Close to exchange = good ping = online unplayable

Hi

I'm directly connected to my exchange at 200 meters and live in the westmidlands, I've been playing online since the release of cod4, I've had 5 or so different isp's, Had 5 or so different routers, I've never had a ping above 24ms, And every single game i've played has extreme lag compensation issues, All cod games, But black ops 1 and mw3 are 500% unplayable, BF3, BFBC2, Uncharted, Killzone.

Lag compensation is set to high in online games, Then out comes black ops and mw3 and set it even higher, It's just plain rediculous, I'm tired of having to shot people with half a magazine to kill them, I'm tired of getting killed by people who are ahead of me by 2 ,3 ,4 seconds, I;m tired of the abysmal hitdetection because of the lag.

I was thinking of switching to pc for online gaming, But i'm not going to spend £300+ on a gaming pc to find out it will be exactly the same.

Edited by deleted (Mon 18-Mar-13 20:34:26)

£300 on a gaming Pc ,you having a laugh

You might get a half decent graphics card for that if your lucky and one of the latest nvidea cards will set you back £500.

You are talking at least a Grand for a half decent Gaming PC and that will be out of date 2 months later.

Regarding your problem then talk to mrnelster on these very forums as he has had the same issues on countless occasions,not sure if he still has these problems but i would PM the Granddad of gaming and ask his advice as the old ones seem to know best

I would have thought it makes no different what you buy be it a console or a new PC,if your connection and lag or whatever online problems you are experiencing are bad why would it be any better online on a PC.

The only reason i could see it making a difference is the fact that many consoles online use the peer to peer format and a dedicated server may well be a lot better.........But what do i know.

Edited by time2die (Tue 19-Mar-13 00:18:31)

Try playing on dedicated servers for console instead of p2p, as that should resolve alot of the issues.

PC gaming is mainly focused around dedicated servers, ignoring t2d as you wouldnt spend £500 on the latest nvidia graphics card unless you are a pc enthusiast (OC/modder etc), a decent pc will be between £500-1000+ depending on how much you want to spend- also games are alot cheaper then on console.

Check out the buyers guide below, a few things have changed but it gives a general idea of costs if you want to do a self build- the forum is good for build advice.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2012/0...

Post deleted by mrnelster

I believe some games on PC allow you to choose narrower ping bands. Someone on here once claimed you could actually make the players with a similar latency identifiable in game, so you know who is worth shooting and who isn't. I think that might have been COD 4? Can't remember to be honest.

You could try the option on BLOPS 2 to search via connection quality. If you search for best quality, it will take longer to find a suitable game but can on the odd occasion give a slightly better experience. Search on mercenary mode so as to avoid parties, the whole point is defeated if people manage to invite their slower mates in. In theory they shouldn't be able to but it always happens.

I average a 9-10ms ping and have given up on online MP. What developers won't admit is that they know it is a problem but aren't prepared to change it. The majority experience being more important than that of those with the fastest connections.

Sorry!

I haven't come across a dedicated server set up yet on the PS3 that makes any real difference at all. The ping bands it appears are too wide to make any dramatic difference.

And you know that £300 or a little more is not going to get you a decent gaming PC ,and actually if i was half interested in returning to the PC scene then i personally would spend £500 on the new Nvidea graphic card because i would want the best there is to offer.

Obviously its a ridiculous amount of money but thats whats expected been a PC gamer and the constant upgrades they require.

How are you connecting to the router? If your on WiFi, could you try a wired connection?

Remind me to never let you recommend a car, as I presume you only consider Bugati's

You don't get a half decent gaming PC for £300 plus.......Period.

And i doubt you would come on a broadband forum and ask for recommendations about what car you think you should buy.

And a Bugati would be a good choice but i live in the real world and a Reliant Robin will have to do for now

In reply to a post by metalhead41:

How are you connecting to the router? If your on WiFi, could you try a wired connection?

I'm wired, I've tried wirless, Doesn't make a difference.

In reply to a post by mrnelster:

You could try the option on BLOPS 2 to search via connection quality. If you search for best quality, it will take longer to find a suitable game but can on the odd occasion give a slightly better experience. Search on mercenary mode so as to avoid parties, the whole point is defeated if people manage to invite their slower mates in. In theory they shouldn't be able to but it always happens.

I average a 9-10ms ping and have given up on online MP. What developers won't admit is that they know it is a problem but aren't prepared to change it. The majority experience being more important than that of those with the fastest connections.

