Hunt: Showdown 1896

I've played this game with so much love and passion. But recently, the fun and excitement I used to get from it have completely vanished. First, the good things: The gunplay is AMAZING. I would always defend this game when talking to other people and tell them that it has some of the best shooter mechanics out there. The sound design is also absolutely fantastic. You really learn to appreciate how well-crafted it is when using high-end headphones. Being able to hear enemies before they can hear you adds so much to the experience. If we're talking solely about the game itself, I would always recommend it. Now comes the bad part. And I'm saying this from the perspective of a 6-Star MMR player. The lobbies are divided into different MMR ratings from 1 to 6 Stars, with 6 Stars being the highest. The game has a severe problem with the European servers, where I feel like I'm being matched with Russian and Chinese players most of the time. And when I say most of the time, I mean around 90% of my matches. The difference between encountering a European team and encountering a high-ping team (usually Russian/Chinese) is incredibly frustrating. When I get killed by a European team, I usually don't think twice about it. I know I got outplayed, made a mistake, or simply lost the fight. But when I get killed in certain situations by players from outside Europe, I often find myself thinking: "How the hell did I just die there?" Then I check the player's profile and see where they're from, and it happens far too often. Far too often meaning i feel like i'm only getting killed from High-Ping Teams anymore. What I'm talking about is the insane difference that high ping can make in gunfights. Whether it's hit registration, peeker's advantage, or simply the way players appear and disappear around corners, the experience can feel completely different. And honestly, it's becoming so frustrating that it has taken away almost all of the fun and excitement I used to have for this game. I don't mind losing. I don't mind getting outplayed. That's part of the game. What I do mind is feeling like the outcome of a gunfight was determined by connection quality rather than by who played the situation better. It's especially frustrating because I genuinely love this game. The gunplay, the sound design, the atmosphere — all of it is fantastic. I want to enjoy it, but playing at 6 Stars on the European servers has become increasingly exhausting. And then there's another thing I simply don't understand: I've encountered players who apparently already have VAC bans on their profiles, yet they're still able to play the game. How is that even possible? The lack of communication from Crytek makes this even more frustrating. The developers have actually acknowledged these problems in the past. Around 1.5 years ago, Crytek talked about potential solutions such as region blocking or preventing players from joining certain servers if their ping exceeds a specific threshold. At the time, I was genuinely hopeful that something would eventually be done about it. But since then, there has been very little to no communication about this issue. 1.5 years is a long time when you're dealing with a problem that directly affects the experience of your most dedicated players. I don't expect the developers to magically fix everything overnight. But I do expect some kind of communication. Tell us what you're working on. Tell us if the proposed solutions aren't technically feasible. Tell us if the problem is more complicated than expected. Just communicate with the community. The current lack of communication regarding this particular issue has been really disappointing, at least from my personal perspective. I really hope the developers take a serious look at the current state of matchmaking and high-ping gameplay. Because underneath all of this, there is an incredible shooter.