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Show me where I've said it's hosted on the PS Network or on the Xbox side?
Furthermore you’re mixing up hosting with network routing, which is exactly why your argument keeps face-planting.
I'll try to explain it to you:
The issue is that console players don’t connect directly to EA’s servers the same way PC players do, their traffic has to pass through their platform’s own network infrastructure first:
PlayStation --> PSN --> EA server
Xbox --> Xbox Live --> EA server
PC --> Direct to EA servers
That extra hop adds latency, jitter, packet inspection, throttling rules, etc.
That's why crossplay behaves differently and why PC only lobbies feel smoother, not because the server hardware is different (And I never said it was, we know the servers are EA's), but because the network path is.
It’s Networking 101, not conspiracy theory, different routing = different performance = different matchmaking behavior.
If you still can’t grasp that, I genuinely don’t know how to simplify it further without using crayons and draw it for you.
Instead of trying to look smart maybe you should, shut up, listen and maybe you would learn something.
OzzLink wrote:The desync isn’t some coincidence shared across platforms, it’s heavily tied to how Playstation servers handle their handshake and session-sync process
You asked where you supposedly said the match was hosted on PSN or Xbox. You didn’t use the word “hosted, but when you said the desync was tied to how “PlayStation servers handle their handshake and session-sync process” that puts the cause on the platform-side server layer. That’s why I responded the way I did. I was simply clarifying Battlefield runs its matches on EA’s servers and the platform handshake happens before gameplay, so it isn’t responsible for in-match desync.
Consoles pass through PSN or Xbox Live before reaching EA’s servers. Everyone knows that. Those platform networks don’t handle gameplay. They only authenticate and forward traffic. That small routing step doesn’t create the severe random desync or hit-reg issues people are seeing. If it did then PlayStation-only and Xbox-only lobbies would be constantly unplayable because every player in those matches uses the same routing path. Consoles do have an extra routing hop, but that’s the only part you’re right about. That small consistent step doesn’t cause the random desync or hit-reg issues happening across every platform.
And we also can’t treat “PC-only” matches created through a config-file exploit as real evidence. That tweak forces the game into an unsupported matchmaking state and it is not the same as a proper official crossplay toggle.
just to be clear on why your routing argument doesn’t line up
- If the console hop were actually causing the desync, then PlayStation-only and Xbox-only matches would have the exact same extreme issues every single game. They don’t.
- Real networking 101: a small, consistent authentication hop cannot create unpredictable in-match desync. That comes from server tick handling, latency compensation or routing beyond the platform edge not PSN or Xbox Live verifying a session.
- The “PC-only lobbies feel smoother” point doesn’t prove anything because those lobbies are created through a config exploit. They have a different player pool, different server selection and bot fill, so the experience isn’t comparable to normal matchmaking.
- You’re also mixing up pre-game routing with in-game netcode. Once the match starts, every platform is on the same EA server. The platform handshake is over and has nothing to do with the gameplay loop.
- OzzLink21 days agoSeasoned Veteran
“If the console hop caused it, PS-only and Xbox-only would have the same issues.”
No, that’s not how routing works.
PS-only players all use the same routing path, so the server sees consistent packet timing from everyone.
Crossplay mixes direct PC routes with PSN/XBL While I have no idea how an XBOX user feels, I do know it's better without consoles on PC.“A small authentication hop can’t create unpredictable in-match desync.”
It can when that “small hop” decides your relay path, NAT behavior, packet encapsulation, and transit provider before you ever hit EA’s server.
PSN and XBL do not simply “verify the session” — they impose the entire connection method.
If your initial path forces relayed UDP or bad NAT traversal, you get jitter and packet reshaping.
Jitter = desync.
You're oversimplifying something you don’t understand.“PC-only lobbies don’t prove anything.”
Yes, they do, they isolate the variable.
Remove PSN/XBL routing and suddenly hit-reg and desync improve across the board.
If disabling the console routing layer instantly improves gameplay, then guess what the cause is?
Hint: not the players.“You’re mixing up pre-game routing with in-game netcode.”
No. You are.
