Server lag

[Barbiearian]

I wonder why, if the developers realise that the servertime and user time will lag, if there should be something done about it. I was told that the reason I was not able to send out troops, almost 20 secs from being hit, was because the developers expect people to refresh regularly rather than coming up with a real solution.

This is the reply I received

Hello there,

This is not a defect, this is a missing synchronization of the timer with the server time.
It happens, when you don't refresh your game too often. Sometimes there are delays, due to different times in sending and receiving internet packages between you PC and our servers.
Be sure to constantly refresh your game, when you perform such "in the last second" actions.
Be sure you have a good internet connection.


Best regards,
IO Support Team


Personally I feel that this should be made clear to people - or, god forbid, they actually fix the problem

I am coming across as bitter - cost me so much on the server I am paying real money for - it puts in question if I can get elite troops on the server.

This was my reply to them - but I doubt there will be any recompense. Its too easy for developers of 'pay-to-win' games to ignore the errors - after all - it will cost me hundreds of diamonds to get back where I was before - so its in their interest

If this is the case, then it should be made clear to people. Clearly there are different ways to implement systems that minimise this effect, and if your 'workaround' is to have players refreshing regularly, then it should be specified - although I am not certain that is really a long-term solution myself. If the developers identify a problem, and rather than fixing it, simply expect the end-user to refresh the game, then I would suggest there is something severely lacking in that department.

This has cost me at least 60 million worth of res, in lost troops - and I haven't even attempted to calculate the ongoing cost (inability to attack - inability to defend). I have had to put all researches on hold, whilst I replace these troops, and it has a genuine affect on the outcome of this server - in which I have already spent diamonds.

I was playing the game, with the instructions you gave, and as such, I should reasonably expect it to work in the way it is outlined. If I am using real-life money, for the service you are supplying, then it is a legal requirement that the service you are supplying is fit and proper and as described. I have not seen anywhere in any of your literature mention of missing synchronization.

If you are developing a game, where the end-user is spending money on diamonds to help them progress, then you need it to work in the way they expect, or you will quickly receive a reputation that the game is not worth paying for.

[Muwe]

Hello there,

Indeed this is a part that might cause a player to be upset and even though I do see your point of view and I do agree with it, I believe - based on the experience I had in this version of the game (5) - that the "out of sync" situation is intended. And the reason behind that is quite simple. There are many players that can time an attack. Especially a 20 minutes attack - if the realm speed is x2- and the only chance the target has is to depend on an error made by the end-user. I am not saying that this is the only reason for the out of sync situation however it is one of them.

As per the implementation of a fix, i`m sure that when a major change in version 5 will be released this aspect will be at least taken into account. I cant say that it will be changed, however it might be. As far as I know the server clock in version 6 has been improved considerably - However i dont have much game play time in that version so I cant be certain- and the server lag has been decreased (if not eliminated).

Should you believe that the answer received from the IO team does not satisfy your needs (and based on what I read i`m quite confident it does not) please send an e-mail to the support team with a suggestion, and as all suggestions, will be taken into account.

Cheers.

[Barbiearian]

Thank-you for the reply. FYI a few players have complained of lag at different times, so whilst it may be improved (I didn't play the previous version), it has not been fixed. Of course, it is expected to experience a little lag in online games, and I did expect lag myself. The problem I have got is if you are pressing a button in good time, with 20 seconds remaining, and you then get a message saying the troops cannot be moved as there is less than 5 seconds remaining, this is not an acceptable amount of lag, or servertime/usertime discrepancy.

This delay from user input, and the game responding is commonplace - it is not unusual to click on a button, and have to wait several seconds before it registers - in fact, on occasion it seems to fail to register altogether, and the pop-up window needs to be closed and the button re-clicked. However, I would normally dismiss it, as it is not time dependent.

The fact remains, I did what I should have done on my part - i.e. pressed the button for the troops to leave in good time. The delay for your server to register this and implement the action is the problem. Whether that is because the time displayed on my machine, was not correct to your servertime - I do not know. That is why I mailed the support team, so they could investigate. It was the support team that determined it was a difference in time being displayed on my screen, compared to the servertime.

As an end-user, I think it is reasonable to expect these kind of differences to be minimal, in fact it should be indistinguishable when we are dealing with the length of time we are talking about. Why should I lose out in the game, because the developers cannot keep their servertime and localtime closer together? These may only be zeros and ones, but these are zeros and ones that I have paid for with real money. Just saying, sorry you lost all of your time and real life money, but you can stop it happening again by refreshing your browser hardly feels like suitable recompense to me. This doubtless screwed up the era for me, and it would be foolish to renew my premium membership until such time you have ironed out this kind of bug.

[Muwe]

I`m sorry.. I moved the topic to General Talk for version 6 of the game as it was posted in version 5 of the forum.

I`m sorry to hear that you have such a hard time because of this in this version also.
Looking at the bright side - as I'm always trying to do - Version 6 is still a growing version and a version that may be subject to quite a few changes in the near future. For the simple fact that Imperia Online team is not trying and has not tried up until now to just make a quick cash flow and just dont care about their players. This version is the future of the game and it will be matured up to the point where the large majority of players will be satisfied of the result, without compromising the game-play and the way it was intended to work.

Bug fixes, new things implemented are done on a daily basis and the result is visible in the game. Soon - if the developers find it needed - this may be fixed also (however I cant speak on their behalf without the risk of misleading you as I do not know myself what will be changed precisely and what not).