Retrieving character list from server taking longer than it should

[goblinite]

That's interesting.  I would have expected the Atom processor to have a longer time just based on pure horsepower.  I did run CoH on an Asus E-Book back in the day but I had to run it at pure minimum to get the game into a playable state.

 

I don't think that the file would be an issue.  The playerslot file is pure text and it could be hundreds of lines long and be a trivial matter to pass and process unless the parsing algorithm was real garbage.  If it is looking at a line, then doing something with it, then going back to the next line, I guess it could cause and issue.  I would imagine any professional would have the entire file read, loaded into an array, then ran against the DB/loading system.  You would save time doing it that way v 1 line at a time, but considering the code for this was written with the lower limits on character slots maybe there would be an underlying reason we are not privy to for doing it line by line that could slow the process.

 

It would be interesting and informative if there was a graph/chart showing the times to character select correlated with server population/load and comparing the shards.

 

And please, I am not saying there isn't a server issue in my diatribe and I apologize if it came off that way.  We know there are issues, we know the population sizes are running higher than when the game was in production.  What I am saying is that not every case of delay/lag is a server issue.  But there are things on our side of the screen that affect performance as well and those we can do something about.

[Gorgarn]

I'm going to add that I'm also seeing this issue. Short Version!

 

Where I see it, where I don't, what I think it is.

I have the delay in Retrieving character list from server on two different Windows 7 pro systems. One of which did run City of heroes during the Live days. (WITHOUT said issue at that time.) Same character/account used on both systems.

 

I do not have the delay if I use my Windows 10 Pro system, again same character/account used.

 

This issue is not related to System Ram, or Network interface card(s), or distance to the servers. Operating System differences? oh yes, looks like it.

The real question is what changed?

 

I have also run wireshark to watch the packets, but I had too much other network stuff going on to at that time to visually catch something. I'll need to run that test again on both Operating systems to gather more data.

[Erydanus]

I think it's pretty telling that I went to the test server and with no characters on the server logged in and went immediately to character creation.

I then logged off, installed popmenus, logged back on. I was about 55 seconds waiting with ONE character on the server in the middle of the night with all of 20 people logged on.

@Cipher did you send out info gathering instructions yet?

[_NOPE_]

It has nothing to do with server load, time of the day, or number of characters. It has nothing to do with the user's ram, network card settings, or anything of that nature. It's entirely to do with the operating system.

 

The bug wasn't happening for me on my Windows 7 until a certain game patch was applied, then it started happening. I wish I could remember when, but it was within the last month I think.

 

Then I bought a new computer that had Windows 10 on it, and it never had an issue. Same account on both PCs, so that rules out everything but the operating system and/or the code that's working with it.

[Impish Kat]

... Same account on both PCs, so that rules out everything but the operating system and/or the code that's working with it.

 

And the clue is that it has something to do with the queue code for that particular screen/page.

[Erydanus]

@Impish Kat did @Cipher get you any testing instructions yet? I verified I can produce that "leave queue" screen myself still just as I have since the delays began.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Hey all - if you're still experiencing this problem after the maintenance / server patch that we did on the 20th then please let me know (through Discord - Cipher#0002, through this thread, or by sending me a private message).

Yep, experiencing it here myself.

[WanderingAries]

... Same account on both PCs, so that rules out everything but the operating system and/or the code that's working with it.

 

And the clue is that it has something to do with the queue code for that particular screen/page.

This, while I wasn't Looking for this sort of thing early on, I'm pretty sure it's related to the queue code somehow.

[Captain Fabulous]

I've installed the game on 5+ different systems all using the same base folder. All are running Win10 except one, which is Win7 x86, and is the only one that experiences the delay (as well as the "leave queue" dialog if I try to back out while waiting). The patch may have shortened the wait, but didn't remove it.

[Impish Kat]

@Impish Kat did @Cipher get you any testing instructions yet?

 

nope

[Erydanus]

Hm, weird. Well maybe they are already tracking something down behind the scenes. The "leave queue" problem is so easy to replicate they may just be doing internal testing.

[_NOPE_]

Or they're really really busy.

[goblinite]

I had delays last night plus a mapserve issue on Everlasting.  Didn't try other servers and it in no way made the game unplayable.  I'm just chalking it up to one of those random server problems we get every now and then.

[Tongo22]

Sorry to kind of necro this thread, but has anything been done about this? I’ve had the issue since I first installed. Yes, I AM on win 7, yes, I also get the “leave queue” dialog when I try to back out of the “retrieving character list”. It takes easily 2-3 minutes to load the list, which, whatever, I can wait, everything else works awesomely and I’m just thankful to be “home” in City regardless, but I wouldn’t be upset if this problem went away.

