I12 Info: Map Desync Bug
By
Baby_Phoenix,
Posted on: 2008-05-23 09:32 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
Perhaps they could help alleviate matters by giving the players a way to force a server resynch, perhaps with a /resynch command? It's not a proper fix, but would at least help a lot of players get going again.
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Just set /stuck to TP to the SG base exit or similar.
(I mean the place the Base beacon leaves you, not by the actual base entrance that would be exploitable.)
Number of toons: 1
Name: vilgax
Severity: Everytime I zone and I cannot do ANYTHING
Already petitioned it but nadda so far :S
Number of toons: 6
Names: Defiant: Karin Katklaws, Annah, Red Dragoness, Quilvess, Gunsmith Cat. Union: Sapphic Neko
Severity: Everytime i log in/manage to zone the bug strikes.
Possible cause. Chars have gotten moved around because i got a bunch of slots which says Unavailable in my char list, and these chars have gotten pushed around due to that.
New chars at the end of list work fine. Have not checked all chars tho (i have so many ><
.
I'll just direct everyone's attention to this part of GR's post:
[ QUOTE ]
Unfortunately it appears that for some players this bug has become more prevalent / severe since the Issue 12 launch. If you are affected, we request that you contact support and include some additional information:
* How many characters on your account are affected?
* How many characters are not affected?
* What are the affected character names?
* How severely are you affected? Are you affected occasionally, or is the character becoming desynced every time you zone into a new map?
[/ QUOTE ]
Emphasis mine.
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise ; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.*
[ QUOTE ]
Already petitioned it but nadda so far :S
[/ QUOTE ]
That will be because they are processing your information along with everyone else that has petitioned rather than responding to each case individually. And tbh that's what I would rather have happening than individual responses.
Nice one on petitioning though. 
Number of toons affected so far: 4
Names: Volt, Dreadlock, Despoiler, Glacial.
I've not tried any other toons yet, too busy crying (seeing as I finally found an MM I like playing).
I have a ticket sent in with that info, but they wanted to know what ISP i use, what my comp is etc etc. Posted info in here as well, since the support staff does not appear to be upto date on this issue.
Cause it's an error on my end when some chars work and others don't... mmm yeah *rolls eyes*.
No of characters affected: 2
Server: Union
Character names: Forseti and Selonicus
all other characters functioning normally
not: dunno if it matters but selonicus was the first villain created on the account and forseti the first hero-its the only thing they have in common
also i used the freespec to change to TP as a travel power they are playable now (except for the fact that i hate TP)
[ QUOTE ]
I have a ticket sent in with that info, but they wanted to know what ISP i use, what my comp is etc etc. Posted info in here as well, since the support staff does not appear to be upto date on this issue.
Cause it's an error on my end when some chars work and others don't... mmm yeah *rolls eyes*.
[/ QUOTE ]
Stupidly enough, it could actually be your ISP with a routing issue, in particular if the characters are on several different servers (ie the ones affected are on one, and the ones NOT affected are on another)... this is more prevailant on games where each server has a different IP address (hint MOST do )
Also, there are some real head scratching problems that i have seen as well (such as why a player can login into ALL the live servers and NOT the test server even though everything is setup EXACTLY as it should be)
Hell for all we know, it could actually end up being one of THEIR machines that is having a hissy fit and causing these issues (either that or your ISP deciding that playing CoX is akin to P2P software and therefore sending "reset" codes to the CoX server, which is resulting in your desynch's)
But yes, although it is annoying I would always give them as much information as possible, even MORE information than is asked sometimes...
PS the BEST one that i have heard of, was one guy complaing about an installer being corrupted (downloading from an FTP server that had about 50K downloads with no issues)... he downloaded it, corrupted download and wouldnt even finish the extraction BEFORE it could install the game... I downloaded it 3 times, no corruption (just to make sure). In the end it turned out to be his firewall as it was adding an extra couple of bytes to the end of the file, so when the file was checked, it didnt match the CRC that it was meant to have). Without asking "stupid" questions, you cant always get a sensible resolution (even if it is "sorry, there is NOTHING that we can do for you")
[ QUOTE ]
also i used the freespec to change to TP as a travel power they are playable now (except for the fact that i hate TP)
[/ QUOTE ]
How do you use self tp to cure it? I have it on a tank but can't tp when twilighted. 
