Last night, during the Gears of War 2 multiplayer reception, we got a chance to sit down with Gears producer Rod Fergusson to discuss all things Gears 2, specifically discussing how the online matchmaking system will work and what features we can expect.When we asked how the matchmaking system would be organized and how it compares to Halo 3's system, Fergusson confirmed that Gears 2 will "definitely have playlists", which will be separated into ranked and social / unranked matches comprised of all the different gametypes. When it comes to matching players up in ranked we learn that a player's rank wouldn't be assigned any value or military rank, instead the ranked party would be matched up based on an average of "the rank of the party". When asked about some sort of veto system in matchmaking, we were told that "in the rank system we didn't like the veto system", but they did opt for a friendlier voting system instead. Currently, how it's planned, in all ranked matches there will be two multiplayer maps to vote on then the one that gets the most votes will be played. "If there's a tie or nobody votes," Fergusson continued "we'll just pick a random third one."
Finally, as far as stats go on GearsofWar.com, don't expect too much at launch. "It [online stats] isn't something that's critical for us on day one" Fergusson admitted, though confirming that the engine does mine rich data for much more detailed stats options in the future. Rod Fergusson wasn't afraid to admit that they don't have much experience with rich online stats like say, Bungie, admitting that when it comes to the rollout and implementation of a rich online stat service, "we're baby stepping our way in."
