EVERY weekend now

[Iakona]

I played DDO over 60 hours last week (m-f) without a single crash lockup or lag spike.

I came on this morning (sat), I am in Gianthold doing slayers, turn around to pour coffee, and the game crashes. Come back on, go back into GH, and first big fight with multiple mobs (I am solo with cleric hireling), my latency stays at 40-50, 0 packet loss, sent stayed 200-300 (never over 350), recv went once again over 20,000! Of course, both died while I stood there looking at an unplayable character on my screen.

This is happening EVERY weekend. It is NOT a rare occurence. It happens constantly when it starts. Always when I am soloing with a cleric hireling to heal. This same thing has been happening now for over a month. I am NOT the only one experienceing huge lag spikes like this and I am not the only one that sees it every weekend.

You would think that after several dozen bug reports, thread after thread in the forums on ths subject, all from different people, Turbine would have done something to try to fix this. Doesn't appear whatever they may have done (actually, it appears they have done absolutely nothing), has worked.

I have even had multiple deaths over the exact same fight. Die, rez at spirit caller and die all over again standing at the bind location from residual damage (melee not spell dot). And the repair bills can get huge (along with the permanent dmaage to the equipment). I have had guildmates join my group while I was dead come into the same instance to help me get to a rez shrine and see my avatar standing at the entrance just inside the instance and picked up my stone and carried it to the shrine for me (all the time my character was unplayable). Oh yeah we chatted in guild chat and even in voice chat all the while this was happening. I have reported this incident to Turbine in the tech forums and in a bug report (actually, I have submitted more than one bug report on the same type occurence on more than one ocassion hoping they would fix things eventually). No response from Turbine yet on any of it.

[Beherit_Baphomar]

Some people (myself included) have experienced strange lag when using hireling or having hirelings in the party.

S'true.

[vVAnjilaVv]

I'm no computer expert so pardon me if you are and I insult your intelligence by making this suggestion.......but have you done any spyware, malware, virus scans, defragments , or perhaps tried a game booster.

I used to also have this problem and I updated my graphics driver and it cleared up. I know the game can have it's problem on both sides but sometimes if there is something going on with your comp it can aggravate the condition.

Of course I would not be suprised if it was completely on the server side.

[cdemeritt]

Weekend lag is horrible... has been getting worse... It seems the new dataceter didn't help at all... However, add in a hireling and it gets even worse... I've had some really bad runs go a lot smoother once I drop the hireling (not 100%, but better)...

[vVAnjilaVv]

The GH public instance has always been horribly laggy too, I find sometimes if I go afk a few minutes while parking my character there, when I come back it's unbearable and I have to do a relaunch on the game......this of course happens in the Marketplace as well.

[Crazyfruit]

That sounds like the hireling bug. It's rare thankfully & I've only seen it with the clerics so far. The only thing that seems to help prevent it is keeping them out of direct combat.

Turning off combat feedback for henchmen doesn't :(

[Impaqt]

Damage caused to equiptment from death does not cause Permanent damage.

[Iakona]

I'm no computer expert so pardon me if you are and I insult your intelligence by making this suggestion.......but have you done any spyware, malware, virus scans, defragments , or perhaps tried a game booster.

I used to also have this problem and I updated my graphics driver and it cleared up. I know the game can have it's problem on both sides but sometimes if there is something going on with your comp it can aggravate the condition.

Of course I would not be suprised if it was completely on the server side.



My firewall is always up, I have 2 seperate antivirus programs running once a week, and 2 seperate spyware scanners running 3 times a week. All my drivers are current. My system defrags once a week. No, generally when your connection is good (and all the other connection stats are perfectly normal) and you only have data recd (that's data sent to you from the game server) increase that high, the problem is the servers or the administrative set up of such. Strange this only happens to me on the weekend usually, and never during the week.

It was my understanding as far as the data center switch, the game servers are still located on the original hardware the game went live on. They attempted to move that one time prior and it was a complete failure (Turbine lost a lot of paying customers because that was before f2p). The datacenter move was primarily customer data and the like and not actual game data. however, if the game is still on the old hardware and the new datacenters are on updated servers with updated server software, that in itself may be a major part of the problem. The fact that the game is still played on hardware that was not the best available 4 years ago may also
account for it being associated with hirelings since they have had some major chjanges over the last year or so to make them more playable.

