The lag is getting worse!

[semmelbroesel]

Disclaimer: Yes, I know "lag" is not the technically accurate term - I am using it here both as a shortcut and as the generally player-used term to describe any kind of game slowness that is related to network or server slowness and NOT the game client or the client computer.

Either way, the "lag" is getting worse.

A few months ago, one of the devs posted that they were working on it and making progress.

But it is getting worse.

• Being unable to attack a mob and be certain that your attack will actually be counted by the server can quickly cause death when the same rules don't apply to the mob.
• Harvesting a node, watching the progress bar ride to the end, and then leaving the node - only to be notified that the node content did NOT get transferred to your bags and you have to go back and start over.
• Trying to access an NPC to turn in a quest can take half a minute at times.
• Getting kicked out of the game for a lost connection on a high-speed fiber internet connection.
• Logging out of a character is a gamble because you never know if the server will acknowledge this request or will keep you hanging even after you force-quit the game client and try to login again.
• And of course war steed rubber-banding - or regular mount rubber-banding - oh wait, and on-foot rubber-banding.

There are plenty of other examples, and I'm sure others can supply their own stories.

To quote one of your NPCs: "This is intolerable!"

I have never known ANY online game to have so many issues of "lag" category. This is not normal.

I understand that the source code has been handed down - but seriously, it's been YEARS!

It doesn't matter how much pretty new content you throw at us - it is time to divert resources on bug fixing, and this here is a big one.

Unless of course the plan is to completely alienate your player base - in which case: Good job!

[istvana]

I essentially agree. The lag has been getting worse for years. The lag continues to get worse. Fixing this is by far the most important thing for the company to do.

[Dervacus]

Should the game strive to be better in this regard, absolutely!

...but this notion that SSG should stop creating new content until it is fixed is so narrow. So are you (and many others) suggesting that the world builders, instance designers, character designers, composers, artists, voice actors, web designers, etc. all stop what they're doing and either do nothing and not get paid, or are you all suggesting that these people stop what they're doing and somehow help solve the lag issue?

SSG, please do not stop working on new content! You are a video game studio and we should know that you have many different teams that independently handle all sorts of different aspects for this game. But, please do follow through with the intentions of making this game perform better!

[UselessSmurf]

Should the game strive to be better in this regard, absolutely!

...but this notion that SSG should stop creating new content until it is fixed is so narrow. So are you (and many others) suggesting that the world builders, instance designers, character designers, composers, artists, voice actors, web designers, etc. all stop what they're doing and either do nothing and not get paid, or are you all suggesting that these people stop what they're doing and somehow help solve the lag issue?

SSG, please do not stop working on new content! You are a video game studio and we should know that you have many different teams that independently handle all sorts of different aspects for this game. But, please do follow through with the intentions of making this game perform better!

They did it in 2015ish to fix old standing issues like hitting water and being dismounted, why cant they do it again?

[DroboTheDwarf]

Well said OP.

[semmelbroesel]

...but this notion that SSG should stop creating new content until it is fixed is so narrow.

Obviously, they should continue creating new content.

But they need to stop rushing new content, spend more time testing, and at least TRY to fix some of the 10-15 year old bugs (as well as the new ones they keep adding).

Obviously, a level designer won't be able to fix "lag" issues, but they CAN for example look at resource node that hang in mid-air or inside a rock formation and fix that. And so on.

I believe there should either be a small constant team of bug fixers assigned to the game or some form of rotation during which technical and other bugs are given priority.

I've had this idea, and I'll just throw it out:

What if SSG offered VIP players who have been actively playing for 5 or more years access to a hidden forum section only for bug reporting by this player team? They could go through the game one area at a time, spend a month really going into every nook and cranny, and then at the end of the month they release a list of those bugs to SSG who then can work on them without the need to spend as much time testing?

That doesn't mean SSG is not responsible for their own testing! Being a developer myself, I would feel pretty ashamed with some of the obvious and easily reproducible bugs that come out with every new expansion. But having a dedicated player group helping out may take the load off a bit.

Thing is, there ARE possibilities if you look for them - I just don't see much effort on SSG's side to look for them.

