Server coasts are as follows:
East: Freedom, Pinnacle, Liberty, Infinity, Victory, Triumph
West: Justice, Virtue, Guardian, Protector, Champion, Training Room
You can tell when one coast or the other is having problems from the server status page; every other line will list as down.
And on a more technical note: Cable and DSL users may want to try to restrict other use of their connections while playing. Excessive upload speed can "choke" your connection, so try to cap your uploading at roughly 3/4 of your maximum upload speed; excessive download speed can have a similar effect, but most connections allow for much greater download speeds so this is generally less of a problem. Obviously, test your setup to see what works for you.
The Guide to Lag
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I. Introduction
Not all superheroes are let off the nest into the world of crime on equal footing. Some are plagued by mystical curses, their powers doomed to never operate at full function. Others have to deal with unreliable technology that requires fussy repairs. And then there are just some that are harrassed every single step of their crimefighting career by the abominable presence called lag.
I've been playing City of Heroes for a few months, and have gotten a single character to level 50. Along the way, I have been beset by a terrible connection and for half my playing career, and even worse desktop computer that is falling apart. These two merge together to make the game one of the most frustrating utilities that I have ever had the displeasure of perusing. However, the flipside of that is that I can share some of my trivial wisdom with you.
Incidentally, I've played with a fair number of players and oftentimes, lag does hit - and people complain a lot. But as best as I can recall, I do not believe I've seen a guide to lag! Do people just accept it as a fait accompli and move on? I don't think the same way - given that I have to deal with some of the world's most frustrating amount of lags and still fight the good fight, here are just some tricks and tips I've devised over the last few months that I can share with you.
If you do not experience lag, then you may wish to avoid reading this guide, for it will probably be of almost no use to you. However, as a good host, I try to make things entertaining. It is good to keep a generally light sense of humor when dealing with lag - after all, you're more likely to swear your butt off as you acrue fifty-five thousand debt because of a silly mistake.
II. The General Dosis on Lag
1. What is lag, and why does it occur?
'Lag' is, to put in layman's terms (all I can do!), desynchronization between the game server and your computer. Whether it be from a slow connection that can't keep up, or your computer's CPU being as sharp as a butter knife, lag takes on many shapes and forms in most any online game you'll play. City of Heroes/Villains is not exempt from this, of course. In short, lag is a hindrance to performance, whether it be yours, or the presentation of the game towards you.
2. Who is affected by lag?
Generally, if you've a good computer and a good connection, you'll rarely see lag. You may experience lag if the server is hiccuping and being uppity, but I have it on good faith that does not occur that often. Users that are on worse computers or bad connections will be more slowed down by lag.
Typically, if you experience lag, you'll be lagged every single day of your playing career, but not always. Connections aren't set in stone, after all; some days, routers may be down that seriously impair performance.
3. How do you deal with lag?
If you are on dial-up, you'll probably experience lag (or even a lot of it). I highly recommend that if you are to invest any period of time in a MMO such as Co*, that you acquire a more stable connection such as cable, broadband or ADSL. What's more, these types of connections typically have a flat monthly rate instead of an ongoing charge and may save you a lot of money past installation.
If you are experiencing lag that does not seem to be server-side and you are on a cable-type of connection, you may find some success in rebooting your router.
The other major part of dealing with lag is to upgrade your computer. It's not pretty on your wallet, no. You'll want to at least meet the minimal requirements listed for Co*, and much more preferrably meet the recommended requirements. Memory is a large part of keeping ontop of things; a good video card is the other. All else failing, a bogged-down computer that's been operational for years could see a reformat to freshen it out. It's a pain, but it works wonders.
The last sort of lag is server-side. You can't really do anything about this other than tough it out, or wait for it to subside. Typically servers are most stable right after maintenance periods.
4. Where does lag hit?
Lag can hit anywhere in the world, but the closer you are to the server you are playing on, the less likely it will hit you. The reasoning for this is simple: the further away you are, the more likely you will require more 'hops' to reach the server via routers. A longer hop will take a longer time to resolve, and as such lag may ensue. For those living in the United States, you may wish to find out which of the servers are West Coast, and which are East Coast.
For those living outside of the US... tough luck, mostly. But it does not hurt to choose the closer of the two coasts. I play on the West Coast since all it takes is a daring hop across the Pacific Ocean! Scientifically it may be unrelated, but it's always good to have a personal assurance or two. After all, this is a layman's guide to lag, not a technical manual.
III. City of Heroes/Villains-specific Synopsis
After that general dossier on lag, we'll be discussing the aspects of lag that you will see in City of Heroes/Villains. I will be using many game terms, but I'm sure that most people reading this will be familiar already with some of these words. Without further ado:
1. Rubberband
There is a word that I have coined with a few of my friends. We call it 'Rubberbanding'. What is rubberbanding? It may be easiest to demonstrate it with an example:
I'm standing in Atlas Park, under the statue of Atlas. My mission is to investigate a warehouse five hundred yards away, so I get to my feet and run down the steps and suddenly magic happens and I'm back where I started without any warning or response!
