LucidOverSeer Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 As an avid Halo player since the first Halo, I want to add my $00.02 on Reach: Since the 343 take-over: Horrendous. Located in the NE US, since the 343 take-over I continously find myself in games with players from Europe, Latin America and Asia. Why this is a problem can be summed up in one word; LAG. How do I know this to be the case? By regularly checking Ping times to capital cities in the aforementioned continents. Yesterday I had the misfortune to play against a group of players from Chile. After the game (a total slaughter) I pinged Santiago, the capital of Chile. The ping was 155ms. I am regularly seeing Pings of 110ms + to European capital cities. Anything much over 70ms ends up requiring 5-7+ headshots vs the normal 3-4 to take an opposing player down. With Ping times of +110ms it is unplayable. Did 343 reduce the number of servers when the took over Reach? Why is it now so difficult to be matched up in games with other players in the US? Has the rate of play fallen to such low levels in the US? As for the Feb. TU, its difficult to voice any clear opinion given the current matchmaking situation. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedStarRocket91 Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 As far as I know there's hasn't been anything said about reducing servers or whatever - I personally end up playing against quite a lot of players from the USA, which can make for very frustrating games as I currently live in Scotland. Anyway, if you're having problems getting matched against Americans it could simply be that there are less of them playing these days, or considering that since Americans generally have greater levels of disposable income than other nationalities, they've moved on to newer games while Reach is becoming more widely purchased amongst those who have less money for recreation. Even then, a ping time of 155ms isn't really that bad, and if it's too much for you then you could always try selecting the 'prefer good connection' option when going into matchmaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Director Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 As an avid Halo player since the first Halo, I want to add my $00.02 on Reach: Since the 343 take-over: Horrendous. Located in the NE US, since the 343 take-over I continously find myself in games with players from Europe, Latin America and Asia. Why this is a problem can be summed up in one word; LAG. How do I know this to be the case? By regularly checking Ping times to capital cities in the aforementioned continents. Yesterday I had the misfortune to play against a group of players from Chile. After the game (a total slaughter) I pinged Santiago, the capital of Chile. The ping was 155ms. I am regularly seeing Pings of 110ms + to European capital cities. Anything much over 70ms ends up requiring 5-7+ headshots vs the normal 3-4 to take an opposing player down. With Ping times of +110ms it is unplayable. Did 343 reduce the number of servers when the took over Reach? Why is it now so difficult to be matched up in games with other players in the US? Has the rate of play fallen to such low levels in the US? As for the Feb. TU, its difficult to voice any clear opinion given the current matchmaking situation. 343i is not to blame for this problem. That blame goes to Microsoft, who is the company in charge of the XBL servers that Reach uses. You see, Reach does not have dedicated servers, so it has to use the servers that Microsoft sets aside for it's other multiplayer games. Any problems you are having with connection are not 343i's fault, they are your ISP or Microsoft's. That being said, here is what you can do. Set your search restrictions to "Good Connection" and "Language", connect your xbox to your modem using a good Ethernet cable, and call your ISP to see if you are actually getting the connection that you are paying for. If you do all of this and are still getting laggy games, try calling tech support. They may have you do something that you haven't thought of yet. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREGGSTA Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 Changing your preference to good connection does not solve the issue. I live in America, play lots of American's, I have my Nat type open & I have great internet connection. Yet, I have noticed much more laggy games since 343 took over. I have witnessed 1 shot sniper kills in the stomach, 3 shot dmr kills (not Tu games) , someone standing straight up while armor locking & shotgun kills from way afar. 343 needs top improve these issues before messing with tu's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedStarRocket91 Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 It's not solely dependant on just your connection, anyone who has a weaker connection will handle a little differently in-game and will affect your experience, too. Anyway, in order: - Sniper rifles can 1-hit kill outside the head if the target is already even mildly wounded. Alternatively, it could be the player just ducked at an awkward time - the hitbox would have moved even if the animation hadn't finished from your own perspective, so it may have just looked like the target was just hit in the stomach. - DMR three shots can be the same, target may already be wounded or could have been taking fire from more than one opponent without your noticing. - Armor Lock has always been horrible and glitchy, that's another part of why so many players hate it. - The Shotgun in Reach has a MUCH greater kill distance than its equivalents in previous games, close to Halo: CE in effective range. Rounds also scatter randomly, so it's entirely possible that on occasion they'll all clump together and hit one spot beyond what is the normal effective range for massive damage. It's rare but hypothetically possible. I'm not sure these issues are really such big problems, they just happen from time to time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREGGSTA Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 I searched in theater to see if I'm team shot. The stomach one sniper shot was done w/full health. I'm sure you mentioned prior damage just to have it said but it wasn't a part of what I described. These are big issues if it's not the same for all players. Why have rules if it wasn't? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinreaper Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 Theatre mode is not a reliable source for pointing things out in terms of lag. Even though theatre mode merely records player positions as well as markers and nodes, if the match is laggy, the same data will be translated to the theatre data buffer. Theatre for reviewing of bs shots and other trickery, can only be deemed reliable if it is done on a LAN connection, where the lag or ping of players is 1 or lower. As for the server thing, no servers on either side, MS or 343i are to blame for your poor matchmaking experience. The current system employed, delegates all matchmaking data connections and sorting to the host's Xbox console. The only time the servers get involved is during the initial matchmaking lobby where players are selected and all map data is double checked to ensure it is properly encrypted and legit. Besides that, the post game leaderboard is again the only time the developers servers are called in. If you have been experiencing issues with matchmaking, it may be due to changes in your ISP's practices or other players not having a decent amount of bandwidth or connections avaialble. The US is actually low in the top 10 list for countires that ahve good connections. many internet service provioders up