Online Driver Duels problem

[Hydro_PT]

I'm having a problem with the Online Driver Duels. How does this mode works exactly? I ask this because everytime I try to play a Drivel Duel, I only have the option to start a "quick match". But the game keeps searching and searching and then it says "no matches found", and I return to the menu. :\

Today I finally started a Driver Duel, but I have no idea how. I raced a guy who was in the lobby with me a few seconds before, we had a drift match and I was the host. But then I had to quit and I decided to give the Driver Duel thing a new chance. Weirdly, my duel was against that guy who was in the lobby before with me. We started with some crappy Audi S3 in a one lap race in Myatomi or whatever that little track is called. It was a shiznit match, let me tell you. I won, then I went to the second "stage" of the Driver Duel but again the game keeps telling me that it cannot find any matches.

WTF? How am I supposed to do Driver Duels online if I can't create my own match or find others? Do I need to have friends on the EA Messenger thing and invite them to a Driver Duel or something? I play on the PC.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

PS: One more thing, the cars and tracks given are random, or can you choose them?

[GT3x24x7]

The game matches you up with someone else who is also at the same level on the duel 'ladder'. Of course you both have to be searching at the same time. No-one chooses to be the host, it's all managed by the game. Similarly, you don't have any choice or control over car and track choices. These are selected by the game, again according to your position on the duel ladder.

As you win successive races, you advance up the duel ladder. This means you'll be racing guys who have also had the same number of consecutive wins and are at the same level. As you move higher up the ladder, the cars get faster and the tracks get harder. If you lose, you start again from the bottom.

Thankfully I've never seen drift in an online duel, but I didn't spend more than a few hours in total racing duels. About your trouble finding a match, that's because there weren't enough people online running duels. It's not a very popular mode since many people use dirty tactics to win.

[ElvenAvenger]

so Driver Duels online quite fail for me.
you can be damn good, perfect, win 500 times in a row, and then lose once because something distracts you and suddenly you start from the bottom again.
no choice of cars and tracks is lame too. some people might find track X hard for them, and some might do it with closed eyes. guess ill stick to normal racing.

[zedex]

I've never lost a driver duel till now, but came quite close on 2 occasions... won by a SPLIT second 0.02 or less...

but highest I've been to was 5th stage... and was just never able to find anyone

it's a crappy concept... they should put you in a room with a bunch of people and advance like a tournament

[Hydro_PT]

Thanks all for the replies. Now I understand how it works, and honestly, I don't think I'll bother playing Driver Duel again. The whole concept is pretty bad lol.

I'll stick to the racing.

[gemic]

Yep its stupid... Made it to the championship but got rammed of the road twice and lost :S I hate when people do that, not real racing.

Just tried one before where i had a nissan and my opponent had a lamborghini :S Bug i guess

[ElvenAvenger]

Yep its stupid... Made it to the championship but got rammed of the road twice and lost :S I hate when people do that, not real racing.

Just tried one before where i had a nissan and my opponent had a lamborghini :S Bug i guess

they thought you were so good that you would beat anyone with a nissan

[Hydro_PT]

@gemic: You're not the first one reporting that bug. I've seen a guy complaining at NFS Forums about something similar. According to him, he was racing with a BMW M3 GT2 and his opponent was using a Maserati MC12 GT1. Guess who won...