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Sever issues...I've made my decision
astimingpyle
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
I generally like the game.
If it were a stand alone game that didn't require internet access I think I would play it. As it is, there is simply too much wrong technically with this game for me.
I am tired of the "Server not responding" issues and the disconnects. I know a patch went through earlier today that was supposed to fix some issue with a ship power that lagged out the server, but I still get these annoying "Server not responding" messages, which are accompanied with lag spikes and "rubber banding."
I dislike being in the middle of a battle and suddenly everything seizes up then I get disconnected from the server.
I am glad I was not able to buy a subscription (due to some strange issue between PWE and my pre-paid card, which lets me buy ZEN, but not a subscription) a lesson learned thankfully without costing me real money. Play for free is a great system to learn if you like a game enough before buying a subscription.
As it is, I won't be buying a subscription, and I wont be investing much time playing this game. I may come back from time to time to try it out and see if the technical issue are worked out, but considering how old the game is, I have my doubts.
If it were a stand alone game that didn't require internet access I think I would play it. As it is, there is simply too much wrong technically with this game for me.
I am tired of the "Server not responding" issues and the disconnects. I know a patch went through earlier today that was supposed to fix some issue with a ship power that lagged out the server, but I still get these annoying "Server not responding" messages, which are accompanied with lag spikes and "rubber banding."
I dislike being in the middle of a battle and suddenly everything seizes up then I get disconnected from the server.
I am glad I was not able to buy a subscription (due to some strange issue between PWE and my pre-paid card, which lets me buy ZEN, but not a subscription) a lesson learned thankfully without costing me real money. Play for free is a great system to learn if you like a game enough before buying a subscription.
As it is, I won't be buying a subscription, and I wont be investing much time playing this game. I may come back from time to time to try it out and see if the technical issue are worked out, but considering how old the game is, I have my doubts.
[SIGPIC]http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/image.php?u=96550022000&type=sigpic&dateline=1365955208[/SIGPIC]
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It looks like someone needs a faster connection!
And needs to learn the lesson that not every game is perfect and that there will be issues, some that my be a simple fix as to *buy a new pc, or get faster internet* and other as complex as *Server must go down in order to be fixed!*
My connection is fine, cable modem at 20 Mb download and 10 Mb upload. This is not my first MMO. But it is the first so rife with server issues.
I could use a new PC, that's true, but my current rig is above the minimum requirements for STO. I am quite used to the fact that MMO games often are down for maintenance, and on other games, I'm often one of the guys who tells others that they need to get used to the ups and downs of MMO maintenance.
But in the 3 or so weeks I've been trying out STO, I've had a couple of days of good solid play, but mostly I get rubber banding, "server not responding" and disconnects. Yes, the problems could be on my side and not PWE's, but other MMOs are not giving me nearly as much grief as STO.
Which is a shame cuz I was really starting to like STO.
Maybe I'll try again after I do a Level 5 diagnostic of my PC. (That's a ST joke)
I am not saying its necessarily on your rig the problem is, but it's defnetly not with the Cryptic servers...
The only time I experience real problems are during Season releases or releases of new content... That's simple server overload.
If I were to guess, i'd say you either have a program interfering with the ports STO uses, and/or issues with the line your ISP uses to connect to Cryptic.
Try this:
Open a command prompt (WindowsKey+R -> Type: CMD)
In the prompt type this (Without quotes): "tracert patchserver.crypticstudios.com"
Then post the results here.
That might help us identify if there is some point along the way with poor response time, and maybe a way we can route you around it.
Tracing route to patchserver.crypticstudios.com [208.95.185.41]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 8 ms 7 ms 7 ms 24.109.216.1
3 24 ms 23 ms 23 ms rc2nr-ge6-0-2-1.wp.shawcable.net [24.244.8.211]
4 35 ms 35 ms 37 ms rc2wh-tge0-1-2-0-1.vc.shawcable.net [66.163.77.206]
5 35 ms 36 ms 35 ms chi-eqx-i1-link.telia.net [213.248.84.97]
6 37 ms 35 ms 34 ms te0-0-0-26.ccr21.ord03.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.12.33]
7 37 ms 63 ms 36 ms te0-4-0-5.ccr21.ord01.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.44.161]
8 60 ms 61 ms 57 ms te0-3-0-6.ccr21.bos01.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.43.182]
9 264 ms 204 ms 227 ms te4-4.ccr01.bos06.atlas.cogentco.com [66.28.4.42]
10 69 ms 56 ms 71 ms 38.111.40.114
11 60 ms 73 ms 57 ms 208.95.185.41
Trace complete.
The problem is at hop 9 where you get over 200 ms. And yet again, the problem seems to be Cogentco ( an ISP) that is the culprit. Cogentco has caused problems before for players around the world, including me a few times, but fortunatly not often.
Why Cogentco are causing the problems is a very good question, but not one I'm able to answer, as only Cogentco can answer that one...
^ that one may very well be your issue.