[Impaqt]

My firewall is always up, I have 2 seperate antivirus programs running once a week, and 2 seperate spyware scanners running 3 times a week. All my drivers are current. My system defrags once a week. No, generally when your connection is good (and all the other connection stats are perfectly normal) and you only have data recd (that's data sent to you from the game server) increase that high, the problem is the servers or the administrative set up of such. Strange this only happens to me on the weekend usually, and never during the week.

It was my understanding as far as the data center switch, the game servers are still located on the original hardware the game went live on. They attempted to move that one time prior and it was a complete failure (Turbine lost a lot of paying customers because that was before f2p). The datacenter move was primarily customer data and the like and not actual game data. however, if the game is still on the old hardware and the new datacenters are on updated servers with updated server software, that in itself may be a major part of the problem. The fact that the game is still played on hardware that was not the best available 4 years ago may also
account for it being associated with hirelings since they have had some major chjanges over the last year or so to make them more playable.

Huh?

You should have ONE AV Program that runs continuously. Having multiples coul dbe causing conflicts and probelms.

Three Malware Programs??? Again, Overkill. COuld easily cause problems.. Are you doing questionable things on your PC? WHy so much Overkill?


THe Data center was indeed moved a while back. and I doubt DDO is running ont he same configurationt hey launched with.... THere has been many downtimes over the years for hardware upgrades. Not to mention Game servers are NOT your typical PC's. they Scale. For all we know, TUrbine adds processing power during our weekly Maintinance.

[tunabomber]

Its called tons of people on crappy servers,more people play on weekends since they generally dont work,more people = more strain on already strained servers which in turn produces more lag and then you get disconnected. ;) Hope that helped.

[Wickednisse]

There IS an issue with cleric hireling lag, I experience it all the time. My system is clean and my internet connection is better than it ever has been but I still have issues with rubber banding as do several other people that I game with on a regular basis. Seriously Turbine, start using the money you make from this game to resolve this issue - it's going to cost YOU money when people start looking for games that actually actively resolve things like this.

[Stormwine]

Huh?

You should have ONE AV Program that runs continuously. Having multiples could be causing conflicts and problems.

Three Malware Programs??? Again, Overkill. Could easily cause problems.. Are you doing questionable things on your PC? Why so much Overkill?



Completely true. Two anti-virus programs is just like having none. Also correct the ONE you have should be constantly active. That being said the only 100% secure computer is one that is never turned on.
And finally as far as the lag goes every online game I have ever played lag is more common and more noticeable on weekends. There are , I'm sure, many contributing factors to the lag you notice but weekend server population will definitely increase that.

[Iakona]

Huh?

You should have ONE AV Program that runs continuously. Having multiples coul dbe causing conflicts and probelms.

Three Malware Programs??? Again, Overkill. COuld easily cause problems.. Are you doing questionable things on your PC? WHy so much Overkill?


THe Data center was indeed moved a while back. and I doubt DDO is running ont he same configurationt hey launched with.... THere has been many downtimes over the years for hardware upgrades. Not to mention Game servers are NOT your typical PC's. they Scale. For all we know, TUrbine adds processing power during our weekly Maintinance.


OK, just as an FYI, the game is in fact running on the same hardware. I really do not care what you doubt. replacing an identical drive unit or motherboard with another for maintenance is not updating the hardware, and I doubt the original server OS has been changed since doing so on a large network is extremely difficult and can take more resources than you realize.

I have been running computers probably since before you were born. I ran a BBS for 5 years as a sysop and owner. Running multiple antivirus programs is not a problem. I didn't say I ran both continuosly, I scan the system with 2, which is an excellent idea since not all programs detect the strings exactly the same way. That means that one catches things the other doesn't. And I said I ran 2 spyware programs. Again, I didn't say I keep both operating constantly, I said I operate them. That means I let both scan my system. they don't take long, they scan in background, and again one will catch things the other doesn't. This is a practice used by professionals the world over. No decent SysOP relies on a single security system. And no one on today's internet should either.

I knew there was a reason I had you on ignore, now to get you back on it. Used to have a very good saying about making assumptions. I have read your posts before and I see you make a lot of them.

[7-day_Trial_Monkey]

I don't use hirelings. I have not seen any lag at all the past several months.

