Quick Links
Multiplayer games have become mainstream to the point where the story in a single-player campaign is now touted as an in-game feature. However, while there are all sorts of multiplayer games, from first-person shooters to racing and sports simulators, one issue plagues them all: bad servers.
It can be as simple as network latency; any issues with a game’s server can totally ruin the experience for every gamer. There’s not much you can do about it either except complain, and I’m getting tired of it.
1Hackers, Griefers, and Bots
While in-game hacking isn’t technically a server issue, game servers should be able to detect if someone is running cheats and not allow them to join official matchmaking. The same applies to griefers and bots as well.
This is a rampant problem across game genres, but FPS titles are the worst hit. You’ll come across hackers using aimbots or wallhacks almost every game unless you decide not to use the official matchmaking and end up playing something like FACEIT instead.
Games have tried to address this, but the measures are half-baked at best. For example, in CS2, you can buy Prime status and play with other Prime-rated players. But it only reduces the likelihood of you running into a hacker. It also means that the free-to-play section of the game is a mess, shooing off new players who want to try the game before spending money on it.
It’s not an impossible problem to fix, and perhaps the best example of how to get rid of hackers in your game is Valorant. However, Riot’s approach to the problem adds some other issues which we’ll talk about later.
Griefing or smurfing may not seem like that big of an issue, but the second you enter a game lobby where you can’t tell whether your opponent is smurfing or hacking, you’ll also be rallying against it. Rocket League players will back me on this.
Every online game has communities around them and they all have at least some toxic elements. However, the presence of hackers and smurfs is often directly proportional to how toxic a game’s community gets. If you’re one of those lucky people who don’t knowwhat a smurf is in gaming, I envy you.
2Random Disconnects
Regardless of how good your PC or internet connection is, if the game you’re trying to play doesn’t have stable servers, there’s a chance you’ll be randomly kicked out or disconnected from the game server for no apparent reason.
For me, this was the most common issue in EA’s FIFA 23, so much so that I stopped playing the game’s multiplayer, FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT), after a while. I would be disconnected despite having a good enough PC and internet connection and often get penalties for leaving a match.
FC24 has somewhat fixed this issue, but it’s still there. For a company with EA’s resources, you’d think that this would be an easy fix, but no. This issue has affected EA’s soccer games since at least FIFA 21 and continues to exist in FC24.
Of course, EA’s games aren’t the only ones with this issue. As stable a game as Valorant is, I’ve been kicked out of the game server for no reason, only to try and rejoin and get a hefty penalty for disconnecting.
3Unfair AFK/Disconnect Penalties
Games such as Valorant and CS2 have been using harsh disconnect penalties to discourage players from abandoning matches and ruining the game for everyone else. This is great, except when the game server disconnects you and slaps a penalty.
Harsh idling or disconnect penalties do go a long way in keeping toxic players and even griefers away from most competitive titles where a player abandoning a match can ruin the game for the other players. However, applying them indiscriminately to everyone who gets disconnected from a server leaves a sour taste and makes new players less likely to return.
This is one of the biggest reasons I haven’t become a Valorant regular. The game is interesting enough, but I keep getting disconnected despite having a perfectly sufficient internet connection and PC, and consequently keep getting penalized for leaving matches that I didn’t actually leave.
4Messed Up Matchmaking
Official matchmaking in some games is just messed up. I wish there were a better way of saying this, but there isn’t. The multiplayer in most games is skill-based, meaning unless you’re paired with players around the same skill level as you, you’re not going to have a good time. It’s a straightforward thing, but it’s something that games keep getting wrong.
In-game matchmaking should also account for smurfs and hackers. A notorious example is CS2. The game’s matchmaking is so random that you can’t tell how the skill level will vary from game to game.
No attribution is required; sourced from Pexels
URL:Person Playing Counter-Strike · Free Stock Photo (pexels.com)
It does match the on-screen parameters, such as rank and elo, which the players can see. but the elements used by the matchmaking system to pair people up behind the screen seem to vary widely. Since you may’t access these numbers or how the system ranks players, it’s hard to control where you land in matchmaking. For most players, including myself, the best bet is to hit play and pray you get a good match.
Once again, this problem extends to multiple games. Rocket League, FC24, and sometimes even iRacing can throw you in a lobby where everyone is doing their own thing instead of, you know, playing the game.
As is the case with most server issues, there’s not much you can do here. The problem can be countered to some extent by playing with friends or a group you know so that at least you’re having a good time, regardless of the opposition.
5Bugs, Glitches, and Everything Else
Random bugs and glitches spread across different games are almost inevitable in online games. You’re bound to run into issues like hits not registering, in-game characters teleporting, walls that can be walked or shot through, a gun or a particular item that’s overpowered, and many other things. The list is endless.
Most multiplayer games constantly receive updates where the developers fix one thing and break another.Game servers don’t last forever, but however long they do, it’s a game of cat and mouse between the developers and bugs.
Ubisoft’s games, especially Rainbow Six Siege, are prime examples of buggy online games that can ruin the player’s experience. The company’s latest release, XDefiant, also follows in the same footsteps. EA’s FIFA, now FC, franchise is also known for random bugs and glitches that might be hard to explain unless you’ve recorded them.
Another example of this is iRacing’s netcode. Although it’s not very common, in a game where every inch matters and cars often race within close proximity of each other, suffering from net code means you’ll end up crashing without ever knowing it was your fault or not. You’ll also end up being penalized for unsafe driving, not to mention the race will be ruined for you and whoever else you crashed with.
Perhaps even more frustrating is the fact that there’s a good chance the issues you’re facing aren’t very common, meaning the developer won’t have enough data on hand to fix the problem. This means that sometimes, you’ll just have to hammer your way through the problem.
