Hardware Question to GOA

[the_smurflord]

I would just like to know if the server upgrades that you have often mentioned in the Friday News have been carried out for the Prydwen and Excalibur server clusters.

If you have not done the hardware upgrades, do you have a rough timescale as to when this will be done.

If you have done these, then can you please bring to the attention of whoever is responsible (probably Mythic) to dire situation of RvR at the moment.
This evening was a classic example, with about 150 albs and mids fighting it out over the albion frontier. Most of my guild were down to 5 fps, which is frankly unplayable. I only mention this as all the changes in recent patches have been a push to make RvR more reliant on large scale battle as opposed to small scale skirmishes, and as such lag is becoming an ever increasing problem.

Any information or help in this matter would be appreciated by all your player-base.

 

[Meatballs]

The server situation has absolutely nothing to do with the FPS your machine can display.

 

[Sortbane]

in those battles it's your own machine that makes the lag (but what machine could possiby display 300 players in rvr?).

but my the goa servers also have something to say on serverlag, a few days ago in alb frontiers it was horrible with the server lag, I had green lights all over except the P thingy (and I checked my connection, top grade all over the place) and the delay could last up to 5 seconds sometimes.. strangely enough this has only been in the alb frontiers..

but I'd like to hear from GOA also when the new servers are coming our way

 

[old.Glendower]

Sorry, but that is all bullshiit.

The lag is a direct result of the 3rd-rate game engine Mythic uses for DAoC, server lag (as a result), and also connection lag (for those using crap dial ups...and of course France Telecom) , and due to slow processing in the case of the older server models.

I run a P4, 2.56 with a 533 FSB speed, 512k of DDR PC 2700 RAM, and a 64 MEG DDR Ti4200.

The lag on that is only marginally better than with a P3 733, 512K PC133 RAM, running 32 meg TnT2 Ultra.

 

[Sarnat]

ZZzZZzZZZ.

Go whine on vnboards.

 

[Driwen]

i hope the ram is mb not kb , also i had a pentium 800 mhz, 256 mb ram 133 mhz, 64 mb geforce 2 400 mx. Lag was horrible i now got pentium 4 2.6 ghz, 512 mb ram, 128 mb ati radeon 9600 and i can play waaaay better. Where i normally would have problems with 30 vs 30, i have problems with 150 vs 150, but i can still play . So its bullshit that the lag only improves marginally by getting a better pc.

 

[Danya]

I don't lag on Prydwen at all. Excal is clearly overloaded though as the frontiers all lag like crazy when you get more than 3fg in them.

As for Glendower, he's only happy when whining about how bad GOA are, still wondering why he's still here tbh...

 

[Driwen]

I have no problem in excal frontier, except when i meet and get a lot of enemies in my view. However that has to do with my pc

 

[Meatballs]

Originally posted by old.Glendower
Sorry, but that is all bullshiit.

The lag is a direct result of the 3rd-rate game engine Mythic uses for DAoC, server lag (as a result), and also connection lag (for those using crap dial ups...and of course France Telecom) , and due to slow processing in the case of the older server models.

I run a P4, 2.56 with a 533 FSB speed, 512k of DDR PC 2700 RAM, and a 64 MEG DDR Ti4200.

The lag on that is only marginally better than with a P3 733, 512K PC133 RAM, running 32 meg TnT2 Ultra.

Wow I see we have a real computer expert here. Visit was referring to the Frames Per Second (FPS) that he got during a keepraid. This is purely down to the performance of his computer. Each frame has to be rendered by his graphics card, and the more people on screen the longer it takes. Therefore you get lower FPS and the game appears to be stuttering about. You can have terrible FPS and still have low (which is good) latency.

Alternatively you could still have decent FPS, and have terrible latency or packetloss, now people will be warping around your screen and when you press a button things wont happen straight away, this can be caused by a number of factors. Usually not the hosts computer, but the networking between you and the host. Either your connection to your ISP has gone screwy, their connection to their ISP has gone screwy, or one of the links inbetween has gone screwy, and GOA dont have direct control over a lot of this.

It can be caused by the host computer, because it cant process all the data quick enough, to send the packets your computer is waiting to recieve, but generally in my experience playing it has been the above two problems. If you are getting say 1 FPS anyway, you are unlikely to notice the lag caused by the other problems anyway.


Oh and P.S. "Lag" is just a general term for any of the above problems, and fair credit to GOA generally I only suffer problems from my side of the equation.

 

[Danya]

Originally posted by driwen
I have no problem in excal frontier, except when i meet and get a lot of enemies in my view. However that has to do with my pc

Not so long ago while there was some relic raiding going on in the albion frontier, there were several hundred albs and mids about. I was getting absolutely smooth FPS but everything was lagging 1-5 seconds - that says to me overloaded server. Interestingly on Prydwen recently during a relic raid there were at least 400 people in the frontier without server lag. Maybe excal is broken?

