Matchmaking for PvP Multiplayer Servers & Centralised Game Lobby
SE 1 has plenty of multiplayer maps, yet there are hardly anyone playing/ hosting them due to low player numbers months following their release.
Given that SE2 is gearing up for multiplayer, we should prepare to make finding multiplayer games easier, outside of just relying on the server browser.
What we need is a matchmaking system & lobby system that looks for games around the world.
Server options
- Region. I think 5 regions would do, US, EU, AS, AU, and so on. You can choose which one to queue up based on ping and you can queue up for multiple regions at the same time if you like.
- Game modes. I think the official ones are great, but in future I think some community maps can be added too. Like with regions, you can queue for multiple of them, whichever has a full lobby will be chosen first.
- Community Servers/ Maps. I believe hosting a server is not the issue for most server owners, its finding a consistently large player base to play with at any one point in time. There are 2 solutions. Either find a way to enable these servers to be added to selection pool with the official ones, or host community maps solely on official servers so that a consistent population is present.
Why will this be helpful?
1. Players who buy the game long after the PVP maps' release simply are unable to play the maps as intended at launch due to the small, inconsistent playerbase.
2. The vanilla survival mode of the base game has a high time-investment. Sometimes people want to mix it up a little, might as well play some PvP games in the very same game they own. Obviously there are better FPS games out there, but there are a lot of mechanics specific to SE that you can't find anywhere else.
3. A new core playerbase. There is a sizable FPS crowd out there looking for something unique. Why not have this PVP gamemode to ease in the PVP combat mechanics for both existing SE players and the newer playerbase who has just started playing the game?
Some of us play alone, so having a steady playerbase to populate these PvP (both FPS and grid combat) with low time commitment will certainly bring more diversity in playstyles for SE as a whole.
The Latency/ Ping Problem
This suggestion is not intended to apply towards SE1, given how late multiplayer support was introduced into its development cycle. But given SE2 is looking to natively support multiplayer, grid-based and player only PVP game modes become far more viable. However, finding a populated server at any point in time remains challenging.
I like this feedback
As well as a lobby, you could have an app on a phone that you could set a preferred date and time, even a server venue. It would be a bit like a dating app, you could call it Clanger.
As well as a lobby, you could have an app on a phone that you could set a preferred date and time, even a server venue. It would be a bit like a dating app, you could call it Clanger.
This isn't COD, Fortnite, League or similar. While I'm all for tools to help people find servers, this isn't the correct type of game for the kind of matchmaking system you're describing. The matching systems in games like you're describing are for games like Fortnite, COD, MTG Arena and similar where you have finite combinations of things you can do, and there is actually matches to be won/lost. SE has no such matches to be won/lost that the players themselves didn't come up with, or outside of the odd dropship map they did. In SE there is no "winning" and no "losing" like there is in COD or similar, there is only the sandbox.
Also another thing you need to realize is that games like COD, League, and games that use the matchmaking systems you've described are pvp exclusive games far as their online stuff goes where as SE is not. In SE you have pve AND pvp both being possible and present with the pve side by far dominating the numbers. This doesn't make pvp invalid, it simply means it's not the chief focus like it would be with something such as COD and doesn't have the number of PVPers like COD does.
If you want to have better tools to help people find servers they might like, that's certainly possible such as being able to filter for region and potential ping as 2 prime examples. But a matchmaking system that plops people into servers purely for pvp (or even pve to a lesser extent) with people they don't know or that could just start wreaking havoc out of the blue isn't something alot of people will be fond of. Overall while we can certain use better tools to help people find servers they may like, SE isn't the right type of game for the kind of system you've described above.
This isn't COD, Fortnite, League or similar. While I'm all for tools to help people find servers, this isn't the correct type of game for the kind of matchmaking system you're describing. The matching systems in games like you're describing are for games like Fortnite, COD, MTG Arena and similar where you have finite combinations of things you can do, and there is actually matches to be won/lost. SE has no such matches to be won/lost that the players themselves didn't come up with, or outside of the odd dropship map they did. In SE there is no "winning" and no "losing" like there is in COD or similar, there is only the sandbox.
Also another thing you need to realize is that games like COD, League, and games that use the matchmaking systems you've described are pvp exclusive games far as their online stuff goes where as SE is not. In SE you have pve AND pvp both being possible and present with the pve side by far dominating the numbers. This doesn't make pvp invalid, it simply means it's not the chief focus like it would be with something such as COD and doesn't have the number of PVPers like COD does.
If you want to have better tools to help people find servers they might like, that's certainly possible such as being able to filter for region and potential ping as 2 prime examples. But a matchmaking system that plops people into servers purely for pvp (or even pve to a lesser extent) with people they don't know or that could just start wreaking havoc out of the blue isn't something alot of people will be fond of. Overall while we can certain use better tools to help people find servers they may like, SE isn't the right type of game for the kind of system you've described above.
An system to easily find a suitable server (or rather a specific game world) and teammates would certainly be useful.
But the experience I've made on SE1 game servers tells me that it's more convenient to run your own server, with your own setup...
An system to easily find a suitable server (or rather a specific game world) and teammates would certainly be useful.
But the experience I've made on SE1 game servers tells me that it's more convenient to run your own server, with your own setup...
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