Severe rubber banding
By
Ben1989,
Posted on: 2011-07-17 04:43 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
To me it sounds like an internet problem, i.e. your connection.
If you in-game use the command "/netgraph 1" (0 to switch off), you will see a presentation of your connection. It should be a nice green lawn, but but guess is it is filled with red spikes.
What to do then?
My first action would be to switch off the router, wait 10-15 seconds, and switch on again. Could be that the router just is having a minor problem which a restart can fix.
I do not know how you're connected in-house, but my guess would be a wireless router. If so, it could be radio interference, which could be checked by connecting your computer with a cable.
If other are using the same connection, check that they are not having some heavy traffic going on, which might cause trouble.
If none of the above give any results, then it could be your internet provider having noise on the line, and I think I would raise a fault report with the provider, to check your connection.
I was playing on the Defiant server this morning for about 3 hours and had no problems at all,in the past when my wife has been playing at the same time she has had bad lag and rubber banding while I have had nothing.I know this does not help answer your problem but show,s that it happens sometime for no reason,we are on the same system and the computers are within 4 feet of each other.Hope you find an answer to it 
Prof Radburn controller,Celtic Ice Maiden,blaster,Miss Knockout scrapper,Mistress Davina controller,Stone Hart,tank Split Personality PB.Queen Lostris controller,Fridgid Mary blaster,Shocking Fire blaster Future Elfling defender, Little Weed controller,Capo Angelo MM, Commander Buzzsaw MM, Justice Tank tank all 50,s
Netgraph 1 shows a very frequent yellow spike among the green, im guessing this is not normal and shows its an internet issue.
I have heard about opening port 80 on the router, will this fix the problem.
Very unlikely, TCP/80 isn't used for gameplay, only as a port for patching and if port 80 wasn't open outbound you wouldn't be able to connect to any websites.
Yellow spikes on the netgraph in a regular pattern are usually a symptom of packet loss, which would fit the rubber banding issues you're seeing ingame.
Does this happen at specific times of day or all the time? Do you experience speed/connection issues with any other games or websites?
Fire up a Command Prompt (Run as Administrator if in Vista/Win 7) and type the following:
Code:
Let it run for 5 minutes or so (you'll just get a flashing cursor while it's working) and then open up C:\pathping.txt in Notepad and paste the contents back here (ideally inside [ code ][ /code ] tags to help with formatting). This should give us a better idea of where along the way between you and the servers your problem lies.
pathping cityofheroes.com > C:\pathping.txt
Omnes relinquite spes, o vos intrantes
My Characters
CoX Chatlog Parser
Last.fm Feed
Hello again,
The pathping information is pasted below.
The rubber-banding is all times of the although perhaps the severity varies with time.
The game I have played most recently other then CoH is Everquest 2 which worked fine.
Hope the information helps
Code:
Tracing route to cityofheroes.com [64.25.35.107]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
0 applepie-PC [192.168.0.3]
1 10.66.188.1
2 harb-geam-1a-ge214.network.virginmedia.net [80.1.61.201]
3 perr-geam-1a-tenge72.network.virginmedia.net [62.30.247.65]
4 perr-core-1a-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.255.149.133]
5 manc-bb-1a-as1-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.175.181]
6 212.187.136.125
7 ae-4-4.ebr1.London1.Level3.net [4.69.133.102]
8 vlan102.ebr2.London1.Level3.net [4.69.143.90]
9 ae-44-44.ebr1.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.69.137.78]
10 * ae-71-71.csw2.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.69.134.70]
11 ae-2-79.edge3.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.68.16.81]
12 att-level3.newyork1.level3.net [4.68.63.142]
13 cr2.n54ny.ip.att.net [12.122.81.134]
14 cr2.wswdc.ip.att.net [12.122.3.38]
15 * cr1.attga.ip.att.net [12.122.1.173]
16 cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.122.28.174]
17 cr81.ftwtx.ip.att.net [12.122.100.69]
18 * gar2.dlrtx.ip.att.net [12.122.100.29]
19 12.249.201.12
20 cityofheroes.com [64.25.35.107]
Computing statistics for 500 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 applepie-PC [192.168.0.3]
10/ 100 = 10% |
1 --- 100/ 100 =100% 90/ 100 = 90% 10.66.188.1
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 51ms 14/ 100 = 14% 4/ 100 = 4% harb-geam-1a-ge214.network.virginmedia.net [80.1.61.201]
