Why can't EA do anything about lag?

[Bent]

It's been over a month close to 2 now since this bad lag has started and EA keeps telling us they are fixing it but it just gets worse as the days go by?

Honestly can anyone at EA actually answer a question regarding this matter or do they just not care anymore and want us all to quit so they dont have to end UO and refund money?

The only explanation I can come up with as to why a company such as EA would intentionally ruin their own game is they want it to end .

They really do seem to be the worst run company I have ever seen .They do nothing at all to fix the game just keep adding new stuff to keep the deco people happy.

If there is no change in the lag by my next payment I am cancelling my last account because I have given EA way too many chances to try and correct the problems and they have made it obvious they do not want to fix UO .

This is very upsetting because the only reason I even own a computer is to play Uo and it was the best game ever and could be if EA hired anyone that actually has a clue how to fix UO's numerous glitches.

 

[Aran]

Because EA knows it isn't on their end, and want you to shut up about it already because there's nothing they can do.

 

[Setnaffa]

People keep complaining about lag here in Stratics, but I have not personally experienced any serious lag in months and I play every day.

You may want to check your own Internet connection.

Try a tracert shardname.owo.com (i.e. atlantic.owo.com or napavally.owo.com).

Watch and see which of your hops has the highest latency. That would be your bottleneck, and that's who you should yell at.

 

[Bent]

Ok you are both giving answers that are incorrect.

I have never lagged like this ,I have checked my connection and I ping at 20's on gl so geniuses what you say now!

This is a UO problem this lag is not on my end but because I now lag so bad UO has made it my problem and yet do nothing about it and you idiots defend them?Do you work for EA by chance?

Is there noone at EA who is willing to admit this lag is a EA problem or even give us some sort of timeline when the problem will be addressed?Guess I'm dreaming as usual that people at EA will actullay give a crap about UO.

VERY SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS IN UO NOW!!!!

Oh well I guess my answer is to take my credit card info off my accounts and just give up cus EA has obviously given up on UO.

 

[RichDC]

I was under the impression that one of the FOF's specifically adressed the issue with lag,

And that they had identified and east coast provider causing said lag, were working with them to fix the problem...so in essence, NO its not Mythics fault they are doing there best (rather than whine why not do a trace and send it to them so they can further compile information)

So my advice is either carry out your meaningless threat or deal with it!!

I averagely ping at 200 on GL SO WHAT!i deal with it, gets frustrating at times but doesnt really detract my enjoyment

 

[Cailleach]

Bent, your attitude sucks. If you're not prepared to do your bit to find out what is causing your lag, then, tbh, I won't shed any tears if you go. Attitudes like yours we don't need.

I'm sitting here right now waiting for our net tech to turn up. We have wireless net (www.hebrides.net), a problem has been identified, so they're coming to replace our dish, as the logical place to start, and will work from there. Good luck to them, cos at the moment, the steady wind speed here is around 40mph, with gusts of 45mph - 50mph. The problem we have with lag and dropping con seems to be connected to wind speed; here, high winds are a very regular occurrence. What have we done, apart from that? My husband has spent hours running polls to check where the problem is and, as soon as our net stops dropping out every 30 seconds will send off the results to EA. We don't think it's their problem, but info is info, and it might help.

Get off your ass, stop whining, run some tests and send the data back to EA. Can anyone tell him how to run the polls/continuous test things that will identify where a problem is? I'll try and get my husband to do it when he gets home, but we're decorating, and I'd rather he got on with that Oh, and if it turns out that the problem isn't with EA, I'll expect you to apologise. I won't hold my breath, but I'll expect it.

(If this post turns up more than once, it's because I'm having to hit the refresh button constantly as we keep timing out - net is dropping every 30 - 60 seconds for about 60 seconds atm)

 

[RichDC]

Bent, your attitude sucks. If you're not prepared to do your bit to find out what is causing your lag, then, tbh, I won't shed any tears if you go. Attitudes like yours we don't need.

I'm sitting here right now waiting for our net tech to turn up. We have wireless net (www.hebrides.net), a problem has been identified, so they're coming to replace our dish, as the logical place to start, and will work from there. Good luck to them, cos at the moment, the steady wind speed here is around 40mph, with gusts of 45mph - 50mph. The problem we have with lag and dropping con seems to be connected to wind speed; here, high winds are a very regular occurrence. What have we done, apart from that? My husband has spent hours running polls to check where the problem is and, as soon as our net stops dropping out every 30 seconds will send off the results to EA. We don't think it's their problem, but info is info, and it might help.

Get off your ass, stop whining, run some tests and send the data back to EA. Can anyone tell him how to run the polls/continuous test things that will identify where a problem is? I'll try and get my husband to do it when he gets home, but we're decorating, and I'd rather he got on with that Oh, and if it turns out that the problem isn't with EA, I'll expect you to apologise. I won't hold my breath, but I'll expect it.

(If this post turns up more than once, it's because I'm having to hit the refresh button constantly as we keep timing out - net is dropping every 30 - 60 seconds for about 60 seconds atm)

DAMN i thought i had bad conn!!!

