Grips

I love and play Marathon more than most that I know, however this week has really burnt me out. Should things not improve Tuesday I feel I'm left with the painful decision to stop putting in as much playtime. I understand there is a bug that is contributing to this, however I fear that Level-Based Matchmaking in combination with the Free Kit Queue is resulting in what feels like incredibly small player pools. Whether its Cryo or Marsh, I'm constantly matchmaking names I know. Things are no longer unpredictable, there isn't any more excitement to the unknown. Queue times are long and drawn out. Some players queuing in with pre-made teams. I'm often faced with full end-game top teams repeatedly, regardless of if I'm loading in with Green reinforced shields for an eco run (I frequently use credits/armory builds), or a Gold loadout. I'm frequently running into familiar faces that b/c we can see its them (no streamer mode/anonymity), play differently or are all inclined to be friendly out of respect - I'm sure many players (myself included) play differently based on names they might see. This is dismantling my enjoyment of high highs and low lows, and hindering the gameplay loop for me. I'm someone who doesn't burn out of what I love - and I've been having such a phenomenal time with the community. However its hard not to get exhausted and worn out with this experience, especially with some folks skewing my words back at me about it.

Three PvP games that deserve to have way more players for how good they are if people just give them a chance: Marathon Deadlock The Finals Ignore the noise and try them. They’re all so good in their own ways

I've never seen Steam trend lines so dire for a game I keep wanting to take lunch breaks to go play