Melodramatics aside, that is the act of rubberbanding. To delve into technicalities for a moment, it likely happens because there is desynchronization between your connection and that of the mapserver's. Inevitably, a player's input will occur on *their* side of the playing board first - I press the key to move forward, the signal is sent to my computer and over the internet towards the mapserver. If lag is present, this may hamper the speed in which the key input takes place, and since this is a massively multiplayer online game, the mapserver's position of my character will be prioritized. And as such, rubberbanding happens.
What are the effects of rubberbanding? There are a few important ones. For one, it will hamper your movement and potentially throw you into groups of mobs and aggro them. It will also slow you down and potentially make your team have to wait for you. It may also jeopardize you in the midst of combat.
In some rare cases, rubberbanding will throw you across the building towards where the elevators were before you went to go fight Frostfire and you can make a quick escape into safety. But don't count on it helping you! It is a curse, not a blessing.
2. Shuffling
'Shuffling' is another term I've coined for when other people/NPCs go through what essentially looks like a shuffle: their positions wildly vary and aren't fluid or even in place. Like rubberbanding, this occurs when there is a disrepancy between what the mapserver states people are and what your computer has on hold. This comes easily hand in hand with rubberbanding and is quite often easy to spot - just look at the masses of random people walking down the road. If a few of them look like they're doing the moonwalk from time to time, you've got a problem.
Shuffling is most dangerous when it occurs in combat, because it will disorient you as to where your allies and enemies' positions are. It's worth noting that if you're a healer that you've got a reliable track on your allies - the team window. If you are a melee or ranged fighter, you may wish to stop for a moment and use more reliable commands (such as using "Target Nearest Enemy" instead of the typical Tab function; I typically set it to tilde (~)).
Also for melee fighters, you may find it useful to just select a target you are combatting, and then set yourself to follow (F button by default). This way, you won't have to worry about positioning and you can just focus on utilizing your attacks.
Perhaps the most irritating aspect of shuffling is how effects 'streak' because of the disrepant positions. Corruptor Fire Shield is particularly painful about this, because various blazing streaks will often fill your screen. Look away while you can! Your eyes are young.
3. Slideshows
Sometimes, the lag hits you so hard that things no longer just try to 'adjust' in wild flux (see above), but just go through 'slides' of what look like slideshows. In this more extreme case, things just stop moving - and then suddenly shift - and then shift again.
You typically cannot deal with a slideshow because it will freeze you. However, do take the time to examine the details of the 'slideshow' and make a snappy decision as to what you have to do. Start mashing the button to that power you need to use! You typically won't achieve full effectiveness, but doing *something* as slides change is better than doing nothing at all. Healers, spamming Healing Aura or Twilight Grasp/et cetera might buy you some time while you pray for the slideshow to pass.
4. Mapserver, and Losing Connection to it
Almost every City of Heroes/Villains player has seen this horrible message printed out across the screen. When it occurs, everything pauses; not even archvillains and the bitterest of foes are immune to it. It's like some guardian angel just shone down and froze time for you while it gets ready to give you a big smackdown to the face.
"Lost Connection to Mapserver"
Yes, we've all seen this message, and it's quite frequently the most irritating form of 'lag' we'll get. But just get one thing straight - not all lost connections remain lost! Sometimes it will only pop up for a few seconds and then you are inexplicably thrown back into the action. Be ready for that!
You can bet your socks that if you've lost connection for more than fifteen or twenty seconds that you can instead get ready to type your account password, though. Oh, and make sure to wear argyle socks in that case. I like argyle.
As an aside, always carry an Awaken with you, or possess a power that will allow you to resurrect yourself! If you are plagued by lag, you do not want to visit the hospital. You see, the villains are dastardly and they set up an invisible trapdoor that will make you lose connection when you exit a hospital ...
But to be more serious, exiting buildings can often be one of the most frustrating things to one with bad connection. Portal Corps doors are one of the most notorious. I've spent my entire career teleporting my worthless mentor *nudge nudge* out of Portal Corps because he literally could not leave the building without assistance or go lose connection to mapserver. As I imply in the sentence before, having a friend with Recall Friend standing outside will allow you to safely exit the building.
5. Load Times
This one is more straightforward. The better your connection, the faster your zoning time! The better your computer, the faster your zoning time! It's like new math. So simple, only a child can do it.
Some people have notoriously long zoning times that can literally force a team to bust out boomboxes and dance the night away while they try to fiddle with that darned Council gate lock. It's harsh, but the best way to solve this is to either deal with it or get a better connection/computer. More memory, in particular, can do wonders about load times.
Oh, and try to avoid crowded places, of course. As a rule of thumb, avoid picking Atlas Park as a starting place because Galaxy is less crowded. Try not to go into Atlas Park unless you HAVE to. Plan your routes so that you require to cross the least zones. Load times will inevitably be the bulk of your travel time, even if you've got an impressively slotted travel power.
6. Miscellany
These five features aren't all the documented parts of lag. Indeed, lag is such a monstrous creation that it may surprise you in other ways. Sometimes, it is as small but critical as pretty much putting you on hold as you struggle to get a power to fire off. Sometimes it may just make you miss that critical jump when you're hopping Peregrine's power lines and make you fall into an ambush of six Sappers. Again.
Perhaps the best way to deal with lag is: Play hard, or go home. That's just the way it is sometimes.
You're the worst mentor ever.