World of Warcraft rant

[myrdden]

What do you have for a video card/ RAM? I have a ATI 9600 XT 128 MB, no lag when flying on a grifin. I have not checked out the aution house yet.

The card/RAM isn't the problem. It's the server lag caused by umpteen billion people in the auction house - most of which are probably (AFK) monitoring their bids.

 

[driver8]

Tell me about it. The lag generated when flying in on a gryffen is huge. I hate the AH. Never bother checking them out because of all the lag.

If you have "lag" while on the griffon ride , then that is most likely visual slowdown casued somehow by your visual settings/ vid card/ memory.

The AH is almost all server load. A faster CPU/card may help a little, but at peak times there aint nothin you can do....especially when all the idiots are dancing out on the bridges.

 

[Chun-tzu]

My computer meets all the recommended specs, but I get griffon lag and AH lag. I assumed it had to do with server problems they kept talking about, but from reading more on the WoW forums, I'm now fairly convinced it's a RAM issue.

Although WoW says 512 MB RAM is more than enough, it is NOT. It is barely enough. I can't run any programs in the background and use every possible setting to maximize performance, but it's not enough. WoW runs fine most of the time, but becomes very jerky in the previously mentioned areas). I've seen numerous posts by people with similar issues who upgraded from 512 MB RAM to 1 GB (including a friend of mine who knows computers fairly well), and suddenly WoW runs smoothly (lmost flawlessly) for them.

Unofrtunately for me, upgrading RAM is a huge undertaking. My motherboard can't take more than 512 MB, so I'd need new RAM, a new motherboard, and I'm also running Windows XP. So there's a good chance that even if I replaced the motherboard, I'd have to contact Microsoft to reactivate Windows XP. And all that seems more trouble than it's worth, even though I'm addicted to the game.

 

[KenM]

Chun- Tzu, what do you have for a video card/ video RAM? I was having trouble with Battlefield Vietnam running smooth when i was flying on my 64 MB Gforce 4 Ti4200, I upgraded to a 128 MB ATI 9600 XT and it was fine. You might be able to upgrade your video for improved perfomence.
Also, when I play any computer game, I turn off most other programs, don't need them when I play.

 

[Chun-tzu]

I already tried that, upgrading my Radeon 9000 with 32 MB to a Radeon 9600 XT with 256 MB, which is more than enough. 1.7 GHz Pentium 4 CPU, Win XP Home edition. RAM is definitely the issue here, especially when dealing with large groups (either mobs or players or both), or moving from one area to another (computer needing to unload and load other areas), which sucks because at level 51 I travel around a lot. I play on Stormrage, which is often highly populated.

512 MB RAM may be okay on a low-population server, if you use the minimum settings, but the recommended memory should really be much higher.

 

[myrdden]

If you have "lag" while on the griffon ride , then that is most likely visual slowdown casued somehow by your visual settings/ vid card/ memory.

The AH is almost all server load. A faster CPU/card may help a little, but at peak times there aint nothin you can do....especially when all the idiots are dancing out on the bridges.

I should be a bit more clear. The lag on the griffon is only when I land in Ironforge and the AH is busy. I have had times where I have waited 2 or 3 minutes to regain control of my character after I have landed (or just before - it can vary). Otherwise it is smooth sailing throughout the rest of the game.

 

[LightPhoenix]

The AH in Ironforge causes a ton of lag in that area. No amount of computer power will help with that.

The gryphons lag because they move fairly fast, so if you have a lot of the graphics detail on, you're passing by stuff faster than the computer renders it, so it appears jerky.

 

[myrdden]

The AH in Ironforge causes a ton of lag in that area. No amount of computer power will help with that.

I hope they fix that soon. It really is a damper on the game and makes me not want to visit Ironforge for any length of time.

 

[Droid101]

I suffer no lag, and I play on dialup.

 

[Spatula]

I hope they fix that soon. It really is a damper on the game and makes me not want to visit Ironforge for any length of time.

I'm not sure what they could do about it. It's a population issue - there's just too many players in Ironforge. The situation is similar in Orgrimmar (where the horde auction house is), but not anywhere near as bad since there's fewer Horde than Alliance players. The funny thing is hearing the horde players complain about the lag in orgrimmar - they have no idea how good they've got it.

They could open more auction houses, I suppose, all connected to the main one. But they probably would have done that already if they could.