massive equipment disadvantage before the gunfight even begins. For a hardcore extraction shooter, gear progression should matter, but there also needs to be some balance in what players are bringing into the same lobby. Right now, the difference between entering with nothing and entering with high-tier gear can make certain fights feel heavily one-sided. Here's how I'd approach it: - Sponsored kits / no shield: Match primarily against other players running sponsored kits or similarly low-tier loadouts. Loot availability should also be throttled so these lobbies primarily contain green and blue gear rather than high-tier equipment. - Green shields: Match primarily against players with no shields or green shields, with some room for blue-tier players. - Blue shields: Match primarily against players running blue and purple shields, with limited exposure to gold-tier gear. - Purple shields: Match primarily against players running blue and purple shields, with some exposure to gold-tier equipment. - Gold-tier loadouts: Match primarily against other high-investment loadouts, while allowing some overlap with purple-tier players. The key principle is that blue gear should be the minimum baseline for regularly matching against purple gear, while players with no shield shouldn't be encountering purple or higher-tier shields as standard opponents. I'm not saying every fight needs to be perfectly even or that players should never encounter someone with better gear. This is still an extraction shooter, and risk should be part of the experience. However, there should be a reasonable limit to the equipment gap matchmaking allows, especially when one player enters with a free sponsored kit and another enters with significantly more protection and investment. Squad matchmaking should be treated differently, though. If you're bringing your own squad, naturally, the experience should be more varied. Squads can coordinate, distribute gear, and support each other, so there's a stronger argument for allowing a wider range of equipment tiers in those lobbies. My main concern is solo players who can end up at a significant disadvantage when matched against someone with substantially better gear and protection. Ranked and Cryo already have loot-related requirements, so why not use equipment tiers as an additional matchmaking factor in Outpost? The game could use overlapping gear brackets, with some flexibility to keep queue times reasonable. I want Marathon to retain its hardcore identity, but hardcore shouldn't automatically mean that a fight is decided by a massive equipment disparity before either player pulls the trigger. This is the kind of experience I wish Call of Duty would move away from, too. I'd rather have a shooter where preparation, positioning, aim, and decision-making matter than one where the equipment gap puts one player at a significant disadvantage from the start. What do you guys think? Should Marathon have gear-based matchmaking brackets, or would that take too much away from the risk-and-reward aspect of an extraction shooter?