Oh my word, the LAG!

Sophia · **Joined:** Wed May 17, 2006 11:30 pm **Posts:** 1116

I went in, not even a public place, but I can hardly move at all, the lag is horrendous! My computer is 7 years old, but it can't cope... I'm trying to listen to the second video (after the first 10 stones) and I can't hear anything, it just hickups through it (sort of like a record - yes I'm that old, I remember them - that has a dirty needle). Anybody else with lag like that?

Mystdee · **Posted:** Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:06 pm

Not noticing much lag virtually none in single player, some when the domain is loaded with people but not to the extent you have described.

Shandi.ni.Kayara · **Posted:** Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:46 pm

Last night I was having severe lag in a multi-player instance, even though I only saw three of us at any time. In a single player instance I was fine.

sinkillerj · **Posted:** Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:02 pm

I at first had hardware lag in multiplayer only, but I slightly turned down my settings and it was fine.

Teknobubba · **Posted:** Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:03 pm

Is your anti-virus updating or scanning Sophia?

Chogon · **Joined:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 7:13 pm **Posts:** 1071

Shandi.ni.Kayara wrote:

Last night I was having severe lag in a multi-player instance, even though I only saw three of us at any time. In a single player instance I was fine.

If you have shadows on when there are multiple people that can cause a lag problem.

--Chogon

Sophia · **Joined:** Wed May 17, 2006 11:30 pm **Posts:** 1116

Technobubba: virus scanner was on, but not actively working at the time. Funny enough during the stress test, lag was only ever so slightly WORSE even with 50 avies... I will disable shadows next time and see if it improves. Either that, or look at Mur with puppy dog eyes and beg for a new puter :wink:

Murray · **Joined:** Fri May 19, 2006 4:35 pm **Posts:** 137

Yes, I did have bad lag too and no you don't need another computer Sophia, six plus an ipod is enough LOL. Anyway, this machine I have is very fast but had serious lag, next time I will try no shadows. "MAGIC" to be online again with a group of old and treasured friends.

Katva · **Posted:** Fri Aug 21, 2009 1:32 am

Hmmm-no lag for me at all in the stress test. Murray, you should rethink Sophia's request. How about a new ISP? ROFL!

Anyway, I was impressed that I could move, type and still see complete avies with some 50 odd there (and yes, a lot of them were odd

). Hats off to Cyan and thankful that I didn't revisit the days of two steps in ten minutes!!!

Kate ( delighted to see so many of the old gang)

peteki · **Posted:** Fri Aug 21, 2009 3:51 am

Mystdee wrote:

Not noticing much lag virtually none in single player, some when the domain is loaded with people but not to the extent you have described.

I didn't note any lag either with my Quadcore using Windows7 Build 7600. The only thing I noted was that the Majestic Portal was functioning rather strangely and no one could go through it. Other than that everyone was running well and jumping up and down with no lag. I am on 15Mb/sec broadband though so i wouldn't expect it to lag unless the whole thing went down.

Sophia · **Joined:** Wed May 17, 2006 11:30 pm **Posts:** 1116

Ok I unticked Shadows altogether, but the lag is still terrible, I can hardly move and running is out of the question. It takes seconds before I am able to move the mouse to an object, it just drags behind.

I did notice something rather odd though, as long as MQ is loaded, my Creative webcam has a blue led (indicating it is activated). It might be entirely unrelated but I thought I'd mention it anyway. Is it technically possbile that MQ lags because it drains from resources such as USB?

Rusty_Russell · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:52 pm

You seem to have a rather interesting process conflict there.
Can you try doing a clean boot via msconfig.exe then just running MQ and seeing if that makes a difference?

Romer Openfield · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:09 pm

Early on, I got into the habit of turning everything off and unplugging them, including: Hardware (like webcams and scanners and printers--my printer monitoring software simply will not shut down without unplugging)...Windows Automatic Updates, as well as all automatic updates with all programs.... virus scanner and malware etc. programs. I kept the temp files empty and cache clean. I ran pcpitstop.com and broadbandreports.com (Tweak test) to make certain I was clean and my receive window was ideal. I also went to school on BlackViper.com and turned off all unnecessary XP services that were running. Nothing, I mean nothing, is running when I call up msconfig (START/RUN/msconfig/Start. Be careful in there, though).

For me, the video card always played a major role in lag, so I'd try to have the very best I could afford. RAM, too, I piled in as much as I could. I frequently unplugged, then rebooted my cable modem. Also, I've never used a router, always direct connect, or sometimes a hub for two machines (this isn't a plus, just a statement). I also got new, shorter cables during one lagfest and that seemed to help (can't verify that, though).

Today, I'm running a 2.8 ghz dual-core computer (Gigabyte MB) with 4 GB RAM (3.3 used by XP) that I built from scratch myself with components purchased from NewEgg.com. It's a simple, clean, machine. I use the motherboard's ethernet (no separate card) and a ATI Radeon HD 4760 graphics card. If you know anything about computers, you'll know that this is not a high-end machine, but perhaps a bit above average. The whole deal, case and all, cost $600.

Plus, Comcast has really boosted the speed around here, which helps. Frequent tests on broadbandreports tell me its quality.

I had absolutely no lag at the stress test with most of my settings nearly turned full.

In MOUL and URU Live, with my older machines, which were perhaps average for their time, I lagged badly. Shadows Off helped tremendously, as did more RAM.

Is there one factor that is more important than the others to reduce lag, or is it a combination?

Rusty_Russell · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:53 pm

From Prologue / MOUL - RAM. If you have 2 GB you should be fine. The biggest noticable difference though was from anything upgraded to 1 GB. If you have a 32 bit OS, the correct virtual memory allocation should help too (though the formula breaks down after 2 GB of physical RAM).

Sophia · **Joined:** Wed May 17, 2006 11:30 pm **Posts:** 1116

Well, I can confirm that the second I start up MQ, my webcam switches on, and switches off when I exit. Gaaah, do you think Cyan has found a new way to monitor our reactions to the game? :shock:

All jokes aside, I shall unplug the webcam and other usb devices and turn off some of the other stuff you mentioned, Romer, and see if it makes a difference. Thanks for the tips! Once I know more, it shall be time for a ticket

We ruled out the bandwidth, on Mur's computer it runs fine... and his computer is not THAT much more advanced than mine actually. Also, I noticed that lags gets worse over time, and when I leave it alone for few minutes, or even when I multitask and put MQ in the background, when I come back, lag is considerably less for a minute or so, then it starts again.

I shall post my puter specs below:

Windows Experience Index rating: 4.3
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.20GHz
Installed RAM: 2816MB
Video card: NVidea GeForce 8500 GT on resolution 1680x1024
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7100)

However I wonder if the lag has much to do with the specs, since with ALL the graphics settings on LOW the lag is still unbearable. There must be a memory leak somewhere...

Oh my word, the LAG!

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