Sorry!

I haven't got blops 2, I refused to buy it, Because i know it will be exactly the same, But by the complaints i've seen the lag seem's to be even worse than blackops1 and MW3.

You have the same problem has me, I have a ping of 8 to 10ms if i switch on fastpath, So you know how rediculous it is.

In reply to a post by ccxo:

Try playing on dedicated servers for console instead of p2p, as that should resolve alot of the issues.

PC gaming is mainly focused around dedicated servers, ignoring t2d as you wouldnt spend £500 on the latest nvidia graphics card unless you are a pc enthusiast (OC/modder etc), a decent pc will be between £500-1000+ depending on how much you want to spend- also games are alot cheaper then on console.

Check out the buyers guide below, a few things have changed but it gives a general idea of costs if you want to do a self build- the forum is good for build advice.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2012/0...

BF3 has dedicated servers on ps3 and the lag is on par with with MW3 and blackops1

I have around 30 minutes played on BF3 since release day, Can't play it, I played it a few days ago, Connected to a europe server, I got 7 hitmarks on one guy ran round a crate and he shot me twice and killed me, From there i just switched it off, So dedicated servers don't make a difference.

So how much would a reasonable price to spend on a PC for gaming?

At a guess the old sweet spot of £1500 for a performance PC is still about right. Same price really as a decade ago, just vastly more performance

Personally Andrew when i have looked around and thought about it in the past you are about right with your price point for a decent gaming PC.

Obviously if you just want to browse the internet and do nothing to taxing then yes you can get a PC for £300 but it wont do much else.

There are also the people that build there own [not me] who would more than likely tell you that £1000 would be sufficient to get a really nice system if your that way inclined.

Few would even say less money would be required,but i think i would go along with the price you stated if it was custom built by a company or of the shelf.

Prices dont seem to have increased only performance like you state in your reply,i spent £1600 7 years ago and a year later it was so slow it was unreal,obviously i could have added more ram and changed the duel graphic card configuration and all the upgrades you can muster.

I have always bought consoles and find it a lot user friendly than a PC ,besides im not the type of person that will take his PC apart and add extra ram and sort out different mother boards and all that sort of stuff.

Edited by time2die (Tue 19-Mar-13 15:00:14)

In reply to a post by restarts:

In reply to a post by ccxo:

Try playing on dedicated servers for console instead of p2p, as that should resolve alot of the issues.

PC gaming is mainly focused around dedicated servers, ignoring t2d as you wouldnt spend £500 on the latest nvidia graphics card unless you are a pc enthusiast (OC/modder etc), a decent pc will be between £500-1000+ depending on how much you want to spend- also games are alot cheaper then on console.

Check out the buyers guide below, a few things have changed but it gives a general idea of costs if you want to do a self build- the forum is good for build advice.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2012/0...

BF3 has dedicated servers on ps3 and the lag is on par with with MW3 and blackops1

I have around 30 minutes played on BF3 since release day, Can't play it, I played it a few days ago, Connected to a europe server, I got 7 hitmarks on one guy ran round a crate and he shot me twice and killed me, From there i just switched it off, So dedicated servers don't make a difference.

Then neither will PC gaming.

I'll build you a PC mate. It will be called the Timey machine. Just send me the monies to... and just think what could be yours! Hey, can't be any worse than the one Scan built you.

But to the OP and back on topic, have you got a laptop or suchlike that you can use to ping the gaming servers you'd be interested in playing on? Is that even a worthwhile suggestion, I don't know? If the laptop is powerful enough you could run a few older games (Counter Strike Source maybe or Team Fortress which is free) and see what it's like before you commit.

And, there's no need to spend £1500 these days on a top gaming rig though if you want top end components then sure, you'll have a premium system with that much. But you'd maybe wanna ask yourself, can it run Crysis 3?

If I was building a system I'd definitely spend time over at BitTech and follow ccxo's link for current hardware configurations and pricing. I'd personally get a fast 512GB SSD which can now be had for around the £270 mark to start. Plus loads of ram (mainly for other stuff like photoshop/video editing) which is far far cheaper than it used to cost 10 years ago back in the days of DDR1/SDRAM.

I do know how ridiculous it is unfortunately. I would love to play BF3. With perseverance at the beginning, I had one or two games that were really enjoyable (i.e. I could get a positive KD ratio) but out of 50 starts it became tedious very quickly. I too loaded it up every now and then, but eventually tossed it in the draw.

