Curse

Alex Weekes · May 16, 2006, 02:53 PM // 14:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phantoma

Ok here is the deal, the game Guild Wars is based out of Seattle, that means.,....even if you are on a Euro server..you still have to connect to the game....in Seattle, so...yes....it applies to all providers using the malfunctioning router along it's path, at some point somewhere along the way.
Hope that clears up a bit.

Actually, I need to step in here with a correction. While Guild Wars is developed in Seattle, NCsoft actually runs several server locations. For some of our games, these locations are obviously separate (such as Auto Assault having US and EU servers). With Guild Wars, that separation is not obvious as you do not actively choose a server. There is still a separation, however, in that we do have servers in Europe, and these servers should be unaffected by any US-specific issues.

So for European players (please note that using the EU server as an American may not solve your problem as your traffic may still pass through the problem area):

1. If you choose to set your account to access the American territories by default, then your account is based on the American servers. You may therefore be affected by the current issue.

2. If you choose to set your account to access the European territories by default, then your account is based on the European servers. Your gameplay should not be affected.

But there's a wrinkle here:

* If you are set to EU territory but play with groups that have a majority of American players then you will be temporarily transfered to play on the American server. This includes GvG and other PvP game types.

Ka El Windstorm · May 16, 2006, 05:12 PM // 17:12

woot after lagging for a good 10 mins it finally decided to boot me.

Loomy · May 16, 2006, 06:19 PM // 18:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phantoma

It does appear Alter.net is where the packetloss begins to occur.

Just to put this in perspective. Almost 10 years ago now we had the same problem.

While playing one of the first real multiplayer games (called Subspace), some of us had crippling packetloss from Alter.net. Some of their hardware was between us and the central game server, and for MONTHS we weren't able to play.

At some point the issue was resolved, but it was not prompt. As you can imagine, a tier 1 ISP is probably pretty busy.

Good luck with your problems!

annachie · May 16, 2006, 07:03 PM // 19:03

This is goddamn annoying...at first, there was only lag at towns, but now it's everywhere. Too bad none of the ppl with real power in this matter will do anything, other than blame it on someone else. SO F*IN' SAD.

Phantoma · May 16, 2006, 08:02 PM // 20:02

Alex, thanks for you input that does help in deciding what server location to use

JeremyC1234 · May 16, 2006, 11:04 PM // 23:04

2 guildies just been hacked and all stuff taken, dont know if this is where to put it but i am so pissed i have to type it somewhere

anyone else been hacked?

ADDED: Ok one of my guildies as gotten all his stuff back. This is very weird i still cannot get on {damn you 005}

Uzul · May 16, 2006, 11:48 PM // 23:48

thanks for sharing this information phantoma.
recently gw has become almost unplayable - i connect from germany to the american servers: and everything has been fine ever since the different servers were introduced. (and before that we all played on a server that was situated in america ^^) constant lag and err7s are haunting me
for weeks now: i can't enjoy gvg anymore, and pve became ridiculously laggy too (especially cantha). usually i am at home in the international districts -- but even there the dreadful err7 comes to get me.
the newest issue is error5 - some areas are temporary inaccessable and i get stuck at 0% until gw shows me the default error5 message that brings me back to login. *le sigh*

so - i switched over to euro like alex weekes suggested: international districts are completely done for now -- no chance of even loading into them (err5)
same applies to the guild hall and some maps where the primary quest for my pve characters lead to. when i use the european districts i have.. a little less lag than before on the american ones --- but i still get an error7 from time to time: i have to admit that they are less thou'.
the only problem - no international districts, no meeting my friends from the server that i played on ever since these territories were introduced.
*le sigh*
i am off to write another support ticket for ncsoft...
in the meantime i'll think about how we could get arter.net to fix their freaking hub.

