Monster Hunter Rise players who have played the game with online multiplayer on the Nintendo Switch might be surprised about this - the Steam version of the game has actually a regional lockout, or in short "region lock". Presumably a side effect of how the multiplayer is managed by Steam.

Region Lock
A digital right management (DRM) setup which limits access to a certain regional pool

E.g. If your region is set to Central Europe, you will only be able to play with players who have their game set to Central Europe as well. While there are also players online in other regions, like South East Asia, you will not be put into matchmaking with them due to the difference region settings

The Problem is: that fact is not made widely by the officials.

But if you know about it, there are two approaches how to deal with it!

See also
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2914860597
Find more Monster Hunter Rise Multiplayer tips here
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2738776619

The first approach on the matter would be changing your region setting to another region.

For that go to the Settings tab of your Steam client



And switch the Steam Download Region to a different one
preferably a region with more active players



Currently favourited by the community are matchmaking servers in Japan and the U.S.A.

This workaround will not fix the initial issue, though. The effects of the region lock will still be noticable as one way or another, unless all players share the same Steam Download Region setting, you will be still separated from several player pools.

At least you can improve your personal experience a little with this, especially if you have suffered from a very low player count pool before.

There is still more on the matter, which make this workaround look pale in comparison to the next approach. Like: could you imagine that changing your displayed language affects the lobbies in the Lobby Search? For details check Regional Activity by Lobbies + Insights & How to Clan up

At the time this guide was written, there were over 130+ different Steam Download Region servers, all over the world, distributed in 11 regional networks. E.g. a server in Vancouver, Canada and a server in Maryland, U.S.A., despite their distance are assigned for the North American player pool. While a server in mainland China and a server in Taiwan are assigned two different pools.

The region lock feels so annoying and is so bad for the Monster Hunter Rise community, that modders have created a very popular configuration setup, which actually can be considered a real fix. Due to the fact that Capcom is not supporting mods and modders for their games, I will just share with you the link to a popular modding community site, which is hosting mentioned workaround:

Better Matchmaking @ Nexus mods: Monster Hunter Rise[www.nexusmods.com]
https://www.nexusmods.com/monsterhunterrise/mods/1044

Please take also note of my hints and warnings in regards of modding
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2791694098
Q: How much does the mod cost?
A: It is made available for free and you can access the code easily - therefore it is like open source and comes with similar rights and permissions in regards of usage and licensing

Q: I am not a genius nor a computer wizard - is it difficult to apply the mod?
A: Ideally you plan 30-60 minutes for applying the mod onto your game; it is not difficult at all, but you should still read the manuals and instructions properly
"comp. wizards would need around 2 minutes to make it work"

Q: Can I get banned for using the mod?
A: Yes, but it is very unlikely since there is no known mechanism in place which can tell that you are using a mod

Trivia
There is no publicly known case in which Capcom has ever banned a Monster Hunter Rise player for the usage of mods, especially the kind of mod which only affects your own game.
Besides, changing Steam Download Region does not fall under Capcom management

The actual question you should ask here is: is the mod illegal?
A: There is no official support for mods for good reasons, thinking of the terms and conditions you agreed upon when buying and launching the game - however, Capcom is apparently turning a blind eye on all kind of community contents which are not obviously made and used for illegal purposes - you can tell that by the fact that a) Nexus mods is quite popular and a plentiful of mods/community content is available publicly b) Nexus mods takes down any illegal content immediately, which in conclusion means that anything you find there is considered by the officials "acceptable to turn a blind eye on it"

Q: Can the mod break my save game?
A: No. It is not such kind of mod

Q: Can the mod break my game if handled wrongly?
A: Yes, hence the warnings and tips how to handle it correctly - in doubt you can always use the instructions here to "cure" your game
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2828650446
Q: Where to ask if I have more questions?
A: In addition to the "Comments" page for the mod, setup by the author of the mod, Nexus mods hosts a large community where you can ask more about that specific and other mods.
There is also an active community Discord server available specialised in modding Monster Hunter games.

By changing the Steam Download Region, with one way or another, you get put for matchmaking with a player pool mainly made for players from far away. That is, assuming that your normal Steam Download Region is within your residence's region.

That can bring its own very specific technical issues, as in high number ping values.

In simpler words, the connection to play together can be harder to maintain and eventually become unstable, leading to disconnects due to desynchronisation more often.

In such cases the game will give you feedback in form of error codes which contain

MR-230-*
MR-310-*
MR-040*-*

Make sure to observe the effects of the Modding Approach, if you use it, and handle accordingly.

Rule of thumb: the closer you are, the more likely you have a good connection to them

People tend to forget how young the internet is, and that not every region in the world is supplied with a solid, fast and stable connection. The majority is in fact on a tether... that being written... I wish you