I don't understand why host compensation is so important? Instead of one player having the advantage over everybody else, now everybody else has the advantage over one player. And when that one player is hosting a buttery smooth experience for everybody else, that's laughable.

What's even more laughable is some of the players who not only believe their high KD's are down to their ability, they start offering advice on how to achieve it yourself. They are completely unaware of how many free kills they are getting.

Yes you do - mine is under that and it plays Battlefield 3 (with NVidia 9800GT) just fine. Its dual core...

In reply to a post by MrTAToad2:

Yes you do - mine is under that and it plays Battlefield 3 (with NVidia 9800GT) just fine. Its dual core...

Sorry but I would not call what you have a gaming PC , it may well play battlefield but its not maxed out on that card.

Cheques in the post spook......... .?

I have got the address right haven't I...

Batman
Bat cave close
Arkham
Gotham city
NYC .

In reply to a post by SPOOKish:

I'll build you a PC mate. It will be called the Timey machine. Just send me the monies to... and just think what could be yours! Hey, can't be any worse than the one Scan built you.

But to the OP and back on topic, have you got a laptop or suchlike that you can use to ping the gaming servers you'd be interested in playing on? Is that even a worthwhile suggestion, I don't know? If the laptop is powerful enough you could run a few older games (Counter Strike Source maybe or Team Fortress which is free) and see what it's like before you commit.

And, there's no need to spend £1500 these days on a top gaming rig though if you want top end components then sure, you'll have a premium system with that much. But you'd maybe wanna ask yourself, can it run Crysis 3?

If I was building a system I'd definitely spend time over at BitTech and follow ccxo's link for current hardware configurations and pricing. I'd personally get a fast 512GB SSD which can now be had for around the £270 mark to start. Plus loads of ram (mainly for other stuff like photoshop/video editing) which is far far cheaper than it used to cost 10 years ago back in the days of DDR1/SDRAM.

Timey machine,I like the sound of that,hopefully Spooky you will be joining your clan mates t2d and mrnelster the end of the year on our new toys ......playstation 4 s .....bring it on

In reply to a post by MrTAToad2:

Yes you do - mine is under that and it plays Battlefield 3 (with NVidia 9800GT) just fine. Its dual core...

If I came on here and said I wanted a gaming PC and had a budget of £300 I would have been laughed of these forums

Quake Live, nuff said.

It runs fine when everything is very high..

And besides graphic quality is the same whether its low or maxed out.

In Battlefield 3, ping is the most important factor due to the awful collision detection system used - I did ask DICE if BF4 would be having a proper collision detection system, but they never replied to my Tweet...

Edited by deleted (Tue 19-Mar-13 21:51:23)

Well, snobbery is alive and well...

Its why you need a shotgun in Battlefield 3

Yeah you Battlefield fans are going to get a movie clip of Battlefield 4 in the next week or so and that will be interesting.

I remember having a lot of fun on a Dreamcast and 28k dial up connection on Quake 3 arena,did not see much problems playing that at the time.

Hooo raah! Yeah, bring it on.

How did you know my address by the way?

Guess I now know who's been sending all the Saga Holidays leaflets...

Hey don't knock it you be there one day Spooky

In reply to a post by time2die:

You are talking at least a Grand for a half decent Gaming PC and that will be out of date 2 months later.

Biggest load of crud I have ever heard. I build great gaming PCs for £650 that last for 3 years minimum. They play at FullHD resolutions with no lag.

I built a gaming rig for £1000 for my nephew - that was 4 years ago. He is still playing all the latest games on it.

Like you he thought he had to spend upto £2k. Good job he spoke to someone who knew what they were talking about.

Your just contradicting yourself mate as you just said you built one for your nephew that cost a £1000 and that is what i said in the first place.

Not everyone builds there own and obviously its cheaper but there is no way on earth you can have a budget of £300 and call that a Gaming PC.

I have seen Gaming PC at Scan Computers for £7000 and most of what they call Gaming PC start at around a Grand.

And again we were talking about someone with a budget of £300 and you who built it yourself spent double that at £650 and if he is not building his own then he is going to have to spend a lot more if buying it online or custom built by the likes of Scan or some other company.