I don't know what their overall plan is, but they are not likely to attract new paying players with a product this old and this buggy and this over-complicated. Unless they invest some time away from the constant pushing of new content, they need to clean things up a bit WITHOUT breaking new stuff - AND without alienating their existing player base through changes that the majority doesn't want.

[Dinara]

I think the lag should take top priority. I constantly get "Invalid Target". Yesterday, while playing my Loremaster, I had to target through my bear because I couldn't see what was attacking us, but the bear could!
Adding new content is NOT going to fix the lag, could actually cause more lag and eventually could cause the servers to crash!
Why can't the dev's give us a reasonable explanation as to what is causing this? Is it something that they are unable to fix? We have a right to know. Do they expect us to spend money on the game, just to have the servers die and then we have lost our money.
I LOVE this game, been here for 15 plus years, and hope to be here for many more, please tell us what is going on, and what you are doing to fix it!

[Dinara]

I've seen 5 different Dev's posting this morning.
Not one mention of the lag.
You see where their priority lies.

[Eeshen]

Yes, this should be the #1 issue, before more players come and experience how dreadful it is and then leave.

There is more money to be had by fixing this one BIG issue.

I think what ultimately to be done (full server upgrade, re-coding) is outside the money or time they want to put into it. Which is unfortunate and why people have not seen the issue fully fixed.

To have an issue this big affecting all the players for quite some time and it is still not fixed, eludes to something much bigger is required.

[Echoweaver]

I haven't had much trouble with game-breaking lag (or lag-like behavior) in most of my 9 years in this game. That changed when I entered Gundabad on Landroval.

Wow, just wow.

I see a lot of back-and-forth about server numbers, but it seems like there's something specific to Gundabad, or at least the early regions because I haven't played very far in yet, that is causing trouble.

[Melank]

People will keep playing this game with tons of lag, dead features and 420p UI, so, why would SSG do anything about it?

You all are the problem, because you all keep playing and keep proving SSG that lag, dead features and 420p UI does not matter.


I uninstalled the game a few days ago and I'm moving on, so, I'd suggest everyone to do the same and prove them wrong by killing the game they don't care to fix.

[semmelbroesel]

I see a lot of back-and-forth about server numbers, but it seems like there's something specific to Gundabad, or at least the early regions because I haven't played very far in yet, that is causing trouble.

It is NOT limited to Gundabad.

I have experienced it just this week alone in Lonelands, Breeland, Eregion, Trollshaws.

Someone reported to me yesterday how they were in Moria using a stablemaster horse (meaning the horse has a set "safe" path it follows). The horse got stuck due to lag - and when it moved again, the server had the location wrong, and it catapulted her into a lava field for instant death. She has also become stuck "inside" a street sign by using a stable horse. Her incidents happened on a weekday afternoon when there shouldn't be a lot of traffic causing issues.

I'm part of a SLOTRO group, and we have been experiencing the same thing for months and months in a big number of low level areas, e.g. Mirkwood, Enedwaith, Dunland - you name it.

It also happens in instances and raids.

I get that SSG wants to conserve money - but by doing so, they risk losing a big chunk of their income, and with a game this old and buggy, they can't expect a lot of influx of new paying customers, either (that's at least my humble opinion).

[Neinda]

Lag is everywhere these days. You can't even take a stable horse and be guaranteed it won't rubber band you across the map in the wrong direction. It used to be you could avoid places like Bree and Minas Tirith and 21st Hall, etc. to avoid the lag. These days you find lag just walking down a road to anywhere or turning in a quest.

Note to SSG: the lag issues are not just at end game. The lag issues are everywhere in game starting at level 1. There is no where we can go to avoid it these days. I don't see how that will help you increase players and income. People won't pay for a game they can't reliably play. It feels like the entire game is about to crash (sort of like the power grid in Texas from a year or so ago).

[Echoweaver]

It is NOT limited to Gundabad.

I have experienced it just this week alone in Lonelands, Breeland, Eregion, Trollshaws.

Someone reported to me yesterday how they were in Moria using a stablemaster horse (meaning the horse has a set "safe" path it follows). The horse got stuck due to lag - and when it moved again, the server had the location wrong, and it catapulted her into a lava field for instant death. She has also become stuck "inside" a street sign by using a stable horse. Her incidents happened on a weekday afternoon when there shouldn't be a lot of traffic causing issues.