0/ 100 = 0% |
3 46ms 22/ 100 = 22% 12/ 100 = 12% perr-geam-1a-tenge72.network.virginmedia.net [62.30.247.65]
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 56ms 10/ 100 = 10% 0/ 100 = 0% perr-core-1a-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.255.149.133]
4/ 100 = 4% |
5 60ms 14/ 100 = 14% 0/ 100 = 0% manc-bb-1a-as1-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.175.181]
0/ 100 = 0% |
6 68ms 20/ 100 = 20% 6/ 100 = 6% 212.187.136.125
0/ 100 = 0% |
7 57ms 19/ 100 = 19% 5/ 100 = 5% ae-4-4.ebr1.London1.Level3.net [4.69.133.102]
0/ 100 = 0% |
8 51ms 17/ 100 = 17% 3/ 100 = 3% vlan102.ebr2.London1.Level3.net [4.69.143.90]
0/ 100 = 0% |
9 125ms 19/ 100 = 19% 5/ 100 = 5% ae-44-44.ebr1.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.69.137.78]
0/ 100 = 0% |
10 130ms 16/ 100 = 16% 2/ 100 = 2% ae-71-71.csw2.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.69.134.70]
0/ 100 = 0% |
11 --- 100/ 100 =100% 86/ 100 = 86% ae-2-79.edge3.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.68.16.81]
0/ 100 = 0% |
12 --- 100/ 100 =100% 86/ 100 = 86% att-level3.newyork1.level3.net [4.68.63.142]
0/ 100 = 0% |
13 --- 100/ 100 =100% 86/ 100 = 86% cr2.n54ny.ip.att.net [12.122.81.134]
0/ 100 = 0% |
14 --- 100/ 100 =100% 86/ 100 = 86% cr2.wswdc.ip.att.net [12.122.3.38]
0/ 100 = 0% |
15 --- 100/ 100 =100% 86/ 100 = 86% cr1.attga.ip.att.net [12.122.1.173]
0/ 100 = 0% |
16 --- 100/ 100 =100% 86/ 100 = 86% cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.122.28.174]
0/ 100 = 0% |
17 --- 100/ 100 =100% 86/ 100 = 86% cr81.ftwtx.ip.att.net [12.122.100.69]
0/ 100 = 0% |
18 --- 100/ 100 =100% 86/ 100 = 86% gar2.dlrtx.ip.att.net [12.122.100.29]
0/ 100 = 0% |
19 --- 100/ 100 =100% 86/ 100 = 86% 12.249.201.12
0/ 100 = 0% |
20 170ms 14/ 100 = 14% 0/ 100 = 0% cityofheroes.com [64.25.35.107]
Trace complete.
Interesting, apart from the first two hops, you're taking exactly the same route as me and I'm not experiencing any significant issues, which points to an issue either with your local network or with the UBR you're hitting. You seem to be getting moderate packet loss all along the way, which is usually an issue on your end rather than something inbetween.
How are your machines connected to your router? Is it one of the terrible Virgin "Superhubs" or something that works? Wired or wireless?
Edit: Here's mine for comparison. As you can see, barely any packet loss along essentially the same route:
Code:
Tracing route to cityofheroes.com [64.25.35.107]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
0 ADAM.spad.local [192.168.x.x]
1 gateway.spad.local [192.168.x.x]
2 10.66.184.1
3 harb-geam-1a-ge28.network.virginmedia.net [80.1.61.193]
4 perr-geam-1a-tenge72.network.virginmedia.net [62.30.247.65]
5 perr-core-1a-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.255.149.133]
6 manc-bb-1a-as1-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.175.181]
7 212.187.136.125
8 ae-4-4.ebr1.london1.level3.net [4.69.133.102]
9 vlan101.ebr2.london1.level3.net [4.69.143.86]
10 ae-41-41.ebr1.newyork1.level3.net [4.69.137.66]
11 ae-71-71.csw2.newyork1.level3.net [4.69.134.70]
12 ae-2-79.edge3.newyork1.level3.net [4.68.16.81]
13 att-level3.newyork1.level3.net [4.68.63.142]
14 cr2.n54ny.ip.att.net [12.122.81.134]
15 cr2.wswdc.ip.att.net [12.122.3.38]
16 cr1.attga.ip.att.net [12.122.1.173]
17 cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.122.28.174]
18 cr81.ftwtx.ip.att.net [12.122.100.69]
19 gar2.dlrtx.ip.att.net [12.122.100.29]
20 12.249.201.12
21 cityofheroes.com [64.25.35.107]
Computing statistics for 525 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 ADAM.spad.local [192.168.x.x]
0/ 100 = 0% |
1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% gateway.spad.local [192.168.x.x]
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 --- 100/ 100 =100% 100/ 100 =100% 10.66.184.1
0/ 100 = 0% |
3 16ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% harb-geam-1a-ge28.network.virginmedia.net [80.1.61.193]
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 18ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% perr-geam-1a-tenge72.network.virginmedia.net [62.30.247.65]
0/ 100 = 0% |
5 17ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% perr-core-1a-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.255.149.133]
0/ 100 = 0% |
6 30ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% manc-bb-1a-as1-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.175.181]
0/ 100 = 0% |
7 30ms 2/ 100 = 2% 2/ 100 = 2% 212.187.136.125
0/ 100 = 0% |
8 27ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ae-4-4.ebr1.london1.level3.net [4.69.133.102]
