Every developer that works on a multiplayer game will tell you that matchmaking is nearly impossible to perfect. Thanks to various factors like wait time, playlist variety, and variations in player skill, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to matchmaking that will work for every game. Some games use a skill-based matchmaking system to ensure the fairest games, while others allow all players to matchmake together in order to ensure the lowest wait times. It isn’t strictly one or the other though, and it’s up to the developers to find the perfect balance for each individual playlist.
Gamers can get pretty passionate about matchmaking, especially if they feel they’re often pitted against players outside of their skill level. High-skill players often push for no skill-based matchmaking because it causes them to have long wait times and incredibly difficult games, while low-skilled players push for strict SBMM so that they don’t have to compete against players that are much better than them. It’s nearly impossible to please everyone with any matchmaking system simply because different players expect different experiences. While most developers work tirelessly to devise the most optimal matchmaking possible, the creators of Pokemon Unite have instead devised a system so utterly lacking in finesse that I can only imagine it was designed as a temporary solution that somehow made it into the actual game. In order to reduce wait times to virtually zero, Pokemon Unite will routinely match players with full teams of brain-dead AI opponents that offer no challenge whatsoever. These matches are a complete waste of time for players, and currently, there’s no way to opt-out of them.
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The first major issue with bot matches in Pokemon Unite is that they’re completely unavoidable. Whether you play the standard 5v5 mode, the 3v3 quick matches, or even the ranked mode, you’ll find yourself playing against bots in as many as half your matches. To be clear, there is no “player vs. AI” mode like you might find in other MOBAs. Any match you play has a chance of being against five real players or five bot players. There’s simply nothing you can do to avoid it.
In the Beginner tier of ranked, it’s common for solo players to encounter bot matches after every single loss. These bot matches still occur in Great and Expert ranks, which I can personally attest to, but they’re apparently still appearing Veteran, Ultra, and even Master, according to high-ranked players. Given that the player pool is a lot smaller at the highest ranks, it’s likely that bot matches are even more common for the Unite’s most skilled players.
AI Players are embarrassingly easy to detect. While the devs have tried to hide the identity of bots by giving them fake names and loading bars before the match, you can actually tell that they’re bots right away if you click on their Pokemon to inspect their trainer card. Every bot has a zoomed in picture with the exact same forward facing pose on their trainer card. If you see it, you already know the next ten minutes are going to be a waste of time. Bots have incredibly simple scripting. They will attack the closest wild Pokemon and move down the lane until an opponent comes in range. Then, they will stand still and attack until their health drops to around 20%, at which point they’ll turn around and try to flee. Obviously, these bots pose almost no challenge whatsoever. It’s fairly routine to beat these players with a score 500-0, and if they don’t manage to score at least 100 points by the five-minute mark they’ll almost always surrender.
While you would never see bots in a ranked match of League of Legends or Dota 2, it’s unfortunately fairly common for mobile multiplayer games, including Tencent’s other mobile MOBA, Arena of Valor. The only benefit the AI opponents offer players is a lower queue time, but with the popularity of Pokemon Unite right now, I can’t imagine that bot matches are ever saving players more than a second or two. These bot matches are not fun because they aren’t challenging in the slightest. It doesn’t feel rewarding to sweep the other team because it’s so obvious that they aren’t real players. Even the most toxic player would have to admit they get nothing out of beating these bots. If there’s no one to flame after the match is over, then what’s the point?
I suppose these are easy wins that can help you complete dailies faster, but no one plays the game to finish dailies. It would be one thing if the bots were more challenging, or if they were mixed into the ranks of both teams, but right now they’re little more than punching bags, equivalent to Level 1 CPUs in Smash that throw out the occasional attack but otherwise stand still and take hits.
I’m curious about the legality of bot players in PvP games, since, at the very least, it would seem to qualify as false advertising. The FTC has gone after dating sites in the past that have used fake profiles and chat bots to dupe users. If it’s illegal to use bots on a dating site, it seems like it should also be illegal to use bots in a PvP game. You might argue that the FTC’s hands are tied since Tencent isn’t an American company, but anything hosted on Nintendo’s eShop is subject to all of our laws and regulations. Not to be the armchair lawyer on this one, but if it isn’t strictly illegal, it’s at least unethical.
Players don’t appreciate being lied to. The fact that bot players use fake loading bars to appear like real players is evidence enough that the developers are hiding the identity of AI players. There’s simply no argument to be made in favor of these bot matches. The wait time for real matches is nearly as short as bot matches, they aren’t fun to play, and they make players feel tricked. You can’t even make the case that little kids need to win sometimes or else they won’t enjoy the game. Tell that to Fortnite.
Tencent, get rid of the bots. No one likes them, no one needs them, and the game is too good to get ruined by bad bots.
Next: Pokemon Unite Has A Serious Idling Problem