I'm part of a SLOTRO group, and we have been experiencing the same thing for months and months in a big number of low level areas, e.g. Mirkwood, Enedwaith, Dunland - you name it.

It also happens in instances and raids.

OK, I admit I haven't taken an overland stablemaster horse in ages, so I can't talk to that.

What you're describing doesn't sound that much like what I'm describing. It's possible we're seeing different issues that are contributing to the pile of muck we are calling lag.

In play this month on Landroval, I rarely seen more than the occasional hiccup or weirdness, while my kinnies a few levels ahead were complaining nonstop about unplayable lag. War of Three Peaks ran fine, including raids and instances, where fine is defined as nothing that I noticed as being worse than any other time.

Then when I walked into Gundabad, I started having 10-second wait times from clicking an NPC until their dialog box came up. Combat has been a horror show with things running normal speed, slowing down, stopping in the middle of an induction for seconds at a time, and losing track of actions in the battle.

Folks are talking about specific server numbers, which you can see with the /loc command. 34 on Landroval is supposed to be the worst. But there's a relationship between server numbers and game locations. When I check in Mattugard, it's usually low 30s. So is it the server number (I don't know what that translates to -- a physical machine? a virtual machine? a sub-process?) that's the problem here, or is it something about Gundabad?

None of what I'm saying is intended to refute anything you're saying. I was just shocked at how sudden and dramatic my lag experience was.

[DiorEluchil]

Should the game strive to be better in this regard, absolutely!

...but this notion that SSG should stop creating new content until it is fixed is so narrow. So are you (and many others) suggesting that the world builders, instance designers, character designers, composers, artists, voice actors, web designers, etc. all stop what they're doing and either do nothing and not get paid, or are you all suggesting that these people stop what they're doing and somehow help solve the lag issue?

SSG, please do not stop working on new content! You are a video game studio and we should know that you have many different teams that independently handle all sorts of different aspects for this game. But, please do follow through with the intentions of making this game perform better!

You accuse someone of a narrow view but no one said stop making content. It's such a strawman dictionaries should screenshot your reply and use as example of it. They wrote divert more resources to fix the lag issue first. Then release new content.

Let me ask you this. Whats the point of new content when you can't experience it because of lag?

[Dervacus]

People will keep playing this game with tons of lag, dead features and 420p UI, so, why would SSG do anything about it?

You all are the problem, because you all keep playing and keep proving SSG that lag, dead features and 420p UI does not matter.


I uninstalled the game a few days ago and I'm moving on, so, I'd suggest everyone to do the same and prove them wrong by killing the game they don't care to fix.

Many of us don't suffer the horrendous lag issues that many others experience...

[TesalionLortus]

They're constantly talking about the lag and other things including UI and such, it's not like they "don't care" but of course people will overdramatize and say they don't care and keep saying that if they did care they would solve this (complex, multilayered) problem over the week

Personally, I was experiencing bigger lags and stuttering back in the day than I do now (though some of it still happens from time to time, but nothing huge, just gentle). In fact, most of the lag/low fps I do experience seems related to graphics/assets loaded, not server issues. But people who do experience them more - or can't stand to play with UI/graphics available now - can of course stop playing, I won't say they shouldn't, they have every right to and they wouldn't be wrong

[gardavil]

Should the game strive to be better in this regard, absolutely!

...but this notion that SSG should stop creating new content until it is fixed is so narrow. So are you (and many others) suggesting that the world builders, instance designers, character designers, composers, artists, voice actors, web designers, etc. all stop what they're doing and either do nothing and not get paid, or are you all suggesting that these people stop what they're doing and somehow help solve the lag issue?

Yes, I for one am asking them to participate as a TEAM and Crosstrain if necessary to get the "Lag", the poor gameplay experience, improved.

SSG, please do not stop working on new content! You are a video game studio and we should know that you have many different teams that independently handle all sorts of different aspects for this game. But, please do follow through with the intentions of making this game perform better!