[Kigo]

On 6/21/2019 at 6:27 AM, Cipher said:

Hey all - if you're still experiencing this problem after the maintenance / server patch that we did on the 20th then please let me know (through Discord - Cipher#0002, through this thread, or by sending me a private message).

 

We're working on ways to diagnose this on the client side and can provide steps to help us gather information.

 

Thanks!

It is still happening for me. I am using the Indomitable server and currently only have 2 chars. No other servers used so far so there can't be anything slowing it down on my end. Win7 and the wait time for the character list after log off of one is approximately 55-70 seconds every single time despite having tons of available ram, cpu resources, and a 1080 gpu.

[billy2hawks]

I am having this issue kind of plus crashing while zoning across 2 of 4 of the machines on my network. One was is a just built computer, the other is a Dell Precision Laptop. All of them have  WIn 10 1809 or 1906. I did have a windows 7 computer, and it did have a slow to character select issue, but would zone just fine.

 

One of the computers is wired, the other is wireless. The old Win 7 was wired. All were initially installed with the CoH directory from the laptop.

 

I get the slow/failed load of the character select screen after I crash zoning, very rarely do I get it right off the bat. I can also run for up to about an hour before seeing this. Once it happens, I see it more often.

 

When I do crash, I can pretty much write off getting back on for about 2 - 4 minutes. I will have issues hanging between the server select screen and the character select screen.  Then it will be I cannot get from character select into the game.

 

When it crashes zoning, it will not give an error, and if I let it sit long enough, the screen will display the zone I was in without the UI, and the game becomes unresponsive. If I wait it out for 2 - 3 minutes and attempt to log back in, it often goes right back in, and it might be a bit before I see another crash. If I attempt to hammer my way back in, it takes a bit, and it seems like when I do get in, I am more likely to crash sooner rather than later.

 

I do get error messages when I attempt to log in after the crash if I don't wait it out, also from time to time, just logging in. The error I get if it fails to connect to the character select screen is "Cannot Connect to DB Server". If it fails on character load into game it gives a "Cannot connect to Mapserver" error.

 

Now if I walk away and let the machine sit for a few minutes I can get back in to the game pretty easy. It is almost behaving as if a firewall has black holed my packets, like maybe it is seeing a flood of packets (or a series of malformed packets) and interpreting them as a attack. Once everything calms down, I can get back in.

 

I have tried to install the latest drivers for both the wireless NIC and Wired NIC.

 

I update the firmware on my router.

 

Removed the CoH folder and installed it again as the CoX folder. Interesting enough, Tequila stalled downloading the World1piggs overnight and I had to close it and open it again to get the download working. I am not sure that is relevant as there were issues with the patch server last night. However, this did not seem to have any effect.

 

I also attempted to turn of SPI on my router.

 

[Purrfekshawn]

So, it seems this issue hasn't been adressed yet sadly!

 

On win 7 character loading screen takes a lot more than it should.

 

Has someone found a workable workaround for this blah?

 

If they did - can anyone provide with some way to address this? Maybe replace something in client memory?

[Purrfekshawn]

On 6/21/2019 at 1:27 PM, Cipher said:

Hey all - if you're still experiencing this problem after the maintenance / server patch that we did on the 20th then please let me know (through Discord - Cipher#0002, through this thread, or by sending me a private message).

 

We're working on ways to diagnose this on the client side and can provide steps to help us gather information.

 

Thanks!

Found a very bulky, but workable workaround.

 

First launch Cheat Engine. Select "cityofheroes.exe" process or "homecoming.exe" if you run compatibility mode. After that you will see in Cheat Engine option "ENABLE SPEEDHACK". Use it, this will inject Cheat Engine DLL. But don't use any speedhacks yet.

 

Then select a server you want to log in, while it shows a screen, ALT+TAB to Cheat Engine, then choose Speedhack setting to x100 or x200 and then select APPLY.

 

In a success this will reduce character loading screen to about 5-6 seconds, then select Speedhack option x1 to disable it, close all error messages game pay popped (like server was inactive 40 seconds, etc)...

 

Forgive Me please, but it allowed Me to discover that it's actually Client issue, not a Server issue. l'm going to investigate this furthur and find an exact root of the problem.

[WanderingAries]

14 hours ago, Purrfekshawn said:

Then select a server you want to log in, while it shows a screen, ALT+TAB to Cheat Engine, then choose Speedhack setting to x100 or x200 and then select APPLY.

