Bizarre instance of server slow in Cyrodiil

BardInSolitude

During our escapades in Blackreach tonight we witnessed a very bizarre instance of the already well-known and not entirely uncommon server slow. For those that might not know, that's when the server slows down player movement to a halt even though the ability to cast skills isn't impeded (at least not more than usual). It usually manifests in micro-slows, whereby movement is impeded for fractions of a second at a time, but sometimes for much longer. What's peculiar about this particular instance of the bug is that only our group seemed to get it (and I probably other DC around us), but the EP group that engaged us was moving unimpeded. That's no shade towards the EP group, by the way, which is one of the best in PC/NA, but my group could not comprehend how it's possible for server slow to affect some players but not others. In any case, it's not my job to troubleshoot the game, as I do not have the expertise or the interest, but I am posting here for anyone who might be interested to know of this incident.

Here is what I saw on my end:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHriqB7IRE4

And here's what another person in my group recorded:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L72kcJH5LqI

Unfortunately our positioning did not allow us to see what the rest of the EP and DC that fought there witnessed, so if you have any other perspectives on this incident please post ahead!

neferpitou73

Clearly they were using the Numidiam against us...Or ZOS needs to improve their servers.

AJones43865

This is just one of the many common bugs that happens in cyrodiil when the server is under load. It happens a lot, and has been happening, with varying regularity, for over four years now. As they've radically reduced the population caps this effect has happened less frequently, but it still happens.

Kwoung

The slow bug is not uncommon, it is actually a "feature" of NA GH it is so common. And no, it is not unusual for it to only affect some groups or factions. As a DC player I have seen both our and the other factions either get hit or benefit from it. It is a sad state to watch one faction simply walk around killing everyone else in a fruit fight, because only they can move, while all you can do is stand there and watch it happen.

BardInSolitude

I've actually seen the slow bug even in Ravenwatch multiple times over the last thee years that I've played ESO, but never affecting only some players but not others. Yet it seems from what you guys are saying that this is far more common than I thought... which is aggravating

Kwoung

BardInSolitude wrote: »

I've actually seen the slow bug even in Ravenwatch multiple times over the last thee years that I've played ESO, but never affecting only some players but not others. Yet it seems from what you guys are saying that this is far more common than I thought... which is aggravating

Yeah, we had a successful defense and HUGE dtick the other day because of it. The other factions piled so many players in they lagged themselves to a full stop, we were basically killing mannequins at that point.

Sluggy

It's a bug that has been around for at least a year or now and usually rears up at least once a night during weekends. Nothing you can do about it but simply try to push through and hope for the best. I had it happen during MyM last summer and had a fight to the death with a person for maybe half a minute as we very slowly fell off of a tower together! It was actually quite fun, if only for the novelty.

As for what causes it: who can say? If I took a guess I'd say that the physics on the server hit what is known as a "death loop" where they can't keep up the calculations in real time. Trying to "correct" the predictive clients when your server is running behind becomes a spinning drain of doom if you don't have emergency backup systems in place. But it can get real technical with that stuff and there's just hundreds of ways that things could handled on both the server and the client so it's all just blue-sky guesswork really.


EDIT: Also, just cause I like to take jabs at ballgroups now and then: what is that absolute nightmare of a UI you guys have on your screen?! How do you ever make heads or tails of your environment with all of that unnecessary stuff in the way?! How can you seeeeeee?!

neferpitou73

Sluggy wrote: »

EDIT: Also, just cause I like to take jabs at ballgroups now and then: what is that absolute nightmare of a UI you guys have on your screen?! How do you ever make heads or tails of your environment with all of that unnecessary stuff in the way?! How can you seeeeeee?!

Don't you shame me for wanting to roleplay as a fighter pilot!!

BardInSolitude

Sluggy wrote: »

Also, just cause I like to take jabs at ballgroups now and then: what is that absolute nightmare of a UI you guys have on your screen?! How do you ever make heads or tails of your environment with all of that unnecessary stuff in the way?! How can you seeeeeee?!

I thought my UI's pretty alright... though I bet if I had a wide-screen monitor I would be able to fit even more addons! But, by Talos, I have no freaking clue how Nef is able to play at all with his UI

As for what causes this issue, I'm wondering if calculations for different factions or even different groups of players are separated in some way, which would then mean that some channels of calculations go slower whereas others go faster. Yet the slow bug, faction/player-blind or not, affects just player speed but not the casting of abilities, and it is the abilities/sets that actually require the most calculations - or so I would think.

BlossomDead

Me every day in Cyrodiil. Don't worry, it'll take a few more years to fix it.

Kartalin

BardInSolitude wrote: »

I've actually seen the slow bug even in Ravenwatch multiple times over the last thee years that I've played ESO, but never affecting only some players but not others. Yet it seems from what you guys are saying that this is far more common than I thought... which is aggravating

Yep, it's hit us a few times in Raven. Probably was a zerg loading in to come zerg us down again 50 v 12.

Marginally better than crashing I guess.

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO

This bug actually affects DC players way more than other factions. It's kinda strange but it's been happening for over 2 years

And it doesn't seem related to 'zerging'. We've been affected just running in a field as 12. It tends to affect players who are fighting outnumbered and not the hordes attacking them for whatever reason. It's especially common if the group is DC.
When we were playing we would generally experience it 2-4 times per night (approx 3h sessions)

biminirwb17_ESO

As a purely solo player I have never had this happen to me. I have seen it effecting 12 man groups many times. It seems to happen during large fights where the group just stops.

All I can suggest is that the server cannot keep up with the calculations required for the group interactions and positioning, may be addon related as well but who really knows.

Last time I saw it was yesterday while fighting an EP group.

Dojohoda

Even though I don't go to Cyrodiil every night, I go maybe 10 or fewer times a month (typically not grouped), the slow-walk bug occurs at least once during some of those visits to Cyrodiil. I have seen it happen to players near me but not happen to me unless I get closer to them. It typically happens when a lot is going on. The battle doesn't have to be huge. I have been in huge battles many times when slow-walk didn't occur. However the huge battles are more likely to kick players out of the game or cause the game to stop responding. The slow-walk is preferable to being kicked out. Both are annoying.

neferpitou73

Kartalin wrote: »

BardInSolitude wrote: »

I've actually seen the slow bug even in Ravenwatch multiple times over the last thee years that I've played ESO, but never affecting only some players but not others. Yet it seems from what you guys are saying that this is far more common than I thought... which is aggravating

Yep, it's hit us a few times in Raven. Probably was a zerg loading in to come zerg us down again 50 v 12.

Marginally better than crashing I guess.

Ah, I see some things never change

deleted220614-000183

This is not a bug. This is lack of performance on server side.
It is the same situation as 100 people are talking to one person at once.
You are not able to process all the information so you process some of it in time
vast majority too late and some information is lost forever.

Game management should be "proud" as they ballanced the server performance to the technical minimum just before it all crashes and can "somehow" survive on that very low limits without unplanned break and major disruption of the entire service.

I call it half dead game servers and that's why I ignore any ESO PVP (or parody of PVP to be precise) and play only few minutes per day, just to check what was sold in shops and what messages I have and say hello to my friends.

The game is more or less unplayable because it really bothers me to wait for all server lags/delays/irregularities/slow reactions. LOL, in this game is even reading an email or teleporting a challenge of patience.