[ QUOTE ]
How do you use self tp to cure it? I have it on a tank but can't tp when twilighted.
[/ QUOTE ]
You can often - not always - TP to a position that's in range and in line of sight of the point where you entered the map. That's where the server thinks you are, so the TP has to be a correct TP from that point.
Still @Shadow Kitty
"I became Archvillain before Statesman nerfed himself!"
[ QUOTE ]
You can often - not always - TP to a position that's in range and in line of sight of the point where you entered the map. That's where the server thinks you are, so the TP has to be a correct TP from that point.
[/ QUOTE ]
Always works for me. the second you zone just TP a foot or 2 infront of you and you will become un-ghosted until you Zone again
Well I've been struck this on two characters now. Only CoV ones from what I've tried so far. one I managed to respec TP into but the other I cant as they didn't get the Free respec (Think it was to do with her being a widow and so made on the day I12 arrived rather than before).
The thing that I *think* triggered it was updating my drivers. I sometimes get a crash while trying to zone into a map, where it gets to the CoV splash screen loading part. Then cuts out with a 'mapserver disconnected' while I get to see the open doorway (asif someone had clicked it) and the capes/etc of people gone in the doorway. I can click on the menu from the Health Bar bit, and select the log out, which turns all the ground invisble, so I get a nice blank screen of the colour of the sky depending on the time in-game it happened and sometimes a few mobs if they're nearby. This means I have to close down the game using Ctrl-Alt-Delete and such. Nothing new this time, verifies etc, but when it starts to load up into the login screen, I get a pop up saying that my Nvidia drivers were incompatible and so 'Nvidia OpenGL' had been disabled, then prompted to go the the Nvidia site to get the latest drivers. A quick download and install+reboot later I get back into the login screen no problems. I log into my toon and everything seems fine, I get re-invited to the team, I get in the map and head on as usual. Only at a certain point, no matter what I'd freeze to the others while not myself, Desyncing.
It only came apparent after about 5 relogs, and eventual friend tp-ing me so we can complete the mission, that I was stuck with the persistent Desyncing bug. This was yesterday, and today I found out that another character had been affected by it.
I've sent a Petition to the support about the first character being stuck like that, but sent it before I knew about second character. I included the information about that it only started happening after I updated my drivers, and my card is an Nvidia 8600GTS.
* How many characters on your account are affected? 1
* How many characters are not affected? 1
* What are the affected character names? SanatiVe
* How severely are you affected? Are you affected occasionally, or is the character becoming desynced every time you zone into a new map? every time i try to get into mission
CoH support once again shows their brilliant level of attention.
I send in a ticket with names of all toons i have the bug on. some GM asks what my ISP, specs etc are. i politely point out that this bug is known and i was following forum direction, linking to this thread. I get scalated to senior GM. who prompty asks which characters are affected.
Uh... didn't i send this to begin with?
Gawd... starting to think the only solution will be to spec in TP which i loathe as travel power. And it's so many chars too ><
Really wanna play too, missed so many TF's because my chars havn't worked.
I don't want to sound like i'm about to brak something but that is what I'm about to do.
I send in a petition.
I get E-mail asking for details.
I try to log in to the site to inform the GM of problem.
Site refuses to accept my login.
Thinking I have forgotten my password I ask for it to be sent to me.
It replies Login details are wrong.
I try to send to reference via the "ask a question tab" still tells me my login is wrong.
So I shall ask here in hope that they're checking this (they should be but still...)
Incident: 080524-001224
The info you require is
The Character affected is Robojock.
Other tons affected 0
toons unnafected 19
It happens every time as soon as I zone into mish or anywhere else.
I appreciate this is the first major hiccup I've had with game (Yeah, lucky some might say) so I'm not about to march on NC's offices with a torch (it's run out of batteries anyways).
What also may be important is I'm using Vista premium 64 bit and updated to service pack 1 the evening before it first happened.
