Horrible Server Lag Needs To Be Fixed ASAP

[Eliniell]

The biggest problem is that the server only updates positions and spell checks every .33 seconds. Most big MMOs update every .1 seconds, so the responsiveness feels a LOT slower in this game.

[Silverwalk]

This is an example of the lag discussed in this thread http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...fix-something.

It is an accepted bug and Yoshi posted why it happens two months ago in the beta forums. Bug report: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...s-everybody%29

Those people who claim it is the players computer or connection are ignoring this. The devs have confirmed that the problem is in their software and server design.

Those people who say they have not seen this problem have probably not been observant enough. It's easy to reproduce using the methods in the accepted bug report.

1. Start casting Cure and just before it completes start running - cure completes despite the fact that you're moving. The amount of time you can run before it cancels will vary by 0.3 seconds but usually you can get away with up to 1/2 second before the cast bar is finished.
2. Run out of red AoE's and then run back in just before the cast bar completes - you take no damage.
3. Watch someone else get killed by an AoE and then watch their dead body sliding across the ground to safety - that's how far the server was behind the other persons client and shows that the person had in fact reached safety.
etc etc.

Yoshi promised this would be fixed in ARR, see this post http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...t-be-addressed

Square-Enix: First of all, we'd like for you not to worry. The interface lag will get much better when we introduce the server system for 2.0. As compared to 11, he (Yoshida) would rather compare it to World of Warcraft. It's going to depend on things such as your personal environment, equipment, etc. But it will be closer to that then what currently exists.

From the beta forums:

Area Attacks and Latency Issues

Producer and director Yoshi-P here.
Thank you for all of your feedback on latency issues and the evasion of enemy attacks. As we continue working to address these issues in time for phase 4 and release, I'd like to inform you all of the current situation.This post will focus on area attacks that are difficult to evade, or still connect even if you appear to have avoided it.

Damage taken when Ifrit uses Eruption.

When Ifrit used eruption in phase 3, the animation had a momentary build-up before the explosion. Because of this momentary buildup, there was a slight delay between the server's check and the explosion. This has already been corrected for phase 4 and release.

Damage taken for what looked like a near miss.

1. Registering Player Damage

In phase 3, when judging whether a character was standing in an attack's area of impact, your position was checked using a circle around your character to represent the space your character stands in.

Furthermore, to keep the different races balanced, the radius of this circle was the same for all characters. Because of this, even if you appeared to have barely escaped the area of effect, a portion of the circle was still within range. This created the illusion that you barely evaded attack, with varying results depending on your race.
For phase 4 and release, this circle has been reduced to a single point at the center of where your character is standing to more accurately determine your position.

2. Enemy Progress Bars and Area of Impact

Being an online game, there will always be a minimal delay when input is received from the player and sent back after being processed by the server.
In FFXIV: ARR, your position is checked by the server once every 0.3 seconds. This timing is synced and processed according to the servers to prevent lag between your input and what you see.

During phase 3, however, this syncing did not take place due to stringent server checks that took place, causing lag between what you saw on the enemy progress bar and your character's positioning. As a result, even if you appeared to be outside the area of impact when the progress bar was filled, damage was still taken.

Adjustments are being made to reduce lag as much as possible, and syncing should improve the timing between enemy cast bars, area of effect markers, and the actual attacks.

Rest assured that we're doing what we can to make sure players can safely evade attacks by watching enemy cast bars and markers for area attacks.

Players overseas were also affected by having to access the Japan data center in Version 1.0, as this further delayed the relay of data from the server. With the establishment of a regional data center and the above measures being taken to improve syncing with the servers, we will continue working to ensure an enjoyable gaming experience for all of our players.
(Even with a great connection, I think there's still maybe a 0.1 second margin of error with the cast bar, so make sure to get out of the way when playing with your party. )

It is hard to understand how this bug is in the released game since Yoshi promised it would be fixed in 2.0 and told us not to worry.

The main thread has 163 likes at present, it took over 1500 likes to generate a response during beta so it looks like most players are willing to accept the bug as is and don't think it's important to fix it. So don't hold your breath for any change, SE will concentrate their resources on what the players want, as they should.

[Ranak]

The issue listed here can be resolved by a client side check to see if you're running or not. That way you get a more "responsive" feel.

[zaineal]

The issue listed here can be resolved by a client side check to see if you're running or not. That way you get a more "responsive" feel.

client side checks are bad - it will most likely be exploited in some form, by reverse engineers. everything thats been said in this thread needs to be addressed server side.

[Silverwalk]

They could fix it by:
1. Getting the client to send a position update when the player clears the red area.
2. The server calculates whether the player takes damage when it receives the first position report after the cast completes.

[SKYeXile]

They could fix it by:
1. Getting the client to send a position update when the player clears the red area.
2. The server calculates whether the player takes damage when it receives the first position report after the cast completes.

Server prediction using client timestamps could fix any current issues with lag and movement.

[Silverwalk]

You're right but sadly for whatever reason they are not doing that - using a simple vector would be good enough.

If the update period is 0.3 seconds and the cast time is over a second the server should have at least two updates showing the player moving.

Draw a line between these two points and extend it out by the time until the cast ends, viola! Now you know where the player is at the end of cast with enough accuracy to solve this problem.

Probably would put too much load on their server software I'm guessing.

[TheRac25]

Server prediction using client timestamps could fix any current issues with lag and movement.

this is impractical from a computational standpoint and often times inaccurate

what needs to happen is:
1. clever tricks such as, the client should report its pos when it enters/leaves a danger areas as some people have allready suggested
2. the 500+ms internal server latency needs to be addressed, horrible, i couldnt even design such a system if i wanted to without using sleep functions. feels like they are directing traffic through a bunch of low end linux machines with ipnat and realtek network cards
3. they have race conditions that need to be fixed, plenty of screen shots showing people healing themselves for more than the next damage they take yet still dieing

[Jennica]

client side checks are bad - it will most likely be exploited in some form, by reverse engineers. everything thats been said in this thread needs to be addressed server side.

Uh, no, the server always verifies what the client tells it, you just see it on your screen the way it should play out immediately, assuming you aren't using some type of hack.

Say someone tries to speed hack out of an AoE range. Well the server knows the maximum movement speed of your character, so if the client tells the server you've exceeded that, then it will indeed inflict the damage you supposedly avoided with your speed hack.

Just because the client shows you what "should" happen, doesn't mean the server doesn't verify that what you did is possible.

[Altheras]

There is definitely a huge issue with moving out of the red zones. I've been killed many many times when I was WAY outside of an AE when it went off. The instant death mechanics make this 'lag' particularly unforgiving, especially for a healer who has to constantly stop and cast things.