Lag

[Elusana_Celah]

I am also getting tons of lag... it is unrelenting and it's literally hindering my ability to play any difficult content in the game. I tried a T9 and everything stopped moving suddenly it all moves 10 seconds later and I'm dead. I just ran a wanderer's palace just now and every 10-15 seconds there was a 2-3 second pause up then everything just moves again. I have also been completely unable to hang out in Mor Dhona. Once I zone in there everyone's avatar is just stop and go and it looks aggravating.

This is the lag I've been dealing with since 2.5. Before 2.5 I had no lag. Frankly I'm getting sick of it. No sense paying for something I can't play even if it isn't SE's fault it doesn't make this acceptable and I certainly can't call Comcast to ask them what's up. Have you ever talked to their tech support?? If you have you will know why it's a waste of my time calling them.

EDIT - I tried WTFast and it works... however do I really need to pay another monthly subscription just to not lag in my already monthly subscription game...? This is a miserable situation for a poor person.

[Aeryn_Kalvo]

Ya I am getting the same kind of lag this morning as well. Also on Comcast here.

[Frost_Trunks]

Happens to me too.
And whenever I bring it up on the forums I get the "use WTfast it's your ISP's fault you lag"
and I bought a month of WTfast to try it out and it's not doing anything at all, "connection improvement 5%" but still lagging like crazy.

During prime time I can't do Ex primals so I have to play on my alts doing low level dungeons where I can't cause wipes

I am trying WTFast too, and I seem to see less "rubber banding" than I did before. However, the client says I have "No Improvement" at all........ I still get 90k'd often.

I honestly think a lot of it has to do with server congestion. Often when I get the boot, I try logging back in to find the server is full. They may end up making new servers and asking people to volunteer to transfer. That's what they did in XI

[Frost_Trunks]

Also, on WTFast. Their pricing sucks. $5 a month for ONE PC? My wife and I play, so if I were to use it, it would be an additional $10 a month to play. Wondering if the "advanced" subscription makes any difference. That's $10 a month per PC... :-/

[Raist]

If using a VPN improves things, then the routing policies along your route are a problem--be that your ISP's policies or those of their routing partner. Either way, your ISP is the one with the means to correct the problem, as it is a problem of their own making. Need to hold them accountable.

For those that doubt the reasoning, read through this thread at the TWC forums about issues they are having with another game also hosted in the Montreal area:

http://forums.timewarnercable.com/t5...p/66269#U66269

Here's the opening post of the thread:

Mechwarrior Online

Bandwidth Tests show better then average. 55 Meg down, 5 meg Up on my local machine to the internet as a while. Connection to 1 specific game has known issues since November, multiple Time Warner Customers affected and have posted issues on Redit and Game Forums, all of which point back to TWC throttle between service and game host in Canada. Multiple TWC customers have opened tickets to investigate and all tickets have been closed and removed from tracking with no response or resolution for the customers wanting to enjoy this game.



Requesting support of a Time Warner Cable Network Engineer to work with Network Engineer from OVH Hosting and MechWarrior Online Gaming to trouble shoot why these connections are being throttled for high bandwidth customers that are paying the extra to get the speed they need but are connecting to the game at a slower them 10 meg a second connection regardless of plan we subscribe to. ONLY TWC Customers are having this issue. Multiple other companies are not throttling this connection and have better pings and game play then the elite of TWC internet plans.



On the forums of MWO you have complaints from Califonia, through Texas from multiple people routing the game Host in Canada. I would be appreciated if a ticket can be created for ALL of us to join as a group ticket so TWC can see the impact and movement your customers would Like to see some type of support on. Problem started roughly October and has not resolved in any way, has gotten worse since that time making the game almost unplayable

Additional forum posts from other sites concerning the issue that are linked within the thread:
http://www.reddit.com/r/OutreachHPG/...e_warner_cable
http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/180.../page__st__180

You may notice a common thing about them. In some cases there are localized issues, but ultimately there have been issues identified outside the TWC network that the people on the phone are saying they can't address. Which is a half-truth--the other half being a lie (or at best disingenuous). Those issues have been narrowed down to congestion at/around the exchanges into third party networks. Well, guess who sets up the agreements to use those exchanges and those third parties?

Your ISP.

They also set up similar agreements with other top tier ISP's to have access to alternative routes. Most all major ISP's will have peering agreements with TATA, Cogent, and Level3... amongst others. Ormuco peers directly with all three of those out of Montreal, as well as Verizon Business and TiNet (registered ASN Peering details). Your ISP's policies are what is determining which of those peers you are using to connect to Ormuco in Montreal. As such, if they can't somehow address the congestion problems at that assigned peer's exchange or routing beyond that exchange--they have the option of altering your route so you use a different exchange or a different peering partner.

Your ISP is NOT powerless to address these issues. It is perfectly within the scope of their resources and abilities to affect improvements in the quality of your route. But.. it requires escalation to higher tiers than the guys that answer the 800 number. You may need to talk to supervisors and such until you get to Tier3...but once you reach that level you will be in touch with someone that can conduct the required investigation and determine course of action necessary to make adjustments.

If all else fails... play the shame game. Take it to their forums/facebook/twitter if you have to. Eventually, if you make enough noise someone will contact you. It is in their best interest to do so. After all, you are their paying customer, and there are alternatives coming to many markets--even if it's just changing from TWC/Comcast over to Earthlink (which still uses Comcast/TWC's localized segments to get to an Earthlink hub--even though you are still on TWC/Comcast local network segments, it is taking a lot of money out of their pockets if you switch). Earthlink also offers similar arrangements for some DSL providers as well. It may be worth looking into for some of you guys. If nothing else it may provide some leverage if you casually hint you may switch providers if things aren't improved soon.