 

[sieben_dapoet]

your both right and both wrong, i could argue either case but to be honest I can't be arsed, its too late

so getting back to the original question i'm sure goa were thinking about upgrading the excal server depending on results from other upgrades, but are not considering a prydwen upgrade because the number of users/issues on this server are not high enough. I would guess they will monitor issues on prydwen and monitor results on high used servers and decide whether the cost of upgrades is worth the benefits,

kthxbye

edit: spelling/grammar

 

[old.Glendower]

Debate terminology all you like.

Fact is that in a crowded condition, the game plays like crap on even top of the line machines using the best graphics cards with broadband.

The information being sent out from the servers is not being processed and transmitted efficiently with this engine, and the few crappy, limited filters they give us are client-side, so turning them all on has only limited effect.

They know this and it is why they tried to improve the engine with SI (didnt work very well though).

Oh, and Meatballs, when you take time out from being a little smartass, reread the man's post...toward the end he specifically refers to "lag" and "playability", and that is the what I was talking about. Aside from your snotty attitude, your post was otherwise reasonably informative.

And danyan, maybe if GOA wasnt such a worthless peice of crap when it comes to providing this service, there would be less to complain about. Maybe that is just the way businesses are where you come from, but it isn't here. By all means if you think they are so great, you are not only free to post their virtues, but you can even apply for a job!

Fact is my wife doesnt worry about all this stuff and enjoys playing with her freinds..whe she isnt beset by bugs, server drops/crashes, and other GOA-induced bullshit...even so, with the price increase, I drew the line and both accounts are terminated.

Most of our pals from beta already have quit anyway, and that was the only reason we signed on to these servers.

Pretty soon only the diehard, blinkered, powergamer fanbois will be left and you can all prattle to one another about how great it is without any counterpoint all the while paying first rate fees for third rate service.

Enjoy.

 

[Meatballs]

Originally posted by old.Glendower
Oh, and Meatballs, when you take time out from being a little smartass, reread the man's post...toward the end he specifically refers to "lag" and "playability", and that is the what I was talking about. Aside from your snotty attitude, your post was otherwise reasonably informative.

Maybe if people didn't come along and say "that is utter bullshit" when I try and help people understand I wouldn't treat them with such contempt.

And the actual server uptime/connection I have found to be largely reliable. The only problems I have with GOA is their naff customer service and their terrible patching procedures

 

[nomed]

Originally posted by sieben_dapoet
so getting back to the original question i'm sure goa were thinking about upgrading the excal server depending on results from other upgrades, but are not considering a prydwen upgrade because the number of users/issues on this server are not high enough. I would guess they will monitor issues on prydwen and monitor results on high used servers and decide whether the cost of upgrades is worth the benefits,

so once again the german and french servers get all the support and service while the english servers get the shit ?? atleast thats what i've seen of the goa's attitude sofar.

 

[sieben_dapoet]

Originally posted by nomed
so once again the german and french servers get all the support and service while the english servers get the shit ?? atleast thats what i've seen of the goa's attitude sofar.

perhaps mate, but like i said i *think* excal will get upgrade sometime, and would guess prydwen is things go bad/server numbers increase...

if you look at it fairly the german/french servers are FAR more busy at peek times then either of the english servers so tis only fair they get new equipe upgrade before us IMO anyway

either way i will try and get my armsman to 50 before my sub runs out in the next couple of months.. i don't intend to re-subscribe

 

[nomed]

don't blame you.....
with the sub price going up next month I doubt i'll be renewing my 3 accounts when they run out.....
atleast not untill they make some major improvments to the CS and game content.. Promising this, that and the other is all good and well, but where is the proof ?

As for this housing patch !!!!!!!!!!

What is the point in that ? The game area isn't really big enough to handle the amount of houses that ppl will want to build and have enough area for players to xp. And until they work out a way of getting 300+ ppl in RvR at the same time without it turning into a complete lagfest is a complete waste of time. I have 2 PC's at the moment 1 is a 3gig cpu, 1gig of memory and a brand new G-force FX graphics card and the other is a athlon800, 512megs of memoryand a 128meg g-force4 4200ti both use a 1gig BB connection and the lag in RvR during relic raids is exactly the same on both machines.

 

[old.Glendower]

Fair enough meat, but then again a one-sentence, skimpy and mildly misleading "attempt to help people understand" isn't really conductive to deeper understanding and quality communictaion, is it?

Also, you are overreactive. I wasn't even speaking to you, but rather to the whole idea that GOA, the servers, and Mytchic's engine had nothing to do with the issue. I was not directing my initial comment to you personally, and I am sorry you mistook it that way. I shall try and pay closer attention in the future.

