OK, some more testing.
This is on a brand new, level one "newbie" account I created on the PS4. I am searching for a standard TDM game:
![PS41_zpsltppfx4w.jpg]()
Notice, there are a lot of hosts. Nine within my search radius and two outside. That bulls-eye outside the radius always comes up which makes me believe it is a data center owned by Choopa, which handles MM and servers for Activision.
If we compare this screen cap to the previous one I posted a few pages back using my normal account (Level 50; No Prestige), there is a stark difference. There are fewer hosts available in the last screencap. Same game type, same time of day.
When I entered the game, all the players were at multiple Prestige levels... As you would expect at this stage in the game's life. I have a feeling SBMM is all but null at this point, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there at the start and effecting people's games... Until people either quit the game a few months later and have been leaving ever since, reducing the overall player pool significantly.
Here, I search for a KC game at level five (that's how much you can rank up in one match), still on my "newbie" account:
![PS42_zpscrwo1ij9.jpg]()
There are far less hosts for KC than TDM. That's not unusual, but what is interesting is it took two whole minutes for the game to find more matches (than the ones pictured). It would have taken less than 10 seconds without the Netduma, but I would probably be playing in Florida, or Arizona, which would have not been an "optimized" gaming experience.
So, what do these brief tests prove?
A couple of possibilities:
1) SBMM may prioritize stats over connections.
I wish I had bought the R1 seven months ago when AW launched, so I could not only do more testing, but the results would be more controlled with a broader player base who was all at the same level, more or less. Regardless, if a level one account produces more hosts than a level 50 account, then it has to be more than just connection being considered for higher level players e.g. stats factor into MM and may override connection. Compare the amount of hosts for a level 50 account versus a level one account. Stats seem to be a priority the higher level you are.
2) SBMM is a non-factor at this point in the game's life.
This makes sense considering most of the players left are going to be high-level prestige. What is funny is on the level 50 account, I get put into lobbies with a broad range of players, mostly a few levels below 50, but two, or three Prestige levels above 50 (probably more at this point since people have Prestige icons that I haven't even seen before).
These aren't definitive tests. This is just a snapshot of what is going on in the game for one person, but I feel they show what is happening with this game and why connections are so bad for some, but excellent for others.
@Rankismet
P2P means you are playing on somebody else's console... Which the game does after it evaluates everybody's connections and finds the server (closest to everybody) may not be optimal enough.
All of those circles are not servers. They are people's consoles. During the lobby, the circle in NYC will be large and pulsating, stating we are all on that server at the moment. Then, when the game starts, another circle... host a.k.a. console... Grows larger and starts to flash. That is how we all know this is a P2P game.
The hybrid listen server system means what I just described above:
The Choopa servers will MM on one of the servers and if there is room (bandwidth?), put everybody onto that server since it is dedicated. However, most of the time it does what I also said above and that is transfer the lobby to somebody's console. This is why it is a hybrid listen server system... The listen server being the MM part of the system. Just because there are no host migrations doesn't mean it is a dedicated server. It just means the person hosting has good internet and doesn't quit during the match.
