Speak to me of "Lag"....

OK, I just wanna make sure I understand the various types of lag, what causes them and what I can do about it....

(1) Server side lag: fwiu, this is what causes problems during Mother Ship Raids, Hami Raids, etc. Basically, there are too many people, powers, pets, etc., for the server to render properly. fwiu, there is jack all that I can do about this, amirite? A better computer won't help me, turning the graphics down won't help me, amirite? About the only thing that can be done is for the devs to re-design those raids - maybe cut the number of participants in half. (ie, CoP trial - capped at 24 people - is notably free of lag for the most part.)

Also: do multiple instances of the same zone contribute to server side lag? Frinstance, Infinity runs RWZ raids at 8pm on Sundays. Usually two instances of RWZ spawn. If the devs cut the number of participants in an RWZ raid in half, logically Infinity would spawn 4 instances. Would this cause less lag, more lag, or no change....?

(2) Client side lag: fwiu, this IS something I can do something about. A better computer, turning graphics down, etc., will improve client side lag. What I really need is what are some examples of client side lag? How can I recognize it? I know that it's a result of the server trying to render stuff stored on MY computer but I'm not sure what (costumes? music? maps?). Also, other than a better computer and turning graphics down, what else can i do to combat client side lag? Defrag? More RAM? (I've got a laptop, so no way to change video card. Actually I don't have a video card, I've got an Intel GMA.)

Also: that new room that was recently added to warehouse maps. Is this causing server side lag or client side lag?

If you are on a team and experience lag just ask other team mates if they are getting lag also. If everybody is it is probably server side. Most of the time you will find that very few are having any problems. I know I rarely experience any lag since I have 8 gig of ram and run my video settings below max.

Server side lag can be seen as: power recharge indicators not updating correctly, power activation delay, rubberbanding, mobs insta-teleporting from place to place
Network lag can be seen as: rubberbanding, mobs insta-teleporting from place to place, power activation delay/failure
GFX lag can be seen as: Frame rate below your monitor refresh rate

I'm sure this is an old question, but what does one do about this lag, while doing raids or the new trials? I drop down to less than 1 fps easy, even if I lower my in game settings.

Post a CoH Helper and HiJack This log. Always possible your drivers are out of date, which is what's impacting you.

We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.