I stand by the rest, however

 

[Fafnir]

I find the classic engine works better for me during large battles. With SI my comp just freezes for a few seconds when the enemies comes into range.

 

[the_smurflord]

Ok, my PC has the following spec:

2.4Ghz P4, 512 Mb DDR ram, GeForce 4 Ti4200, all the latest updates, drivers etc etc (was rebuilt 2 weeks ago).

Were it myself lagging up, while other carried on around me then I would look to problems on my PC. But when my entire guild suffers the same lag, and we get similar reports from other guilds all over albion, then I look the servers, hence my original question stands.

 

[Cyradix]

Originally posted by Fafnir
I find the classic engine works better for me during large battles. With SI my comp just freezes for a few seconds when the enemies comes into range.

I remember them promising better performance with the new client in big RvR situations....

 

[Aravis]

Originally posted by Cyradix
I remember them promising better performance with the new client in big RvR situations....

Depends on what you have switched on/off, remember the new engine has all those new options for LoD/shadow ranges. You leave them at far/high you won't notice much (if any) difference.

With everything turned down (including switching off the lovely shiny water) you may get better performance than classic (notice the word may there). It has generally improved performance on my machine for low to medium RvR, but large scale RvR is a slideshow as before.

 

[Driwen]

Originally posted by the_smurflord
Ok, my PC has the following spec:

2.4Ghz P4, 512 Mb DDR ram, GeForce 4 Ti4200, all the latest updates, drivers etc etc (was rebuilt 2 weeks ago).

Were it myself lagging up, while other carried on around me then I would look to problems on my PC. But when my entire guild suffers the same lag, and we get similar reports from other guilds all over albion, then I look the servers, hence my original question stands.

your machine is one off the better ones out there . If you are lagging, because off to many people on your screen the rest is aswell . 100 vs 100 means lagg for a lot off people. This has nothing to do with goa's server, because your pc has to keep track off so many players it is too much for him.
However if its due to the server, it would make no difference if there was 200 people in your screen or not as long as they are in the same zone. But then your fps would be fine, but your download wouldnt be good maybe even upload dunno .

 

[Danya]

Originally posted by Cyradix
I remember them promising better performance with the new client in big RvR situations....

My RvR performance in large scale battles has improved significantly with the new engine, mainly due to being able to reduce the graphical quality.

 

[kataklysm]

Originally posted by old.Glendower
Debate terminology all you like.

Fact is that in a crowded condition, the game plays like crap on even top of the line machines using the best graphics cards with broadband.

Sounds like you have a badly configured set up your end , either your network , your peering network or your pc/operating system itself.

That does not reflect the performance most ppl seem to be getting ( certainly me anyway). So by default it must be a local problem.

It may pay you to get someone who knows what they are doing to look at your set up as it will improve your gaming experience no end.

HTH

 

[moo_work]

Originally posted by old.Glendower
Fair enough meat, but then again a one-sentence, skimpy and mildly misleading "attempt to help people understand" isn't really conductive to deeper understanding and quality communictaion, is it?

Also, you are overreactive. I wasn't even speaking to you, but rather to the whole idea that GOA, the servers, and Mytchic's engine had nothing to do with the issue. I was not directing my initial comment to you personally, and I am sorry you mistook it that way. I shall try and pay closer attention in the future.

I stand by the rest, however

don't argue with the meatball, he owns you - and you are an idiot.

 

[old.Glendower]

Funny how you can be inside of a keep or on a DF raid, staring at a wall, or the floor, and still get tons of lag if you think the limitations are all at the client PC and have to do with graphic rendering.

Whats more, zone and server crashes are frequent enough to dispel that argument. All the shading etc controls for SI are just client side adjustments.

The biggest issue for me isn't FPS, it is getting dumped from the server, or only getting a trickle of data.

And my machine was configured at the shop where I had the new build created using a T1 to link directly to the game. Start getting high lag of 450-550ms+ usually at France Telecom, then after 8 hops of that, get slightly higher lag at Wanadoo.

 

[Aravis]

Have you actually tried reporting the jump in ping etc. to your ISP and/or France Telecom, or do you think if you whine enough GOA will do it for you?

 

[Meatballs]

I can only recall the server crashing 3-4 times in a year+. Getting dumped off the server is maybe once every 2 days (possibly less on average), and I play too much, thats reasonnably good for internet connections. These are just my unrecorded observations however, so won't be terribly accurate.

 

[Danya]

I'm typically running at 30-50 ms ping to prydwen, with an average 1 LD per month. I think it depends where you route from though cos other people have had a lot more problems with connectivity.