Strange visual lag, like slow-motion, bizarre, conditional.

Hello.

I have been playing GW now for 4-5 years over three different systems. Today, suddenly, the game began to run incredibly slowly on my desktop. Like slow motion, then the character would snap to a distance along the route I clicked. I may not be describing this very well, but it's simply bizarre.

First let me add that this most apparent and dramatic element only occurs when I have a movie playing in the background. I always do this when I play, and I mean always. Yet suddenly today it causes this slow-down issue.

My ping is low, about 130 or so. It does not spike. FPS are above 60, even while the slow-mo/lag is occurring.

I made a system alteration not long ago (installed a new HSF on my CPU). I would think that this is somehow related, though it's hard to believe because I can't see how. My CPU temps across the board are never over 32C after playing GW, and idle at about 21C.

Nothing else has been changed. Two days ago this problem did not exist.

I tested other media players, I tested other games. No problem with anything else (Crysis, Mask of the Betrayer, Assassin's Creed, STALKER).

My GPU temps are never over 50C, which on a 8800GTS is quite low.

Here's my specs:

WinXP Pro SP2
q6600
gigabyte p35-ds3r
4gigs Corsair XMS DHX ram
2x 300gig HDDs
8800GTS

All drivers are current.

What do you use for internet?

The problem might be with the server. That would explain why it has occured out the blue.

Thanks for the reply.

I use Optimum Online Boost.

The bandwidth is very high. And like I said, the ping is rarely over 130, and does not spike.

More importantly, the problem only occurs when there is a video playing in the background. This likely rules out any lag/net issue.

Visual lag has nothing to do with an internet connection, because the game is processes in your computer but the internet handles the placement of your character and communication/text. My computer can handle guildwars very well, but if GW is in windowed mode so i can switch to my browser or AIM real quick it does the opposite and lags anything but the game. Sounds weird though, I wonder if they did a slight engine update to the game which messed it up? That boggles me..

Most likely you're loading into an area / sector where there are incredible amounts of texture that need to be loaded instaneously. I know of at least 2 instances in which this happens (albeit, only for about a couple of seconds).

Firstly, if you have your game minimized in a busy outpost, and then restore it from the taskbar, everything in the district is loaded at the same time, which gets much worse if you try to turn or zoom out.

Also, in DoA, there is a group in Ravenheart Gloom that a Perma will tank for about 2-3 minutes. When you walk around the wall, you are suddenly hit with all of their textures (skin, weapons, effects etc...) and causes an immense "screen-lag".

So I guess the next question would be something like : "Does it happen for more than a few seconds - or only a few seconds, then goes away?"

video playing in the background?

I don't see any reason why this is happening, try a system restore to yesterday to 2 days before. Amazing computer, I don't know why that happened.

LOL...

I know what it is: it's drunkard. You drank alcohol.

It sounds to me like you lost the connection for a moment.
Happens to me sometimes, then my character's movement slows down and stops over a few seconds.

If it's not that, then it could be that something else was running on your computer at the same time, like an update, etc.

this is a problem ive noticed quite a bit on this card in particular the 8800gt try finding an older set of driver and reinstall them after deleting the newer ones not really sure if it is gonna help but it might or delete the new ones and reinstall them.

I had once this recently but just rebooted PC and it fixed.

First of all, thanks a ton for all the replies, it's very charitable of you guys.

Let me go point by point:

This had occurred to me as well. There was an update just before I noticed the problem, but on the update page at gw.com it only mentioned Korean service migration. Maybe something got tweaked and didn't get mentioned, I have no way to know.

I know what you're talking about, but this isn't it. I get an FPS hit in the areas you mentioned, but it quickly abates. This is constant across zones/empty districts/arenas.

Good idea, I'll give that try.

I have experienced this, but it is not the cause in this case. The problem is continual, and my connection is quite good and besides I tested for lag/connectivity issues.

I have closely monitored running processes so I can rule this out.

I have tried earlier drivers, but I should do a complete uninstall, wipe registry remnants and reinstall the most current drivers.

I don't know if you are describing the effect correctly?.....

For me at least if I have a video playing on my desktop in windows media player and I switch into Guild wars full screen for a minute while letting the video still play, then tab back out go back to my video it seems to run the video in fast forward!

Sometimes if I'm doing something on the desktop and switch back into guild wars while in observer mode it lags abit and sort of does the same thing, warps/tries to catch up/sync with the guild wars graphics, it doesn't last long just a few seconds.

The effects I described only last a few seconds for me, then return to normal operation. You have a rig that is 4x more powerful than mine except vid card, so I don't know why it seems to stay constant with you... It has to be something bogging down your system or driver conflicts...


Is it one of the above I've mentioned or both? and is it continuous once you switch back never going back to "normal" operation?

Could be a possible memory leak in Guild wars triggering somehow I dunno.

.


This sounds like what is called rubberbanding and is ofter caused by a loss of sync with the game. I've also seen this propblem on and off but it seldom lasts more than a minute. This can also cause dropped connects.

GW support is your best option. There is a phone number listed somewhere once you have a support ticket going.

A common cause ( was for me ) is with your ISP. Not the connection speed but the connections in, and coming into your home. A bad connection can cause a db drop that may not be noticable on a ping. Mine pinged fine when first tried but after playing with pings ( doing a bunch over time ) I caught a real bad one....its enough.

Q6700 Q4, 8800GTX, 4 gb mem, Raid 0=1 with 150 Raptors...wasn't my system either.

That said... Support was very helpful and after running some diags and doing a dump of them, they thought I should call my ISP and have them check connects...they sent 2 techs out...the second one fixed the bug.

GL

UPDATE: Tried to simulate the problem on my laptop (Asus M50-A1, a pretty sick system), but there's no issue. I was almost hoping that it would have effected the laptop so at least I would know that it was problem with GW and not with my desktop.


I think I should record a video of the problem, people are confusing it with normal lags and hiccups.

I know what you are describing, but it isn't a resyncing process, it's something else. It's like slow motion in a movie or something, with occasional surges of speed.

The problem is entirely constant. Even if I close the video the effects continue. I have to restart GW in order to restore normal operation.

I'll Fraps it and post a link when I have time.

Thanks for replying.

That's a different issue. Not only have I run diagnostics on my connection (and tested for consistency as well as latency), I also used my laptop as a test both wirelessly and by swapping the cable out of my desktop. There was no trouble with the laptop.

try rollback by going to control panel system device manager click display adaptors and right click on your video card and look for rollback feature. if you cant rollback uninstall and restart windows that will reinstall the driver you have also look at the manufacture site for an updated driver but i think you already said driver are up to date. you might try rivatuner to control your fan speeds on your video card. i believe it has to do with fan issues known with this card.

Thank you for the reply.

Drivers are current, and I did not change them prior to the development of this problem. I will try a clean install. I already have Riva Tuner installed, and my temps are listed in my first post. There is no heat issue.