Phantoma · May 17, 2006, 12:31 AM // 00:31

Yeah I have that same problem especially today, I have sent them a pic of each error I got, I am so fed up. I cant get my ranger out of Saltspray or whereever that alliance battling is done. I can't get my necro out of Lutgardis conservatory, and my monk..I got her out of House zu heltzer only to get her stuck at Altrumm ruins, all are unplayable and I am so fed up and afraid to even try my other chars to see if I can play them. This was all in the last hour and a half, needless to say, I havn't done anything but stand in the district and wait minutes away for it to lag out and disconnect. That is NOT playing the game. I can't even get my chars to international district to even try there. Sigh. SOmething has to be done about this. This is as I stated....getting worse. NCSOFT!!!YOu have PPL rage quitting the game! As it is, time for me to look for some other form of entertainment. I have gotten a total of about 2 hours of play time in the past 3 days. Waiting lag bubbles and disconnections is not playing an enjoyable game. I have alliance memebers commenting on my guilds lack of slliance support, but I can't even get in there to get factions up even to 1K !!!! ALTER.NET is killing the game!! for everyone!

robrobrob · May 17, 2006, 01:13 AM // 01:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by raven214

This is exactly what GW needs though - an "official" message board or something - one central place where we can find the truth, so that we aren't forced to rely on rumor/gossip or our own imaginations..

I completely agree. As it stands, there is no way to currently contact ArenaNet directly and inform them of situations like this unless you call or write a letter. Only one of which is even remotely reasonable. There needs to be a method to contact those who maintain Guild Wars on the Guild Wars site. Even if the forum is purely bug reports.

FunkySpunk · May 17, 2006, 02:39 AM // 02:39

many of my guildies cannot get on and I completely lag out after taking 10-20 steps. Typing a message takes up to 10 seconds. There's much lag at the alter.net connection. I haven't got kickedo ut tonight but, many in my guild and other guilds that I chat with say they have people getting a lot of error 5, error 7 and error 50's. To those at NCsoft, I for one am willing to document some stuff if that will help have this issue looked at. I have no problem with rounding up the trooops and making a little noise.

Loviatar · May 17, 2006, 02:47 AM // 02:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by FunkySpunk

I have no problem with rounding up the trooops and making a little noise.

i dont have the slightest idea if this helps but the west coast (los angeles) has had zero problems so far.

a not problem might help isolate something for you as well.

i have had no lag, 5,7,dropped connection in either chapter.
i wish all of you could be as lucky on this

Lady Lozza · May 17, 2006, 04:30 AM // 04:30

Australian player here on EU servers since start of play (on this account) and I'm having the worst lag issues. I'm being booted on average of once per 10 mins of play time that is once the clock hits about 5pm here. Normally before that time it is not quite so bad.

Djvandal · May 17, 2006, 04:51 AM // 04:51

[QUOTE=Phantoma] and have a close knit group of friends that make you feel like you matter, instead of making you feel like a "PUG" or "Noob".

QUOTE]

Thank you fo rposting the info was wondering whats going on i was blaming my isp lol

on a side note PUG is a pick up group could be 8 people that have been playing for 2 years each or 8 noob's its still a pug if it isnt a guild group or a majority guild group :P

Uzul · May 17, 2006, 01:52 PM // 13:52

yesterday i started a new ticket trying to get another official statement out of them: i referred to this thread and provided my net-tool-logs from the last days.
their first attempt to solve it:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ncsoft tech support

Hello Sebastian,

We had numerous customers reporting similar trouble today. Many of them are now reporting that the issue is resolved. Please flush your DNS and try the game again. Let us know if the problem is resolved for you as well.

To do this, open a command prompt by clicking Start, Run, typing cmd and clicking OK. At the prompt, type the command 'ipconfig /flushdns' (without the quotes) and hit enter. You should get a message that the DNS cache has been cleared. Try the flush command 3 or 4 times. Then type exit to close the command console. At this point try launching the game again.

Thanks!
Guild Wars Tech Support

did this - no change --- contacted my isp again: sais everything is fine -- until! the data gets lost somewere in the us: no detail where from my isp, but somehow i have an idea which server that might be.

my problem: as soon as in america things get "busy" - aka after 4pm est - i can forget to even log in. err5 err7 err72 since today -- yay! this gets better once traffic dies down a bit -- so in my afternoon (gmt+1ish) i can play a bit -- lag is there, but i can stand it: it works for some pve stuff: no pvp thou...
the problem is: there is no chance for me to meet my guild when they are on -- since i can't go into my own hall after 5pm est. err5 blocks it.

if i get something useful from the support i will post it here - and in the meantime i am going to find some way to mailbomb arter.net. i think if we cause more work in their PR-department than it would take to fix the hub we might win.

