This is my first post here so first things first, hello all. I'm sure I join many people when I say that I'm overly excited for Brink. It's truly the type of game that seems to emulate everything I've always wanted in a shooter all the way from game play to art style.

I was wondering if anything specific had been posted regarding the matchmaking for the console versions of Brink (360 player here)? I had originally thought this game was going to be running on servers for all platforms so I was a little upset when I heard that the console versions would be MM. That said I play many games and also play a lot of Halo/Reach so I know that MM can work well when done right. I try not to think of games done poorly like Gears of War 2 *shudder*. But I will say I have some concerns given the ability for losers to cheat on hosted games.

From everything I've read it seems like there will MM options to match with players around your level along with host migration should the chosen host quit. However, do we have any details on if the MM service is using region filters, if you can specify a "good" connection as a priority over level/rank, etc...??

Any information is appreciated. I'm confident that Splash Damage will deliver a solid experience especially given their detail in the game itself but I would love further info. :tops:


I look forward to discussing the game with other fans. :foodndrink:

Welcome to the forums, heres your complimentary OMFGWTFN00BGTFO!!!!

To answer your question, we don't know that much about Matchmaking, at least I don't. All I know is that theres 5 ranks, Levels 1-5 makes up rank 1, 6-10 makes up rank 2, 11-15 makes up rank 3, 16-19 makes up rank 4, and 20 makes up rank 5.

Note: I might have gotten the levels wrong.

:celebration: Celebrating my first GTFO.


Thank you though, see I didn't even know that about the levels and 5 ranks. So that's already appreciated. :icecream:

Hi,welcome,hope this helps you a bit,it's from http://www.brinkaddict.com/forum/9-brink-general/5-brink-info-compendium-v2-by-horse

In Brink, players will be able to, at a glance, see where all their friends are and what they’re doing, and jump directly into their games. Once they’re together in a mission, they can opt to stick together so they won’t get split up to different teams or different servers.
Basically, when you’re playing through a campaign, when you’re about to start a new mission, there are two simple choices you can make:
1. do you want to play solo, co-op, or versus?
2. if online, do you want to play with just your friends, or with anyone?

You make that choice and then launch the mission. Depending on what you chose, the game will either
1. set a match up for you specifically that only your friends can get into, or it will
2. find a public match that gives you everything you need (an open slot on the faction you’re playing, a good ping, etc.),
3. or just let you play completely by yourself with no one else getting in except people you invite.

You know, I've been looking at that compendium and while I knew some of that, I missed other parts. Obviously I didn't read line by line.

Nope, you got them right.

EDIT: A Layman who read the compendium? We need more of you these days.

Here is your completmentary Welcome Turtle :turtle:. Your free copy of the Brink Compendium is in my signature, but you obviously have a copy.

Well at least they aren't porting the finished product onto the other consoles without a thought
*cough* Call of Duty *cough*

Haha thanks. Yeah, I'm the type that when excited about a game will read every bit of info he can find on it. For the past 2 days I've done nothing (outside of work) except watch all the Brink videos and interviews I can find. I gotta say, more companies need a guy like Ham. He gets me pumped up just listening to him.

That's actually what inspired my post. Out of all the info and interviews I've found, very little has been discussed about the underpinnings of the MM system. I have a feeling that I'll be playing this game for a long time so I'm just nervous about MM as at this point, it's the only thing that could prevent me from loving it.

To answer your question regarding about connections, it is Peer to Peer, (P2P), so whoever hosts with more bandwidth would likely have a better connection than the others. (Correct me if I am wrong.)

For matchmaking, you have to remember that this game "Blurs the lines between offline and online gaming", so you can pretty much play a single player game and whenever you'd like to allow people in, you're free to do so. With that being said, I really don't think there's a "matchmaking system", as people can hop online and offline your game if you choose to allow people to join in.

For anyone else there who knows I am wrong, feel free to correct me please, as I've been lurking the forum gathering as much information as I can, usually before I respond. :biggrin:

Other than that, here is your welcoming turtle. Turtles are awesome. :turtle:

What I've heard about the ranks is that the ones listed in this thread are the ones for unlocking abilities, matchmaking pairs players differently.

I think level 17 - 20 players will be playing against one another, not just level 20s and nobody else.

And you can't voluntarily go up against lower-level players, but you can opt-in to play against people above you if you feel you're up for the challenge.

All good information and I think that's a good idea about keeping certain ranks playing with one another should you choose. That way you can start a new character without being down in abilities to other players.


I'd still like to keep this topic relevant prior to launch in case anyone can find some more specific details on the MM inner workings. :thumbsup:

If your in a fireteam you can play down but lose all your high level abilities.

Interesting yet again. Thanks.