In June, the Saxtons released a new version of the MatchMaker software (1.0.3b1). The description is "Here is a beta release of the new version that has an improved algorithm to reduce the clumping effect observed at the Philly regional during week 6." It can be downloaded from the usual place,
http://www.idleloop.com/matchmaker/download.php
I've started running the same tests as I did in this thread, but the early results look very good.
I generated schedules for the size from the championship (85 teams, 8 matches, default minimum match separation). I then summed the team numbers of each alliance and plotted them, similar to the picture in
this thread.
team_number_sum_102.PNG shows the results from the version run at the championship, and looks very similar to the thread linked above.
team_number_sum_103.PNG shows the results from the new version. It looks much better (less correlated).
team_number_sum_102_Random.PNG shows the results from the older version, with a randomized team list. This looks very similar to the results from the new version, which shows the new version does a good job.
I'll post more as I evaluate further.