Open Letter to ArenaNet regarding Server Latency
TheSun.4321
Member ✭✭
Dear ArenaNet,
We’re keen to get your attention on this pressing issue as we have continually grown in frustration that has almost reached a breaking point for many players and guilds within the community. Over the past few months there has been a significant increase in skill lag and server latency, with frequent mass interruptions to the flow of gameplay becoming commonplace, more so than they were eight years ago when the issue first began - albeit less than what we are facing today.
We all are deeply passionate about Guild Wars 2, and the work, development and ingenuity that’s been put into the game since inception. World vs World has been a centerpiece of the game for many of us who have invested thousands of hours of our time into making it what it is today.
You’ve given us the tools to forge empires, families, and comradery that has taken us far beyond our mundane lives, and we are deeply appreciative of that. But many of us have experienced what has felt like a continuous neglect of the numerous dedicated players who enter World vs World, only to be punished for taking part in what the gameplay is about, to amass, conquer, and battle.
Even if mitigation or a solution is not possible in the short term, communication with us - the playerbase - about the issues goes a long way to reassure us that we are cared for, and not being abandoned. We do not need another World Restructuring or Alliances promise followed by more than three years of silence.
These are the questions on our minds, and points that we implore you to address with urgency:
-What is causing this latency?
This existed before the COVID-19 lockdown, and is not primarily the result of it. However this has exacerbated the existing and underlying issues that we have all become far too familiar with over the past several years.
-Do you lack the funds to pay for better servers or upgrade existing infrastructure?
Many of us gladly purchase gems on a monthly basis, there are many untapped parts of the game that could be monetized by which we could support the experiences we wish to have.*
-Is this something that can be resolved?
Either in the short term by mitigation - even on the part of the players, or in the long term by infrastructure changes on your side.
When we are unable to utilize the kits you have worked so hard to create and balance, we’re doing you a disservice, as you are doing yourselves a disservice. When we are unable to enjoy the smooth fluidity of the animations and abilities you’ve painstakingly worked to bring to life, it is a great shame to all of us.
We ask you, as Guild Leaders, Officers, and Commanders, to resolve this. We know you want this game to succeed as much as we do.
Friends, fellow WvW players, please express your support to this, let ArenaNet know that this cannot go unresolved or unanswered for any longer.
Sincerely,
Guild Leaders, Officers & Commanders of the Illuminardy.
*edited, subscription suggestion derailed from core argument
Ship Captain of the H.M.C.S Galatis.
Comments
As the other half of the duo that helped write this, it has my full support.
After years of "we will talk about this later" or "we have more news in the coming months", it's time for action rather than words.
Eredon Terrace "Server Leader"
Eredon Terrace Gold Scout
[LM] Legendary Madness,
[SB] Sanctus Bellatorum,
[ETAS] Eredon Terrace Acclaim Society.
game has been unplayable whenever there are 60+ people near each other which is basically every fight.
Imagine being told by your share of devs that the solution for this is “run smaller” pepeD
Please just let us play this gamemode without lagging
More and more nights now I have to end our rallies because nobody is having any fun trying to cast their skills
PLEASE
Yes. It is getting so much harder to play in WvW. This really needs addressed.
+1. the backend of this game, especially in server stability, needs heavy work.
Fix Gamemode pls, ty
We should be fighting each other, not the server latency. Please fix (at at least mitigate) it so we can go back to poking fun at Frenjo and not at the server for taking an age to decide if your skill will, in fact, eventually go off, or if the input will get eaten like the turkey leg by your fat cousin at Thanksgiving dinner.
Seviryn [Khan]
Is time something was done at the very least about this! Alliances will probably never come but at least FIX THIS PROBLEM! Please.
Just another WvW lifer who'll never say die... while dying again and again!
When instant cast skills or running through gates become things that do not register while you are playing, there is a big problem. It's not even just a case of missing a few skills here and there, it is every skill possible. You have to sit there and spam the skill you want while your character does a stutter step forward. Entire zergs can run towards you and not get any damage out in front of themselves. (Saw it happen more than once tonight so I don't think they were only fielding engies with bomb kit, and I don't think its just player skill) It makes GW2's fluid and engaging combat system not even worth giving the time of day. But a lot of us are here in WvW because it is still one of the best options out there. ANET has something special here and they are just letting it sit neglected. Alliances when? Server upgrades when? Class bug fixes when? (Stares at moving rev utilities, dragon banner bugs, screwed up mantra tooltips, etc) Even if it's not hard dates, just talking with the community about it would be nice.
I left the game for a few months and came back. The game only used to lag for me in massive 3 server fights with 50+ blobs on every side. I have experienced that same lag with just 2 servers with full squads going at it. The latency is getting more than just ridiculous at this point. Please do something!
God forbid you play in a non-NA timezone as well, it gets even worse. Oceanic players are an average of 300 ping with constant disconnects or desync issues. Please fix.
