Re: Regarding Lag
shader;2066669 said:
Mine says:
Tracing route to login.uogamers.com
1 * * * Request timed out.
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 * * * Request timed out.
..........................................
30 * * * Request timed out.
Not sure what the discrepancy is.
Very disappointing to have ping of 20 for 6 years, then do a -ping just now and see it at 110, after the server was "upgraded", then to see a post from a respected moderator saying "server working as intended". Probably get flamed for saying this, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was actually downgraded for the sake of lowering the server expense, because that ping thread showed that while it went down for 1 out of 5 people, it went up for the other 4.
Not to pick on you, but your post contains several points that I want to touch on.
First of all, the server was upgraded. Ryan posted the specs in the shard news forum. It was also relocated - two servers ago it was located in Austin, TX. After that, it was moved to the midwest. This newest server is located in the Washington, D.C. area. That's a significant distance, and distance is a huge factor in ping.
Second, the Razor -ping command is wildly inaccurate. If it were an adequate tool, we would recommend using that instead of the command prompt because it's so much simpler. Tessa posted those directions for a reason. Bottom line: Don't use -ping. If you want to get an accurate ping without running a trace, follow the same directions but replace "tracert" with "ping" (type
ping login.uogamers.com instead of
tracert login.uogamers.com ).
Third: an asterisk represents a lost packet. To make a long story short, the data that's sent from your computer to the server and vice versa is broken up into small files called packets. Ping is the amount of time it takes a packet to reach its destination. A lost packet is one that never gets there, or gets ignored by the server when it does. Because UO uses a data transfer protocol known as TCP, it is very sensitive to lost packets. Feel free to read up on TCP
here.
There are multiple reasons you might get an asterisk in your trace. It could be a true lost packet, which might appear something like this:
Code:
12 68 ms * 67 ms server.isp.net (192.168.1.1)
A lost packet in UO might result in a temporary freeze, a lost connection, or your character becoming unresponsive while you can still see events around you happening in real time.
A whole row of asterisks may mean a server is not responding, or that you entered an incorrect address. It might also mean that the server is ignoring ping requests, which is sometimes done to protect the server from DDOS attacks (the basic principle behind these is that if a server is too busy handling ping requests, it can't perform its main function).
Finally, if we say the server is working normally, then the server is working normally. No one connects directly to the server - your connection goes through your ISP, the server's ISP, and several servers in between. Each step in a packet's path is called a "hop." If you are having a problem with your connection, it could be located at any one of these hops. That's why we're asking you to post a trace, so we can look at it for you and help you determine which hop is the problem. Many of these hops, especially the later ones, may be shared by a significant amount of players. For example, all European players probably go through the same few servers that connect Europe to North America. A problem there would affect all European players, but no North American or Asian players. So while all Europeans might concur that the server is having trouble, the rest of us will know that UOGamers is working fine and the problem lies elsewhere. If the server is having a problem, it will affect
all players.
What this all boils down to:
1. If you have a problem, it could be with any one of a number of servers. Post your trace and we'll try to help you with it. A trace of all asterisks is meaningless, though.
2. The server was upgraded, and relocated. Don't call Ryan and Mark liars.
3. The change in ping many players are seeing is consistent with the relocation of the server. Players on the East Coast should see a marked improvement, players in Europe an improvement as well, and players in the rest of the US might see no change or a longer ping than before.
4. Server problems will affect
all players. That means that if even one player is not having a problem, the server is working fine.
