Devs: Why can't you just add more memory and processing power to Freedom?
By
ArcticFahx,
Posted on: 2010-09-16 24:39 in Freedom
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agreed.
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Originally Posted by marc100
This server has been overloaded for the 5 years I've been playing this game.
It's not a secret that its overloaded. YOU KNOW every night it goes red and lags. It will go red tonight. It will go red tomorrow night. Why dont you DO something about the overloaded servers? If this were my business I'd be embarrassed if I had paying customers logging in and lagging and slow every. single. night. for years. and I would fix it so my customers experience is excellent and keep coming back for more. |
Pay no attention to the color of the servers...
Freedom specifically has been upgraded already.
Prepare yourself for the numerous posters to follow with how they never have any issues on Freedom and it's on your end...
Maestro Mavius - Infinity
Capt. Biohazrd - PCSAR
Talsor Tech - Talsorian Guard
Keep Calm & Chive On!
high speed cable - check
custom built rig - check
hmmm
Don't get me wrong. I'm not disagreeing. Heck I can barely run around Liberty these days.
I've just been around long enough to know whats coming. 
Maestro Mavius - Infinity
Capt. Biohazrd - PCSAR
Talsor Tech - Talsorian Guard
Keep Calm & Chive On!
nice avatar mavius
I mostly play afternoons on my mid week days off and most nights from midnight to 2am EST. I have 40 mbs cable and a 3 year old rig. I only lag on Freedom from 4 to 8 pm EST if at all. Most of the time I'm good.
Cause the only easier way to fix this issue is to server merge...and now who wants to be on a server with people on it...oh wait..maybe that's why people move to virtue and freedom everyday...shoot nevermind 
Fire and water. 
I actually had a thought about the whole server merge deal the other day.
I'm not for one personally. But if the day ever comes when it is decided to do it. I think they could easily fold it into the lore of the game and avoid some of the server merge = mmo death drama.
Rularuu the Ravager absorbs dimensions. I've always viewed the 11 servers as various dimensions. With the same Earth, but seperate Heroes because of the Power source. Most of my Heroes reside in the dimension known as Infinity. While my Villains mainly reside in the Virtue dimension.
So. With viewing the servers as dimensions. An in game event can be started. With Rularuu regaining a few aspects, thus giving him the power to absorbs the dimension he's currently in and escape the Shard.
The Heroes and Villains and Praetorians who managed to get prior warning would have used Portal Corp. to escape to another dimension before the destruction. Thus explaining name conflicts.
Then on the final few dimensions, Everyone combines power. The full force of the Menders, Midnighters, Phalanx, Praetors, Arachnos and every hero in the game are successful in re sealing Rularuu in the Shard.
Minus a few dimensions.
Maestro Mavius - Infinity
Capt. Biohazrd - PCSAR
Talsor Tech - Talsorian Guard
Keep Calm & Chive On!
slight problem with the server merge theory.
It was stated back at Comic-Con that cross-server teaming was on the list of tech to be worked on.
Implementing cross-server teaming would eliminate the need for a merge.
So. No Merge. Get over it.
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Yeah.|
Originally Posted by marc100
This server has been overloaded for the 5 years I've been playing this game.
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| It's not a secret that its overloaded. |
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| YOU KNOW every night it goes red and lags. |
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| It will go red tonight. |
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| It will go red tomorrow night. |
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| Why dont you DO something about the overloaded servers? |
Second of all, people ******* for years about low pop on other servers, server merges, transfers, etc. So there have been several free transfer events. And guess what, a whole butt-ton of people moved off their hated "low pop" servers to Freedom.
What's more, the game is supporting more and more high-load systems on top of just basic game function (get mission, run around, beat crap up, get rewards).
And you ever think the problem might not be something they can simply (or easily or economically) throw equipment resources at?
Maybe they're maxing out high-speed multi-core processors right now.
Maybe they're maxing out bandwidth on the memory interface. If so, MORE memory helps nothing.
Maybe they're maxing out bandwidth to their mass storage devices.
How about this for a maybe. Maybe the lag has nothing to do with the server load status. Yes, it COULD be server load. But it could be your system, or your internet connection, or one of the various nodes between you and me.
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| If this were my business I'd be embarrassed if I had paying customers logging in and lagging and slow every. single. night. for years. and I would fix it so my customers experience is excellent and keep coming back for more. |
YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
You're trying to lay blame for an event with multiple (sometimes cumulative) causes on a single cause.
Bravo.
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
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Then get more|
Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
Maybe they're maxing out high-speed multi-core processors right now.
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Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
Maybe they're maxing out bandwidth
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Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
How about this for a maybe. Maybe the lag has nothing to do with the server load status. Yes, it COULD be server load. But it could be your system, or your internet connection, or one of the various nodes between you and me. |
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Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
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And my sites are interactive and require multiple processing and queries with every click, similar to get mission, run around, beat crap up, get rewards.
When my busy sites go slow, I add another box or upgrade my processors or memory and that usually solves it.