front offer great speeds, but as their disclaimers always state...... "All speeds are not guaranteed and may differ due to limitations in hardware, software or geological location." Another thing that has happened recently, is that many providers are legally able to throttle your connection, if they deem your conduct to use too much during certain peek hours, if your traffic inbound is higher than average (home server hosting), and many other factors. In short, no internet tunneled gaming experience will ever bee lag free. As long as there is distance and data to be sorted and interpreted between point a and point b, lag will always be there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREGGSTA Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 I referred to theater in terms that redsrar meant, I.e. Getting team shot w/out seeing it. I check theater to see who all is firing at said person. Not to check for lag. I'm not asking for an impossible, perfect gaming experience. I am asking for a fair gaming experience. So far & from what others are saying too, this is not just me but on a large scale & the preference settings do not solve it. Thnx- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunyavadin Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 At least you get games. Since Anniversary launched, I've been able to get into matchmaking but it always just sits there for the next hour "waiting for players" before I finally give up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucidOverSeer Posted February 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2012 Twinreaper: Thank you for your reply. It is without a doubt one of the clearest descriptions I have read concerning xbox matchmaking. With regard to the lag issue I am incurring, it appears to be primarily driven by the matchmaking. My contention is based upon checking each player 's profile following a team slayer match. I have discovered that roughly 75% of the Team Slayer games I am matched in have at least 1 player from another country. In roughly 20%-25% of the games I am the only player in the US. I appear to be matched against players from the following countries going from most to least: 1. UK (including Ireland) 2. Mexico 3. France 4. Germany 5. Netherlands 6. Spain 7. Sweden 8. Brazil 9. Finland 10. Columbia The UK connections are tolerable however, I have noticed that game connections with the other listed countries frequently begin with an immediate host migration. The lag may be for or against you, meaning that the player in the other country is scoring 22 kills / 5 deaths or the exact opposite. Originally this type of matchmaking typically occured only during late afternoon games. As such I elected to play later in the evening to avoid this type of matchmaking. Unfortunately over the past week and a half it has begun to occur more frequently during the 10PM to 12AM EST time slot. Additionally I have checked the number of online "Team Slayer" players at the start of each session. It is usually in the range of 1,500 to 3,000. My conclusion is that the number of Reach players in/on other countries/continents has dropped to the point where they are being matched with US based players in order to get a match. This is occuring in spite of me selecting the customization feature for "Good Connection" and "Language". Given my experience, I have difficulty believing that the customization feature is operable. Not just because of the aforementioned but also because I have at times been matched with players that I have placed on my "Do Not Play List". These all may be moot points but both I and the eight ( or so players I regularly team with have been growing increasinly frustrated at the situation. An expectation of a reasonably level playing field is a fundamental requirement for satisfactory game play. Theatre mode is not a reliable source for pointing things out in terms of lag. Even though theatre mode merely records player positions as well as markers and nodes, if the match is laggy, the same data will be translated to the theatre data buffer. Theatre for reviewing of bs shots and other trickery, can only be deemed reliable if it is done on a LAN connection, where the lag or ping of players is 1 or lower. As for the server thing, no servers on either side, MS or 343i are to blame for your poor matchmaking experience. The current system employed, delegates all matchmaking data connections and sorting to the host's Xbox console. The only time the servers get involved is during the initial matchmaking lobby where players are selected and all map data is double checked to ensure it is properly encrypted and legit. Besides that, the post game leaderboard is again the only time the developers servers are called in. If you have been experiencing issues with matchmaking, it may be due to changes in your ISP's practices or other players not having a decent amount of bandwidth or connections avaialble. The US is actually low in the top 10 list for countires that ahve good connections. many internet service provioders up front offer great speeds, but as their disclaimers always state...... "All speeds are not guaranteed and may differ due to limitations in hardware, software or geological location." Another thing that has happened recently, is that many providers are legally able to throttle your connection, if they deem your conduct to use too much during certain peek hours, if your traffic inbound is higher than average (home server hosting), and many other factors. In short, no internet tunneled gaming experience will ever bee lag free. As long as there is distance and data to be sorted and interpreted between point a and point b, lag will always be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4sT3r Ch13f S117 Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 It doesn't matter who you play with your just supposed to have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeRusch117 Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 I get the same probblem It wasnt always like this with 343 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeRusch117 Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 i think it is just because they are working with halo 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unease Peanut Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Well still not as bad as the lagg that occurs in halo 3 a lot of times but i agree with you the lagg has increased a lot (thats why I want dedicated servers in halo 4) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Takaa Posted April 13, 2012 Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 Cant lie, these last few months the servers have been more trashy than normal. Now I have no idea who to blame for this, but I'm sure its not my connection as Ive got Verizon Fios. An I'm connected right to the Router. But the random lag is terrible, hosts seem to change more often an oddly enough sometimes when it does Im left in the game by myself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Takaa Posted April 15, 2012 Report Share Posted April 15, 2012 Changing your preference to good connection does not solve the issue. I live in America, play lots of American's, I have my Nat type open & I have great internet connection. Yet, I have noticed much more laggy games since 343 took over. I have witnessed 1 shot sniper kills in the stomach, 3 shot dmr kills (not Tu games) , someone standing straight up while armor locking & shotgun kills from way afar. 343 needs top improve these issues before messing with tu's. Im glad to see im not the only one with these problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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