EA Staff (Retired)@EA_Ataashi @Tinogiggedy @GOD_IV @Alliecat7803 & @Taserface-ZA - Hi all. What I am about to say will make you all jealous.
For the past week I have had no problem with matchmaking - no empty lobbies, map rotation has been good and sides mostly have been even. I still can't get a game in the smaller modes unless I change from my local server to US Virginia where I have joined games without problems regarding matchmaking nor lag. Weird huh!!! yet you guys are still having problems.
The one glitch I have to complain about and the reason for this post, is team sizing (not a fault of MM). Played GA Kashyyyk tonight and the 1st match (35player lobby) ended so went through the process but when the selection screen came up for the 2nd match, it showed "Waiting for 1 player". Checked the lobby to find 33 players still there unfortunately 19 were on one side and 14 on the other - 1 outside the team differential for GA. Waited for a short period but no other players joined. Then the dropouts started - unfortunately it started on the smaller side 1st then the larger side maintaining the differential. Prior to team sizing being introduced, we would have had enough players to start the game and even with the uneven numbers, would have had a reasonable game (19vs14 is not that bad). Had to quit and find another game. The solution to this would be a method of allowing players to even up the numbers themselves. The group players would want to stay together but there is always solo players like me in every game. I would have changed sides it meant the game could start. The other method is, of course what everyone has already mentioned, to have MM scramble the lobbies.
@ggibb65 lol not that jealous I can get a game of hvv without changing ping 😝. No but on a serious note that helps nothing when hvv is basically unplayable mess of glitchy 💩 like 75% of the time.
You see thats the thing mine worked fine, almost dare I say it as they described it should for a week or so also, then yesterday an 💥 of 💩. Included in that is what you have described in GA, your moved to a lobby that's waiting for one player because MM has decided to put more on one side, then because the lobby doesn't fill everyone leaves. I mean come on its ridiculous. In fact probably the most ridiculous example of ruining the experience for players as it quite literally makes 30 people have to quit a game that with a better system(one that works) could have started. I don't understand EA sometimes it's like they just won't put down the shovel, they have to keep digging deeper and deeper into the hole. Well in keeping with the metaphor I hope that they can fill that hole with something that won't just end up sinking.
@Tinogiggedy I hear what you say and yes I am still cautious about MM. I can also get games in HvsV without ping changes. The biggest problem I find with that game is the inconsistency of players. Most use this mode to level up their heroes or to get milestones. Once achieved tend to drop out of the game. Daily challenges don't help either. It has always had a transient population.
In regard to matchmaking, It was never in SWBF1 and only when 2 was released did we start asking for it. Then we asked for Group play and later on we started to complain about uneven numbers in the teams. Now we have Team Sizing. At the moment none of these are compatible with each other so maybe 2 of these should be killed until the other is working correctly instead of trying to fix all at the same time. Maybe the game is too big with 9 multiplayer modes. I tend to agree with @GOD_IV that a simple team scramble could be the solution but if that is the way to go, then the player should also be able to select which team to be on. This would help groups to stay together and maybe spread the more skilled players around. If I were one of these, I would always want to test my skill against equal/better players.
I see a multitude of bugs being reported on this board by PC, PS4 and Xbox players which must be keeping the developers busy, then we request Team balance, adding to their workload and bringing in additional problems to solve. We may say that all of this should have been done before the game was released and we are correct to assume that but I do have a little sympathy for them. You can test a game as much as you like but the only real test is to have every day players in the real world play it. The beta trial was there for us to play and report issues so that they could be fixed but that was basically a campaign mode not multiplayer so no issues with team balancing was ever reported. Perhaps in a game of this size, the beta version should have been multiplayer making the problem reporting more extensive. I am not an expert and can be wwrrrrong!!! at times but I often wonder how much hackers can contribute to bugs in the game by using their code/software to cheat the system. And yes, protection against this should already be there but hackers are always ahead. You can't protect against what you don't know.
In some way, dare I say, it could be suggested that EA remove the game in it's entirety until all our problems are fixed. Then we could look forward to the return of a well balanced, bug free game in 2020! (LoL)
@GOD_IV- Even though I am having a good run at the moment, the fear still remains that it could change. I am not having to spend a anymore time on the menu screens than before except for map rotation when MM kicks in. MM can sometimes take a few minutes to find a new map. Gives me time for toilet/coffee breaks.
@ggibb65 wrote:@Tinogiggedy I hear what you say and yes I am still cautious about MM. I can also get games in HvsV without ping changes. The biggest problem I find with that game is the inconsistency of players. Most use this mode to level up their heroes or to get milestones. Once achieved tend to drop out of the game. Daily challenges don't help either. It has always had a transient population.
In regard to matchmaking, It was never in SWBF1 and only when 2 was released did we start asking for it. Then we asked for Group play and later on we started to complain about uneven numbers in the teams. Now we have Team Sizing. At the moment none of these are compatible with each other so maybe 2 of these should be killed until the other is working correctly instead of trying to fix all at the same time. Maybe the game is too big with 9 multiplayer modes. I tend to agree with @GOD_IV that a simple team scramble could be the solution but if that is the way to go, then the player should also be able to select which team to be on. This would help groups to stay together and maybe spread the more skilled players around. If I were one of these, I would always want to test my skill against equal/better players.
I see a multitude of bugs being reported on this board by PC, PS4 and Xbox players which must be keeping the developers busy, then we request Team balance, adding to their workload and bringing in additional problems to solve. We may say that all of this should have been done before the game was released and we are correct to assume that but I do have a little sympathy for them. You can test a game as much as you like but the only real test is to have every day players in the real world play it. The beta trial was there for us to play and report issues so that they could be fixed but that was basically a campaign mode not multiplayer so no issues with team balancing was ever reported. Perhaps in a game of this size, the beta version should have been multiplayer making the problem reporting more extensive. I am not an expert and can be wwrrrrong!!! at times but I often wonder how much hackers can contribute to bugs in the game by using their code/software to cheat the system. And yes, protection against this should already be there but hackers are always ahead. You can't protect against what you don't know.
In some way, dare I say, it could be suggested that EA remove the game in it's entirety until all our problems are fixed. Then we could look forward to the return of a well balanced, bug free game in 2020! (LoL)
@GOD_IV- Even though I am having a good run at the moment, the fear still remains that it could change. I am not having to spend a anymore time on the menu screens than before except for map rotation when MM kicks in. MM can sometimes take a few minutes to find a new map. Gives me time for toilet/coffee breaks.
Some points from someone who has played SWBF1 and SWBF2 extensively...
I wholeheartedly agree that inconsistency in players is a big problem.
"It was never in SWBF1 and only when 2 was released did we start asking for it." We most definitely asked for it in SWBF1 - numerous times. Better matching logic should have been in SWBF2 from the start.
Pulling the game while fixing will have limited positive impact, unless DICE changes their testing approach. They need to include gamers like anyone reading this post from various geographies during an extended test phase. Anyone who develops high-quality software these days knows you should get some trusted end-users testing early and often. I've recommended multiple times that they include gamers in beta testing of patch releases. No progress on that front (yet).
"I see a multitude of bugs being reported on this board by PC, PS4 and Xbox players which must be keeping the developers busy" - I'd venture to guess more resources are spent on new content, despite multiple, experienced gamers asking for more focus on bugs. EA has not provided us any details as to how much time they spend on bugs vs. enhancements. If they are spending more time on bugs rather than new content, it would be in their best interest to let us know.
BTW - I should probably point out that this thread was meant for examples. There are other threads like this one that cover the merits/demerits of the current implementation. I suppose we should really be adding additional commentary in those threads.
Just to add to @DarthFDG's point about swbf1, I think it was less of an issue in swbf1 because you could see the lobbies you were joining before actually joining and could back out if it for whatever various reasons.
