Why the netcode issue exists, and why it cannot be fixed.

[Astarica]

People need to stop using Hallowed Ground as an example. The skill doesn't fail because of the .3 second lag it fails because it has a casting animation. Which is very much warranted considering how good the ability is.

You can find logs that looks like:
1. You use potion for 100 HP
2. Mob hits you for 50 HP
3. You die

Is there a drinking animation on potions too? The 'casting animation' is the exact same problem. It comes from the fact that something has occured on your client (you drink a potion or used a skill) that is not yet acknowledged by the server. There's no grand design trying to balance certain skills with a hidden lag. You can use something as a weak as a regular potion and you'll still find that you don't get the 100 HP at the instant you think you do.

[Steeled]

Forget Ice Block, HG is a mirror of Divine Shield, except they made it not ignore EVERY type of damage (which DS did for a long time).

And yeah, for the years I tanked on paladin, all my cooldowns always activated 100% of the time. If the ability went on cooldown, it saved me if it could. If the ability went on cooldown, I got the effect. I know that it worked 99.99% for everyone else because the nutcases over there would have torn the forums apart had it ever been a noticeable issue.

Kuku, how does TERA cheat? I know you're being facetious, but what's the base of the statement? If the programmers have found a way to keep it safe while simultaneously making it efficient, more power to them.

[aglamau]

in fact, the on us/euro serveur has going to be lagging forever?

[10TailBeast]

So even if I get a PS4, I'll still have terrible lag and zero packet return (character sliding around after an action for example)? If true, really wondering if I should stay with this game seeing as how the battles are only going to get bigger from here. My connection is fine. All my other online game perform perfectly. Some of that has to do with the PS3, so we'll see what happens if I get a PS4 and into the beta/release.

[Steeled]

People need to stop using Benediction as an example. The skill doesn't fail because of the .3 second lag it fails because it has a casting animation. Which is very much warranted considering how good the ability is.
People need to stop using Sentinel as an example. The skill doesn't fail because of the .3 second lag it fails because it has a casting animation. Which is very much warranted considering how good the ability is.
People need to stop using Potions as an example. These don't fail because of the .3 second lag they fail because they has a casting animation. Which is very much warranted considering how potent 1.5-3% of your hp restored is.
People need to stop citing examples. Abilities don't fail because of the .3 second lag it fails because SE wants us to watch the animation. Which is very much warranted considering.. hmm.

[Astarica]

I bet if this game had a suicide command like most MMORPG, it'd still be lagged and you'd still be able to see things like:

You use suicide
Mob hits you for 500
You die

And some people will say well if you could commit suicide anytime you want it'd be overpowered which is why there's a lag and you just need to get better at knowing when to use your suicide ability.

[Steeled]

For Humor's sake, Astarica..

FFXI had "2 Hour Abilities", or "SP Abilities".

Paladin, the mighty turtle tank, had Invincible, which made them immune to all physical damage for 30 seconds.
White Mage, the first and strongest healer, had Benediction, which restored the entire party's hp.
Monk, a boxer of sorts, had Hundred Fists, where it would land blow after blow, non-stop, for the duration.
etc...

And then there was Ninja. Ninja had Mijin Gakure. The only purpose of this ability, for years, was to suicide, to "death warp" to your home point. It had no other real practical use. In the last few years, they changed it so that ninja's weren't weakened when raised after a mijin gakure, but it still is and was pretty awful unless you had Auto-Reraise.

(It did deal damage to the target, but it was worthless amount of damage.)

[tymora]

And then there was Ninja. Ninja had Mijin Gakure. The only purpose of this ability, for years, was to suicide, to "death warp" to your home point. It had no other real practical use. In the last few years, they changed it so that ninja's weren't weakened when raised after a mijin gakure, but it still is and was pretty awful unless you had Auto-Reraise.

(It did deal damage to the target, but it was worthless amount of damage.)

You obviously didn't get to experience those epic 1% kills with Mijin Gakure when everyone else is dead...

[MageBlack]

This needs a bump. people are still unaware of this...

[Xavin]

What's missing from this discussion is the understanding that it's not a black and white issue. No modern game uses purely server-side or purely client-side state tracking. There are too many problems related to either. Hacking from the client side, and delays from the server side. The proper way to do it, which most games do, is to have both the client and the server running the calculations and just sending verification back and forth. That way everything is smooth unless there is enough lag that the client has to be contradicted. That can be minimized by having a short polling interval (.3 is incredibly long for a modern game), and by having a lot of well designed prediction. That's why in most MMOs and FPSs, everything is great and visible lag is nonexistent up to the point where the prediction and compensation can't handle it anymore, and everything falls apart.That's typically 300-400 ms ping, which nearly everyone in the world can manage to anywhere else given a good connection. Overall game design also plays a role, abilities, animations, and UI effects have to be designed so that there is a little leeway and instances where there could be visible desync are minimized. The bottom line is that SE just has shoddy netcode for this game.

It's not unfixable, but it does appear that it will take more work that just a few tweaks. Proper prediction and lag compensation is a very complex subject, and it's not something you just stumble on, you have to read the academic papers and understand what solutions the rest of the industry has come up with. The best bet in the short term is likely going to be to design encounters around the problems. Fast AoE dodging and precision positioning should be taken out of their toolbox. They should also up the polling rate to something more reasonable, which would have an immediate and noticeable effect.