Trust Factor has been an important aspect of CSGO for a long time now, providing a better matchmaking experience for many players. Most players, however, have little knowledge of what trust factor does, or is.
What is Trust Factor in CSGO?
When it comes to CSGO, it is more than likely that you’ll encounter toxic players. Unfortunately, these people ruin the experience and thrill that you can get out of the game. This is part of the reason that a Trust Factor system has been introduced, aiming to lower the chance of being matched with people who worsen the experience of playing the game. In order to achieve this goal, the system has to look at Steam activity as a whole. Through this, it observes different behaviors and actions, identifying people who may potentially cause a problem.
Another attribute that is heavily looked at is the number of reports created. Historically, a large number of reports have been generated due to toxic behavior. With the TF system, the number of reports that are created is significantly lower. A benefit from this is that there is less work for people who review reports. Another benefit from this is that it shows more people are having a positive experience.
When first trying out this system, the CSGO team said that the “results of the experiment have been positive”, indicating that the goal of reducing the number of people who encounter toxic players has reduced. On their blog, they also wrote that the reduction in reports has happened “regardless of [a user’s] prime status”, meaning that whilst prime can help to some effect, the TF system has actually had a great impact, highlighting how effective it can be. This new type of matchmaking is enforced by default and cannot be disabled.
What is Prime?
The prime matchmaking system was implemented to help reduce the number of bot and smurf accounts being used. A side benefit has been slightly reducing the number of trolls using secondary accounts. Access to this mode used to be available through phone number verification but this has since been changed to a one-time payment. When Counter-Strike: Global Offensive became free to play, people who had previously purchased the game were given prime free of charge.
Users with the upgrade have access to exclusive souvenir items, item drops, and weapon cases. In addition, players will be granted the ability to enable prime matchmaking, a setting that means they will only be matched with players who also have the upgrade. This aims to eliminate people, from playing, who abuse the system by making new Steam accounts. It aims to give users a more positive experience.
Unlike the Trust Factor system, using Prime matchmaking is optional and players can choose to opt out. TF will be taken into account regardless of if prime matchmaking is enabled or not.
How is Trust Factor Different to Prime Matchmaking?
One of the core differences between the two systems is how they operate. One matches people based on if they meet certain criteria, i.e. having prime, and the other works by trying to match people based on how they act in-game and online, i.e. matching non-toxic people with other non-toxic people. Another stark difference is that players have the ability to toggle prime matchmaking on and off. Trust factor is always enabled and not optional. Many people see this as advantageous, allowing them to not be matched with low-quality individuals. However, there is a selection of people who oppose this change, wanting to be able to play with people who wouldn’t necessarily be matched with them.
Trust Factor, essentially, groups queues by a person’s trust instead of by just their prime status.
The following infographics, shared by Reddit user ImThour, well-represent how the grouping works, in a simplified way.
Conclusion
Basically what Trust Factor is doing in CSGO, is to match players with people who act similar to them. This allows for non-toxic players to have a better experience and rank with other non-toxic players, significantly reducing the number of reports created in a game. This allows for an overall improved experience and prevents trolling whilst minimizing the abuse of multiple accounts.
If you’re looking to get better at CSGO, be sure to check out our article.