[cdemeritt]

OK, just as an FYI, the game is in fact running on the same hardware. I really do not care what you doubt. replacing an identical drive unit or motherboard with another for maintenance is not updating the hardware, and I doubt the original server OS has been changed since doing so on a large network is extremely difficult and can take more resources than you realize.

I have been running computers probably since before you were born. I ran a BBS for 5 years as a sysop and owner. Running multiple antivirus programs is not a problem. I didn't say I ran both continuosly, I scan the system with 2, which is an excellent idea since not all programs detect the strings exactly the same way. That means that one catches things the other doesn't. And I said I ran 2 spyware programs. Again, I didn't say I keep both operating constantly, I said I operate them. That means I let both scan my system. they don't take long, they scan in background, and again one will catch things the other doesn't. This is a practice used by professionals the world over. No decent SysOP relies on a single security system. And no one on today's internet should either.

I knew there was a reason I had you on ignore, now to get you back on it. Used to have a very good saying about making assumptions. I have read your posts before and I see you make a lot of them.

Wow... Tread lightly here guy... remember, this game has some seriously old people in it... Many people playing today used to use TSR80's.... Some I think still do... It would explain their load times....

Wow.. It's been 25 years since I even heard someone else talk about BBS's Thought they all went Bye-Bye long ago...

Assume nothing on the Internet. you don't know us, and we don't know you... you complained about lag, and suggested a possible cause on your end... nothing more....

[Impaqt]

OK, just as an FYI, the game is in fact running on the same hardware. I really do not care what you doubt. replacing an identical drive unit or motherboard with another for maintenance is not updating the hardware, and I doubt the original server OS has been changed since doing so on a large network is extremely difficult and can take more resources than you realize.

I have been running computers probably since before you were born. I ran a BBS for 5 years as a sysop and owner. Running multiple antivirus programs is not a problem. I didn't say I ran both continuosly, I scan the system with 2, which is an excellent idea since not all programs detect the strings exactly the same way. That means that one catches things the other doesn't. And I said I ran 2 spyware programs. Again, I didn't say I keep both operating constantly, I said I operate them. That means I let both scan my system. they don't take long, they scan in background, and again one will catch things the other doesn't. This is a practice used by professionals the world over. No decent SysOP relies on a single security system. And no one on today's internet should either.

I knew there was a reason I had you on ignore, now to get you back on it. Used to have a very good saying about making assumptions. I have read your posts before and I see you make a lot of them.

Thats funny.....

As someone who ran the first multi user Commodore based BBS in the Midwest, I have to say your a bit out of line.


Seems you didnt take your own advice about "Making Assumptions"

[Bladecutter563]

Can't say anything about lag, but it is odd that I can play Mass Effect 2 without a hitch, slowdown or frame rate drop, yet 10 seconds into DDO and I get a BSOD.

Srsly.

[vVAnjilaVv]

Thats funny.....

As someone who ran the first multi user Commodore based BBS in the Midwest, I have to say your a bit out of line.


Seems you didnt take your own advice about "Making Assumptions"

Touche!

anyone have some Sno-caps......front row is open BTW...part two should be starting Soon (trademark thingy here). :D

[vVAnjilaVv]

Can't say anything about lag, but it is odd that I can play Mass Effect 2 without a hitch, slowdown or frame rate drop, yet 10 seconds into DDO and I get a BSOD.

Srsly.

You know...Turbine might be doing this on purpose...because if DDO ran lag free they might have a monopoly....I think those are unethical. :)

[Lewcipher]

OK, just as an FYI, the game is in fact running on the same hardware. I really do not care what you doubt. replacing an identical drive unit or motherboard with another for maintenance is not updating the hardware, and I doubt the original server OS has been changed since doing so on a large network is extremely difficult and can take more resources than you realize.

I have been running computers probably since before you were born. I ran a BBS for 5 years as a sysop and owner. Running multiple antivirus programs is not a problem. I didn't say I ran both continuosly, I scan the system with 2, which is an excellent idea since not all programs detect the strings exactly the same way. That means that one catches things the other doesn't. And I said I ran 2 spyware programs. Again, I didn't say I keep both operating constantly, I said I operate them. That means I let both scan my system. they don't take long, they scan in background, and again one will catch things the other doesn't. This is a practice used by professionals the world over. No decent SysOP relies on a single security system. And no one on today's internet should either.

