I12 Info: Map Desync Bug
By
Baby_Phoenix,
Posted on: 2008-05-23 09:32 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
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... and the problem seems to be at IP address 195.66.224.167 (cr02.ldn01.pccwbtn.net).
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Unfortunately that's a server outside our control but located quite close to the datacentre.
I already have a ticket with support, so no use of making a new one, but for completion sake I'll add it here.
* How many characters on your account are affected? 2
* How many characters are not affected? 7
* What are the affected character names? Gonzo Salvato, Sylvana Salvato
* How severely are you affected? Are you affected occasionally, or is the character becoming desynced every time you zone into a new map? Everytime I zone/log on.
I used a freespec to get Sylvana operational with a TP (stupidly I took it at 30, but at least I can do 30+ stuff), Gonzo already had a TP because he's an elec brute.
second account
Server union
have about 8 characters and i get the bug randomly throughout the day. Usually a teleport from a friend or a relog will correct this problem, but some times a certian character will get stuck with the bug for hours of even days at a time.
Even had it on the test server for 1week+
Also weird how 1 character can be perma bugged yet other characters are fine.
Weirdest thing of all is that i had 1 character permantly bugged, yet tried a another computer and it was fine.
Always seem to get it with loading transition from entering or exiting a loading screen.
I would list characters but it pretty much seems to me all my characters are open to it.
Also i never experinced this before i12 but had other supergroup members get it before i12. For me personally since i12 ive been rampant with it.
pretty frustrated about it, but glad im not on my own with this, as you guys have mentioned and also that my supergroup members are all suffering it also.
It's getting worse. Teleport isn't working for about 10% of the time now 
Usualy when I teleport before I get the "Invalid Command ClearSpam" I have to teleport again in order to fix it.
Characters:Kindem, Dohku, Tyler Anders, Teleko, Blade Spirit.
Times: All the time, almost non stop. It takes ages for me to get back, I have to constantly relog or use Ouro Port/Sg Port/Pd Pass.
prettyy much nopn stop with atomitor, fiery devilless, iceation, agent cold front. really really getting annoyed with it now. could it be anything to do with moving the charactors on the startup slots?
please tell me this is being investigated as a priority
Having been a software support manager for years it is a classic delaying tactic to ask the user for lots of information that is irrelevant and takes time to gather ISP, windows versions, character names etc.
On our SG about 50% of us have problems after issue 12 and 25% of us have problems so severe we are not playing.
A quick look at the US forums shows exactly the same issue is widespread there.
I will not go into the detail of what, when and how - everyone else has doe that, but I am amazed at the lack of regular updates on this from the developers.
What should have been a great release with new features has quickly turned in to a nightmare for many of us.
The lack of communication from the developers is NOT GOOD ENOUGH
What do you expect them to say? That they're working on it? They've already said that, so what more CAN they say?
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
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...... Ouro Port/Sg Port/Pd Pass.
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The Pocket D Portal/Teleport/Passport isn't a great idea. I've had a couple of characters getting 'stuck' in Pocket D & you can't use teleport Powers there to free yourself.
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What do you expect them to say? That they're working on it? They've already said that, so what more CAN they say?
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I expect them not to release an issue that is so obviously bug-laden in the first place.
And on a major issue such as this a daily progress update on establishing cause and working towards a remedy gives the customer some peace of mind.
Those in the sg not having the sync problem are ALL reporting much longer load times on zoning and mission loads.
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And on a major issue such as this a daily progress update on establishing cause and working towards a remedy gives the customer some peace of mind.
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What sort of update, exactly?
You can never be sure how long it will take to pin down the cause of a bug, or fix it once it's found, so they can hardly say "Today we're 70% towards resolving this, 8% up on yesterday".
And the specifics of what they're doing: "It looks like it's not the player state flag in CClintComms::ReLog we'd been suspicious of - will look at the CLinkInfo::Items array this afternoon" would be meaningless to outsiders.
So, other than "We're still working on it", what would you want this progress update to contain?
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Having been a software support manager for years it is a classic delaying tactic to ask the user for lots of information that is irrelevant and takes time to gather ISP, windows versions, character names etc.
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Having been a software developer for several decades I can also confirm it's a classic troubleshooting technique when you're trying to pin down intermittent problems that don't occur on all systems.
Once you've worked out what all the systems with problems have in common, you can focus your investigations much more usefully.
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Having been a software developer for several decades I can also confirm it's a classic troubleshooting technique when you're trying to pin down intermittent problems that don't occur on all systems.
Once you've worked out what all the systems with problems have in common, you can focus your investigations much more usefully.
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Which is exactly what we are currently trying to do.
As a specific example, on one of my past projects a bug manifested itself that caused severe gameplay problems for some users. The cause was eventually tracked down to a popular third-party program installed on some PCs; in fact, a specific version of that software. It was only through gathering what many players would consider "irrelevant" data that a pattern was found that pointed to the cause.
