In Ultima hard mode just now, 2 people disconnected, 2 others almost disconnected (r0 icon appeared next to their name), 2 more (including myself) were experiencing lag bad enough that everything was freezing and catching up (rubberbanding) severely.

I know FiOS and Time Warner customers on the East Coast have reported issues with lag. But I was shocked to see all the other lag rants in the tech support forums. I understand that SE may be legitimately powerless in this situation, as the issue may reside entirely with our ISPs and their willingness to investigate and resolve it.

Nonetheless, it would be great to hear something from SE. Confirmation that there is indeed a problem, the cause,what would need to be done, why it hasn't been and may not be done.

Too much of the game depends on pristine, lightning fast internet connection for these problems to be so pervasive and persistent - and for SE to remain silent. SE has made such an effort to show the MMO world that it's descended from its ivory tower of the FFXI era... but the old habit of ignoring, or refusing to speak publicly about player concerns is still there.

How can so many people be affected to the point where we cannot progress in content, we cannot play the game, and SE says nothing. And as far as we know, has done nothing, does not plan to do anything, doesn't care, is afraid of how players will react, doesn't see that the issue affects enough people to risk taking a position, much less taking action, has no idea what the problem is... What's really going on can only be left to the imagination.