0/ 100 = 0% |
9 27ms 1/ 100 = 1% 1/ 100 = 1% vlan101.ebr2.london1.level3.net [4.69.143.86]
0/ 100 = 0% |
10 96ms 1/ 100 = 1% 1/ 100 = 1% ae-41-41.ebr1.newyork1.level3.net [4.69.137.66]
0/ 100 = 0% |
11 99ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ae-71-71.csw2.newyork1.level3.net [4.69.134.70]
1/ 100 = 1% |
12 --- 100/ 100 =100% 99/ 100 = 99% ae-2-79.edge3.newyork1.level3.net [4.68.16.81]
0/ 100 = 0% |
13 --- 100/ 100 =100% 99/ 100 = 99% att-level3.newyork1.level3.net [4.68.63.142]
0/ 100 = 0% |
14 --- 100/ 100 =100% 99/ 100 = 99% cr2.n54ny.ip.att.net [12.122.81.134]
0/ 100 = 0% |
15 --- 100/ 100 =100% 99/ 100 = 99% cr2.wswdc.ip.att.net [12.122.3.38]
0/ 100 = 0% |
16 --- 100/ 100 =100% 99/ 100 = 99% cr1.attga.ip.att.net [12.122.1.173]
0/ 100 = 0% |
17 --- 100/ 100 =100% 99/ 100 = 99% cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.122.28.174]
0/ 100 = 0% |
18 --- 100/ 100 =100% 99/ 100 = 99% cr81.ftwtx.ip.att.net [12.122.100.69]
0/ 100 = 0% |
19 --- 100/ 100 =100% 99/ 100 = 99% gar2.dlrtx.ip.att.net [12.122.100.29]
0/ 100 = 0% |
20 --- 100/ 100 =100% 99/ 100 = 99% 12.249.201.12
0/ 100 = 0% |
21 134ms 1/ 100 = 1% 0/ 100 = 0% cityofheroes.com [64.25.35.107]
Omnes relinquite spes, o vos intrantes
My Characters
CoX Chatlog Parser
Last.fm Feed
Thanks for taking a look, I am using virgin "super hub" as i have 50mb broadband.
My PC is connected wired whereas the laptop is wireless, same problem for both.
I have also been posting on the virgin support forums, seeing if there is an issue with the router etc but at the moment they haven't found anything.
Ah for the Blueyonder days when you could just ring up, ask 'em nicely and they'd stick you on a channel with less load.
Normally in these situations you'd try bypassing the router and connecting the modem directly, but of course you can't do that with these all-in-one monstrosities and I'm assuming you're not as sad as I am and have several spare cable modems lying around the house.
I know the Superhubs have been notorious for poor performance since they were first rolled out, but they were supposed to have fixed most of the issues by the time they deployed the 473rd (or thereabouts) firmware update for them. A quick glance at the VM forums suggests that this may not be the case 
Omnes relinquite spes, o vos intrantes
My Characters
CoX Chatlog Parser
Last.fm Feed
C'mon, stop pulling your punches. Tell us what you really think The_Spad_EU.
All kidding aside, I'm sorely tempted to post similar comments about some of the hardware and/or software I see people stuck with using.
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
Thanks for your support, I will wait to hear from VM as to what they believe is the issue.
I don't think I can use my spare cabled modem (for sky broadband) to put in its place considering it was not designed for 50mb internet like this super hub is.
I will keep this updated and in the mean time I may try using my laptop on another internet somewhere to see if the problem persists.
I just re-subscribed after many months of not playing and found that the game is almost unplayable due to severe rubber-banding. This is not "lag" so to speak but merely that when i move my charcter forward (or jump) they will stutter and reappear back at the position where I was initially.
This is very intermitant with it being ok for perhaps 1 minute and then going really bad.
Some of the things I have already tried :
- Using a different computer.
I have both a quadcore PC and an alienware laptop that my wife is using, both of us play together and are affected by the same problem- Using "/sync".
I have used this command plenty of times and it has no effect at all.- Trying different servers.
I am playing on virtue at the moment but have tryed both union and defiance, the original UK servers from 5 years ago (these are where all my old charcters are) and the rubber-banding is still prominent on these.- Lowered graphic setting.
Although im confident my PC and laptop can play this game on a decent setting I have reduced the graphics to minimum and still this did not ameliorate the problem.- Tried different games.
I was playing everquest 2 before this and did not suffer from any rubber-banding at all, any lag was purely graphical and could be compensated for by adjusting graphics settings.I hope somebody can help I would be very grateful, as I said above since I played everquest 2 with no issues it's hard to see this being a problem on my end but it is possible. I have observed some packet loss on various ping tests (5-10% etc), unsure whether this is abnormal but again the fact it only affects city of heroes is very odd.
Thanks again