Actually Improving Lag without just reducing Player Cap or Increasing Server Performance

Since I have been waiting in Cue for 40 Minutes here some thoughts on Performance Improvements that have been discussed in other games for quite a while.This might be important, because capping Player Numbers will certainly lead to reduced Player Numbers in the long run (If the recent statement was somewhat untrue).

I have had quite a lot of conversations concerning Performance in Path of Exile and just as here the main cause for laggs was CPU intensive calculations.

So what do we know: The largest impact on performance are not just Player Movement, but most importantly ticking Conditions and Boons, because each calculation with multiple variables (if the boon is not from you and interacts with boons the other players have), has to be calculated every server-tick.

Now even though Server-Lag will increase rather exponentially with a linear increase in Player-Numbers and vice versa it can be handled with tweaking these interactions and the necessary calculations per second.

Now you could either rework how some of those spells and boons are applied, OR just shift the meta to a point where these things are less important.

For example. Early on in GW2 ticking boons were very rare and conditions much less important. Surprisingly, even though individual hardware performance was much worse, the fighting experience after the culling-patch was quite a lot better in 3-way fights then nowadays.

So here are some things you could do:

Calculation-side:-Increase the tick-intervall boons are applied in and increase the stacks of boons that are applied (same thing over time, but less ticks it has to be calculated)-Increasethe tick-intervall between every condition-tick-change how boon duration is applied and reduce the number of variables in those skills (really easy example: If I apply a fire-dot it takes one fixed value from my stats the first time, and then just ticks at that) So basically streamline calculations

Meta-side:-buff condition cleans-buff physical-damage-nerv condition-ticks and duration-nerv boon duration

Those are some very easy thoughts and some are extremely easy to apply (they might collide with PvE and PvP, but thats always been a problem). Maybe change the way you think about this problem in a sense of having to throw money at it, when instead you could throw some problem-solving at it.

I hope this was some kind of food for thought and will lead to a better experience.

I'll be going back to Obisidan Sanctum running rounds at spawn until I can play. Have a good one!

Meanwhile they're testing an easier solution that basically required changing a number, so basically throwing problem solving at it instead of money as you say, without having to change something that would affect the entire game and it's other sections.

They've stated it is not a long term solution, but if it is there will be other changes made so that queues don't get out of hand, which frankly only really affects reset time.

Also cleanses are like the last thing that needs a buff right now, there's an over abundance of it in the game from multiple classes.

@XenesisII.1540 said

Also cleanses are like the last thing that needs a buff right now, there's an over abundance of it in the game from multiple classes.

^The game engine doesn't care if you have a condi or a boon. It only cares if something changed.All the little side-effects that have been added to everyones skills and utilities, all the constantly changing statuses that have to be calculated and everyone updated about, those are what bog the server down.

I'd be interested to have a week test where nothing stacks and ticks.

@TingleTangleBob.6027

just reduce target caps. you can reduce calculations made by 40% by bringing a target cap from 5 to 3.

@Caine.8204 said:

@"TingleTangleBob.6027"

Reduce offensive target cap to a "normalized" 4/2 (ie 4 for "aoe" skills and 2 for "non-aoe" skills) and 3/2 for defensive skills.

Yes, it would totally gimp things such as minstrels fbs/scrappers in large squads, while levereging damage builds.

And I'm fine with that. But many would have a hissy fit so bleh :p