Game Performance Improvements and Feedback

[Cordovan]

We have been working since moving DDO to a new data center to optimize in-game performance, and have additional work to do. We have heard from too many of you about lag and other issues, so we took steps this week to make some improvements. We expect these improvements to have some impact, but not "solve" lag in-game. We will continue to work in the coming days and weeks to make further adjustments.

THE LATEST: We are currently working on a patch, and expect to announce downtime in the coming days. This patch includes a fix to several stacking enhancement issues along with some other optimizations. We'll keep you updated.

Some answers:

1. What's being done to resolve these issues?

We are implementing new network connections and adjusting our main networking backbone. Additionally, we are troubleshooting server-side configuration changes.

2. Why is it taking so long?

As part of our move to the new data center we updated some architecture to modern operating systems and virtualization technologies. In some cases adjusting the old code to run in this new environment has added additional challenge.

3. What is happening in the next few days?

We will be migrating select networking components, and make additional configuration changes to servers. When these efforts require downtime, we'll let you know.

[Stoner81]

Thanks for the heads up Cordovan hopefully there is some effect from the efforts *crosses fingers*

Stoner81.

[Duana]

Do you all still want the "Lag reports" Kookie requested?

[Cordovan]

Do you all still want the "Lag reports" Kookie requested?

If you are continuing to see poor in-game performance, then any information you can provide is helpful.

[Lerincho]

Good show old sport.

Because you know it is coming as there have already been numerous threads asking:

Will player base be compensated? I.E. extended subscription date, TPs or anything?

Personally, do not care if there is "compensation", but there have been some demanding.

[LevelJ]

Good show old sport.

Because you know it is coming as there have already been numerous threads asking:

Will player base be compensated? I.E. extended subscription date, TPs or anything?

Personally, do not care if there is "compensation", but there have been some demanding.

Honestly, it has gone on so long that I'd just be glad to see it working smoothly again. The only thing I would ask is for an extension on the 10th anniversary dungeon and associated turn-ins (including the djinn). If they could bump that by an extra 2-3 weeks, that would be awesome.


-Jayron

[guzzlr]

Good show old sport.

Because you know it is coming as there have already been numerous threads asking:

Will player base be compensated? I.E. extended subscription date, TPs or anything?

Personally, do not care if there is "compensation", but there have been some demanding.

Not worried so much about compensation, but I would very much appreciate an extension of the anniversary events. I Would like to see it end on a positive note, rather than with all the vitriol being spewed at the moment.

I felt that the data center move was not timed well. Release the update, let people play, let vacations happen, then move. *shrug* Hindsight is 20/20 (I think we need a new set of magic goggles called Hindsight - True Seeing, Search +20, and grants an auto reroll of any failed save, cannot occur more than once each minute).

[Elsbet]

If you are continuing to see poor in-game performance, then any information you can provide is helpful.

Argo, 8-9 p.m. Wheloon prison and quests. Lag at its worst just like the last two weeks. Hitching, rubber banding, freezing. Deaths and rage quits all over the place. Roughly the same elapsed time after the data center move as this time for it to show up. It was better for a little while.

[Silverleafeon]

Wheloon prison and quests.,.

Have not visited Wheloon yet, it used to be the mass graveyard of lag deaths, probably needs some special attention sometime...that and a full group in thunderhelm...

[JOTMON]

If you are continuing to see poor in-game performance, then any information you can provide is helpful.

While solo and basic level gaming has improved it is by no means lag free.

Raid performance is still abysmal.
joined a LN Shroud last nite 11 people in the group. everyone in the group experienced lag throughout the raid.
Theres no way we will be able to convince players to come back to the game for LE runs with this kind of game interaction delay.

Its not even a level playing field where mobs lag as we do, they continue their actions while we are unable to interact.
all that ends up happening is casters dump sp trying to repeatedly recast spells and spam heals and drink pots that don't return sp during lag.
Its a bad situation.

I don't mind spending money on a game and on store items like sp pots, but when those pots don't work.... not a fan of wasting money...