There has absolutely been a steady decline in server performance. You don't even have to have two groups engaging each other anymore to lag out everything server side. They simply have to exist on the map together near each other and the servers cannot operate. Week in week out it's the same story and it's unfortunate, sapping the fun out of the gamemode.
Just to reiterate that this isn't just a WvW problem. You can watch the server struggling to keep even a SAB lobby map stable. But the multiple server connections in WvW just exacerbates the problem even more. Its also kinda silly looking at the pings of the server connections that are all in the same data center yet vary 100-200ms between one another.
WvW lag has been the most annoying for the last few weeks compared to months it has existed. I wish a solution was found instead of some dev coming on a Thursday morning saying everything is fine and no problems exist.
In all my years of playing since Beta, I have never seen things as bad as they are right now. These latency issues are intolerable and unacceptable, to put it lightly.
We'd like to not have to worry about the next time a 40v40 happens, is it going to turn WvW into Unplayable Lag Simulator 2020.
Just let us enjoy playing the game mode again, please.
+1 to this, feels bad when as a support FB and hearing your teammates call for stab and you mashing SYG or Book 3 with no results...
This is pretty much the #1 issue affecting this game mode right now. It really needs to be addressed.
just give NA and eu another tier ez fix untill the lockdown is over
Clouding is More funn than zerging
At this point, it's every fight. At the beginning of every fight, our entire zerg rubberbands, no matter who we're facing or how many servers are present. Three-way fights are unplayable to the point where skill lag will cause skills to not be able to be used for upwards of 10seconds. It's sad, and it's something the community wants more than new expansions, more than WvW events, and due to it's severity, we'd take fixing the skill lag over a role out of alliances. Today I was doing a heropoint train in the Crystal Oasis with 7 people and all of our pings spiked to 2.5k. We were a make-up of Americans, Central Europeans, and Brits. We all had 2.5k+ ping. It's not just WvW having server issues, it's the entire game. The servers at this point will not be able to handle a new expansion, and I'm fearful of what will happen to WvW as we get closer to launch. With every update, the lag become worse, and more players leave the game frustrated.
It’s difficult to have fun when a “competitive” game mode that requires skill to crack larger groups is inhibited by lag resulting in a win for whoever has more bodies. The lag doesn’t allow any outplay potential for dropping skills, moving, cleansing, etc.
I would honestly pay more for an xpac that had no content and just fixed lag then I would for an xpac with more meaningless living story content. I'm sure I'm not alone.
The servers are straight up failing to function as of lately. I play NA, OCX and SEA and its awful the entire time.
NA reset for the most part is unplayable, the game struggles to keep up with two servers; skills flash and take several seconds to activate, people blink around, and its a slide show. Then if a third server shows up anywhere nearby, outside of render distance and stands still even, the servers just completely die and you get dcs, crashes, and 30 seconds of skill lag and people desyncing all over the place.
Aside from the disaster that happens at reset, sea is probably the worst timezone where at least a third of asian and australian players can't even login, or are at permanent 4k ping and are unplayable soon as a fight starts (perfectly fine beforehand).
Ocx is pretty bad as well, i sit still in mistlock sanctuary with 800 ping like kitten. Meanwhile my local connection and download speed are perfectly fine.
Please FIX your broken game servers, no one cares AT ALL if you delay the living world releases. Fix the routing to Asian and oceanic countries as it exponentially worsens for them and it lags and dcs even in 15v15.
[eA] Sakura | Kaineng
Unfortunetly I cannot supported this because for some reason completely beyond me you decided to drag subscriptions, which 99% of players will be against, into this letter. I would have supported it if that line wasnt in there. Now I absolutely cannot on principle.
Dont look a gift Asura in the mouth.
No seriously, dont. Shark teeth.
As someone thats playing WvW from SEA,its been really frustrating having lag spikes even tho you're nowhere near the action,yes having 3 way fight in a specific spot will cause lag but lately the lag just spikes more frequently and at random times and its even more frustrating that some of the lag issues have been around for AGES and still haven't been addressed.
^Pretty much whats happening right now especially where the current meta is conditions and it takes like a few minutes waiting for the skills to work trying to cleanse it.
Let's be honest ANet. World vs World has been your red-headed step child for what.. going on 3-4 years? When one of the best updates for WvW was a well overdo skill-balancing patch, but even that took multiple years before being addressed. The new Borderland released YEARS ago? Bust -- World vs World mounts? A big YIKES! The multiple arena's you've thrown at us? B- at best.
At this point the World vs World community know's we're not going to get what we want... at-least make the game mode playable. As the majority of this thread has already mentioned, the lag has become OVERWHELMINGLY frustrating. All it takes is a group of 30-40 to exist on the map and you can literally feel the lag, not even being remotely close to said group.
As I highly doubt this thread will even get addressed, I hope that at the least it gets read through by ANet, so that you still know there is a community within that one section of your game you've completely blown off and forgot existed... World vs World.
Cheers --
P.S. - If you put as much effort into 1 single WvW improvement patch as you do Story Mode / Living Story updates.. it'd probably improve drastically.