As I type it's now affecting my other villain Anti bowler.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I have a ticket sent in with that info, but they wanted to know what ISP i use, what my comp is etc etc. Posted info in here as well, since the support staff does not appear to be upto date on this issue.
Cause it's an error on my end when some chars work and others don't... mmm yeah *rolls eyes*.
[/ QUOTE ]
Stupidly enough, it could actually be your ISP with a routing issue, in particular if the characters are on several different servers (ie the ones affected are on one, and the ones NOT affected are on another)... this is more prevailant on games where each server has a different IP address (hint MOST do )
Also, there are some real head scratching problems that i have seen as well (such as why a player can login into ALL the live servers and NOT the test server even though everything is setup EXACTLY as it should be)
Hell for all we know, it could actually end up being one of THEIR machines that is having a hissy fit and causing these issues (either that or your ISP deciding that playing CoX is akin to P2P software and therefore sending "reset" codes to the CoX server, which is resulting in your desynch's)
But yes, although it is annoying I would always give them as much information as possible, even MORE information than is asked sometimes...
PS the BEST one that i have heard of, was one guy complaing about an installer being corrupted (downloading from an FTP server that had about 50K downloads with no issues)... he downloaded it, corrupted download and wouldnt even finish the extraction BEFORE it could install the game... I downloaded it 3 times, no corruption (just to make sure). In the end it turned out to be his firewall as it was adding an extra couple of bytes to the end of the file, so when the file was checked, it didnt match the CRC that it was meant to have). Without asking "stupid" questions, you cant always get a sensible resolution (even if it is "sorry, there is NOTHING that we can do for you")
[/ QUOTE ]
Adding on from this, I've logged in to CoH from my parents house, on their PC, and the bug is 'gone'. Now they do have a different set-up (Vista, better graphics card and such...) because they bought it end of last year, but it does seem to imply there is a possible issue at our end as well as a possible issue at the server end.
Now to update my support log...
Happened to me once. I used my Pocket D VIP Pass and returned to the area later. That's the only time I've seen it though.
Got a reply from customer support today...
[ QUOTE ]
Hello Karin,
Thank you for contacting the PlayNC Customer Support team. We always appreciate hearing from our players. The problem you have reported is a known issue and the development team is already working on an appropriate solution. However, we are going to forward your enquiry to our Quality Assurance (QA) department in order to provide the development team with as much information as possible.
Thank you very much for your patience and understanding, as well as your interest in helping to improve City of Heroes/Villains.
Kind regards,
GM Charles
PlayNC Customer Support Team
http://eu.plaync.com
[/ QUOTE ]
...
So i'm f'ed until they manage to find cause of bug and then patch in the fix... Golly gee.
UPDATE
Number of toons: I think all 26.
Names: Main ones are Operative Jerico, vilgax and Sensei Iggy.
Severity: Can't zone without being attacked by the bloody thing.
I don't know if this is anything to do with issue 12. I was having mapserver connection problems days before the issue was released. I don't know if that's linked to the bug, but both times I've encountered it have been during times when the connection to the mapserver is very dodgy. I've been using pingplotter (before and after issue 12), and the problem seems to be at IP address 195.66.224.167 (cr02.ldn01.pccwbtn.net).
Many players have reported problems with becoming de-synced from maps. Symptoms of this bug include receiving an "out of range" message when using powers when you should be within range, being unable to interact with the environment (such as doors) and being unable to zone. A common workaround for this bug usable by players is to have another player teleport the affected character.
This bug is known variously in the community as the "Twilight" bug, "Door" bug, "Empty World" bug, "Ghost Map" bug or "Out of Body" bug. We will be referring to this bug as the Map Desync bug, as this describes what is actually happening.
Unfortunately it appears that for some players this bug has become more prevalent / severe since the Issue 12 launch. If you are affected, we request that you contact support and include some additional information:
* How many characters on your account are affected?
* How many characters are not affected?
* What are the affected character names?
* How severely are you affected? Are you affected occasionally, or is the character becoming desynced every time you zone into a new map?
edit to add: If you are affected please make sure to petition our support team. A post to these forums is not sufficient to ensure that we get all of the information we need from you.