How is a Borderlands 2 multiplayer game hosted?

Question

I am considering buying borderlands 2 but would first like to know how and who hosts the game that I want to play with my friend on the other side of the world.

I have quite bad computer and cannot host a game well and neither does my friend but we both have okay internet. In Borderlands 1 we both lagged whenever either of us hosted because one of our computers had to actually host the game (at least that's what I assume) and I am wondering if Borderlands 2 has a dynamic server hosting system or the same system as borderlands 1, where a player has to host.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Borderlands 2, like its predecessor, does not use dedicated servers, but relies on the host player (the one whose game the other 3 join) to act as the server. Therefore, you will probably be better off joining other peoples' games together.

Whether you'll be able to comfortably play with a friend depends on your network and geography/Internet topology: somebody from Eurasia will have an acceptable connection to somebody in the Americas (~100-200 ms ping), while somebody in Australia will have an abysmal ping to somebody in Eurasia (~350-450 ms), due to the packets having to go through NA.