Update 16 lag problem

[MobiusMk2]

Since Update 16 I have been having a problem with client lag. Today, I sent this message to Turbine Support...

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I have been checking things on my end to see if the lag problem lies with my equipment or setup.

I have two computers, a desktop and a laptop. The desktop is the machine I usually use to play the game. It has been suffering moderate to bad lag problems for about 3 weeks or so. To see if this machine was the problem, I logged on with my laptop and tried to play. The lag was absolutely horrible.

I realized that both of these machines have a common feature that most of your customers don't have...small memory by today's standards. My laptop has only 1 GB of RAM and the desktop only 2 GB. Plus the virtual memory on the laptop is fairly limited because its hard drive is rather small. I had the virtual memory on the desktop set at 4 GB.

Testing whether memory shortage was causing the lag, I expanded my virtual memory on my desktop to 32 GB. Aha!!! Much better, though performance waned the longer I played.

I have managed to come up with a personal workaround. With the expanded virtual memory AND by shutting down the computer between sessions, the lag problem is minimal to non-existent.

My guess continues to be that there is a memory allocation fault that was introduced in Update 16. This fits the facts as I see them, particularly since this problem did not bother me on either of my computers prior to that update. The larger virtual memory means that it takes longer to fill up the available memory, and shutting down the computer between sessions clears the memory.

BTW...without shutting down, the lag problem begins to reappear after 2 or 3 sessions, or about 2 hours of play. Again, to me this points to a memory allocation problem.

Hope this data helps.

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So, my workaround consists of two parts...

1) Expand your virtual memory. See Windows Help if you do not know how to do this. This will mean the memory allocation fault will take longer to fill up your memory and the lag to start.

2) Turn off your computer and restart before any new session. This will reset the computer's memory, clearing out the faulty allocation from a previous session.

So far <fingers crossed> this has worked for me. Hope it keeps working.

[MobiusMk2]

Well, I may have to take it all back.

Yesterday, when I posted the above, DDO was running (for me) the best I had seen in weeks. I was seeing only the occasional stutter. I THOUGHT I had the problem under control.

Then came today, Dec 27. I logged on about 2 hours after the the hotfix that had been scheduled. After being online for about 5 minutes, lag began to set in. Moderate at first, it got progressively worse to the point I could no longer play the game. The controls became so jerky, I could not move in any coherent fashion.

Still trying to figure this out, but I am no longer sure I am on the right track. Oh, well.