Still as i said i dont put mine down to EA i know its partly due to the fact that im sending information about 2000miles away and the horrible weather conditions always present at this time of year

 

[Farsight]

Can anyone tell him how to run the polls/continuous test things that will identify where a problem is?

Setnaffa already did that. Bent responded by telling Setnaffa that he was wrong and an idiot.

And before EA can respond to any lag issues, they need to be reassured of the following points:
1. Is everyone experiencing lag? If the answer is no (which in this case, it is), then the problem is not related to the code or the servers in EA's possession, and thus they can't do a thing about it besides help find the source in the network and bug the source about it, which is what they did in the lag-storm of 2008.

2. Is the problem located on your personal computer? In my case, whenever my desktop's Norton does anything (even if I'm on my laptop), the network goes to pot and I get lag. So someone experiencing lag needs to check their processor use and network traffic before complaining elsewhere.

3. When you do your continuous trace routes, is the packet loss or big jump in the last three hops to the server? The last three hops are the server itself and two routers, one in EA's possession and the other is dedicated to EA's traffic, but belongs to various telecom companies (Sprint being the owner of the third hop in my case). If that's the case, then the problem might be on UO's side. Ping will not only not tell you what the problem is, but it won't tell you where the problem is. It is only really useful in telling you if the server is up or down. Further investigation is required to isolate the problem.

From the information he provided, combined with the fact that a vast minority of people are actually lagging at the moment, you can safely conclude that his problem is either local to his computer/network or with his own service provider. But since he won't do the extra steps to communicate the problem with us apart from calling us idiots, and he didn't even entertain the valuable advice he has been given, then he'll just have to cancel his account like he promised (oh, PLEASE do Bent!). EA can not simply wave a magic wand and solve network problems which probably have nothing to do with themselves.

 

[Cailleach]

DAMN i thought i had bad conn!!!

Still as i said i dont put mine down to EA i know its partly due to the fact that im sending information about 2000miles away and the horrible weather conditions always present at this time of year

Ours is dreadful atm, we just rang hebnet and are informed that there is an issue with a link on one of the masts - in their words, the supply is 'up and down like a fiddlers elbow'! Our technician is engaged in fixing that, so won't be coming to us today. The joys of living on a remote island! The issue here is mostly our winds - we're about 25 miles from the windiest place in the UK; our 'normal' days are winds from around 10 - 15 mph up to around 20 - 25mph. We recently had gales of 90mph; that was fun, I was leaning on the wind like you would lean on a wall It's just part of life here and the pros more than outweigh the cons - no locking doors, no policing kids every move, honesty boxes, trust in the community etc etc. Oh, and the scenery is stunning. I can live with net disruption

 

[RichDC]

Ours is dreadful atm, we just rang hebnet and are informed that there is an issue with a link on one of the masts - in their words, the supply is 'up and down like a fiddlers elbow'! Our technician is engaged in fixing that, so won't be coming to us today. The joys of living on a remote island! The issue here is mostly our winds - we're about 25 miles from the windiest place in the UK; our 'normal' days are winds from around 10 - 15 mph up to around 20 - 25mph. We recently had gales of 90mph; that was fun, I was leaning on the wind like you would lean on a wall It's just part of life here and the pros more than outweigh the cons - no locking doors, no policing kids every move, honesty boxes, trust in the community etc etc. Oh, and the scenery is stunning. I can live with net disruption

That must be fun...did you try jumping and see how far it carries you

 

[Cailleach]

That must be fun...did you try jumping and see how far it carries you

Lol, nope - next stop west of here is USA, and, much as I would love to visit my best mate in WY, I think I'll be boring and just take the plane!

Tech bloke just called round; the actual problem is with a loose antenna on the mast. The riggers will come from the mainland on Monday to fix it, they just have to wait for the wind to drop enough. At present, with the up to 50mph gusts and rising, it's not safe for them to climb the mast. Since we're due high winds over the weekend too, I doubt I'll be able to do anything in UO except maybe tidy my houses and some pot runs etc. That's assuming we stay logged in for any period of time.

 

[TheScoundrelRico]

What lag?...la

 

[Kiminality]

Oh well I guess my answer is to take my credit card info off my accounts and just give up cus EA has obviously given up on UO.

I thought you were going to do that anyway, in December?
Are you really, actually going to rage-quit UO?
Or are you just going through the equivalent motions of, like, holding your breath?

If your connection is fine, as you claim, then it's not lag.
Since your ping is 20, then it's not a high latency issue. Latency results in sluggish movement, and delay in response from the server.
Since you're not reporting packet loss, or packet-loss-like symptoms, then I'm going to assume it's not. Packet loss causes freezes, as the packet of data is lost, has to time out, and be resent.
So, it's likely either server lag, or client lag, where one or the other is performing poorly, and causing symptoms similar to latency.
If it were server lag, then everyone would experience it.
So...
Check your computer for spyware/malware...
Defragment your hard drives...
Make sure you have plenty of free space...
Y'know... The things that're your responsibility...

