Re: Customized Ping Ranges for Matchmaking

Just another note on this. 

I usually have my matchmaking on maximum 40 or 50ms. Today I played a game at 92ms with that setting on. Is there a reason why the game is forcing me to play against people outside my ping range?

I would rather wait for an hour or not play at all. 

It is bad enough playing 37ms vs 2ms on the QC server.

Thanks!

@Thunderclap83 

What's your location? It's possible to connect to a higher ping match if they are the closest to you. This would happen in more remote locations.

Do you also play WoC? If so, what's your ping normally for those matches?

Located in Newfoundland. Normally get 37 to 40ms on the QC server. Not sure why it put me on server at 92ms. I have the setting locked at maximum 50ms.

In WoC it ranges from 40 to 50ms. Sometimes we get a game above 60 but it is rare. My teammates are in Ontario and Quebec. They all get between 2ms and 25ms usually.

Getting 92 most likely means you're connecting to Europe then. This will occur when there are no matches that fall within your set range. So, they would have been the only match at the time. Normally, a match would be found closer, most likely in the US. This could be related to your ISP's routing. How often is that happening?

It happens fairly frequently. That is why I am so passionate about the option to have ping based matchmaking in HUT. 

If it was optional, people with good ping could do what they do now and get any game quickly.

People with bad ping could wait longer for someone with a similar ping in the 35ms + range. 

Most of us with 35+ ping would rather not play, or wait long periods of time for a fair game. Playing at 50 to 100 ms against someone in 2ms to 20ms range is just not fun or fair. 

The option to avoid that should be available.

Thanks for giving this some attention.

Not sure if the team has ever watched video of games where there is a big ping disadvantage but they really should. 

Have a great day

@Thunderclap83 

Thanks for all the feedback on this. It's appreciated. Also makes me really wish I could have a sub 40 ping. That just doesn't happen with my location. I'm usually 50 - 60 and the game feels very responsive so I'm curious what it would feel like a lot lower.

That said, I know the team is aware of the difference. It's not so much about not realizing there's a disadvantage. There's only so much we can do about ping since it's really out of our control. I'll pass on the feedback that you'd like an option to not get any matches instead of ones outside your set range.

@EA_Aljo 

50 ping isn't literally unplayable, I've won Ones matches with a ping of 120+, but I can assure you there is a distinct difference between 50 and 10-20. Everything will need to be re-learned like you're playing for the first time.

There's no way I can get you to "feel" the difference without having you play some couch co op but there is a noticeable delay, upwards of 1 second for certain moves depending on stats. I think adding control overlays back into the game should help explain it visually.

Can't agree more with stopping all matchmaking outside of your own custom boundries

@TTZ_Dipsy 

I know there's a difference between 50 and 10 - 20. Not that I've had the pleasure of experiencing it though. I definitely have noticed when I've had the odd 80+ ping compared to my normal ping. I'm just saying, the game still feels responsive even with my 50ish ping. Most likely, it's just something I've gotten used to though. However, I imagine if I were down in the 20s or less, I'd have a lot less of those "I passed that!" moments. Too many times I release the trigger for a pass, but promptly get plowed before it goes off :/

---

@TTZ_Dipsy wrote: but I can assure you there is a distinct difference between 50 and 10-20. Everything will need to be re-learned like you're playing for the first time.

There's no way I can get you to "feel" the difference without having you play some couch co op but there is a noticeable delay, upwards of 1 second for certain moves depending on stats. I think adding control overlays back into the game should help explain it visually.

---

This is actually pretty interesting. I've never experienced a 10ms ping before and I'd imagine it's as close to couch co-op that you can get. 

---

@EA_Aljo wrote:

@TTZ_Dipsy 

I know there's a difference between 50 and 10 - 20. Not that I've had the pleasure of experiencing it though. I definitely have noticed when I've had the odd 80+ ping compared to my normal ping. I'm just saying, the game still feels responsive even with my 50ish ping. Most likely, it's just something I've gotten used to though. However, I imagine if I were down in the 20s or less, I'd have a lot less of those "I passed that!" moments. Too many times I release the trigger for a pass, but promptly get plowed before it goes off :/

---

I think there's a lot of us who played this game online circa 1999-2000. We're talking 150+ ping as the baseline. Feels like those of us who played online leagues back then became very accustomed to any latency spikes and adapted our gameplay so much that nowadays, 50ms feels smooth as butter.

It is not so much that 40ms is bad. It is more that 40ms versus 2ms is bad. Losing Faceoffs with a higher FO rating and correct counter. Half the time my guy doesn't even attempt to move for the Faceoff once the ref moves. Because the guy with 2ms ping has the faceoff won before the puck even drops for the guy with 40ms. 

Same for puck pickups, poke checking, etc.

Guys with 2 to 10ms ping have an experience similar to playing offline. Guys with 30ms + are playing a sluggish delayed experience in comparison which makes a lot of games unfair. 

I really hope they can try some sort of ping based matchmaking out. Especially seeing how the season is winding down now. This is literally the biggest problem with the game. Reddit is full of these complaints daily.

Thanks again for the attention and for everyone's feedback.

@Thunderclap83 

That's all certainly understandable. Unfortunately, there's only so much we can do about restricting pings. At some point, you're either not going to get any matches or you're going to get matched up against the same players repeatedly. We would love to see improved matchmaking of course. I know the team is investigating this. We'll have to wait and see what comes of that.

Thanks for all your feedback as well.