Load times - Phoenix Freeshard

Hey guys, not sure if it's been asked..... But since playing Phoenix, I've noticed that my load times are crazy long. So much longer than I'm used to from live DAOC.
When I port somewhere for example, it sits on a frozen character for about 10-15 seconds each time, then the load screen is done in about 2 seconds.
I had a thought it was something to do with my ping to Australia, which usually sits around the 200-250 mark. But even still, I mostly notice it when in groups and everyone has already run off and I'm still loading.
Definitely not to do with a limited spec.
Ryzen7 2700X, 32GB RAM, RTX2080Ti, and the game is stored on a Samsung 1TB NVME SSD with a read/write of 3000mb/s.

I did find something in my google searching to say to open ports in the router, but it didn't make a difference.
Any thoughts to try?

Tue 31 Mar 2020 1:08 AM by romulus

Hi!
To fix these kinds of issues, you kinda need to know what the problem is. For example, is the problem network, video, CPU, or storage-related? You can run task manager and watch which system resources are getting stressed when the zones load. That should give you some indication where you need to look to optimize. Just as a general rule: run all updates for windows, your video card, and any device drivers you have installed to support your peripherals.
Good luck!
:hugs:

Tue 31 Mar 2020 1:29 AM by lohk

Nothing is getting stressed. This is why I put in my specs lol.
Literally when a load screen happens my CPU, GPU, HDD, and Network are under 10-40% each.
The same thing happens on my work PC, exact same load times. Much lower specs though.

Tue 31 Mar 2020 1:40 AM by romulus

Hi again!
Ok. So the common thing with both machines is the network? have you tried using a VPN to connect to Phoenix? Some people have reported throttling or other QoL issues until they connected with a VPN and then their problems went away, or were greatly reduced. When you are in-game, do you have any yellow or red ping?

Tue 31 Mar 2020 1:41 AM by lohk

In game is always green. Don't feel any lag while in game.
I will try a VPN tonight and see if it makes a difference.

Tue 31 Mar 2020 2:20 AM by easytoremember

Doesn't the client only run on one core? The code is pretty old
I've also never run the game on an SSD or from a seperate drive from the OS install

If it were an issue of latency your character would be standing idle and remain movable instead of the screen freezing

Tue 31 Mar 2020 2:46 AM by lohk

I'll do a screen capture tonight. Basically, on loading up the game the first time or loading a new zone, I click the area and my character/game freezes in place for 10-15 seconds. The game itself is practically frozen; if I click the Window again, the game goes to not responding. But if I wait the 10-15 seconds it will just start the load screen like normal.
I was originally running the game from my main C drive SSD (same SSD, 1TB Samsung NVME), and moved it to my Games SSD to test and same issue. So I'm suspecting that it's not client/pc side. I get the same issue on my Work PC which is only a Ryzen 5 CPU, 8GB RAM, GTX1660

Tue 31 Mar 2020 8:39 AM by Astaa

I'm on an M2 SSD, 32 gig of ram, 18month old high end CPU, 80mb internet connection and in Europe so not that far from the server etc

I get long hangs on porting, the actual load screen is near instant, its the hanging before the load screen that is the issue.

Tue 31 Mar 2020 3:45 PM by

gruenesschaf

Just to rule it out try disabling real time protection in your anti virus for an hour or so and see if that fixes things, if it does add an exception to the daoc folder. Daoc is a bit weird in when / how it reads the game files and the way it does it is hit rather hard by antivirus checking the file on access.

Tue 31 Mar 2020 10:08 PM by watbrif

gruenesschaf wrote: ↑
Tue 31 Mar 2020 3:45 PM
Just to rule it out try disabling real time protection in your anti virus for an hour or so and see if that fixes things, if it does add an exception to the daoc folder. Daoc is a bit weird in when / how it reads the game files and the way it does it is hit rather hard by antivirus checking the file on access.

I had exactly the same issue as the OP and your suggestion totally fixed it. Thanks!!

Tue 31 Mar 2020 10:49 PM by lohk

This link is basically what happens on every load. Whether it's loading into the game or zoning. Same thing.
https://youtu.be/f4DoB7El3k0

I have tried the above suggestion and turned off Windows Defender completely and still same issue, this was actually recorded with the Defender disabled.