Quote:
Originally Posted by Poison elf
Though I have argued lag has been overall top request by players, it never has been my personal view.
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Almost getting offtopic, but can't resist commenting. I honestly wish there was a better definition for "lag." Unexpected game delays can be any of a hundred things, such as:
- Network latency (that is the normal definition of lag - poor "ping" times - this has NEVER been an issue with POTCO though.)
- Video rendering lag (very rarely an issue in POTCO, but for the last 2 months, the primary focus of what the developers have been trying to speed up.)
- Server saturation delay (150 or more pirates in a single zone cause high latency.)
- Client resource delays (not enough fast memory on client computers.)
- Sinister game-rule-induced lag (Indicated by "Stunned" or "Slow" thing over health bar. E.g. cutlass brawl, grave shackles, dagger, etc.)
- Truly evil bugs, where would-be-game-rules give no indication they are causing the lockup (shrapnel, barrage, firebrand, thunderbolt, explosive and fury.) Nor any indication at all, that the victim is stunned...just a bug from the server, refusing to send you any more network packets until the stun expires.
Of those 6, the last three are (in my theory) the only regular forms of lag people experience in POTCO. The third type happens only at blister events (e.g. Meet the GMs.)
So while they are trying very hard to reduce "lag," by removing all the eye-candy that make so many people love the game, I theorize that they are barking up the wrong tree, by focusing on #2 instead of #6. And if the delays from #6 actually are intended, all they have to do is spam "STUNNED" when you are stunned on a cannon.
On the other hand, I saw yesterday a stunning difference in their client-side memory management. I'm not positive, but it looks like it may be starting to work. (It goes berserk when I try to run TEST and OPEN side by side.)