Granted, 227 ms may not seem like much, but with the number of packages being sent back and forth, it could be the source of your issues.
In the launcher, try to find the "Options" link.
In the dialogue that appears, you can choose to use a proxy-server. Try choosing the European one (even if you live in the US).
Press OK, Restart your launcher and try the game again for a few hours... Let me know how it works out for you... my handle in-game is the same as my forum name.
I went through hell for the better part of a year. Disconnects, server not responding.
Almost quit when the disconnects jumped to 4x a hour.
Turned out it was my 'superfast' wireless, provided by my cable company had undergone a firmware update on the modem. The update was the real cause of my disconnects. Plugged a cable in, and suddenly I was running at speeds I forget even existed.
Second problem turned out to be the ISP that supports all of PWE's servers. That problem lasted 2 weeks and was well documented on the PWE forums.
The only time i see latency that screws with the game is a peak periods.
Thanks for your time and effort!
I can't use the EU servers, I get timed out.
However, thanks to your input, I decided to test my connection speed and last night, I was getting about 1 quarter of the download speed I usually get. I usually clock in at 20-23 Mb/s, but last night I was only getting 5 Mb/s.
So, humbly I sit an eat a plate of crow, as I realize the problem is not necessarily PWE, or STO.
Oddly, this morning, I'm back to normal, averaging 20 Mb/s again, which is not really a good thing, as intermittent problems are the most difficult to diagnose. I'll have to keep an eye on it, and contact my ISP when my bandwidth gets mysteriously choked again.
Worth a shot anyways... at least we know ONE thing that dosen't work, right? So the attempt was not without result after all. You could try the US server... though that might yield the same result.
What you are describing sounds to me like someone or something is leeching your connection.
Are you running wireless? If so, add/change your password... ASAP
Edit:
And btw, your reaction to this is far from rare... It's not unusual to conclude that Cryptic is the one with problems, when everything else runs smoothly.
The reason I am aware of the issues that can be inbetween is because I build and run rather large websites, where I often run into frustrated customers who claim my services are bad and poor and laggy... yet theres nothing wrong with my server.
So don't eat too much of that crow.
I do share my connection with my son, he has a PC, and his game console. My PC and his are wire connected to the router, and of course the game console is wireless. The wireless is password protected, and when I look at the connected devices, no mystery machines are connected and leeching.
I know this looks like a case of my son's PC and game console being the main suspect, but prior to STO, I've not had any issues like this with him running both his PC and game console before.
However, I noticed that not long after his booting up his PC this morning, the bandwidth got throttled down to 7 Mb/s. I will have him shut off his PC and see if there is a significant improvement. If so, I may have to scrutinize his PC for unnecessary programs sucking bandwidth.
Other then trying the EU servers? No.
If there is something other then simply attempting to switch to the EU servers (which would not allow me to log in as I would time out before the login suceeded) I don't know how to set different proxy servers. If you know how, I'd be happy to give it a try.
Alternatively, limit his connection speed.
So, I've tested again after shutting everything down except my PC and I'm getting just under 10 Mb/s I also took a very close look at what programs and processes I have running on my PC and my rig is fairly clean. Nothing taking up bandwidth aside from firefox which I use to access the three different speed test sites I use.
I'm going to monitor my speed over the next few days and note the times of day it's normal and when it gets throttled down.
Your doing a Level 1 Diagnostic. A level 5 takes less time than a single Keystroke....(Yes I read WAY too many ST tech manuals.)
I just wish I knew half as much about computers as you guys do.
Fleet leader Nova Elite
Fleet Leader House of Nova elite
@ren_larreck
I hope you get everything worked out.
Matt
Find us at CovenantofHonor.com. My Twitter handle; @jmattmiracle
One of your problems might indeed be cognet (the sloppiest carrier in the world as it seems) who has caused trouble to a lot of us in the past and unfortunately you cannot do something against it really (except complaining about it with your ISP).
Checking the other machines in your LAN might indeed bring some of the issues to the daylight. Maybe something is running there that is clogging up your line with requests. If you have the means and knowledge to do so I would run a traffic analysis. Also is this console on standby or really turned off? Might be phoning home as well.
Additionally (if you have access to it) I would check the router firmware and see if there is an upgrade available. Most routers are shipped with a production image that (in worst case) can be years old) while updates have been long available at the manufacturers site which could in fact solve a lot of problems.
Would running CCleaner, Spybot, etc to clean the registry help at all?
The problem most likely isn't at your PC... Try to run the above mentioned Tracert...
Think of it like this:
You want to take the train from Copenhagen to Rome. However, theres no train that goes traight there, so you have to switch several times before you reach your destination.
So you take the train from Copenhagen, and switch in Kolding. Very few people and a realtively well-made layout, so the switch goes smoothly.
Next stop is Hamburg... Goes smoothly too...
Next up is M?nchen... 1000 People want to get on your train, and there are several trains already late so they need to go before your train...
So there you are, trying to get onto a train, with 1000 people trying too, and your train will be delayed because others are too...
