Understanding Lag complaints.

[Kenolein]

Lag, the term from the internet usually refers to ping or latency. The time it takes for a command to reach the server and return. I have a feeling that many people are applying the term in other ways making for conflicting and confusing reports.

When I click on a building, it opens pretty rapidly, this tells me that the server is responding quickly to my request. This eliminates the standard definition of lag. If this is the lag you have, you should look at a traceroute to the server and see where the slowdowns happen. You might be able to help with cleaning cache or a different browser/flash version. You might be stuck with it unless you change ISP. This is not something Bluebyte can change.

Buffing I believe has a fixed timer, probably to limit server load. This is an artificial lag but designed and expected. This can't be changed by anything you do locally. BB has programmed this, and I don't expect it to change anytime soon.

Upgrading/starting/stopping production is a server load issue I believe. Until BB does a major server upgrade or a code efficiency update, we are stuck with this.

Generals slow leaving camp is also server load issue. The busier the server, the worse it gets, and the holiday makes the server very busy. It can make timing blocks difficult, but not impossible. Also, doing multi-player missions with both people on the adventure at the same time causes an out-of-sync situation and makes the delay worse and unpredictable sometimes.

Complaining about the last 2 might get their attention, if you spell out what issues you have are. Just complaining the server is laggy doesn't help devs understand the problem, and will get you a message to check your internet settings/cache. The buff delay I think we are stuck with.

One note about lag (the first one), I notice a major difference between my wired desktop and my wifi laptop. Both have specs well above necessary, and ping to various websites isn't dramatically different. And using a public wifi like at the library or McDonald's is downright slow.

[Robbe]

Kenolein, I appreciate your explanation!

[Forrell]

I'm not a computer mechanic.

It should work with the latest Firefox and with the latest Flash.

My first thought is, how many thousands of miles away is the player who is whispering me.

Then I wonder if the server timed me out because it's seems to forget I am here and is surprised by every click.

The notifications are source of needless lag imo.

The notifications have poor timing, they pop up indiscriminately, there has to be a better way to prioritize them.

Chat crash may be the second most noticeable cause of loss of connectivity.

I've noticed that during some crashes that a building on the island wouldn't deselect.