the input lag

[mmk]

im sure this has been mentioned before (the beta forums were sure set aflame with this topic), and it will probably be mentioned again, but i just wanted to bring more attention to the issue.

i cant be sure about people living outside of california (im in california), but the ping time is horrible here. the horrible ping time coupled with having to talk to the server with every button click (and there are a lot of button clicks) is pretty bad. forgive me if im wrong, but i havnt heard of any plans to fix this problem, or the least an acknowledgement of it.

i dont care what is done to alleviate having to wait for the ping, whether you make the client server sided or have some other fix in mind, but it needs to happen, and the sooner the better.

what follows is a ping test to one of the game servers:
minimum ping was 115 ms
maximum ping was 745 ms
and the average was 299 ms

the reason that im posting this is that im wondering if the developers even know how serious of a problem this is for the players who dont live in japan. for instance, my ping to google (whos servers are probably about as close to me as xiv's servers are to the developers studios) has an average of about 60 ms, which is much more reasonable and if you were playing the game with a 60 ms ping, you probably wouldnt even notice it, which leads me to think that maybe they dont even know that players outside of japan are having trouble with the ping time.

sorry if its been posted before, but it needs to be posted again, and again, and then again, until its fixed, or at least acknowledged as a concern

[Zalian]

The client-server lag realy needs a fix, but to me it does not look like a simple "the servers are far away u have lag" situation. i belive this lag problem is found in the server code to this game.

Most mmo games are set up with a Authoritive server approach (makes it impossible to cheat with maphacks etc, so most mmos are made with this method), which means the game runs on a server and not on the client u play, u simply play a copy of the game, and everytime u do something it needs to "sync" with the server the game actually runs on.
This results in what u call "input lag".
Lets say on the client u play u shoot a mob, the server (aka game) actually needs to listen for u to issue the "i shot a mob" command then run that, then send the result back to you "mob was shot".
this communicating back and forth from the server on every action causes "input lag" as you called it.

This is not server distance lag ! this would happen even if the server was in the next room. And most games that are made on the Autoritive server method, have a way of dealing with this called "lag compensation".
which basicly just means that instead of the client listening back from the server before it completes the action, simulates what would happen anyway on the client (client is a copy of the server side real game anyway) making it seem like there is no lag. aka removing the "input lag"

I dont know if this is the real problem (no clue how se codes theire games but there is no denying there is some massive server side code in there), but to me it realy does look like it (and i do work in the games business after all, as a artist tho, not a coder) and if it is, it is a coding oversight that should be fully possible to fix and even out.

And it realy makes this game not "feel" as comfortable as it should, and i belive fixing basic stuff like this , would make the rest of the game so much more enjoyable.

Tl-DR: the "input lag" is probably a codeing error, SE fix plx.

[Ekko]

Yes please

[Fixy]

pretty sure the servers are in CA arent they? that way us and jp gets equal ping and EU has their own servers.

[Ekko]

Servers are in Japan.

[RopeyDonkey]

Just logged in to XIV having not really played for a number of weeks. Forgot how horrible the UI lag was. Logged back off.

Sorry SE, I can see you've made some real advancements to content etc but until that lag is gone I for one won't spend any real time playing (and would cancel if you started charging). I also think a lot of other people, especially new starters/PS3 players, would do the same.

The simple test I perform:

1. Log in
2. Stand still
3. Tap 'down' in the right menu at a steady pace
4. Sigh as the cursor intermitently skips and jumps
5. Log out

I'm based in the UK. I have a great internet connection and get low latency with every other game I've ever played, including FFXI (within reason). My PC is powerful and runs the game at a steady 60 FPS. There's no excuse really, so please please please make this a priority - no ammount of content can make up for something like this.

** Yes I realise not everyone gets this problem and it will vary based on PC spec, ISP, geographic location etc etc but I'm sure I'm not alone here - a lot of people are probably just used to it and don't realise, but switch to another game (Rift for example) and the difference is painfully obvious.**

[Okiura]

Would like to add that server location is not the issue here, there a posts on the jap forums and the english one for ppl living in japan that suffer the exact same issue, this is a client->server->client issue, myself although not in japan i'm pretty dam close. before i move to aisa i was in the uk and the connection is no better this side of the world a assure you.

Check out this post this is the latest one i've seen on this issue there is also videos ppl have posted that shows other side effects of this issue.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...lly-addressed.