Charr Killer · May 17, 2006, 07:06 PM // 19:06

i have had this problem for a day or so now

i am willing to try to do the DNS flush thingy. but what is DNS? if i flush it will it like reset my computer and its conents? will i have to redownload GW?

Krennel · May 17, 2006, 07:18 PM // 19:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charr Killer

i have had this problem for a day or so now

i am willing to try to do the DNS flush thingy. but what is DNS? if i flush it will it like reset my computer and its conents? will i have to redownload GW?

DNS stands for domain name server all it does is match the www. names with there ip address. Windows XP can cache some dns data on your computer to make surfing alittle faster. All the dns flush does is clean this catch on your computer. But it is possible for the DNS to be updated and your XP dns cache would still think it is down and there for not let you connect until your cache updates it self. So all the flush would do would remove the chance of this happening, how ever unlikely it might be.

Krennel · May 17, 2006, 07:29 PM // 19:29

But now I don't understand how flushing your DNS has anything to do with packet loss from Alter.net or connecting to there servers...

Phantoma · May 17, 2006, 08:01 PM // 20:01

Guys, I did that DNS flush, it didn't help. THat was one of the MANY things that GW tech wanted me to do.

stone433 · May 17, 2006, 09:53 PM // 21:53

I have knoticed a small problum that this thread is creating that needs to be addressed. while Alter.net is creating a lot of issues of Lag in the game right now Alter.net might not be YOUR issue. the chance that somthng changed with your computer / network / isp and you did not relise it is a posability. if Anet support sugests you do somthing to check your connection then do it, by following there instructions it will help them and you the most.

Uzul · May 17, 2006, 11:28 PM // 23:28

newest message from the support asks me to run pingplotter.. .here is the message:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ncsoft tech support

Hello Sebastian,

If there is a faulty piece of hardware with your ISP, or on the route to or from the game servers, it will likely result in you experiencing lag, or even complete loss of Internet access. This can happen to dial-up and broadband (Cable/DSL/LAN) users alike. You may have exceptionally good ping times, and good trace and ping results, but an intermittent problem with hardware along the way can disconnect or lag you and then return to normal before you can capture the information with a trace route or ping. This makes troubleshooting extremely difficult since things work fine when you run the tests.

There is a trial program called PingPlotter Standard that may be of some use to you in determining where the packet loss or latency is happening. You can find the program and information on how to use it at http://www.pingplotter.com/download.html . **This program is not supported by NCsoft** I mention it because I have seen it help people locate their latency issue by letting it run in the background while playing Guild Wars for troubleshooting purposes. It is not recommended that you leave it running in the background for extended periods of time because it may affect the performance of your connection due to the constant monitoring that it does.

There is a freeware version of PingPlotter on the site as well, however it is lacking some of the historical tracking features that will help you in finding the likely source of your latency.

Once you install the Standard version of PingPlotter, do a trace to two IP addresses: 206.127.149.36 and 209.0.88.72

Let it run in the background as you play Guild Wars. Please let the test run for at least 30 minutes. When you are disconnected from the game or experience severe lag, switch back over to Ping lotter and look at the results for the likely cause of your disconnection. As a general rule, red lines in the graph at the bottom are bad and should be looked at first.

You can save a sample set by clicking on File -> Save Sample Set.

Information regarding how to interpret the results can be found in the PingPlotter FAQ located at the following URLs:

http://www.pingplotter.com/tutorial/...xampleOne.html

http://www.pingplotter.com/tutorial/...GraphsISP.html

http://www.pingplotter.com/tutorial/...aphsGamer.html

You can find more information on how to use PingPlotter in the tutorial:

http://www.pingplotter.com/tutorial/index.html

You are able to save historical samples of the trace results to provide to your ISP. If the problem appears to be happening within our network, please export and save the Ping Plotter results and send them to us in an attachment in *.pp2 format. We look forward to seeing the results.

Regards,
Guild Wars Technical Support

i told my guildmates and allies to gather all the information they can with the 2 tools (pingplotter and GWnetworktool) and i will be uploading their logs into my ticket as well. for everyone with this problem i can just recommend to run those tools while having the problem and then start a ticket at http://support.plaync.com/.
if all leads point towards arter.net after all we should focus our mails there - but first we need to supply those logs to a.net. so everyone who hasn't started their own support-ticket about this issue: do so now.
cya later - i have to generate some more log-files.