PTR Patch 3.3: Report Lag option added to the default UI
by Eddie Carrington 
Oct 24th 2009 at 2:15AM
Finding it difficult to get a good spot for the Dalaran costume contest?
Are you tired of having to set your hearth in the dark and dank sewers of Dalaran?
Have you ever thought, "Man! I wish I could report how bad the lag is right now!"?
Well, if you're like millions of other players that have experienced lag, then maybe you'll be interested in what Blizzard has announced hitting the PTR! You can now use the "Report Lag" feature announced in the latest patch notes for Patch 3.3 as part of the latest PTR Build (Build 10676). No longer are you forced to submit endless GM Support Requests or post hundreds of lag reports on the forums. In three easy steps you can now have peace of mind, knowing your lag will be successfully reported. Looking at it, it seems pretty easy to use.
- Click the Knowledge Base/Help button.
- Then click Report Lag.
- Then you just select the type of lag you are experiencing. Which will most likely to be either "Movement" or "Spells and Abilities." When you're all done you get a "Your lag report has been successfully reported" message.
Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King . With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to the Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news. Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Vasco Oct 24th 2009 2:22AM
Maybe they'll take it as serious as reporting corpse spam. 14 hours later and not only are the corpses still there, still have the "high volume of petitions" on screen. And to be honest, most lag/latency issues are somewhere between the server and the end user, which Bliz has absolutely no control over. At least this time its a "fire and forget" instead of tying up my ability to do another petition.
Mopo Oct 26th 2009 4:42PM
I have to disagree. I think we need to clarify what lag is. Lag is latency over a network, but the connotation has changed to basically include everything from frame rate to how you feel before you have coffee in the morning.
When people talk about the lag in Dalaran; it is generally not because you have a bad connection, it is your video card or system not being able to handle all the information coming in at once. I do not have a super highend system, but it is better then most and I do not have much issues with Dalaran except the first initial load time.
This is not lag, but your computer screaming at you to upgrade.
Last night I was in WG and it was extremely "laggy". Was it my connection? The toons were warping all over the place. At first I was like "wow, this person has a terrible connection", but then I noticed it was every encounter and other people were complaining about it too. After the WG was over and I joined another 40 man BG there were no issues. What does this mean? Was it me or Blizzard? I checked my connection and it was showing about 80-100 ms latency, so no issues there. Generally, packet loss is worse than having a high ping.
While having a button that easily sends lag related issues, I am not sure how Blizzard is going to screen out actual lag versus slow computers/connections.
I use to sell data center space and bandwidth for one of the largest telecom companies in the world, so I am not novice when it comes to this type of stuff. I will say I have been out of the game for a while, so this is just my opinion.
Jimm0thy Oct 24th 2009 2:26AM
This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of.
Ed Oct 24th 2009 2:42AM
I don't see this being much help to anyone.
Lag is inevitable. Even players with amazing connections encounter lag sometimes, whether it be Blizzard's fault, their ISP's fault, some program on their computer kicking in, or simply a small hiccup somewhere within the myriad of lines between their computer and Blizzard's.
kabshiel Oct 24th 2009 3:11AM
I'm sure a ton of people already waste GMs' time by reporting lag. With the new option, those complaints probably just go to some trash pile to be quietly ignored. Players will feel like their lag issues have been heard and GMs won't have to deal with it. Everybody wins!
Craig R Oct 24th 2009 2:55AM
Your redundancy report has been successfully reported
Falcom Oct 24th 2009 3:38AM
Twice.
thehoodie Oct 24th 2009 3:03AM
They are just doing this just so people get less angry, I'm certain.
Kynikos Oct 24th 2009 3:39AM
"Additional reports couldn't be launched, please try again later"
revan Oct 24th 2009 3:42AM
This must be some kind of joke, Lag will happen always in WoW, it depends much of the player's internet speed and the location of the realm he's playing, although lag most occours in Wintergrasp, 25-man raids and DaLAGran. I agree with Thehoodie, Blizz is just trying to keep ppl less angry and stop reporting latency problems every 5 minutes.
PS: I know my english is bad =P
Michael Oct 24th 2009 12:48PM
@revan - What you're referring to isn't lag, it's a common misconception among WOW players of what lag is, and the main reason why this tool is going to be a complete failure for Blizzard. Dalaran isn't laggy -- your computer sucks. There's a difference between poor system performance and server lag, a distinction which so many people don't even realize exists. If you have a decent computer, Dalaran will almost always run 100% smoothly (other than the odd time when there's actually legitimate server lag).
catharsis80 Oct 24th 2009 2:13PM
Your English is better than most Americans who play WoW.
Dustin Oct 24th 2009 3:56AM
Of course lag will always occur and the majority of the reports will be unrelated to any server issues. If there is a sudden spike in the number of reports on a specific realm or across the board they will know something is up.
Generally speaking, it's like the pedestrial crossing buttons ( http://is.gd/4yXT7 ) except that they're probably aggregating the results. Not entirely different from how the report spam functionality presently works.
Deadly. Off. Topic. Oct 26th 2009 11:34AM
Well, if suddenly there's a lag spike and everyone reports it then this would be useful to point out "Hey, the fault is with your servers Blizzard." However if there's one person only reporting, then the fault is most likely with them.
rawrawrawr Oct 24th 2009 4:04AM
Spoiler: The Report Lag button doesn't actually notify Blizzard of anything, but gives your screen a very slight pinkish tinge to subliminally relax you as you run in place.
flawless Oct 24th 2009 1:52PM
You're right about the "Not doing anything". It's a placebo, and just dumps all the reports directly into the Maelstrom, clearing up the GM ticket queue a bit.
fatsephy Oct 24th 2009 5:18AM
I thought it would be pretty clear (based on simple common sense) that this is not going to live servers.
It is (quite) obviously a reporting tool for the 3.3 PTR. Note the PTR. It's for testing purposes, duh!
Do any WoW players have any common sense anymore? Or did they ever? Maybe I was disillusioned back in the early days of the game and all the fond memories have altered my recollection of reality; everybody was just a stupid back then too, perhaps.
revan Oct 24th 2009 4:47AM
You sir are wrong:
Update: 10.23.2009
User Interface: Default settings, Buffs and Debuffs options, Tutorial system, dungeon & raid difficulty display, group disenchanting option, Report Lag option
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=20126978820&sid=1
fatsephy Oct 24th 2009 5:21AM
And you somehow derive from that that it's not just a PTR reporting tool used to determine lag issues caused by encounter related bugs or other additions to the game? Your brilliance astounds me.
A lag reporting tool clearly has no purpose or use on live realms. It does however have a use on a test realm, testing new encounters and various other events that are not present on live servers.
Pirim Oct 24th 2009 6:36AM
And you somehow derive from that that it IS just a PTR reporting tool? Simple common sense tells me that lags appear because client and server have hard time connecting with each other. What PTR-specifics can there be? Not enough to develop, test and release special tool for lag-reporting.
Of course, Blizzard won’t look at each and every lag report on live servers, but if tech support sees a spike of reports from zone/geographical region that was sitting quiet before, they can investigate. Investigate immediately, not just wait for some people to make their way to forums and tracert their mind off.
Speaking with words “clearly” and “obviously” about Blizzard’s work is just a little bit too self-confident.