I'm certainly not a network master and certainly dont handle the kind of heavy usage CoX uses, but I would think that any sr unix/sql admin could solve the problem if they WANTED to.
5 years with this issue?
To me that smacks of "we just dont care to fix it".
Global: @Fire Beam
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Not really. It's only been this consistently bad on Freedom since 1.) GR went live, so that's new code and a lot more players; and 2.) since the server relocation from VA to TX in July, where we began to notice some niggling issues.|
Originally Posted by marc100
5 years with this issue?
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Before July, we'd cruise at yellow, very occasionally dip into the red, and be slicker than snot than other servers like Virtue and Guardian, whose problems have been far worse than here.
So, yeah, we got issues right now for instability. I don't think it's load related (because I've played her at full-on red, queues engaged, and have been pretty smooth), but rather corky code that got thru their QA team.
I'm behind you that I want the instability fixed. But I'm against you when you think it can just be fixed with MOAR CPU.
Cheers. Welcome to Freedom.
-T.
@TURGENEV - Freedom Server / IRON / B.A.N.E / HORDE
Turg Fiction: Ghost in the Machine Acts III & IV coming 2012!
Turg Fiction: IX is now LIVE on Architect Entertainment!
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On a group mapserv? Probably not. That's, likely either the server, the colo facility's network, or their immediate peering point. |
Originally Posted by marc100
So when Im on teams and everything stops and a few seconds later everyone says "Mapserved" "Yup" "Me too" "Me too" "Me too", thats my system or internet connection?
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I kinda do. I've been making my full time living online since 2001 and running my own websites since then. And my sites are interactive and require multiple processing and queries with every click, similar to get mission, run around, beat crap up, get rewards. |
You can't do that in a game that requires synchronization between client and server.
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| When my busy sites go slow, I add another box or upgrade my processors or memory and that usually solves it. |
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| I'm certainly not a network master and certainly dont handle the kind of heavy usage CoX uses, but I would think that any sr unix/sql admin could solve the problem if they WANTED to. |
Also, what makes you think the CoH servers are running Unix?
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5 years with this issue? To me that smacks of "we just dont care to fix it". |
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
I normally almost never lag except for the areas on the ITF, but I have been crashing a whole lot since the newest issue came out. It's rather annoying. I was playing tonight and I crashed about 3 times within the hour. I just logged, and that was that.
I never have problems on Freedom; I'm pretty sure it's all on your end.
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Actually it's extremely well known that the CoH servers run on Windows: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserv....mspx?recid=40|
Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
Also, what makes you think the CoH servers are running Unix?
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Microsoft was so proud that NCSoft had chosen NT5 64bit they ran a whole Customer Case Study on the deal. It's one of Microsoft's few... accomplishments... in the realm of mass game servers. There's a reason most other MMO's, such as one produced by Blizzard, and ones produced by Mythic | EAMythic, did/do run on *nix bases (even though they don't actually have a *nix client for the gamer)
It's also why you'll see me dropping one-liners about new engine technologies involving moving the CoH servers to a *nix base.
As far as I'm aware, the City of Heroes servers are still largely based on NT5 64bit. I'm not aware of NCSoft purchasing NT6 licenses in bulk... and trust me... as happy as Microsoft was back when NCSoft bought the NT5 licenses in bulk, Microsoft would be yapping as loudly as possible about another successful sale. I'm also unaware of NCSoft / Paragon Studios cutting any deals with the traditional Unix Vendors (IBM, HP, Sun/Oracle), or the traditional Linux vendors (Red Hat, Novell), and I've seen nothing on the Debian side that indicates NCSoft is pulling from Debian for server work.
It is possible that some of the peripheral servers, such as those used for email or the auction house, might be running some sort of Debian distro, I just doubt it presuming a top-down company order that requires all NCSoft servers to be running the contracted version of NT5 64bit.
As much as I like City of Heroes... I'll be the first in line to say this: CoH proves that Microsoft software can't back a Major MMO.
I would have hoped that the amount of required server maintenance, lag issues, load balancing problems, and other assorted issues over the years would have clued Cryptic, then NCSoft / Paragon Studios into actively getting away from Microsoft server software.
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On a tangential note, the usage of NT5 64bit is one of the reasons more memory or processing power wouldn't exactly help the game's servers to begin with. There's a pretty good reason when you drop by the Top500 SuperComputer list that only 1% of the list uses Microsoft Operating Systems. Even then, the Windows HPC 2008 NT kernel that actually makes it into the current Top500 list is not the same NT kernel that is distributed in the Server editions of Microsoft Windows. The kernel itself is reportedly significantly different, resembling more the stripped out PowerPC NT kernel used in the Xbox 360.
As a note, in comparison to the Linux and Unix kernels that make the list, many of the generically listed Linux kernels are just stock Debian kernels, and the specifically listed Novell / Red Hat kernels are also pretty much stock.
