Feeling a little "laggy"?

[GRITS]

This is from the HOLDOUTS web page.....

There are a few things that can cause lag.

• The machine serving the game could be overloaded and the game server has to wait on resources<>
  
• There might be a hardware issue with the client machine, or there may be a problem with the network routing. The routing problem can occur on the wide area network by a router going down, virus attacks, etc. <>
  
• The problem might affect a provider that Holdouts uses, the client ISP, or both. <>
  
• To check the current network performance at Holdouts you can click on this link: http://www.holdouts.com/mrtg/ping.php and look at the current statistics (top graph). Every 5 minutes we simply ping ping.symantec.com from the Holdouts network and graph the results. It is a simple test but it seems to be an accurate measure of network performance at Holdouts. A normal response time is around the 70ms range.<>
  
• If the current statistics are showing ping times over 100ms, then there is a routing issue with a Holdouts provider (we use several).<>
  
• We don't overload our servers so hardware is usually not a cause of lag at Holdouts.<>
  
• If the ping range is normal and you are still getting lag, then the issue may be with your ISP
  
  or you may be downloading or running other programs that cause your lag.<>
  [st]

Ok now that said....how much ping is too much?

We have some players who routinely play with pings&gt;200 with no visible lag and others who come in with lags&gt;400...sometimes they make it in, and sometimes they timeout...

Someone has suggested to me that we make a &quot;rule&quot; that says in effect &quot;if you maintain a ping &gt;400 for more than 20 sec and have visible lag.....you are subject to being kicked on that basis only&quot;

What I want is feedback from the players on how they feel about this proposed regulation, I know Ricochet is one of the few games that plays well on dial up, I can only imagine how tuff it is on those players....please try and keep your comments and suggestions civil.

[Guest]

Provided you don't drop it below three hundred, I'll be ok. Being on Dialup, I usually come in at around 250, but sometimes flux up to 300+. Now, ordinarily I never really experience lag on Holdouts, but I do occasionally get big spike outs for like 30 seconds followed by a CL_FlushEntry (or similar)... if I could cure that, I'd be better off ;-)

[fritoman]

I like the sound of that GRITS, makes sense to me and it sounds fair, there are other servers out there that dont have admins, so the people on there have to put up with it, but since we have admins we don't need or have to. It just isnt fair to the other people on the server to have to wait to play, just to face a lagger, and then wait again.:angry:

[g-boy]

Being kicked for being choppy is natural, as ping rarely correlates with ping. Just like you mentioned, I've seen those with pings of 150 and they lag on an impossible scale. Discs go through them, they warp around, etc. It becomes boring and a chore to play those people. I used to have a problem with my cable, and I would be terribly choppy. I'd venture to say that most people with dialup are fine, but those who have broadband and have some trouble are the ones lagging, or those with a bad router. My router has occasionally done that to me.

[noxious]

I don't like the rule. There are not many people that have such a choppy ping you can't kill them. Most of the choppy players are newbies and do newbie jumps. Since this game is based quite a lot on predictability, their lag does not cause that much trouble.

[g-boy]

Predicitability has nothing to do with discs going through the body. I don't mean I'm shooting at a laggy part and they warp somewhere else, I mean literally the players where discs go straight through them and yet they continue to fire at you and can hit you. And it's a pain to play them, it's boring, and it's frustrating.

[Guest]

Nox, there are enough of them, and on Holdouts you do see some regularly. You also see people who are quite good being choppy too and then this makes it even harder.

What really annoys me is when a disc comes out of nowhere and yet the person is over the other half of the arena because they've warped...

[noxious]

I only recall 1 person since I even became uT that I lost to because he was so laggy I couldn't kill him.

[Gwarsbane]

What really annoys me is when people download while playing. This is one of the things a rule like this would help solve.

If you are downloading something then go do something else and don't play games as your lag annoys people.

One person told me that he plays games when he download cause its easier then just surfing. Everything is slow when he surfs and downloads. He thinks that lag will not show up in the game.

[g-boy]

I only recall 1 person since I even became uT that I lost to because he was so laggy I couldn't kill him.

It's not about losing to them, it's about it being an annoyance. I can beat a lagger, but it's a chore and I hate playing them. And as you know, the queue system can sometimes put you in a loop of 2 or 3 people you play over and over, and I hate playing a lagger that takes forever to kill every other round.

[noxious]

I use it as a time to practice jumps or a specific shot.

[Shalk]

If u mention the ping. i have 300 ping at ricochet but im doing fine:D

[GRITS]

Shalk you are actually one of the players I was talking about as is netNiv, that is why I said with visible lag...cant just go on ping alone.......their pings can be high but they never 'appear' to be lagging..fact is they are pretty formidable foes and I hope they never see pings less than 100...just kidding I wish everyone had good pings...but hopefully they will wait until I have had more practice, I cant beat them as it is now:D

[Shalk]

:rolleyes:

[noxious]

Sometimes I download stuff and play. *guilty look*

[Guest]

Shalk you are actually one of the players I was talking about as is netNiv, that is why I said with visible lag...cant just go on ping alone.......their pings can be high but they never 'appear' to be lagging..fact is they are pretty formidable foes and I hope they never see pings less than 100...just kidding I wish everyone had good pings...but hopefully they will wait until I have had more practice, I cant beat them as it is now:D

Aye, but then I usually lose to you !

[_Acid_Head_]

I've played on 56k before, 250 ping isn't that bad at all, I was actually very good back then despite the ping. DSL is a lot better though.