[quote] I am a lower-skilled PvP player, and I have come to realize that SBMM is really hurting my Destiny experience as well. The thing is, my best friends are all quite skilled in the Crucible, so, it hit me today in a bout of loneliness that I was avoiding my friends, because: If I play with a group of my friends, their great stats are a major matchmaking factor used when finding opponents for us to play against. That said, playing with my very best friends ultimately means a few things: I will get destroyed. (And) We are likely to lose when I go 2 and 15 and single-handedly cost my team of friends the game. So, as a result, i have been avoiding doing my favorite thing--playing Destiny PvP--with my very closest friends, which SUCKS. This is hopefully a little food for thought for those in support of SBMM to unsuccessfully make playing crucible as a lesser-skilled player more enjoyable (i.e. easier). Sorry for the lengthiness.[/quote] This absolutely reflects my experience as well, but for different reasons. I am one of the more skilled PVP'ers in my group, with a KD average around 1.38 (+/- depending on map rotation). I have friends who are much less skilled in PVP and only dabble in PVP because of it. When we DO PVP as a group, these friends often spend the match getting wrecked (and I never really care what their K/D is, we're just playing to have fun). It's even worse in IB, when they can't even complete their bounties while they are paired up with me. SBMM is driving wedges between people who typically play as a group due to varying skill levels, and therefore, it can make PVP a real drag. Instead of it acting to protect players by pitting them against other similarly skilled players, it is having the exact opposite effect: players partied with people who are more skilled PVP players are getting destroyed. The result? fewer players want to actually play crucible, even though, for many, it is the last activity worth doing in Destiny anymore. I don't think this is the result Bungie would want for their game. Matchmaking just needs to go back to CBMM and let the chips fall where they may. Sure, I could get matched up with a bunch of streamer elite PVP'ers, but I could also get matched up with a bunch of PVP beginners. That's just how the game goes and everyone deals with it. IMO, the only time SBMM makes sense is in Trials- where its Scorecard Based Matchmaking, rather than skill based. IMO, that system doesn't make much sense either.