I think it's irrelevant of the £300 comment, it's because you said you need £1,500 for a half decent one. That's not true, a half decent one would be half of that really I would say and it wouldn't be useless after 2 months, they may bring a new graphics card out but that doesn't mean your machine is now worthless, it would still be amazing for a good couple of years!

Edited by deleted (Wed 20-Mar-13 09:43:59)

Well may be what i should have said is that myself would consider spending that amount of money and in my eyes you need quite a considerable amount for what i call decent.

Each has there own standards and because I'm into Gaming in a big way i would require some high end PC if i ever went back into PC gaming.......Which i wont as i don't have any need to.

It may be - but I wont be getting it for a very long time (if at all)/

I don't think if you spent £750 you would get anything looking "amazing" unless you built it yourself, which is particularly relevant when making comparisons with consoles. The PS4 will match that standard of PC for a lot less and you won't have to even touch a screwdriver.

None of which is particularly relevant to the OP in any case!

You missed the A out in OP..........

The playstation 4 will certainly give most PC gamers a run for there money especially if they only spent a few hundred pounds on what they call a Gaming PC

Don't think the PS4 will - especially as only commercial companies can develop for it.

In reply to a post by MrTAToad2:

Don't think the PS4 will - especially as only commercial companies can develop for it.

Sony are far more open and supportive of indie development than MS. If you mean low level stuff, then I guess they may expect a commercial legal agreement before letting you in, not useful for people like yourself I know, but understandable with specific platforms.

We're you thinking of doing an App Toady?

Sony have, since the PS1, restricted development to commercial companies (with the exception of the PSP), unless you have over £5,000 (excluding VAT) free - unless you go the rather more illegal routine...

In that regards Microsoft is a lot better, with Xbox development being much cheaper - unfortunately Xbox owning is on the "would like" list rather than "must have"...

Would like to development for it at some point, although I should really start looking at Windows 8 apps

Sounds worse to me and TBH I have read the same sort of comments on many other occasions.

In reference to www.develop-online.net/news/43258/Microsoft-idiotic-for-ceding-Xbox...:

Read some of the fine-print at the Xbox registered developer program page (that 'membership' would cost you $10,000/year and a ton of paperwork, with Microsoft holding veto power over your game being published), navigate the mess through to learning about XBLA (also costly, paperwork and veto approval)

XNA Indie games is $99 :

Xbox 360 games written in XNA Game Studio can be submitted to the App Hub,[23] for which premium membership is required (about US$99/year). All games submitted to the App Hub are subjected to peer review by other creators. If the game passes review then it is listed on Xbox Live Marketplace. Creators can set a price of 80, 240 or 400 points for their game. The creator is paid 70% of the total revenue from their game sales as a baseline. Microsoft originally planned to take an additional percentage of revenue if they provided additional marketing for a game, but this policy was rescinded in March 2009, leaving the flat rate intact regardless of promotion.[24]

Microsoft also distributes a free year premium App Hub subscription for educational establishments through their DreamSpark program and MSDNAA. These accounts allow students to develop games for the Xbox 360, but developers still need a premium Xbox Live account to submit their game to the marketplace.

The main problem is that C# is used rather than C/C++

Edited by deleted (Thu 21-Mar-13 20:01:22)

I have seen Gaming PC at Scan Computers for £7000 and most of what they call Gaming PC start at around a Grand.

You are talking about the desk with the PC built in? http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m271/kamelion_200...
It's a lot more than £7K

I've spent round £1300 on my machine but it is hardly out of date even a year later, but thats because I've designed it to be fairly future proof. If a game comes along that my current machine can't cope with I can overclock it and add another graphics card in SLi

Edited by deleted (Sat 23-Mar-13 11:35:22)

I agree mate but not everyone is PC savvy like me,i just want to buy something and not bother with it 6 months later adding bits and pieces and over clocking stuff.

I don't overclock really and I've had my i7/5870 system for quite a long time now and it stills plays everything at 1920 x 1200 with the goodness turned up high/max for most.

Games are well behind hardware ability in the main and have been for quite some time now. This is probably all thanks to consoles severely curtailing more complex graphics development in PCs so new consoles are long overdue.

I'm happy with my PC still, it's served me well, but I don't particularly want to upgrade it anytime soon. Installing more memory is an option and that's really not a difficult thing to do unless there's something wrong with the memory sticks (very rare if good reliable brand like Crucial) or if you're a idiot and suck the sticks first before putting them in. Slurp!