I knew there was a reason I had you on ignore, now to get you back on it. Used to have a very good saying about making assumptions. I have read your posts before and I see you make a lot of them.

2 Years ago DDO had a 3 day downtime to REPLACE their hardware. Why would they replace it with the same hardware?

*sigh*

[argentstar]

Wow... Tread lightly here guy... remember, this game has some seriously old people in it... Many people playing today used to use TSR80's.... Some I think still do... It would explain their load times....

Wow.. It's been 25 years since I even heard someone else talk about BBS's Thought they all went Bye-Bye long ago...

Assume nothing on the Internet. you don't know us, and we don't know you... you complained about lag, and suggested a possible cause on your end... nothing more....

haha .. made me laugh ... The TRS80 wasn't my first micro computer ... it was my second ... lets talk Heathkit.

[Stormwine]

OK, just as an FYI, the game is in fact running on the same hardware. I really do not care what you doubt. replacing an identical drive unit or motherboard with another for maintenance is not updating the hardware, and I doubt the original server OS has been changed since doing so on a large network is extremely difficult and can take more resources than you realize.

I have been running computers probably since before you were born. I ran a BBS for 5 years as a sysop and owner. Running multiple antivirus programs is not a problem. I didn't say I ran both continuosly, I scan the system with 2, which is an excellent idea since not all programs detect the strings exactly the same way. That means that one catches things the other doesn't. And I said I ran 2 spyware programs. Again, I didn't say I keep both operating constantly, I said I operate them. That means I let both scan my system. they don't take long, they scan in background, and again one will catch things the other doesn't. This is a practice used by professionals the world over. No decent SysOP relies on a single security system. And no one on today's internet should either.

I knew there was a reason I had you on ignore, now to get you back on it. Used to have a very good saying about making assumptions. I have read your posts before and I see you make a lot of them.

Ikona I highly doubt you've been running a computer since I was born considering that the military were the only major users when I was born. And I am still working as an IT director Certified in Windows 2000, XP, 7, and Novell, All 4 of my machines at home run on Ubuntu and I can tell you with out question that your AV's essentially cancel each other out. If you want to believe they don't have both of their passive systems running and start downloading random software on limewire you will see that 2 av's is very bad

[Iakona]

2 Years ago DDO had a 3 day downtime to REPLACE their hardware. Why would they replace it with the same hardware?

*sigh*

Actually they moved the game. To another system provider. And folks started getting huge lag and constant crashes. I did say they attempted to move it had huge problems, lost a lot of customers and moved it back to the original hardware. So you are absolutely correct. They moved the game 2 years ago. You neglected to add they reversed that within a month.

And Commodore BBS? rolf. Yeah ok. Wildcat! 10 node on 5 workstations using 3 servers linked with 6 international message networks and providing 12 cd's of shareware for download on 2 6 cd changers. Certified ASP and SOP. No, it wasn't run on Commodores. I personally built the workstations and servers from scratch. Using MSDOS for the OS.

[Stormwine]

Wow... Tread lightly here guy... remember, this game has some seriously old people in it... Many people playing today used to use TSR80's.... Some I think still do... It would explain their load times....

Wow.. It's been 25 years since I even heard someone else talk about BBS's Thought they all went Bye-Bye long ago...

Assume nothing on the Internet. you don't know us, and we don't know you... you complained about lag, and suggested a possible cause on your end... nothing more....
+1 to rep for this
My first computer was a commodore PET If I remember right

[Lorien_the_First_One]

My firewall is always up, I have 2 seperate antivirus programs running once a week, and 2 seperate spyware scanners running 3 times a week.

This may be your problem. Multiple AV programs and multiple spyware scanners in memory rarely play nice with each other.


It was my understanding as far as the data center switch, the game servers are still located on the original hardware the game went live on.

The concept of data centres is that you are using space on someone else's hardware. When you change datacentres, you have different hardware.


I have been running computers probably since before you were born. I ran a BBS for 5 years as a sysop and owner.

I built my own modems (300baud shoebox modems anyone?) and wrote BBS software back in the day. I also owned a company repairing computers in the 80s. Let me assure you none of that resembles modern computers.


