Client Timeout When Zoning

[Eattat]

Hello all,

First I would like to say that I have been having a fantastic time playing on this server. I've been here about a week (I must admit I came here out of desperation when the live servers went down) and I'm really enjoying the custom content, the general level of support is great, and the player base seems to be generally very helpful.

This post is a combination of feedback on an issue I've been having, and a (partial) fix for others having the same issue.

The issue is simply this: Often times, when zoning, the client will stick there and nothing further will happen unless I end task and log back in to the game, at which point I find my character waiting in the new zone.

My computer:

I run Windows 7 x64, with the Everquest SOD client and the following hardware specs:

Intel core i7-920 2.66GHz processor,
8GB DDR3 RAM (at work, forget the mem speed)
NVidia GTX460-1GB DDR5 video card

After having this issue for a few days, sometimes so bad that it would take me 10 minutes to get my character back into the game after first attempting to zone into whatever zone it is, I started playing around a bit and have so far found the following:

When the issue occured last, I checked my dbg log and found an error message, something along the lines of: world_server_TIMEOUT, and something along the same lines with the login server as well (please note again that I'm at work and can't post the exact message; I can do so later this afternoon when I get home).

So far, I have tried two things: a tracert showed several ping/timeout issues at doclernetworks, although these routers may not respond to ICMP requests, so the tracert may not tell much at all.

The one fix I have found so far that helps tremendously (although it does still happen from time to time) is to run eqgame.exe in compatibility for XP SP2 (anything else seems to create memory reference errors, at least on win7-x64).

If anyone else has been having issues with this, I would love to hear more feedback on it, including any other fixes that may have been found. I've been having a fantastic time playing on this server, and so far have had no issues other than those concerning zoning.

Thanks!

[aabamzen]

Doclernetworks was giving me some issues a few days ago also and I was having the exact same symptoms as you. It cleared up in a day or so.

Here was my post on the issue:

http://www.thehiddenforest.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=126&t=6056

[Eattat]

Aabamzen,

Your post is actually what got me to run the tracert in the first place. However, I haven't experienced what you have for the most part. The issue has been a recurring one throughout my time here on the server (I think the first day or 2 were fine; it's been a toss up since then).

Has it been a recurring issue for you as well? If not, I think that pretty much rules out doclernetworks and the timeouts may simply be a result of them blocking ping requests. While it may in fact be an issue with them, I think that, at least until we can get more information, there's really no reason to throw the blame their way.

However, it's also possible that EVERYONE that has to route through doclernetworks (US clients I guess?) is having the issue at one time or another - if that's the case, maybe it is them.

I just don't want to push this issue in the direction of "it's a routing error, so deal with it" simply because both of us have run a tracert.

Have you continued having the problem?
What client are you running?
OS version?
Anything else you may have noticed?

Any information we can get regarding this may help to resolve this issue. I've seen several people ask about it both on the forums and in-game, but haven't really found any fixes other than the semi-fix I experienced by running my client in XP SP2 compatibility.