I was wondering how MMR changes over time, not specifically the math behind it, which is available elsewhere, but what I perceive (possibly incorrectly) to be a bit of a paradox in the marriage of rating and matchmaking. Every day in ranked solo queue, I see the same one or two dozen names in my matches over and over. Through these matches, I have maintained just short of a 50% win rate, which is around what the system should be producing if MMR-based matchmaking is working and premades aren’t an issue (which they have not been). Assuming that the players’ ratings have stabilized to the point that the system is highly confident in them, how does one’s MMR ever manage to change? Playing with and against many of the same players day in and day out, winning roughly half your matches, it seems like after the initial period of high ratings volatility, once your rating has ‘settled’, it is not going to change much without a significant winning or losing streak, which shouldn’t happen in solo queue due to matchmaking as well as the nature of solo queue itself.
I am probably missing something here, which is why I ask this. I also ask because I feel like I’ve hit a wall in terms of progress where my skill and experience are concerned. I don’t feel like I’m learning anything new from these solo matches. Having had the opportunity the past few days to party up with more experienced players through a guildie, I know there’s a lot that I have to learn. But if MMR really does pigeonhole players after their ratings settle, it’s going to be hard to get exposure to higher quality teammates and opponents in order to improve their game. I feel like the majority of solo matches I’m in are won by the team that makes fewer basic mistakes than the other, rather than which one has a better overall strategy or skillset. If rating is actually very slow to change or just plain stagnant, solo queue just seems like a dead end in terms of personal progress.