[ddo.rsmo.pt]

If you are continuing to see poor in-game performance, then any information you can provide is helpful.

• Past Experience?
  
  • I have been playing DDO since 2009
  
  
• Location
  
  • I am located in Portugal, Europe
  
  
• When did you start experiencing lag?
  
  • I hardly ever had any lag, despite being quite far. I started having poor gaming experience since the recent data center move.
  
  
• Which server you on? Any particular class/race combo?
  
  • Argonnessen server, any class/race combo.
  
  
• What is your lag experience?
  
  • I play many times solo, or with another friend. Although lag has always been in the game, we only felt it usually during large events (Mabar, for instance) and it was widespread, so not related with our connections.
  • Recently, playing *any* quest, I can reproduce lag, even during low-activity quest, as Korthos Island Chain.
  • The lag currently being felt has variable intensity - we can play with almost no problem for 10-15 minutes, then attacks miss landing even when we are close to the mobs, or spells don't proc their effect, but the mana is spent. Some more acute issues are not being able to move/jump, although I can see monsters moving about. The stops last for around 5-10 seconds.
  • Client input is not an issue - setting the toon to autorun still causes it to stop at certain points, during the more acute times.
  • After a while, without leaving the area, the probs eases off gradually, and it's back at the normal function with just slight hiccups.
  
  
• Any particular raid, quest, wilderness?
  
  • I have been leveling a toon from 1 since the data move - I can safely say that the lag is independent of content, although I have not raided in a while.
  • Doesn't appear to be related to a specific "doom" instance (like i2049, or whatever), as determined by /loc
  
  
• What is your connection type?
  
  • I have 100Mbps fiber connection. I don't have problems with games which are more ping-dependable (BF4, CS:GO).
  • My ping (in-game app) without lag is around 120ms. My ping during lag is 120ms...
  • My drop rate without lag is around 0%. During lag, I can see it rise slightly, but mostly below 2%
  
  
• Did you test your ping / tracert
  
  • Yes I did. My round trip is around 100ms, and tracert reported around 15 hops before reaching destination.
  
  
• What is your play time?
  
  • My play time is usually between 4pm-7pm EST (converted from local GMT, for your convenience)
  
  
• Any additional information?
  
  • Nice for you to ask, yes there is:
  • Instead of us trying to figure which "any information you can provide is helpful", I think you should develop your own questions for us to answer, like I tried to do here.
  • If you want us to help, can you please tell us the IP addresses of at least 1 or 2 servers on the new data center, and 1 or 2 address from the old data center. We can then relay latency, jitter, etc to you, if you deem it worthwhile.

Carry on.

[Sam1313]

If you are continuing to see poor in-game performance, then any information you can provide is helpful.

1. Server - Cannith
2. Approximate Time 7:15 to 11:00 pm EST.
3. Approximate location of your computer (East Cost, London, Tokyo, on a boat in the Pacific, alternate reality x87, etc.) - Lafayette, Indiana (Midwest)
4. Quests/raids run - Let Sleeping Dust Lie, Rainbow in the Dark, Ritual Sacrifice.
5. Difficulties run - All Elite.
6. Your character class - Paladin/Rogue/Ranger
7. Number of players in the group - 6
8. Anything else you think we should know - I think you should look into the Blur & Displacement on the monsters, I have noticed when I encounter monsters that have these active Lag occurs.
Also would like to note that some of the monsters spells like acid rain, Ice Storm persist even if the caster is snuffed out, and the damaging effects persist even after player character's lagdeath.

[skorpeon]

Just going to use your template Sam
1. Server G-land
2. Approximate Time 8-10 pm GMT
3. Approximate location of your computer : Germany
4. Quests/raids run - house K level 5-6, Delera's chain
5. Difficulties run - All Elite.
6. Your character class - Warlock
7. Number of players in the group - 3
8. Issues: very slow opening quests and interacting with NPC's, rubber banding / stuttering thru most quests. No lag deaths. Over all quests were playable, seem to notice a lot of delay after firing my bursts at barrels and barrels busting.