13 on my tracert seems quite high
Tracing route to patchserver.crypticstudios.com [208.95.185.41]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 59 ms 99 ms 99 ms BThomehub.home [192.168.1.254]
2 15 ms 17 ms 16 ms 217.32.145.4
3 17 ms 16 ms 16 ms 217.32.145.46
4 23 ms 23 ms 24 ms 213.120.181.190
5 23 ms 24 ms 23 ms 217.41.169.205
6 24 ms 23 ms 23 ms 217.41.169.109
7 25 ms 53 ms 23 ms 109.159.251.237
8 32 ms 31 ms 31 ms core1-te0-0-0-4.ilford.ukcore.bt.net [109.159.25
1.153]
9 28 ms 28 ms 29 ms transit1-pos9-0.telehouse.ukcore.bt.net [62.6.20
1.118]
10 29 ms 30 ms 31 ms 166-49-211-153.eu.bt.net [166.49.211.153]
11 35 ms 30 ms 32 ms 166-49-211-38.eu.bt.net [166.49.211.38]
12 157 ms 108 ms 104 ms xe-3-0-0.bos11.ip4.tinet.net [141.136.109.138]
13 182 ms 182 ms 183 ms internap-gw.ip4.tinet.net [77.67.77.54]
14 107 ms 108 ms 106 ms border11.te8-1-bbnet2.bsn.pnap.net [63.251.128.1
04]
15 113 ms 125 ms 111 ms perfectworldent-4.border11.bsn.pnap.net [216.52.
61.78]
16 109 ms 107 ms 108 ms 208.95.185.41
Trace complete.
Although you do see some latency during the tracert, run it several times and at different times, like when you see the speed issues and when you do not, to compare results. Those high numbers can be the result of many things like excessive traffic at that node.
When you notice the speed issues, try doing the speed tests from both PC's and see if you get the same results.
Also try changing/swapping the ethernet cables to see if the problem moves with the cable. Try different ethernet ports on the router/switch.
Most ISP's will have you connect your PC directly to the cable/DSL modem to do testing which eliminates any devices in between (like Wireless routers) that might be causing issues.
If you determine that the problem IS with your PC, it is impossible that your network interface/card is the problem; replacing or adding another network card is a relatively easy process.
Does your son notice the lag/speed issues as well?
Good luck.
SCE ADVISORY NOTICE: Improper Impulse Engine maintenance can result in REAR THRUSTER LEAKAGE. ALWAYS have your work inspected by another qualified officer.
There have been times when STO is the problem, but when it's not them, 9 times out of 10 players route goes through Cogentco's network.
I'm wondering if they are prioritising network traffic, and STO is loosing out.
go to start - cmd ( same as you did the trace) then type:
ipconfig/all
check if the information is correct.
after that:
ipconfig/release.
followed by:
ipconfig/renew.
this will renew all youre internet connections,and give you a new ip adres,if you dont use static ip adress.
if you use static,it will be the same.
hope this helps,and 200ms is long for package's,
if this dont help,try a reset of youre router.
or put youre cable in port 1,some routers see port 1 as more important as port 2.
if this dont help,check youre drivers,it may also be old drivers.
good luck!
Conclude? No, its frequently cryptics end that is doing it. Many people that have no such problems in any other game have considerable problems with getting lag and disconnects on STO. Thats one of the reasons you shouldn't dump everyone on a commercial MMO into a single server
But I've seen pirate servers with less downtime for other games. Constant disconnects, jittery frame rates (My rig is above the recommended requirements and my details are at the minimum)
And the pay to play bit does seem highly unbalanced. Also the whole lockbox lottery scheme is annoying as I think it's highly annoying that I have to turn off notices to get rid of the "Such and such has been issued such and such ship"
Really, WTF is with that? You set that so called "lucky winner" up for spam from people wanting to buy said item. it's be different if it was a fleet member.
In WoW they didn't announce server wide IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAMN SCREEN DURING A RAID when someone got shadowmourne did they? Keep it to the chat channel as we get enough spam from botters selling EC.
I'm not spending a single penny until I can see that the money is being used to improve the game and hire competent developers.
http://www.internode.on.net/support/faq/tech_space/mpls_traceroute/
describes it much better then i can.
try ping patchserver.crypticstudios.com -t
this will constantly ping the server and see if it drops packets or whether the the ping jumps. You shouldn't get dropped packets, that is a sign of a bad connection. Then you can try ping the segments from the trace route and see where they drop off.
Also your access point can be congested, or your exchange.
but yes, recently the gameplay has definately been substandard, but im just putting the blame for that on the romulans.
Cable ISPs will allocate a dropped loop to a neighborhood and provide service to anyone who wants it - but the overall underlying bus is "shared" on that line until you hit the backbone of the drop at the hub. Essentially, during peak traffic times you'll be contending for throughput with all your neighbors.
Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) operate in a much different way, in that the line to your house is dedicated from the hub. In this sense you are subscribed to that amount of data and it is provided to you without the line being congested past the backbone hub to your home.