 

[Bent]

OK so the reason I said people are idiots is because they automatically assume I have done nothing about the lag issue .

I have had my service provider come look at my connection .I have also had a computer technician at house to check my computer which there are no issues.

Anything else anywhere I do online is unaffected by ANY TYPE of lag issues .

So what do you smart people have to say now?

Nothing just what I thought .

I was told that the issues with lag are from the UO servers.I know nothing about computers but have asked the so called experts to help resolve my problem .(which did cost me quite a bit of money)And they have said to ask the game to fix their lag issue or stop playing so I guess since EA is a POS company run by monkeys I guess the latter will be the only option .

So again I ask EA the same question when are they going to actually do anything to fix UO ?

 

[Kiminality]

Are you actually comprehending what people are saying?

Ok, I have two tasks for you...
1.) Run a traceroute to your home shard, and post the result.
2.) List the other things you do, that haven't experienced lag.

 

[Dragonchilde]

I'm having painful lag issues myself; this is ona game I used to be able to run on a dial-up connection.

It's not our connection, I've run this both on my wireless-connected laptop and the wired desktop, and we can run Dark Age of Camelot (another EA/Mythic game) with no problem, and it has ten times the graphics resources... it's silly.

I'd be happy to do a tracert, if someone could PM me with instructions. I want this fixed... I've been playing again for 2 months, and can't really do much at all, because the lag kills me if I try doing anything that involves fast reflexes. Forget doing anything other than Shame (1st level... maybe second if I can get past the air ellies and get to the dull copper ellies.)

 

[Morgana LeFay (PoV)]

Bent:

I just logged into GL and ran around to most of the major cities and even a couple of dungeons.

No lag.

I play on Atlantic, and I am having no lag there either.

I also have a character on Siege.

No lag.


There is more to the equation than just your PC and UO.

I am not saying the problem is with your connection, but if no one else is experiencing connectivity issues, and you are having them, you want to rule out the UO server as a variable in solving your equation.

Maybe we can help you. Answer these questions for us here...

- What type of internet connection do you use? (Cable, DSL, T3?)

- What operating system are you running?

- Are you aware of any compression software running on your system?

- Are you behind a software firewall?

- Are you behind a hardware firewall? (this is common in shared connections like office buildings or dormatories)

- When you say you are getting "lag"...do you mean rubber band lag, or is the game pausing? If it is pausing, how long is each pause...and when it is doing this, is your hard drive light flashing non-stop on your PC?

- Most importantly, have your tried running UO on a different PC that connects through a different ISP?


If you can narrow the problem down to one of the above, it will go a long way in solving your issue. Remember EA does not control the internet, or your local connections or your PC. Their servers are fine right now...but there are some people that are having connection issue that don't have anything to do with EA, UO, or Mythic.

Your ISP may route through an area or host that is experiencing problems, if that is the case, you might actually have to, at least temporarily, switch to an ISP that doesn't route through the same area or hosts.

 

[Bent]

People keep complaining about lag here in Stratics, but I have not personally experienced any serious lag in months and I play every day.

You may want to check your own Internet connection.

Try a tracert shardname.owo.com (i.e. atlantic.owo.com or napavally.owo.com).

Watch and see which of your hops has the highest latency. That would be your bottleneck, and that's who you should yell at.

Ok so i ran those tracert but i dont know if posting this on here will run a risk of giving info out i dont want people to access.But all lines ping in 20s except line 11 which pings in 200s so that is may bad lag and it has EA s name in the lines so does that mean its 1 of EA s servers that has the lag issue?

I also have had my internet provider check my connection and computer and my highest ping was 11 so its not my comp or connection .

 

[Morgana LeFay (PoV)]

except line 11 which pings in 200s so that is may bad lag and it has EA s name in the lines so does that mean its 1 of EA s servers that has the lag issue?

No. It means that he last hop in your connections is bad.

Can you do a WHOIS on that IP address and find out what backbone or sub-server your are hitting before the UO server?

 

[Aran]

As if he'll tell you who it is if he does.

Or care.

 

[Shioni]

I called my ISP and yelled at them about it for a while and 10 min later the static lag was gone. :/

 

[Aran]

If you ACTUALLY yelled at them... congrats, you have a note in your account that will make it impossible for you to get a little extra-friendly treatment and help should you ever need it in the future.

 

[Morgana LeFay (PoV)]

I called my ISP and yelled at them about it for a while and 10 min later the static lag was gone. :/

Told ya so!!

Congrats on getting the issue fixed!

 

[Dragonchilde]

Just thought I would post about this, since I felt the need to complain earlier.

i'd been suffering from horrific lag...as in, completely unable to really do anything.

switched to 2D.Now I'm running like greased lightning. It was 100% KR.

That's what I'm talking about.

 

[Aran]

What a shock, KR is trash!

 

[Lady_Emma]

If you think you have lag now you should have been playing nine years ago. We lagged storm so badly that we could only talk all night. Some players crated player bars or just hung at the local pub. Wasn't so terriable actually had very interesting conversations during lag storms.

 

[Aran]

Let me guess, Lake Superior?