A high-level player waits forever for a match because nobody is close enough

Matching only players of similar level keeps fights fair, but at the top and bottom of the ladder the queue never fills. Widening the range as people wait is the obvious answer, yet doing it carelessly drags a fresh newcomer into a hopeless match. Here is a rule that balances both.

Why this works

Waiting is a price, and a fair match is worth only so much of it. Letting the range grow with the wait trades a little fairness for speed, and a hard outer limit makes sure the trade never becomes a hopeless fight.

When not to use it

Skip it when the player pool is large enough that everyone finds a close match within seconds. Then widening only invites needless mismatches. In a tiny pool, offer a practice match against a computer opponent instead of a poor human one.

In the full entry

• What to build, step by step
• Starting values and the reason for each
• 3 common mistakes and the fix
• 19 lines of example code with 3 checks that pass
• How your AI shows you that it works

Say this to your AI

Use the Spielerando entry "A high-level player waits forever for a match because nobody is close enough" (read_entry widen-the-level-range-of-matchmaking-while-players-wait) in my game. Build it step by step, and show me how you checked that it works.

Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP