How does server connection/matchmaking work?

[FURYBlakhart]

For the life of me I cannot find the answers to these questions - which seems really absurd given the type of game this is.

I know broad strokes -  I know cross-play is a thing and the like.  So I can only assume there are one, or several, "Mega" servers and everyone just gets pooled into those?  Are there any local regional servers? Or are they all USA based?

Even MORE depressing is I see no option to display ping anywhere.  (if anyone knows where that option is please let me know if I have missed it).  It does seem weird and concerning theres not much information about how server connections are made - and further no Ping so players can identify if they might be facing a high latency - which makes the world of difference for leading targets in this game.


Look I'll give credit where due - the game feels slick and smooth in terms of the overallf eel of it; even in multiplayer.  YOu dont have much of the "jittery" and * play you used to have with XvT and XvT when played throught he MSN Gaming Zone back in the day.


That being said -  I for one can tell theres definately some "ghosting" and other latency issues happening.  I can see "hits" on my targets - yet a second later the HUD displays my opponent took no damage.  That means server side isnt "registering" what I "saw" as a hit, to be a hit.  I have noticed small amounts of teleporting and other small blips that show me the latency isnt completely smooth as you might feel it is in most FPS games.  And not be narcissistic but im not generating the number of kills I feel I should be - my "Assists" are generally very high every match, usually the highest or 2nd highest on the team - and again I think this is largely due to the fact my hits are often not being scored properly due to latency.

It's not game breaking, per se, but it does cause me concern.  This is definately a game where latency would matter a great deal. I am in Australia especially - so if I'm not connecting to local servers, my ping must be well above what other players are getting.  If thats the case then it predicts I would expect to always be fairly middle of the road even at my best, if I am being matched with equally skilled players who have a better latency.


Can we get some info here?

[AVPMARINE]

Me and multiple friends all from Australia are having the same issues. Every game we load into we're matched against people from all over the world, ghosting shots, teleporting into objects, lag and stutter when respawning, instantly dying to people whilst we attack three man on one interceptor and all of us doing absolutely no damage. To us this game is unplayable, we absolutely love the gameplay when it works but at this rate the server side hit detection is going to be the death of this game. The developers need to do something ASAP. Several people outside of our region are also having this issue. 

I've tried turning off crossplay but was unable to even find a single match. We've tried changing our download region on steam (doesn't work I don't think) I just wish the developers would give us the ability to choose our region, or the limit of ping in which games we play. Every other star wars EA game seems to have this option but this one. 

Here is a link to a Reddit post on the Squadrons subreddit where others are also having this issue. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsSquadrons/comments/j60lw5/lag_caused_by_bad_matchmaking/

[clickybanter]

Please, I would love some transperancy on this too.
Playing on PC is plagued with lag, and all the issues (no damage after shooting for a while, dying instantly because the host is shooting at me for ages but I only notice a second) are legit. 
The game itself is FANTASTIC, and I really hope these issues are nailed out. But theyre game breaking and makes it unplayable. 
Why wasnt there a regional select like battlefront and several other EA published games?
Please view this reddit link, among others, all stating the same thing. https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsSquadrons/comments/j60lw5/lag_caused_by_bad_matchmaking/

The state the game is in is not balanced or fair for a competitive game. 

[FURYBlakhart]

Yea im not going to sit here and claim im the greatest pilot ever...and frankly speaking im in my mid-late 30's now.  My reaction times arent as great as these kids.

But im not bad either.  Lots of experience with fighter sims, and I played th ehell out of XvT and XWA more than most.  Took home plenty of KD Ratio, top tournament player and top guild trophies when there were tournaments for XvT.   But given this isnt that game, im older etc - i dont expect to be that elite anymore.

However my results with the multiplayer here are a mixed bag.  Today I only played 4 matches.  I took top in none, second on my team in 3.   Reasonable scores.  I can live with that.

My last Fleet Battle stood out though:

A guy flying a Tie Bomber scored 24 kills - the next closest was 13.   I have run into him before, I can tell he's a good pilot.  But I dont believe he's THAT much better than I am skillwise.  A few things I did notice from the kill cams:

I went head-to-head with him 3 times.  Im in an X wing.  Twice with pumped shields and set double forward.  Each time he manages to beat me out.  Case 1: We sight each other about 1500m out, he's using rapid fires so his range is 600m.  Im using standard.  so im firing at him for a couple of seconds before he starts in.  Ims eeing every shot land, neither of us veer away...im dead and partly my fault for being slow on his missle lock.

Second time, very similar circumstance, except this time I veer off and use my maneuverability to get around him...we circle... i keep pegging away...then Somehow he's behind me and im gone.

the third time I got the jump on him from behind, im tearing into him...he turns into me at 700m, im still blasting away  and again, he manages to rip me down.  On te kill cam he was sitting at 60% HP when he turned into me and started shooting back.

All things considered, there is NO way a TB takes the punishment from an xwing at 60% HP, after being jumped on and turning directly into the fire and manages to deplete my shields (set double front) and armor before he's smoked.

Not unless theres some type of ghosting and latency on my end and his ping is better.


And thats the deal:   Two pilots, on the same skill tier - latency is always going to be the deciding factor.

IF EA and Motive cant come upw ith some more transparency and solutions to this for multiplayer its going to become an issue.

[clickybanter]

Same thing here. Ghosting, jitters, unkillable enemies who ignore you and just slaughter everyone. Can see him not taking damage on the instruments. 
Really hope something comes of this game as its fantastic but it is NOT playable with the lag. 

PLEASE EA.
REGIONAL MATCHMAKING/ REGION LOCKS/ DEDICATED SERVERS FOR AT LEAST FLEET BATTLES!

[AVPMARINE]

Pretty much from my findings this game uses a PEER TO PEER match making system with one player selected as the host. However here's the catch, unlike other games that use Peer to peer matchmaking and hosted player servers, this game uses what we call "Server Side Hit Detection" which means - unless the server thinks you are hitting the target (aka the hosts server) you won't be, regardless of if you actually are hitting the target on your screen. Most other games use "client side" hit detection, meaning even if you have high latency / ping your shots should still upload and register if you are hitting them on your screen. The issue here is that with server side hit detection, us Australians are basically seeing the game a few seconds behind. We're basically shooting at a guys location he was at, but only updating on our screen as of now. So that explains the ghost shots, and it also explains how other fighters have near insane amounts of HP, to the point where they are basically immune. 

I'm quite a decent pilot, I've played a lot of Elite Dangerous, Flight Sims and other things, I consider myself above average when it comes to dog fighting. Some games I'm going 18-0, 16-1, 12-0 KD/R. I suspect this is when I'm the host, because I'm able to clean up the entire server with ease. Then the game will switch to another round, I'm not the host... I literally CANNOT do damage to anything, I have to use mines and fly in circles in hopes people chase me so I can ping my team to come and kill them. It's not possible to play like this any longer. The developers MUST come forward and say something. 

[BullitMagnit74]

@AVPMARINE i'm not in the same boat as you but i can empathize with your plight. It does need to be fixed for all you landdownunder folk. I certainly do hope they fix matchmaking and server hit detection issues. It certainly does take the fun out of it when it feels like you're playing on a dial up modem.

[FURYBlakhart]

@AVPMARINE I agree some type of comment and transparency is required. Would be great to hear it from the Dev or EA

What you say makes sense, ive suspected Server side hit detection the entire time which is catastrophic if youre ping is high

[hussotters]

Some matches feel normal, some seem to have completely unkillable ships, like, they fly straight, you get behind them and unload overcharged lasers for several secs, they turn, you carry on getting hits constantly and you don't even see any visual damage coming from their engines.

[zamlke]

Yes can we please get an official response about this. If its peer to peer we need the option of regional matchmaking