Just buy gems monthly if you want to support the game monetarily through a subscription. I played GW1 then GW2 instead of WoW because I wanted to support the older B2P business model.
Can confirm this issue. Please fix it.
No matter if its a throughput issue, a routing issue, whatever. It would be great if Arena Net would recognize and acknowledge that it IS their responsibility and there IS something they can do about it. Getting real tired of the "it's your provider, firewall, computer, etc." response.
It's not fun playing support and watching people get clapped because your skills are sitting there flashing forever and trying to heal/rez someone that's been rubber-banded half way to Africa. But hey, my faith in this company can go no lower anyway... I hope.
This is becoming incredibly unenjoyable to play, the lag never used to be this bad.
[KEK] Ziggy
But GW2 just wouldn't be same without a slide show lag fest, you know you would probably miss it. It touches EVERY SINGLE SOUL to ever play GW2 because it hasn't been fixed to this day. The slide show lag fest instantaneously detracts from the experience in its own monumental way. Imagine the headlines now, "Guild Wars 2 is better optimized" for modern PCs that were build in the last 10 years and with modern servers. Yeah no one wants that.
While i agree, in general, with the post, I simply cannot support the idea of a subscription in wvw, so that we can get the message "this feature will come sometime" twice a year instead of once a year. Wvw is neglected, numbers dwindle.
Logged on tonight (pre-reset), popped my EBG queue, and was experiencing skill delay in spawn while the fight was at SMC. Losing motivation to play this game when I can't even use my skills. The lag has been absolutely horrid. This is not just an EBG thing, not just a zerg thing, it's happening almost everywhere I go. Can't even comfortably roam on a half-dead BL. Been logging off in frustration lately more than I ever have before.
Druid Rework Ideas
+1, it couldn't be better said
On reset tonight, guild and i (maybe 10-12 of us) were standing in a camp while across the map there was our server fighting another and we had 10secs skill lag. Wish anet would address this and fix wvw more so then just "we are planning something for the near future". WvW is one of the least maintained things in gws and it seems like Anet doesnt even care about it.
duelling @ armistice bastion = godmode smooth ( ping 16ms )
duelling @ wvw = playing with 56k modem and ball mouse ( ping 16-xxxx ms)
please give us better servers !
when the servers start to lag it’s no longer a matter of skill who wins the fight. It’s a battle which side gets more skills through, which is more often than not the side with bigger numbers. Lag eliminates any sort of well-timed counterplay and turns the mode into a onepush fiesta
Just give WvW some love please, Daddy Anet.
I doubt everyone can pay subs. And if that's the option, it may as well be a new game.
Not Even Coverage is the Only broken thing in WVW.
By imposing monthly subscription fee, it will definitely help to improve the network latency... ONLY because at least 80% of their already pitifully small player base will quit.
Ha yes.
Not Even Coverage is the Only broken thing in WVW.
Agreed....This latency issue needs to be addressed.
But please note that I would not be interested in paying for a monthly subscription, so the OP does not speak for me in that regard.
I agree with 95% of the above statement. The lag is getting to the point where its just embarrassing. There's even lag when you try to click the button to enter WvW post-reset.
It seems presumptuous to assume most players will want to pay a subscription though. Sure, there's probably quite a few dedicated WvW players who would in theory, but that doesn't necessarily extend to PvX players. More to the point, what have ArenaNet done over the last however many years to build enough trust for people to believe giving them more money is worth it? How long is it now since the last update regarding Alliances? Or look at the fact that we're all here commenting on a thread pleading with Anet to simply acknowledge a major issue that's been plaguing WvW for years.
I got encouraged to bish here about server lag, so here I am! Lag makes the game unenjoyable, and no dear ANET, it’s not a problem on MY end. My internet is serving well. I am a fairly „new“ player, most of my playtime is related to my Afk-keep scouting. The times I do want to play, whether blobbing, roaming, or being mountstomped by 50 players, I experience BIIIIG lags. Pls fix, kthxbai.
Giving my full support in this. If anything is killing game for majority of wvw players its this. Its already time to address this or you will losing not just players but whole game mode since no one lije to play it as it is .
Full support from me. These issues even bleed into PvE now from time to time. It’s beyond time to fix this issue for the sake of all game modes and the future of the game.
And besides, who would want to pay a monthly fee for a game that gets nerfed every two months? I won't.
I assume this has been covered before at some time, but we know that condi heavy builds cause server lag. We are in a more condi-heavy meta ATM which means more lag. I don't think Anet can just get faster EC2 instances to make it better.
See this from ancient history for some background on the problem.
My (only slightly tonue-in-cheek) proposal : nerf all condis in WvW and make it a power meta. Problem solved.
When there are 3 zerks it's nearly unplayable an no fun at all. And this is the case for many month now and years on EBG. Everyone on TS is complaining about it.
Only reason I play GW2 post HoT is large scale WvW. And it is basically unplayable for last several weeks.