When trying to isolate a bug such as this, that has not yet been reproducible for us internally, it is important to gather as much data as possible in order to be able to datamine for potential commonalities between affected players / characters. Much of that data will prove to have been not needed once the bug is isolate, however until that occurs every piece of data we gather has the potential to hold the key to finding the cause of the problem and therefore a solution.
The only update I can give with regards the current desync problems is that it is a high priority for the teams involved, however a definite cause has not yet been isolated. There are some potential leads that are being investigated.
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I expect them not to release an issue that is so obviously bug-laden in the first place.
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As I posted in response to a similar complaint yesterday, when the decision was taken to release Issue 12 the team at NCNC was confident that the Issue was ready. Further, the issue with the desync bug was not known at the time the decision was made. This problem was only discovered after Issue 12 was launched on the live servers.
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As a specific example, on one of my past projects a bug manifested itself that caused severe gameplay problems for some users. The cause was eventually tracked down to a popular third-party program installed on some PCs; in fact, a specific version of that software. It was only through gathering what many players would consider "irrelevant" data that a pattern was found that pointed to the cause.
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A good example of this is the "lag" caused by the using of things like COHLCD, Herostats and Titan Netowrk tracker for badges, I was using the the first and the latter of those after I12 came out, my gameplay was awful. I managed to track down the problem myself, stopped using them and my gaiming has been spot on since.
How many people who reported problems would have mentioned that they even used any of those programs?
We built this city on Rock and Roll!
for information, when i play the only applications i have open are city of heroes, yahoo messenger and msn messenger. usually however the game is the only application i have open. there has been no new software installed on my machine (i am the only one who uses this machine) for the last 2 months. the bug has only appeared after issue 12 release
sent my information off, I only had the problem once before the pre-install/test server went live and that was in the beginning of March. Since the pre-install and test server it happened more frequently (probably once a night if that) but since i12 came out and I rolled out a total 16 new toons each one so far has been plagued by it especailly after 5/6 and when I start venturing out to King Row/Port Oakes.
As above I don't tend to play with anything else on apart from winamp from time to time and bug still occurs whether its on or not!
P.S I have let the powers that be know this
@SkullFester
I'm not changing this signature until I'm proclaimed 'King of the World'.
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for information, when i play the only applications i have open are city of heroes, yahoo messenger and msn messenger. usually however the game is the only application i have open. there has been no new software installed on my machine (i am the only one who uses this machine) for the last 2 months. the bug has only appeared after issue 12 release
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Exactly the point I'm making.
I've been using TNT for many months with no issues, it was ONLY when issue 12 came out that something clashed between em causing the problems.
We built this city on Rock and Roll!
yea, i had the ghost bug like once pre i12 and knew of a few ppl that had gotten it and just relogged and it was sorted, and never seen again, basically a very very rare occurance. Almost so rare most ppl just presumed it was some sort of random error that had occured and not even bothered to mention it. But since I12 release the thing has become a nightmare. Randomly running rampant on the server, And not only that in other cases permantly bugging the characters out totally.
I dont know what the europe side of CoH/CoV/plaync know but browsing the american forums they are experincing it too, and that every single section of the US forums has a Sync Bug thread stickied asking for players to notify them of issues they have experinced concerning the bug.
What ever this Bug is, its effecting lots of people, And is causing alot of havoc. you are not alone.
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So i'm f'ed until they manage to find cause of bug and then patch in the fix... Golly gee.
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Errr... Yes. What else did you expect? "UPDATE secret_settings SET resynch_bug = false WHERE username = Sapphic_Neko"?
It seems I've managed to fix the bug happening to me, I was playing about with my internet connections and noticed my computer was using 2 different ones, since disabling the one the computer should never have touched I've not ahd the problem again!!! Touching wood but I have since played with a toon that it was occuring on and just got another lev'd to 10 without it happening once, which has never happened all week!!
So take a look at ya connections and make sure some sneaky option is ticked that really shouldn't be!
@SkullFester
I'm not changing this signature until I'm proclaimed 'King of the World'.
I haven't done anything but the bug appears to be gone, I'm a pessimist so I expect it to return again but so far so good.
If I were an optimist I would say they either fixed it secretly or removed the thing that unkown to them caused it.
Watch this space.
Or, the third party between you and them, that had been responsible for the problem all along, cleaned their problem up...
mmm maybe its just having a good couple of days then...rats =\
@SkullFester
I'm not changing this signature until I'm proclaimed 'King of the World'.
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Or, the third party between you and them, that had been responsible for the problem all along, cleaned their problem up...
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Good point well made.
i'm a bit confused that how this bug works 90% of my existing toons are perma-twilighted but i have made new toons since i12 2 VEATs and an Elec/Rad Corrupter and they aren't affected.
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