How can a CO-OP focused game have this bad matchmaking / connectivity?

[Urban Shaman]

For context I need to bring up an example from another game. A game with a much, MUCH smaller playerbase at the time of writing, with fewer active players. Here's what it looks like if I want to play Darktide and, importantly, if I want to play it at some odd hour (like ~8 o'clock in the morning): I pick quickplay, and I'll be in the map loading screen in ~20 seconds. That game MIGHT not start with a full 4-player team (i.e. there might be a bot or two) but typically, by the time players run up to the first engagement, the last slots will also be filled by a active players.

Here's my recent experience in HD2:
- Pick an active 1/4 engagement from the map
- Wait ~15s only to get "lobby is full" message (why does it take this long to get just that?!)
- Pick something else; wait again; get "cannot connect to lobby" error
- Use "R" to matchmake - wait 1.5-2m, eventually join a losing game in progress
- Try again from the map - this time it works, but get dropped back to the ship during loading (no error message, no "kicked by host", no "host left the session", host crashed?)
- Try again one MORE time, works, join a game that just started... and remains at 3/4 size until the end (whyyy?! where's the 4th?!)
- Speaking of, I'll likely be playing with people with Chinese / Asian characters in their names -> likely from Asia -> notable lag (which can be observed when picking up samples, as the delay between pressing the use key and the sample being "picked" is very notable)

The above scenario isn't some exaggeration - it actually happened to me yesterday. Now, obviously, it's not always like that. Sometimes I'm lucky and I'll manage to join a decent game on first attempt. But for a game this popular, with such an active playerbase and, seemingly so much "weight" behind it, it's really rare.

I can start my own game, but then I'll be waiting anywhere from 3m to indefinitely if I want to play a proper 4-man squad. And I'll also have people from Asia join me, for reasons unknown (or rather, inferred - the game likely ignores regions and doesn't ping-check hosts).

I suppose if your friends list is full to the brim and you always have people playing (i.e. people from the same region who aren't playing on a potato or a 56k modem) then it's fine, but not everyone's got such a friends list. I'm sure I'm not the only introvert who prefers to keep things private, and engagements limited to one game session at a time...

Now look, I understand the game is using P2P connectivity, whereas Darktide's using actual servers, which means some issues are alleviated at the "base", so to speak. But, really, I shouldn't really need to think about such things as the player, no? It's for the devs to implement a connectivity scheme / framework that works, not one that works... sometimes, maybe, when the stars align...

PS. Also - I'm sitting on a 1gb symmetrical optical fibre. So before anyone says "get better ISP" or something...

[Caboose]

what is your isp? maybe it's known for good aadvertising and terrible service like spectrum in the USA. you could lalso try to swap the dns in your ethernet settings

[Urban Shaman]

Originally posted by Caboose:

what is your isp? maybe it's known for good aadvertising and terrible service like spectrum in the USA. you could lalso try to swap the dns in your ethernet settings

No, it's not. I can do a speed test and get 900+Mbps easy, both ways. I also use 1.1.1.1 set on the router itself, using DNS-over-TLS for added privacy. I can download large data files (ISOs or other images) for work at speed if the host allows it, and often use the full upload speeds as well (again, for work).

HD2 is the only title in my game list with these issues...

[holdem]

My guess is that devs knew that the game is a broken spaghetti fest with a lot of crashes and disconnects so instead of having a normal matchmaking that creates a full team in a lobby before a mission starts they decided that its better to prioritize joining a match in an already half assed existing game.
They might just remove this half assed matchmaking system because it more frustrating as it is convenient and leave it to creating groups with friends only.

[Razer, Dat Bragon]

If your on PC & you hit F5 you will see it doesn't show your connection to the host, but only the main game server witch for me sits always at 45-55ms even when I join someone

I notice I can't pick up ammo or samples the moment I tap E & sometimes even causes enemies to not load / render in but will hear my Helldiver scream as if I'm being hurt while there's nothing around me.

After 2-4 minutes of screaming they load / render in.

Also the best "Quick Match" I ever had in a game was Borderlands 1 & 2, CoD: World at War had one but you needed to select "Local Only" it turned out to be ♥♥♥♥ due to P2P connections & others not selecting the "Local Only" option in other words.

One US / EU player joins an P2P AUS / NZ Host, that AUS / NZ player will lose being the Host for the next match & the future of the match due to some BS & any AUS / NZ players in that their latency goes weeeeee to 300-500ms latency or back then one Red Bar out of 5 Green Bars.

[Chocbomb]

There is a long time bug with cannot connect to SOS on planets, it worked for like a week then after patch it no longer worked again.

Half the time im just praying that i dont get a black screen and appear on my ship again with no rejoin button.

[holdem]

Originally posted by Razer, The Bat:

If your on PC & you hit F5 you will see it doesn't show your connection to the host, but only the main game server witch for me sits always at 45-55ms even when I join someone

I notice I can't pick up ammo or samples the moment I tap E & sometimes even causes enemies to not load / render in but will hear my Helldiver scream as if I'm being hurt while there's nothing around me.

After 2-4 minutes of screaming they load / render in.

Also the best "Quick Match" I ever had in a game was Borderlands 1 & 2, CoD: World at War had one but you needed to select "Local Only" it turned out to be ♥♥♥♥ due to P2P connections & others not selecting the "Local Only" option in other words.

One US / EU player joins an P2P AUS / NZ Host, that AUS / NZ player will lose being the Host for the next match & the future of the match due to some BS & every AUS / NZ players in that their latency goes weeeeee to 300-500ms latency or back then one Red Bar out of 5 Green Bars.

