tl;dr: Horrendous matchmaking (especially with a toxic community) is enough to utterly and totally ruin an otherwise spectacular game. I mainly solo queue / two stack; the only way you will enjoy the game consistently is 5-stacking. If you solo queue, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME.

It's such an incredible idea: asymmetric gameplay, variety in characters and gameplay, satisfying movement and gunplay, droning intel and good communication make for an incredible core loop. Easily the most fun idea of a team based FPS I've had in years, far beating Overwatch, CS:GO, etc. However...

The negatives strongly outweigh the positives. I've had fun in maybe 3-6 of my last 80 games or so, for many reasons. I primarily solo queue in ranked, and the atrocious matchmaking is so clear. First, there is absolutely no balance in terms of overall playtime: I have played 630 hours (level 150 or so) and finally have all the operators, and often my teammates are level 50-100 (80-270 hours) while going against several level 200+ opponents (1000+ hours). This imbalance happens with offensive consistency, a team with 1200 or so joint hours vs a team with 5000+ hours at the same rank - this knowledge gap leads almost certainly to a loss.

Secondly, losing is heavily penalized; in this game I have gotten longer loss streaks than any other game in my life. A 10+ game loss streak is not uncommon, with maybe a 4-7 win streak to compare at absolute best. When you lose, your teammates get worse, but your opponents do not. I have never played a game with a greater skill imbalance between me and my foes than this one; oftentimes when you are winning it is because your team has 1000+ man hours on the other team, and you summarily 4-0 them.

Thirdly, if a teammate leaves, the game continues. Unlike overwatch which cancels the match if someone abandons before the first round, Siege devs never bothered to implement this system. Unlike CS:GO where you at the very least you have a bot to control, in Siege you are heavily penalized, must go through the entire game, and your win chance goes from 40-50% all the way down to 10-15% just from losing one teammate.

Fourthly, the community is toxic. You will get TKd with no penalty to the TKer, you will get your gadgets destroyed, flamed, etc. The penalties for TKing are not remotely high enough; in CS for example, getting TKd means not being able to participate in 1 of up to 30 rounds. In Siege, TKed means you cannot play for 1 of often 7 rounds, over 14% of the match where you must wait and watch your team lose because you have someone throwing. Because the games are so much shorter, and each teammate so dramatically much more impactful, it is an absolute masochistic waste of your time to play without your friends, because a single bad or salty or toxic or throwing teammate will lead to the death of your team. Oh, did I mention you cannot vote kick toxic teammates in ranked?

It's hard to say why exactly the matchmaking is so garbage in Siege, but it's utterly inexcusable. Instituting harsher TK penalties, allowing vote kicking in ranked, canceling matches when you have a leaver before the start of the first round, forbidding solo queuers from fighting five stacks (they don't even control for party size in matchmaking), or controlling for hours played as well as ELO for matchmkaing.... any of these would make the game far better. But they don't have any of these most basic features which Overwatch has had for years.

It's a purely elo-based system where the only way one could possibly have fun more than three games in a row is if you get obscenely lucky, or play with your four friends. But then again, if you have four friends you are playing a game with anyways, you'll be having plenty of fun regardless of the game.

I highly highly recommend that any human being who values their sanity not purchase this game, and not endure the masochism which is solo queuing. It's really sad; my last 100 hours or so I have spent saying "Yeah, but the core gameplay is so fun, I can try a round or two" and without exception always regretting picking up and playing this game. Games with horrible control schemes, regardless of the gameplay, are not worth playing. Games with awful connection issues in matchmaking are unplayable. And what this game teaches you is that games with nonexistant matchmaking rules and a toxic community will lead you to nothing but strife. Five stack to avoid interacting with the community, or else pick up a different game.