SSG, please stop working on new content, or downgrade it's priority, and FIX the "Lag". Corrections is a part of maintaining any online game, and failure to do so will lead to closure of this game prematurely. Changes that cause problems and are not fixed or improper changes are notorious for ending games.

Thank You SSG for listening.

I respect your opinion Darvacus... but you see... all of us do not agree. Our perceptions of what is most important for LotRO and expectations for this game are not the same.

Cheers

[Fadil]

People will keep playing this game with tons of lag, dead features and 420p UI, so, why would SSG do anything about it?

You all are the problem, because you all keep playing and keep proving SSG that lag, dead features and 420p UI does not matter.


I uninstalled the game a few days ago and I'm moving on, so, I'd suggest everyone to do the same and prove them wrong by killing the game they don't care to fix.

What an incredibly silly and selfish post. You dont like the game, okay: go play another game, fine.
But you're suggesting that no one should like the game, or that we should even kill the game...because YOU dont like it or because YOU are convinced SSG doesnt care.
Jeez.

FYI: I just logged out, had a wonderful evening with a group of great friends. We did a bunch of old raids with 12 people, had tons of fun.
I gladly pay for this game because there is NO other MMORPG out there with the great community Lotro has.

[NailFelagund]

Honestly, at this point, I don't really care whether SSG "cares" or not, I am leaving. There are many other great games out there, good MMOs as well that actually are fun to play and don't waste your time. The only reason we play this game is because it is the best game set in Middle-Earth, but, unless they make some drastic changes, it's time to move on.

[Kreegan]

Generally, I don't get much in the way of lag in the sense of rubber-banding, drop-outs, freezes, and stuff like that. I have a 50-55ms connection. What I do get, however -- and I filed a bug on this some time back -- is a "drop-out" of my Logitech remote keyboard and mouse. It's not frequent, but it happens and my keyboard won't take inputs (although I'll still be able to control game-play with my mouse) or, conversely, the game will quit responding to my mouse (but I'll still be able to play using the keyboard). It's a #####, though, when they both bug out...
Apparently, the Logitech application is very dependent on interfacing continuously with whatever software I'm working with. I haven't been able to troubleshoot it beyond that. Normally, I just cycle power on the mouse or keyboard which causes the Logitech software to reset and then everything plays as normal... for a while, anyway. Sometimes I can pound the mouse on its pad or pound the keys on the keyboard -- both of which cause electrical spikes (if you ever studied EE you know why) and will cause the software to reset, but obviously that's not good for my hardware.
I'm not going to fault LotRO for a Logitech problem, though.

[Piedtendre]

Sirannon also is getting worst for me.
Same problems as elsewhere.

Today I can't switch stuff between bag,share storage and vault, taking ages or simply ignore me.

SSG better and better ...

[DavidWe]

People will keep playing this game with tons of lag, dead features and 420p UI, so, why would SSG do anything about it?

You all are the problem, because you all keep playing and keep proving SSG that lag, dead features and 420p UI does not matter.


I uninstalled the game a few days ago and I'm moving on, so, I'd suggest everyone to do the same and prove them wrong by killing the game they don't care to fix.

I realize that the poster may be seen as simply trolling in bitterness, but I would suggest that SSG consider that players are likely doing what this poster suggests, without saying anything. LOTRO may be getting a nice boost from the Amazon series, but if SSG isn't going to address some very game-stopping concerns such as the intense lag many of us experience, that the new players are going to leave with a poor experience that will be all they remember and relate to others in the gaming community.

Don't be like EVE Online or WoW and simply coast on prior good press while ignoring current issues. That's failure mode in the making.

[Echoweaver]

After the reboot, I went almost 48 hours without having any trouble in Gundabad at all. I got excited. Then it came back. It was likely a coincidence, but it seemed dramatic because up until then I hadn't gone more than about 20 minutes without trouble in Mattugard. I thought it was worth reporting. This is Landroval.

[semmelbroesel]

Many of us don't suffer the horrendous lag issues that many others experience...

You don't?!? That's news to me...

In my SLOTRO group of 14 people, we ALL experience it.

I'm on a 1Gbit fiber internet connection with a high quality gaming router, so I'm fairly sure the issue is not on my end, by the way.