Matchmaking tries to find balanced fireteam sizes but will loosen up if there are no quality matches within a certain timeframe. Freelance split the playerbase immensely, killed queue times, and single-handedly made 5 stacking (in 6v6) or 2 stacking (in 3v3) completely unplayable. I rarely get in a game where the teams are not at least balanced by fireteam size (no, you being the solo to a 2/5 stack against the enemy team’s solo and 2/5 stack is not unfair—it’s a 50/50 you get the better teammates, as it always is.) I understand the frustration, as I sometimes get frustrated by these games too, but I think most of it is simply an excuse instead of self-reflection on why you lost. Games are not instantly won or lost just based on stack size or the players you were assigned—it is that mindset that perpetuates inevitable defeats in these conditions. The current scheme is simply the most logical matchmaking system and is why other games use the exact same system and not a “freelance” equivalent, even despite many games having much higher PvP populations which would mitigate some of the downsides. Creating such a large disparity in queue times and match quality based on your stack size is simply unintuitive and unfun—you should be encouraged to play with your friends at all times, not just when you have the exact correct number to optimize your queue times and match quality. While I think having a good solo experience is important, it never should be that the difference in quality is such that I refuse to play with any of my friends because Freelance is simply the correct answer and if that means making the solo experience marginally worse, then so be it.

I love how your logic is “anyone in a premade fireteam is instantly better than me” yet you don’t have the option to make an lfg post and invite two randoms? Why not make your own “three stack” team so you get some hidden stat benefit against solo players?

Freelance was assimilated into standard Crucible and Gambit, meaning that now, by default, solo players will queue with solo players, duos with duos, etc. The issue now is player population. If the game cannot find a match for you with whatever queue stack you are, then it will start pulling from other pools to fill in the match.

The lance got put in jail