Late 2022 Revision: My major complaints have been almost entirely addressed at this point in the game's development. First, Toxic Teammates: They have a reputation system now, starting next season there's no friendly fire in the setup phase, and it's easier than ever to simply disable all-chat and ignore the community. Secondly, leavers: If a teammate leaves before the game starts, you can simply cancel the game -- phenomenal addition. Finally, the matchmaking: I could just have some recency bias here, but the matchmaking has much less severe differences in ranked (high copper / low silver) compared to before; much less swingy. Nevertheless, the fun doubles for each additional player in your stack. Play with more dedicated others, and you'll have more fun.

tl;dr: Horrendous matchmaking (especially with a toxic community) is enough to utterly and totally ruin an otherwise spectacular game. I mainly solo queue / two stack; the only way you will enjoy the game consistently is 5-stacking. If you solo queue, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. It's such an incredible idea: asymmetric gameplay, variety in characters and gameplay, satisfying movement and gunplay, droning intel and good communication make for an incredible core loop. Easily the most fun idea of a team based FPS I've had in years, far beating Overwatch, CS:GO, etc. However... The negatives strongly outweigh the positives. I've had fun in maybe 3-6 of my last 80 games or so, for many reasons. I primarily solo queue in ranked, and the atrocious matchmaking is so clear. First, there is absolutely no balance in terms of overall playtime: I have played 630 hours (level 150 or so) and finally have all the operators, and often my teammates are level 50-100 (80-270 hours) while going against several level 200+ opponents (1000+ hours). This imbalance happens with offensive consistency, a team with 1200 or so joint hours vs a team with 5000+ hours at the same rank - this knowledge gap leads almost certainly to a loss. Secondly, losing is heavily penalized; in this game I have gotten longer loss streaks than any other game in my life. A 10+ game loss streak is not uncommon, with maybe a 4-7 win streak to compare at absolute best. When you lose, your teammates get worse, but your opponents do not. I have never played a game with a greater skill imbalance between me and my foes than this one; oftentimes when you are winning it is because your team has 1000+ man hours on the other team, and you summarily 4-0 them. Thirdly, if a teammate leaves, the game continues. Unlike overwatch which cancels the match if someone abandons before the first round, Siege devs never bothered to implement this system. Unlike CS:GO where you at the very least you have a bot to control, in Siege you are heavily penalized, must go through the entire game, and your win chance goes from 40-50% all the way down to 10-15% just from losing one teammate. Fourthly, the community is toxic. You will get TKd with no penalty to the TKer, you will get your gadgets destroyed, flamed, etc. The penalties for TKing are not remotely high enough; in CS for example, getting TKd means not being able to participate in 1 of up to 30 rounds. In Siege, TKed means you cannot play for 1 of often 7 rounds, over 14% of the match where you must wait and watch your team lose because you have someone throwing. Because the games are so much shorter, and each teammate so dramatically much more impactful, it is an absolute masochistic waste of your time to play without your friends, because a single bad or salty or toxic or throwing teammate will lead to the death of your team. Oh, did I mention you cannot vote kick toxic teammates in ranked? It's hard to say why exactly the matchmaking is so garbage in Siege, but it's utterly inexcusable. Instituting harsher TK penalties, allowing vote kicking in ranked, canceling matches when you have a leaver before the start of the first round, forbidding solo queuers from fighting five stacks (they don't even control for party size in matchmaking), or controlling for hours played as well as ELO for matchmkaing.... any of these would make the game far better. But they don't have any of these most basic features which Overwatch has had for years. It's a purely elo-based system where the only way one could possibly have fun more than three games in a row is if you get obscenely lucky, or play with your four friends. But then again, if you have four friends you are playing a game with anyways, you'll be having plenty of fun regardless of the game. I highly highly recommend that any human being who values their sanity not purchase this game, and not endure the masochism which is solo queuing. It's really sad; my last 100 hours or so I have spent saying "Yeah, but the core gameplay is so fun, I can try a round or two" and without exception always regretting picking up and playing this game. Games with horrible control schemes, regardless of the gameplay, are not worth playing. Games with awful connection issues in matchmaking are unplayable. And what this game teaches you is that games with nonexistant matchmaking rules and a toxic community will lead you to nothing but strife. Five stack to avoid interacting with the community, or else pick up a different game. Late 2022 Revision: My major complaints have been almost entirely addressed at this point in the game's development. First, Toxic Teammates: They have a reputation system now, starting next season there's no friendly fire in the setup phase, and it's easier than ever to simply disable all-chat and ignore the community. Secondly, leavers: If a teammate leaves before the game starts, you can simply cancel the game -- phenomenal addition. Finally, the matchmaking: I could just have some recency bias here, but the matchmaking has much less severe differences in ranked (high copper / low silver) compared to before; much less swingy. Nevertheless, the fun doubles for each additional player in your stack. Play with more dedicated others, and you'll have more fun.