server shortage / terrible pings still a killer!! :-(

[CoffinDancer]

if it's not the lack of players on servers with GOOD pings, it's the shortage of those good pings themselves!! :-(

i'm already starting to wonder if any "major expansion" is going to do any good - and i AM speaking just for myself, of course - if i can't find servers with pings low enough to get good play on.

i'm about 20 miles from Philadelphia, which, last i heard
(even though we don't even rate enough to show on the weather maps any more - lol) was still a major city?

my latest sampling showed the following for vctf:

9 servers;

player count: 5/20 ping 32, followed by 1/20, ping 63

the next-lowest ping was 141, others ranged as high as 281.

is it possible that this "expansion" - whether it turns out to be free, or not) might do ANYthing to help with this?

i'm old, and i need more targets and a better ping to help me hit ANYthing!! :-)

thanks,
CD

[nthexwn]

It's even worse here in the northwest. Check this out:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...Depressing.jpg

I rented my own server to try and compensate for this abysmal situation. It's kind of working, but I often spend hours alone waiting for people to join. Then when they do they get owned and leave after 3 or 4 minutes. Then it's back to the waiting.... Whee....

[Taffy]

You had a 32 ping to a server that had an uneven team balance. Should have jumped in and had fun

I'm in the metro DC area and there certainly isn't a shortage of servers with good ping for TDM and DM. It's just a ghost town for whatever reason, only one TDM server consistently has players, and only 2-3 DM servers.

[Taffy]

Also, you guys do know to not take the server browser pings literally?

Try joining a server with a 100 ping sometime and it usually comes down a lot in game.

[nthexwn]

Also, you guys do know to not take the server browser pings literally?

Try joining a server with a 100 ping sometime and it usually comes down a lot in game.

That's one of many reasons why I use SKUT3 instead of the in-game browser

[Taffy]

I ping around 120 to your server. I think I saw you on one of my servers with around 108 or so.

Both are NFO servers. Does the Seattle data center use Internap?

Anyway, I got desperate a couple days ago and joined overclock which IIRC is in London. It actually played good with around 110 ping.

[Sam Stride]

NZ has 0... i repeat 0 active servers... and the best ping I can get to aussie is 60 offpeak after 2-3am when no one is playing

yup... i dont think expansion will be of any use unless epic ups their server support and reaches valves server standards...

just as an example my ping to game arenas servers in aussie for tf2 < 50 peak hrs... during the same time my ping to ut3 game arena server is >100 and < 150... thats how bad it is...

from the studio that bought u gears of war... press any key to continue...

[nthexwn]

I ping around 120 to your server. I think I saw you on one of my servers with around 108 or so.

Both are NFO servers. Does the Seattle data center use Internap?

Anyway, I got desperate a couple days ago and joined overclock which IIRC is in London. It actually played good with around 110 ping.

I paid a little extra to have the server hosted on the best connection they could offer. Here's what their marketing says:

"Our Premium locations are based on a strong foundation of InterNAP bandwidth, but through the use of special routing rules and other bandwidth providers, we enhance it even further so that latencies are the lowest we can make them for all customers. "Premium" locations should offer the best possible latencies in their respective cities. Not just lower than InterNAP alone, but lower than anyone else out there."

Heh, sad times when you can't even play on your own continent. Maybe I should see if there's anything in Asia?

[RoadKillGrill]

That's one of many reasons why I use SKUT3 instead of the in-game browser

Yup, while not as feature full as the ut2004 variant SKUT3 does allot better job as a browser than the in game one. You can see ALL game types at once, WOW what a feature.

Its the only way to tolerate UT3 some days.

[H3i53nb3rg]

NZ has 0... i repeat 0 active servers... and the best ping I can get to aussie is 60 offpeak after 2-3am when no one is playing

yup... i dont think expansion will be of any use unless epic ups their server support and reaches valves server standards...

just as an example my ping to game arenas servers in aussie for tf2 < 50 peak hrs... during the same time my ping to ut3 game arena server is >100 and < 150... thats how bad it is...

from the studio that bought u gears of war... press any key to continue...

Sam there are still people on at 2-3 am NZ time (which is around midnight to 1 am Australian time). It just depends on the day.

[Henrik]

I think using Gamespy was a detriment to this game for more than one reason. It misadvertises pings, discouraging people from joining servers that would actually run fine.

[Moloko]

Are the reported pings accurate tho? After the last round of server problems, when the servers were all down I get reported pings of 250+ for all, some of which I know to be always ok -I join and hey presto, lower ping. It's strange that Epic took a step backwards, from the solid 2k4 browser, to this UT3 pc UI,browser,Gamespy experience. If it wasn't broke ...why did you fix it Epic?