Stutter Stepping?

[Galibier]

Square Enix *are* providing you with the service that you're paying them for though. You pay for access to their servers so that you can play Final Fantasy XIV. /snip

I agree with you on this point. The thing is ISPs don't necessarily have a choice as to what Peer you use. The way the internet grew there are various choke points for your route and if you are your "average" internet user you just use the automatically selected route choke points and all. These choke points become more common the closer you get to your destination.

If you look at the main thread on NA issues it doesn't matter what ISP people have. People with AT&T, Comcast, Time-Warner, Verizon etc. are all having the issues. They are all hitting Level 3 nodes, because often there is no choice. The difference between someone having an issue and someone not having an issue seems to be where they are, and thus how many level 3 nodes they hit on their way in.

As for my post regarding US v CAN I was just using that to illustrate that you decide if servers will be moved via a cost/benefit analysis.