Over all just adding time to completion time but this is heroics and would probably been a cake walk with out the new "special" (Lag) effects.

[Lanadazia]

If you are continuing to see poor in-game performance, then any information you can provide is helpful.

except that horrible 1 minute freeze in the 10th anniversary quest i did before eastern, i haven't experienced anything really bad.
there was a little lag-spike now and then, like the whole evening it occured once or twice over the last few days.
after the latest downtime i haven't experienced any lag-spike so far.

EDIT: the super lag spike before eastern wasn't comming with a packet loss, i remember this, cause i was looking at the connection icon, and it didn't say anything about packet loss. i thought this was odd.
only the latency went really high, like 1200ms and more.

[GlassCannon]

If you are continuing to see poor in-game performance, then any information you can provide is helpful.

I've been experiencing barbarian rage and frenzy effects applying negative but not positive bonuses, taking damage from sources that appear to not actually be where they show/say they are, seeing Death effects persist until logout despite being very much alive, seeing expendable items/effects not actually do anything despite being expended and other various crippling incidents. I'm reinstalling DDO today to give it another shot.

If I experience the same "My client needs to catch up to the server" problems and the server simply ignoring what my client is saying and permanently destroying items that I rely on for their described benefit without applying said benefits, I'll just go back to Ashes of the Singularity or whatever it is I find to do.

The quests I experienced these problems in are: The entire Lords of Dust chain on Heroic Elite with a Barbarian, Temple of Elemental Evil on Epic Elite with a warlock, Eveningstar chain quests on Epic Elite, Druid's Deep and Stormhorns chain quests on Epic Elite (the most problematic was What goes Up after the Mythallar has wedged in the glacier and you fight huge spawns on the way up). I actually had to just quit WGU due to being forced to watch my character die within 2 minutes (10-30 seconds of actual game-time due to lag) of being raised, more than 6 times in a row. Consistently.

Please please please figure out what's causing these problems. I freaking love this game and want to help but I'm no technomage.

[Livmo]

Between 8-9pm PST last night we ran raids on Sarlona. Heroic Elite Shroud was not too bad, but when we ran Fall of Truth afters on EH it was bad (lag).

I've run FoT countless times on EH without lag. Last night I died after after completion, because could not move or heal and eventually the boom got me. At least it was after completion.

However, its frustration to be stuck in one spot helpless watching you health go down and then die. I could not even move after death for about a minute.

The freezing and rubber banding are horrible.

I also had some rubber banding just after 9PM PST while running the High Road chain on EE for sagas.

[jaedom]

If you are continuing to see poor in-game performance, then any information you can provide is helpful.

As others have probably noticed renown acquired from mobs causes lag. We have tested it over our last two lives and it happens to us all no matter our location ie. east coast west coast or international. We all play on high performance gaming computers mine being only a few months old so age of computer is not an issue. Defiler seems to be one of the harder hit raids but as previously noted you receive renown for each mob killed with the amount of red named it freezes up unless short-manned and even then is nearly unplayable. Chest spawn lag is also an issue tho much less of a problem.

Another issue that has been causing problem and has been reported is perma walls. Ice storm,fire wall and acid fog that persist until relog. One does not merely get a single stack of aoe in many instances I have gotten up to three stacks of aoe.

We have been very patient and continue to hold out hope that the patch will help. It will take time but I am sadly hearing of more and more players leaving for more stable games. I know you guys are working hard for a fix you play the game too and if it is broken for us it is for you as well. Keep us posted. Thanks

[Thunder-Monkey]

Thanks Cordovan, this is good news. I hope to be raiding again soon.... swift and bloody vengeance will be mine!

TM

[Lerincho]

.... swift and bloody vengeance will be mine!

TM

For a second there thought you might have been Coyle, then I remember he is unconscious on the floor.

[Duana]

Thunder-Monkey

How have I not seen this before? This forum name should be a red-named in Ataraxia's Haven.