[Gray_Spy]

Stating the obvious to state a case.
This game is lagging a lot.

I've resorted to using third party programs to enhance DNS Route / Ping. The results show that there's massive packet loss.

Any packet loss will cost you a wipe. I've attached some results as well as my Sub 10% wipe that we were unsuccessful in, and probably my most solid group yet. We had to deal with so much lag and tried to predict lag to beat the fight. To no avail, we were not able to.

Please fix this lag. I'm asking nicely because I actually like this game and what has progressed of it. You've turned the game 180 and you need to do something about the server structure to increase quality of life. Thank you.

[Raist]

Stating the obvious to state a case.
This game is lagging a lot.

I've resorted to using third party programs to enhance DNS Route / Ping. The results show that there's massive packet loss.

Any packet loss will cost you a wipe. I've attached some results as well as my Sub 10% wipe that we were unsuccessful in, and probably my most solid group yet. We had to deal with so much lag and tried to predict lag to beat the fight. To no avail, we were not able to.

Please fix this lag. I'm asking nicely because I actually like this game and what has progressed of it. You've turned the game 180 and you need to do something about the server structure to increase quality of life. Thank you.

A bandwidth test to Atlanta, GA (<50 miles from your GeoLocation) shows nothing against the latency/packet loss to Montreal, Canada. Even if you were testing against a server in Montreal, unless it was falling under 1Mbit/sec down, it really wouldn't mean much of anything either. This game should be fine at even the DSL Light level of service....provided latency is consistently low and there isn't a problem with packet loss.

THAT is what is at issue here--inconsistency in latency and dropped packets, which is often simply the end result of ISP's overselling their upstream bandwidth capacity to the top Tier ISP's they partner with (groups like TATA, Cogent, Level3, and Telia). Normal game traffic consumes less than 256Kbps bandwidth--enough to sustain 25,000-30,000 bytes/second transfer rate after various overhead factors kick in. The only time it should pass this point is when there is a massive influx of players and such, like when zoning a new area or maybe the zergfest at a hunt. But even then, you don't need 20Mbit service, and the demand drops considerably after the initial loading of that data. Watch your S/R numbers periodically and multiply that by 8 to see the actual bit rate you are consuming (those S/R numbers in the corner are the number of bytes sent/received--8 bits =1 byte, 1Mbit=1,000,000 bits or 125,000 bytes).

The problems arise because far too many people are consuming more bandwidth as a whole for a mix of services along the segments you are getting routed through. It's not just FFXIV traffic, but all internet traffic for all web services from a mix of many ISP's using that third party's network for peering/transit to another company's network. They don't connect directly to SE's network. For example, I go TWC to Cogentco to Ormuco to SE--the problems potentially occur between TWC and Ormuco, before SE gets involved.

Those peering/transit arrangements are things that your ISP is responsible for setting up, maintaining, and adjusting as needed. If it were something happening at SE's end, then running a VPN would NOT improve it---the VPN's routing potentially bypasses your ISP's policies that are negatively impacting your throughput to Montreal when you connect normally through your ISP's assigned routes. Note the word used there...potentially. I say potentially because, depending on where you connect with the VPN, you could still wind up on a failing Level3 segment in NY just the same you do with your ISP's routing. Which brings us to another point:




Have you tried connecting to a different VPN location? As noted in the threads I linked to earlier, there are some VPN locations that are exhibiting congestion problems (the same kind that you may be experiencing without the VPN service). One solution noted there was to use a different endpoint (there was also an issue with allowing UDP traffic for some, but this game uses TCP). I demonstrated this in earlier post with a VPN I have. Connecting to the New York VPN that night was more stable than connecting to the Montreal VPN through the same VPN service. This all shows once again that it is highly likely there is a routing issue and not something at SE's end causing issues for a lot of people.


An important note that needs to be brought up for those of you that have tried a VPN service and have seen a change in your gameplay---especially if it showed improvement:

You guys have a GOLDEN opportunity to go after your ISP's to fix your routing issues. It is a shining example that the routing they have chosen is not sufficient and needs to be addressed. The VPN does not change which SE server you connect to---your destination remains constant. What you have changed is the parameters of the route you take to get there. Those parameters are set by your ISP's policy.

Rub their noses in it. And if the person refuses to acknowledge the facts that you can clearly demonstrate for them on demand and/or will not escalate your complaint, demand to speak to a higher tiered support team or a supervisor until you find someone that will. This is something they CAN and SHOULD address for you... as it is an issue with the service you have purchased from them.

[Tarta]

We're having crazy lag here, in instances only. Unclear what causes it. Happened since last patch. Very annoyed.

[hqdm]

I've had ridiculous lag since 2.5 hit, on/off in spikes. It's not all the time, and up until recently, I really had no complaints about latency.
Today was the absolute worst, periods of 4-5s delay spikes in T10. Literally unplayable, between mechanics stacking, lying prey timers, and swiftcast buff not appearing for 3-4s.
I can't even craft with this lag. WTFfast made no difference.
I normally average ~26-28 ms from Halifax, under Bell Aliant.

[KLoWNM]

Me too ever since this new patch this game has been unplayable for me. People not moving for 5 secs. Comcast here.