Running multiple antivirus programs is not a problem. I didn't say I ran both continuosly, I scan the system with 2, which is an excellent idea since not all programs detect the strings exactly the same way. That means that one catches things the other doesn't. And I said I ran 2 spyware programs. Again, I didn't say I keep both operating constantly, I said I operate them. That means I let both scan my system. they don't take long, they scan in background, and again one will catch things the other doesn't. This is a practice used by professionals the world over. No decent SysOP relies on a single security system. And no one on today's internet should either.

I you leave them running in the background they ARE sealing extra resources are creating extra disc and CPU cycles every time a file they protect is touched. Also very often they interpet each other as possible viruses and waste time examining each other's actions. Its really bad practice. If you want to use multiple scanning on a key system or network the correct procedure is to host the additional resources on other computers and reach across the network to scan.


And Commodore BBS? rolf. Yeah ok. Wildcat! 10 node on 5 workstations using 3 servers linked with 6 international message networks and providing 12 cd's of shareware for download on 2 6 cd changers. Certified ASP and SOP. No, it wasn't run on Commodores. I personally built the workstations and servers from scratch. Using MSDOS for the OS.

So you just BOUGHT the BBS, the high skill part, and built the computers, the lego/low skill part. Got it.

Wildcat! by the way was written after the networked commodore networks went into service so you don't predate people like you claim.

[chubbs99]

I've heard a few people over the years some up 90% of DDO's problems into a neat little ball. They wrote the code and set up the servers to handle a certain amount of people (just a random number, lets say 3,000). So as long as the server load is under this many people everything will run fine. The Problem, DDO is such a success that this number is WAY WAY WAY to tiny, and they don't have the resources to make it any better. Thus, if you decided to play at the same time everyone else is your going to have to share those already super stretched resources resulting it an all you can eat buffet of Lag.

I'm by no means a certified IT, I don't work for Turbine, and can't say with any authority if the above is True or not. But from a purely logical frame of mind, It makes sense to me.

[cdemeritt]

haha .. made me laugh ... The TRS80 wasn't my first micro computer ... it was my second ... lets talk Heathkit.

Anyone remember Coleco's Adam?

[DANTEIL]

Wow... Tread lightly here guy... remember, this game has some seriously old people in it... Many people playing today used to use TSR80's....

Heh, too funny. Although I can't match the computer prowess you-know-what-sizing that's going on in this thread, my first computer was indeed a Trash-80. Cassette tape drive ftw. I guess that makes me seriously old... sigh.

[cmanton]

Oh yeah, well shortly after 1's were invented I would warm up my hulking vt110 and use my 110 baud dial up modem to play a shared Startrek turn based network program. ! :)

To the OP: If you have a shared access medium from your house, i.e. cable, general internet usage patterns would be identical to the DDO usage patterns you are seeing. That is, more ppl use the internet on weekends. You mention you never have an issue during the week. How about between 6 and 8pm which is usually the highest weekday volume ?

A simple test is to try pinging the DDO servers or some server net-graphically(?) close to it at various times of the day to eliminate non-DDO traffic issues. You could traceroute, without using DNS reverse lookup, the transmit direction to a server close to the DDO servers and compare inter hop latencies. The receive direction, the important one, however is not guaranteed to be routed the same as the transmit.

[Iakona]

This may be your problem. Multiple AV programs and multiple spyware scanners in memory rarely play nice with each other.



The concept of data centres is that you are using space on someone else's hardware. When you change datacentres, you have different hardware.



I built my own modems (300baud shoebox modems anyone?) and wrote BBS software back in the day. I also owned a company repairing computers in the 80s. Let me assure you none of that resembles modern computers.



I you leave them running in the background they ARE sealing extra resources are creating extra disc and CPU cycles every time a file they protect is touched. Also very often they interpet each other as possible viruses and waste time examining each other's actions. Its really bad practice. If you want to use multiple scanning on a key system or network the correct procedure is to host the additional resources on other computers and reach across the network to scan.



So you just BOUGHT the BBS, the high skill part, and built the computers, the lego/low skill part. Got it.

Wildcat! by the way was written after the networked commodore networks went into service so you don't predate people like you claim.