Basically, because the stock NT kernel, which I'm having to assume that Paragon Studios is still using, doesn't scale against memory or processor changes, adding more processors or more memory to the servers is likely going to have no real, or statistical benchmark, performance differences.
Moving to the HPC 2k8 kernel for better processor scaling isn't exactly a good solution either. That kernel reportedly shares a completely different source branch from the standard NT kernel, and is mostly tuned for data throughput. That might be good for crunching scientific numbers really fast. That's not so good for a game server that has multiple read / write requests and table look-ups coupled with managing simultaneous random network connections.
Turg has it. These issues really started with the server move to TX.
Only time I ever lagged on Freedom before that, was in PI on a DXP in '07. (With a 1.5 ghz single core notebook, with integrated gfx and all settings turned to max)
Since the server move it has indeed been a little buggy, but that doesn't matter. The Server load came with GR, and will dissipate at some point.
Just be patient.
(I still wouldn't mind them moving the server back to VA, but that's not too important.)
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And, strangely enough, since i18 dropped, I've run several ITFs and Lag Hill is FAR less laggy than it used to be. I've had several instances now where we just fight straight up the hill.
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Originally Posted by Maxwell
I normally almost never lag except for the areas on the ITF
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Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
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I don't run ITFs like I used to - so I don't know. I'm serious about the crashing. It's annoying.
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Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
And, strangely enough, since i18 dropped, I've run several ITFs and Lag Hill is FAR less laggy than it used to be. I've had several instances now where we just fight straight up the hill.
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Pop your CoH Helper and Hijack This reports up. Or if you'd dropped them on another thread, gimme a link.|
Originally Posted by Maxwell
I don't run ITFs like I used to - so I don't know. I'm serious about the crashing. It's annoying.
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Outside of random crashes, the only time I've seen CoH bomb out on a regular, dependable basis is due to running out of memory or becoming unstable after passing the 1.5GB threshold (32-bit apps have a maximum memory allocation per-process of 2GB, but many of the high-memory-usage 32-bit apps I've encountered start becoming flaky at or above 1.5).
That or driver issues.
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
This is the way I look at it: There are so many different things that have to be done to create this CoX envoronment. The mere fact that the servers keep track of every outcast boss and Tsoo Sorcerer that my characters have defeated, not to mention every other action that provides a badge is pretty impressive.
Yes, we would all like the game to work seamlessly, where a left turn with the arrow key or whichever one you use would turn the character until you wanted it to stop, where you wouldn't run into those pesky torches in the CoT mission maps, etc.
But, this is what we have. If you feel it's the server you are on, please, go to another server and see if the problem persists. If the problems do not continue, why not stay on that server? There are people to team with on every server, if that's your wish.
There's probably a million different things that could impact what we call lag. Only a few of them are under the control of CoH.
"Most people that have no idea what they are doing have no idea that they don't know what they are doing." - John Cleese
@Ukase
You know, I have played my fair share of MMO's. I have yet to encounter a perfect MMO that doesn't suffer from this problem from time to time. Not to be rude but you say you have been playing for 5 years right? Well every time they release a new issue or expansion we get an influx of new players for about a month or two. Then it dies down again and the servers get more stable. Dont worry the excitement will die down soon and it will get better.
Should the Devs look into upgrading the servers or possibly merging them to help for smoother gameplay?.....Yes
Why they have not done so after 6 years of releasing content who knows?
Until then enjoy the game.
I mean it could be worse right?
You could be forced to play wearing a banana costume, while a Simian tries to hump your soul! 
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Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
Maybe they're maxing out bandwidth on the memory interface. If so, MORE memory helps nothing.
Maybe they're maxing out bandwidth to their mass storage devices. |
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Originally Posted by marc100
Then get more bandwidth. Its cheaper now than its ever been in the history of the internet.
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Originally Posted by Back Alley Brawler
Did you just use "casual gamer" and "purpled-out warshade" in the same sentence?
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well i do have 3GB of memory, so I don't think the issue is on my end. i have 3 and theyre 1GB each. i forget the brand
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Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
Pop your CoH Helper and Hijack This reports up. Or if you'd dropped them on another thread, gimme a link.
Outside of random crashes, the only time I've seen CoH bomb out on a regular, dependable basis is due to running out of memory or becoming unstable after passing the 1.5GB threshold (32-bit apps have a maximum memory allocation per-process of 2GB, but many of the high-memory-usage 32-bit apps I've encountered start becoming flaky at or above 1.5). That or driver issues. |
This server has been overloaded for the 5 years I've been playing this game.
It's not a secret that its overloaded.
YOU KNOW every night it goes red and lags. It will go red tonight. It will go red tomorrow night.
Why dont you DO something about the overloaded servers?
If this were my business I'd be embarrassed if I had paying customers logging in and lagging and slow every. single. night. for years. and I would fix it so my customers experience is excellent and keep coming back for more.
Bravo on building a killer and addictive game, but the server lags is so annoying.
Global: @Fire Beam