What is it actually doing?

Quote

Forgive Me please, but it allowed Me to discover that it's actually Client issue, not a Server issue. l'm going to investigate this furthur and find an exact root of the problem.

I think we kinda figured it was client-side as it would likely affect Win10 devices as well.

[Panthonca7034]

I'm going to have to disagree on this being a Windows 7 issue, because I have Win7 myself (Win 7 x64 to be exact)

 

I've noticed that the people who seem to be having an issue all have Intel powered CPUs, whereas I do not, thanks to a horrible experience I had with the Pentium III way back when. The average wait for the screen to load is about 59 seconds to 1 minute and 2 seconds (65 alts), and other than the random mapserve pie and some lag, I have near ZERO issues.

 

Before casting the blame on Windows 7, its time to check how the patch affects Intel and AMD cpus.

Edited October 12, 2019 by Panthonca7034
forgot additional info

[Captain Fabulous]

3 minutes ago, Panthonca7034 said:

I'm going to have to disagree on this being a Windows 7 issue, because I have Win7 myself (Win 7 x64 to be exact)

 

I've noticed that the people who seem to be having an issue all have Intel powered CPUs, whereas I do not, thanks to a horrible experience I had with the Pentium III way back when. The average wait for the screen to load is about 59 seconds to 1 minute and 2 seconds (65 alts), and other than the random mapserve pie and some lag, I have near ZERO issues.

 

Before casting the blame on Windows 7, its time to check how the patch affects Intel and AMD cpus.

My Windows 7 rig has an AMD CPU and has this problem.

[Panthonca7034]

41 minutes ago, Captain Fabulous said:

My Windows 7 rig has an AMD CPU and has this problem.

Ok,

 

Which chipset is it? Socket 462? Or 754/939? Or AM2/AM2+ or AM3/AM3+? Is it an Athlon, Sempron or some Phenom?  Something other than dual core makes a huge difference, Tri, quad or hexacores make quite an enormous difference processing power wise.

 

If I recall, only the 754 to AM3+ were 64 bit processors and had a RAM limit of 4GB to 8GB and the AM3/AM3+ 16 to 32GB (16GB on the AM3 and 32GB on the AM3+) whereas the Socket 462 were 32-bit only.

 

Does this machine have one graphics port? Is it AGP or PCI-Ex? Is this machine Crossfire capable? (meaning dual graphics cards)

 

Is this machine on a wired or wireless network? Wifi is susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI).

 

I won't inquire if it has an SSD or regular hard drive because I saw that some of the other folks have SSD's on their rigs.

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2019 by Panthonca7034
Correction needed for spelling

[Purrfekshawn]

3 hours ago, WanderingAries said:

What is it actually doing?

I think we kinda figured it was client-side as it would likely affect Win10 devices as well.

Well, now l've discovered that altering some bytes within Game Process Memory can stop this issue as well. Wrote trainers and did successful tests. l posted devs a mail with instruction inside about what exact bytes are responsible to that and how to fix issue this way, hopefully they'll read and implement this as ingame function.

 

And while it's not ingame function maybe they allow Me to post here temporary solution that can be used by players (not using Cheat Engine).

[WanderingAries]

22 hours ago, Panthonca7034 said:

I'm going to have to disagree on this being a Windows 7 issue, because I have Win7 myself (Win 7 x64 to be exact)

 

I've noticed that the people who seem to be having an issue all have Intel powered CPUs, whereas I do not, thanks to a horrible experience I had with the Pentium III way back when. The average wait for the screen to load is about 59 seconds to 1 minute and 2 seconds (65 alts), and other than the random mapserve pie and some lag, I have near ZERO issues.

 

Before casting the blame on Windows 7, its time to check how the patch affects Intel and AMD cpus.

There's no reason my Win10 1Ghz / 1Gb RAM ATOM device should be able to out perform my Win7 3.9Ghz / 32Gb RAM i7 device Unless there was something specific about the OS. They're Both Intel and the ATOM is seconds vs a minute plus on the i7. There's no apples/oranges about it.

[WanderingAries]

18 hours ago, Purrfekshawn said:

Well, now l've discovered that altering some bytes within Game Process Memory can stop this issue as well.

So it's a process issue then, which in turn likely relates to the code changed back then. Got it. Yeah, it's too far back to remember properly whether I really was connecting much faster before that patch or not as the game's queuing code had been updated around the same time that the queue started to stabilize.