I said I was running 2 separate AV programs. You assumed I was using them on the same system. I am aware of how to scan a network. And for the by and by, different engines scan the files for the identifying threads using different methodology. Use of 2 different AV softwares to scan a network can and will result in identification of contaminated files one or the other has missed because of this difference in methodology and string identification. If you have more than one computer networked, there is absolutely no problem in having more than one AV program in operation, one on each system, scanning the entire network only during a scheduled system scan. One only need set the AV software up to exclude the other system from normal monitoring.

Wildcat 4.0 produced open source for the SysOp. So while I started by using a pre-written software package, I ended up competely customizing the board before finally shutting down. And I am well aware that CNET existed prior to Wildcat!'s developement. My assum[ption of age and experience level of the other person was based on prior messages I haev read posted by them. And was the reason for my originally having them (and now they have returned) on my ignore list here in the forums.

The problem with the unusually high recv data rate when the problem occurs (I have already provided this information. Read the OP) indicates the trouble is originating on the server side of the data transfer, not on my end.

[Mister_Peace]

OP: why keep trying the same thing over amd over? Banging your head against a wall is the ONLY cause of repair bills high enough to notice.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

The problem with the unusually high recv data rate when the problem occurs (I have already provided this information. Read the OP) indicates the trouble is originating on the server side of the data transfer, not on my end.

Or anywhere in the downstream.

[Morrissey]

Damage caused to equiptment from death does not cause Permanent damage.

How can this be true? IIRC, any damage to a non-bound item gives a chance of permanent damage. Are you saying the game distinguishes between normal wear-and-tear, and death damage? Not trying to be trollish or anything, genuinely interested.

[Impaqt]

How can this be true? IIRC, any damage to a non-bound item gives a chance of permanent damage. Are you saying the game distinguishes between normal wear-and-tear, and death damage? Not trying to be trollish or anything, genuinely interested.

The game absolutely distingusishes between normal wear and tear and Death damage.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

How can this be true? IIRC, any damage to a non-bound item gives a chance of permanent damage. Are you saying the game distinguishes between normal wear-and-tear, and death damage? Not trying to be trollish or anything, genuinely interested.

When they first were implimenting this system people on the test server Risia managed to convince the devs that would not contribute to fun gameplay. They changed it so that death damage never creates a risk of perm damage.

[Ganolyn]

... The TRS80 wasn't my first micro computer ...



This was my first computer ;)

http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/numbers/machine/abacus.jpg

[Missing_Minds]

Got an ego that makes you think you know everything? check.
Thinks age matters? check.
Ridicule any ideas in a public forum due to the first? check.

You are doing quite good on the check list so far.

Ever think that perhaps... oh.. I don't know. Weekend means more people get on so the servers get hit harder?

Ever think about trying to get hired by Turbine to solve their issues? Didn't think so.

[OU812]

EVERY weekend now since I was tricked into buying a house a few miles from my in-laws they are here when I get home! Now this is only the second weekend but twice makes a habit in my book.

There I was coming home from work, planning on tickling the wife for a bit and then gettin on DDO, since lately weekends are the only time I'm getting lately, I open the door and ..POW!, It was a spaghetti western "three one second frame eye close ups" stand off with that witch of a woman sittin on my couch...

(Combat): Mother-in-law hit you but did no damage; 1 point of damage was blocked by damage reduction.
(Combat): You attack Mother-in-law. You roll a 20 : you critical hit!
(Combat): You roll to confirm a critical on Mother-in-law. You roll a 10 (+15): Critical Hit!
(Combat): You k*lled Mother-in-law.

[cdemeritt]

(Combat): Mother-in-law hit you but did no damage; 1 point of damage was blocked by damage reduction.
(Combat): You attack Mother-in-law. You roll a 20 : you critical hit!
(Combat): You roll to confirm a critical on Mother-in-law. You roll a 10 (+15): Critical Hit!
(Combat): You k*lled Mother-in-law.

(Combat):Your father-in-law casts create undead.... Concentration check successful (18+nag)
(Combat): You now need to fight your mother-in-law's wraith and an angry wife....

[OU812]

(Combat):Your father-in-law casts create undead.... Concentration check successful (18+nag)
(Combat): You now need to fight your mother-in-law's wraith and an angry wife....

Please brother, I'm one of the top 10 highest paid and renowned chefs in Texas.... what, she was gonna be angry till about dinner? I can live with that :)