Addons that increase latency.Is that even possible?

[varulv]

Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but i just couldn't find the answer i was looking for by searching.So, what better place to ask - there's a bunch of experts here so.. here goes :P

Can addons actually increase your latency?I do know that there are some that lower your FPS, i recently installed Carbonite for example - nice fancy maps and all but it does hit my frames per second.. considerably.

Really looking forward to someone answering this

[Petrah]

It's hitting your FPS (frames per second), or causing latency (slowing down your connection to the Internet)?

If Carbonite is spitting out massive errors, then yes it can cause your FPS to tank. Be absolutely sure you are running the latest version... there's been several releases (beta's and regular) lately to fix issues.

[varulv]

Originally Posted by Petrah It's hitting your FPS (frames per second), or causing latency (slowing down your connection to the Internet)?

My FPS, but nothing game-breaking.I sit in some isolated place and zoom in, staring at the ground, my FPS sit at 200-210.Now, i enable Carbonite(with just the mini-map visible)and they drop to 150-170, if i open the 'big' map the FPS will drop even more.And yes, i am using the latest version

But anyway, my question was more like a general/technical one: Can addons affect latency in any way?

[Taryble]

Not latency.

Latency is a measurement of network capacity, mostly. Specifically, "latency" is a measurement of how long a packet of information takes to get from one system connected to a network to another system. So your in-game latency is a measure of how long each bit of information takes to get from your computer to the game server, or vice-versa. This means that actual results take TWICE your latency to be seen on your end.

You click to cast a spell. That info is sent to the server, which registers it, and then sends back the "okay, casting time starts now" event, at which point you actually start casting the spell. If your latency is, for example, 500ms, that means that it takes a full second from when you release the button to when the spell cast timer goes off.

[varulv]

So, there is no way for an addon to interfere with the packages sent.Thank you, a very informative post indeed

[Petrah]

Originally Posted by varulv My FPS, but nothing game-breaking.I sit in some isolated place and zoom in, staring at the ground, my FPS sit at 200-210.Now, i enable Carbonite(with just the mini-map visible)and they drop to 150-170, if i open the 'big' map the FPS will drop even more.And yes, i am using the latest version But anyway, my question was more like a general/technical one: Can addons affect latency in any way?

Anything above 60 FPS, the human eye can't see anyway. The only reason to not cap your frame rate is for testing, otherwise it should be capped to whatever refresh rate your monitor is set to.

There was a really huge debate about a year and a half ago on the Wow tech support forums on weather or not addons would cause a latency issue. The general consensus, even by the techs, was no. Generally speaking an addon shouldn't be contacting anything outside of the game while you are actively playing. I'm sure someone will chime in if there are any addons that do this that I am not aware of.

[varulv]

Another informative post, thanks!

As for the FPS, yeah - that is true.I do own a 120Hz monitor however, and whenever FPS are above 100(v-sync disabled for many reasons)there's an overall more 'fluid' movement of the camera, kinda hard to explain but you'll see that all the people with 120Hz monitors do agree that 120Hz & 100+FPS really add to motion fluidity.

[SDPhantom]

Originally Posted by Taryble Latency is a measurement of network capacity, mostly. Specifically, "latency" is a measurement of how long a packet of information takes to get from one system connected to a network to another system. So your in-game latency is a measure of how long each bit of information takes to get from your computer to the game server, or vice-versa. This means that actual results take TWICE your latency to be seen on your end.

Actually, that's only HALF the measurement. Latency is measured by a simple ping, which is comprised of a request to the server and an echo response back. The result is the time between request and response, which is the time for information to take the round trip from client to server and back.

If your latency is, for example, 500ms, that means that it takes a full second from when you release the button to when the spell cast timer goes off.

A 500ms ping means a half-second response, since ping covers both request out and response back.

[Xinhuan]

Originally Posted by Taryble If your latency is, for example, 500ms, that means that it takes a full second from when you release the button to when the spell cast timer goes off.

This is actually wrong. Latency is the amount of time to send AND receive data in a round-trip, so a ping of 500ms really means you will see your cast cast timer go off in half a second.

Anything above 60 FPS, the human eye can't see anyway. The only reason to not cap your frame rate is for testing, otherwise it should be capped to whatever refresh rate your monitor is set to.

This is also wrong. The human eye can perceive as much as 220 FPS.

http://whisper.ausgamers.com/wiki/in...an_eye_can_see

Obviously, it would only make a difference if you have a monitor/screen that can refresh that fast. Most screens cap out at 75Hz, but if you have a better screen that can refresh faster, the human eye can indeed tell the difference.

24 FPS is the minimum required to perceive fluid motion - but the human eye is much more powerful than that.

[Abner]

Is there also a possibility that if the server handles many information that the transfer of data will slow down as well? Does this also mean that the hardware speed of my computer doesn't affect the latency at all because it is all up to my internet connection and the server?

[Rigorous]

your hardware (i.e. CPU/GPU/etc) will have an extremely minimal impact on latency in real world terms. the only exception would be your local interface/network...even that is likely to be exceptionally minimal compared to an overtaxed hop en route to the Blizz server.
technically, i suppose, latency can't be affected by your hardware because it is a measure essentially of external conditions.

[Taryble]

Thank you for the corrections, Xinhuan and SDPhantom. It's been quite a while since I've done network stuff, and, well, driving a school bus doesn't exactly keep one's hand in that. :>

[Petrah]

Originally Posted by Xinhuan This is also wrong. The human eye can perceive as much as 220 FPS.

Wikipedia.

If I remember to ask... I have an eye appointment on the 27th for new glasses. I'll see if I can get clarification. Other than that, the x-husband has 36 years experience as an electronic technician (TV's and such), and that's what he's always told me.

[vlakarados]

about 220 fps, it's actually true, that you can see this 'frame', but not always.
imagine it in a spreadsheet way:

first line
* = got signal (the frame that is currently seen by the eye)
- = not getting it
second line
, = picture of that aircraft is shown
- = nothing/something else is shown


*-------------*-------------*-------------*-------------*--
,-------------------,-------------------,-------------------,-

and it was proven, that human eye gets information that way, like a dashed line

nevertheless, you really feel when there's 60fps and 120, fluid imo is the right word for this