Jerkyness and lag

[chainlink]

For about the last week I seem to have been experiencing lag problems and it would seem a significant volume of other folks have too (most of the people who I've been playing with). Its not a graphics issue as relogging does no good and it occurs even after a recent reset (was on one minute after and it still happened). I was just wondering whether it is a regional thing as I do play with lot of other Europeans or a post 1.68 effect although I was definitely OK for a while after I patched the game. It is starting to make the thought of non-immo areas very unappealing to me as it can often be a good few seconds before actions I've initiated actually occur so I start having to guess what to queue based on what the mobs are likely to try during the next period of time. I'm pretty tech savvy and I've not recently upgraded my drivers or changed my hardware and as other people seem to be suffering too its unlikely this would have been the cause anyway. My initial connection pings all seem pretty reasonable at 100-140'ish and other online games I've tried (UT2004, Guild Wars, etc.) have not shown any signs of degraded performance. Anybody got any smart ideas?

[maudlin27]

I've also (for the last week) been experiencing severe problems with lag. I fear my problems may be due either to my computer or isp though. The problem occurs for me during the evening particularly bad, which is why I thought it could well be due to a problem my end rather than with nwn. I did try out other modules, but had the same problem there. I mentioned it to people in-game and they suggested I update my graphics card, and re-install neverwinter nights. Neither of these helped. I also re-installed my modem drivers, changed modems, changed leads used, but am still having the problem. The reason I'm posting here is just I thought there were quite a few similarities, and maybe it could be something different. I'm in the UK, and the problem occurred about a week ago as well. The problem with me is what I'd call 'lag spikes' (whether thats technically correct or not). Basically every now and then I suddenly get a period where my internet connection effectively freezes (for about 3-5 seconds usually). Actions I send during this time get queued up for when this period is over, meaning if im experiencing these problems in pre-immo areas, I'm as good as dead alot of the time.
I was also ok for a short while after the recent patch, which is why I didn't think it'd be due to that, but I guess it's a possibility.

Like I said though, this could well be a problem with me, so I'll have a look at other games and see if im ok there first.

[bkelowna]

Yep, not just overseas. I've reinstalled NWN, replaced my graphics card (and yes current drivers), cut my graphics to fast, disabled sound, disabled antivirus, matched the refresh rate to desk top, disabled hardware mouse (ugg that sure does not help) and so on. I had not been out to prissy for quite a while and last night with a party of three my frame rate went down to 1 frame a sec., never had and issue out there before, ever. Pings are usually in the 100-140 range but something is definitely up (or down).

[kaldair]

Same issues here as well, although I found 2 solutions to mine which I hate ;<

1) Turn off all firewalls & anti-virus scanners. Yah I know only an idiot would do that, but hey I gotta have my NWN ;/

2) Turn off combat logging in the little window thingy that shows it (Right click on the top of the window & use the radial to turn off display combat). Another major pain because things like the party roll which one assumes are not combat also don't display (at least in this window, they still display in the far left window but it scrolls off faster).

Not the best solutions but both these things have returned my play to "normal". I really can't endorse solution number one though as it opens you up to severe problems if you have a high speed connection & even a risk for modem users exists ;<

[quinn]

Me too, I really do believe its that last nwn1.68 update that done it. Every server I play on has these same problems, not just HG. My NWN has been running perfect since i installed it, done that animation fixeroo and i defrag every night. Dont get me wrong it isn't unplayable, just like these guys its pretty noticable the last week or so, even with regular resets and stuff. *damn those crappy cloaks*!

[bkelowna]

Oh, just to clarify, I did uninstall my antivirus and with an assortment of tests, it made no difference and have reinstalled. I don't recommend that solution for any one, although it may help certain configurations.

Also, have tested the combat log disabling (used that for some time) and that made no difference, for me. I actually use that feature now to see what's going on in a battle and take a snap shot of the action and review when the action cools.

[FunkySwerve]

If this phenomenon is only affecting UK/European players it may well be due either to transatlantic connectivity or traffic. I remember we had a bout bout of lag a few years back when we were hosed in the UK, causing all US players some pretty bad lag (and little or none for Europeans). Lasted a few weeks, then went away. For HG2 you'll be pleased to learn that we plan to have European servers (Swiss and UK, is the current plan), as well as US ones, though the technology needed to link the servervault is a bit tricky. The fact that it's only been happening the last week or so tends to indicate that it's not 1.68, as does the fact that 1.68 did nothing that would impact directly on either transmission speeds or amounts.
Funky

[doomsdaybringer]

I( in Canada) also feel some lag spike this/last week... It wasnt that bad, but it did make lvling a mage petty hard.

[chainlink]

I knew it would happen, last night I logged on at about 11 (GMT) and I had no lag whatsoever. It was still there about 6 though as I'd been playing with a test character and the level up screens were lagging like mad. So looks like my issues have gone away, thanks Higher Being.

[whodat1]

if you get a period where you dont have lag, run a tracert to the server and save that info, then compare it later to tracerts you take when things are slow. I would focus on the part where level3 (might be different for euros) hands off to choopa.net routers (near the end of the tracert). When things are slow for me on hg, its usually my local isp, or the choopa network. At least lets me know its a network issue.