The routing path negotiated during the handshake doesn’t vanish when the match loads.
That route persists for the entire session.
Platforms don’t renegotiate fresh network paths at round start, that would probably drop the connection.
If the handshake forces a garbage path, you’re stuck with a garbage path the whole match.
The platform handshake absolutely affects the gameplay loop because it defines the path your packets take during gameplay.Also, as you can see ppl dont want to play with low skill aim assist players, but that's another story. We should ask for input based lobbies since controller with AA can be aslo used on PC, thing I'm sure EA wont bother to implement.
- iLuckyBrad21 days agoSeasoned Adventurer
You’re repeating the same point but still jumping to the wrong conclusion from it. Yes the route negotiated during the handshake persists for the session. No one argued otherwise. The disagreement is about what that actually means.
A persistent route doesn’t mean the platform hop is the cause of in-match desync. Battlefield uses dedicated EA servers. Once the connection is established, gameplay packets travel directly between the client and the EA server. PSN and Xbox Live are not in the middle of the gameplay loop rewriting or shaping packets for a third-party dedicated-server title.
A persistent bad route can affect anyone, PC or console, depending on ISP quality, NAT setup, congestion or physical distance. That is just normal Internet routing, not “console routing” as a unique problem. And if your logic were correct, PS-only and Xbox-only matches would have the same extreme desync every game because those players all go through the same platform layer. They don’t. That already shows the platform hop isn’t the root cause.
And to be clear, I never said or implied the routing path “vanishes.” You added that yourself. My point was about what actually causes in-match desync, not whether the route persists, which it obviously does.And again, the “PC-only is smoother” argument doesn’t prove anything because those lobbies are created through a config exploit. It isn’t a hidden feature or a tweak, it’s an unsupported file modification that forces the game into a matchmaking state EA never intended, and yes, that makes it a breach of their rules. Those lobbies also use a smaller population, different server assignment, different MMR distribution and bot fill. That doesn’t isolate a variable, it creates an abnormal environment and the side effects get mistaken as evidence.
For the input-based matchmaking and crossplay toggle part, I have already said in multiple posts across the forums that PC should have a proper crossplay toggle and input-based lobbies for all. I agree with that. It is just separate from blaming PSN or Xbox Live routing for severe in-match desync, which is not supported by how Battlefield’s server model or netcode work.
If you have something factual that disproves any of this I’m open to it, but the argument needs evidence, not assumptions or insults.
- OzzLink21 days agoSeasoned Veteran
You keep repeating “PSN/XBL aren’t in the gameplay loop” as if that magically means their routing can’t affect gameplay.
If the platform handshake sticks you on a relayed or restrictive route, you get jitter, packet arrival variance, and worse timing, and yes, that affects reconciliation on EA’s server.And your own argument contradicts itself.
You said earlier that “console-only players are reporting the same desync and hit-reg issues.” (read your 1st reply, your words not mine)
So clearly consoles ARE affected, yet now you suddenly claim PS-only/Xbox-only matches are magically fine, and that proves the platform layer isn’t involved.
You can’t have it both ways.“Bad routes can happen to anyone” doesn’t refute anything — it actually reinforces the point.
PC connects directly to EA.
PS/Xbox connections go through platform-controlled traversal.
Mix those paths and you get inconsistent timing, I can have good games with consoles in the lobby and really terrible with bad hit reg. Turn off crossplay never had an issue.
Same-platform matches avoid that because they all follow the same routing profile. (talking mostly about PSN here, don't know about Xbox)
This is basic packet-timing logic, not a philosophy debate.And stop pretending the crossplay config toggle “proves nothing.”
Flipping a value from 1 to 0 doesn’t alter physics, routing, or server code.
It simply removes the crossplay with consoles, and the game instantly feels smoother.
That is isolating a variable whether you like it or not. Also ppl have open tickets with EA support and it's OK to do it. Open one yourself and prove me wrong.
At this point you’re ignoring every technical fact and spamming walls of text to derail the thread.
It’s pointless debating you any further, so I’m done.
Please stop flooding the thread, you’re hijacking the original topic.