From interview with Tim Willits

PCPP: Is it all based on matchmaking in terms of the closed beta and the intention for final version, or is there also going to be server browsers?

Tim Willits: Uh, yeah, so what… so basically, in closed beta, you’ll pick your region and then it’ll drill down from there, and then of course, we’ll matchmake within… it’s a balance between your ping and your skill level matchmaking. So, we’ll just… first you go to your region and then you match within the region, but yes

PCPP: That’s good to know. In terms of the matchmaking, region is obviously crucial and skill, but are you talking about how you’ve broken down how skill will be measured? Is it just as simple as win/loss, or how many variables is it taking into account to ensure that you’re not getting these matches with complete greenhorns versus the upper-echelon of Quake players?

Tim Willits: Yes, yes. It’s a formula that takes into a number of different factors. We’ll continually tweak that formula to get the best results. Hopefully, we can get you into matches where you have a competitive advantage but you also have a good ping. It’s a formula that takes more into account than just your Elo [rating].


So this is the first time when Tim said a word "ELO" !
And as i understand he not sure about total amount of players in duel mode. And if not enought players then ELO matchmaking will not work.




I can see some problems with ELO


1. What if your ELO too high (your ELO 1600+). And you can't use automated matchmaking, because of not enough players in your ELO class.

2. You can't find enough players because your region far from big city and you has big ping and thats why you can't use automated matchmaking.


Solutions

1. Players can create tournaments (and every player can see tournament list in main menu.) with their locations and ELO range: Frankfurt Today at 10 PM, elo 1600-1800, round robin, 6 players needed, prize=my rocket launcher, or champion, 500 platinum etc.

Also players can add each other to friend list, but its already implemented.

2. We can slightly increase amount of players in our community by (artificial )ping increasing.

If you has 30 ping on your server(town country), then you can increase your ping up to 100 for playing with players who has high pings on your server(players who lives in other towns, countries). Thus, by increasing your ping, you just invite other players(from other servers) to play with you on equal pings. Thus 2 quake communities from diffrent towns(countries) becomes one big community.

Look at picture ...


Also, matchmaking(player search) must be semi automated. If system can't find player for a 2 minutes, she offer to increase ELO search range and to enable PING increasion. Or she must show your potencial opponents, and mention you about "if you increase your ping, you can play with them on equal pings".

Also every duel game can be with some prizes, like platinum. "if you can play with me on equal pings, i give you 2 platinum points". So something like bets(inside same ELO class).