There is a reason most multiplayer games have separate servers for regions.
Specially those with bullets and hit detection. lol

[Razer, Dat Bragon]

Originally posted by Chocbomb:

There is a long time bug with cannot connect to SOS on planets, it worked for like a week then after patch it no longer worked again.

Half the time im just praying that i dont get a black screen and appear on my ship again with no rejoin button.

Have you tried making a static IP & port forward (opened ports for the game & applications) could also be a firewall, maybe a NAT issue as well.

[Razer, Dat Bragon]

Originally posted by holdem:

Originally posted by Razer, The Bat:

If your on PC & you hit F5 you will see it doesn't show your connection to the host, but only the main game server witch for me sits always at 45-55ms even when I join someone

I notice I can't pick up ammo or samples the moment I tap E & sometimes even causes enemies to not load / render in but will hear my Helldiver scream as if I'm being hurt while there's nothing around me.

After 2-4 minutes of screaming they load / render in.

Also the best "Quick Match" I ever had in a game was Borderlands 1 & 2, CoD: World at War had one but you needed to select "Local Only" it turned out to be ♥♥♥♥ due to P2P connections & others not selecting the "Local Only" option in other words.

One US / EU player joins an P2P AUS / NZ Host, that AUS / NZ player will lose being the Host for the next match & the future of the match due to some BS & every AUS / NZ players in that their latency goes weeeeee to 300-500ms latency or back then one Red Bar out of 5 Green Bars.

There is a reason most multiplayer games have separate servers for regions.
Specially those with bullets and hit detection. lol

Not all regions for all games as most are based in the US or EU & being from Australia & owning a PS4 you would know you get put into EU servers if you downloaded some F2P games from the "so called AUS market" ;)

[tom five]

What are you talking about? What does the game being co-op have to do with matchmaking and connectivity issues? It's an online game. Online games sometimes have networking issues. What's your question?

[Urban Shaman]

Originally posted by mf tom:

What are you talking about? What does the game being co-op have to do with matchmaking and connectivity issues? It's an online game. Online games sometimes have networking issues. What's your question?

Replace CO-OP with "requires other people", i.e. needs decent matchmaking / networking experience. I mean you answered your own question partially. Online games can have networking issues, but by the gods, does this game have a lot of them.

The question here is more along the lines of "How TF can such a large profile / popular game have such a tragicomical networking experience?", if you need it spelled out.

[tom five]

Originally posted by Urban Shaman:

Originally posted by mf tom:

What are you talking about? What does the game being co-op have to do with matchmaking and connectivity issues? It's an online game. Online games sometimes have networking issues. What's your question?

Replace CO-OP with "requires other people", i.e. needs decent matchmaking / networking experience. I mean you answered your own question partially. Online games can have networking issues, but by the gods, does this game have a lot of them.

The question here is more along the lines of "How TF can such a large profile / popular game have such a tragicomical networking experience?", if you need it spelled out.

Yeah, that's the point. The game 'requires other people'. Games like that sometimes have networking issues. That's not exclusive to co-op games. If you're asking, "why do online games have networking problems" then that's a dumb question. And where have you been? HD1 peaked at a little over 6k players while this game saw half a million in under a week. Developed by a studio with zero experience in third person shooters. It doesn't take a genius to see they have quite a lot on their plate right now.

[Urban Shaman]

Originally posted by mf tom:

Originally posted by Urban Shaman:

Replace CO-OP with "requires other people", i.e. needs decent matchmaking / networking experience. I mean you answered your own question partially. Online games can have networking issues, but by the gods, does this game have a lot of them.

The question here is more along the lines of "How TF can such a large profile / popular game have such a tragicomical networking experience?", if you need it spelled out.

Yeah, that's the point. The game 'requires other people'. Games like that sometimes have networking issues. That's not exclusive to co-op games. If you're asking, "why do online games have networking problems" then that's a dumb question. And where have you been? HD1 peaked at a little over 6k players while this game saw half a million in under a week. Developed by a studio with zero experience in third person shooters. It doesn't take a genius to see they have quite a lot on their plate right now.

Ahh, so I and everyone else should expect the game netcode to be ♥♥♥♥? :>

[tom five]

Originally posted by Urban Shaman:

Originally posted by mf tom:

Yeah, that's the point. The game 'requires other people'. Games like that sometimes have networking issues. That's not exclusive to co-op games. If you're asking, "why do online games have networking problems" then that's a dumb question. And where have you been? HD1 peaked at a little over 6k players while this game saw half a million in under a week. Developed by a studio with zero experience in third person shooters. It doesn't take a genius to see they have quite a lot on their plate right now.

Ahh, so I and everyone else should expect the game netcode to be ♥♥♥♥? :>

You should expect a game of this nature to have some issues, yes. Unless your experience with online games has been nothing but smooth sailing.

[Urban Shaman]

Originally posted by mf tom:

Originally posted by Urban Shaman:

Ahh, so I and everyone else should expect the game netcode to be ♥♥♥♥? :>

(...) Unless your experience with online games has been nothing but smooth sailing.

It usually has. Guess the joke's on me for jumping on the bandwagon of (apparently unearned?) popularity for this title... :/

[tom five]

Originally posted by Urban Shaman:

Originally posted by mf tom:

(...) Unless your experience with online games has been nothing but smooth sailing.

It usually has. Guess the joke's on me for jumping on the bandwagon of (apparently unearned?) popularity for this title... :/

Then welcome to reality, I guess. And yeah. That's why you don't jump on bandwagons. That phrase generally isn't used as a positive.