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General: Skelton: Hugged Your Internet Lately?
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com's Jaime Skelton uses a brief stint without her internet service to take a look this week at internet service providers and a possible crackdown that could be coming on bandwidth that could affect MMO gamers.
This weekend, I had to deal with one of the greatest frustrations an online gamer can deal with: internet connection problems. I spent half of my raid time disconnecting and reconnecting, which was terribly fun. Then Monday, the internet went out entirely, and stayed off for 24 hours. Besides giving me a lot of free time to take care of things I haven't been able to recently, it also gave me time to reflect on how much the internet has become part of my daily life as a gamer.
There's no doubt that many of us, myself included, often take our internet access for granted. At times, it feels like a utility, even though it feeds off them. I couldn't even begin to explain to my provider that I needed the internet up as soon as possible so I could work, and that my work, at least partially, consists of playing games online. There's little respect for online gamers at ISPs, even though many of their employees are part of our growing group. The attitude is that the internet is a luxury, and we should be happy with the speed and service we get. It reminds me of all the times that my dad would tell me to be grateful for the dinner on my plate, and I better eat it because there were starving children in Ethiopia.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
i doubt we have to worry about this, gaming doesn't even use a fraction of the traffic p2p does.
I'm terribly happy that i'm Swedish. We don't have to worry about bandwidth caps or slow/unstable internet ever.
My current connection at 100/100 shared with 4 of my neighbours costs me $30/month (yes it's unmetered)
Haha, over here we have strict bandwidth caps and internet protocol shaping, resulting in the protocols used for gaming being given a lower priority than HTTP traffic, for example.
It's really not the end of the world...shaping is about the only issue gamers have to worry about, not bandwidth caps. Thankfully, we're experiencing the opposite phenomenon here as undersea cables for...Africa...are being laid and prices are dropping drastically.
I hugged the internet....and now I have herpies
First of all, Congratulations for one of the most entertaining headlines lately.
It's interesting to see the problems US American gamers deal with. In Europe (Germany) there are no bandwidht limitations (yet). Instead companies advertise new bandwidth records to get more customers.
I also find it interesting that in the States it seems an either or deal when it comes to free-market vs government control. It's either total freedom (for who?) which in the end results in the customers being bereft of their rights when dealing with companies, or it is government influence, which apparently results in censorship, surveillance and loss of privacy.
There is a third way, government control of quality and service, and thus, a protection of customer rights. This however, seems ti get lost more and more.
same goes for Romania....a 100mbs, no caps connection its about 7 euro/month (VAT included) or about or about 13 euro/month if you take it with cable,phone and mobile phone in a package but then it's only a 50mbs connection
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. A. Einstein
Most games, especially MMOs use a pretty mild amount of bandwidth. Though, anyone who downloads lots of media are getting the squeeze. This includes anyone who downloads lots of free mmo game clients too.
I don't believe we have to rely on yet more government bloat to keep these businesses in check. Normal consumer action can make the point. If people rallied together and were disciplined enough to cancel their metered service and express dissatisfaction to the providers through letters and phone calls, the providers would have to change.
If it gets really bad, the old school nerd population who were once the dominant residents of the net up until the last 8 or so years will more than likely create a new internet for everyone.
I'm having a hard time understanding how government interferance would be a bad thing, because from my point of view, if the government charges extra money for an online gaming service, then that'd reduce the amount of teenagers on the internet, because a parent is less likely to want to allow their kids to play online games when it puts an extra strain on their pocketbook.
Hell, hopefully our internet avatar would be tied into our real life identity, to reduce the anonimity of the internet, which would in return reduce the amount of asshats on the game. People aren't going to want to be a dick when their avatar name is the same as their real name.
I'm just willing to consider anything to reduce the amount of teenagers and asshats that play online games. I'd much rather have the genre return to its niche where the communities were mostly mature and nice to be around.
In my country, internet is not considered to be a luxury anymore. Its as mandatory nowadays as having a phone. To show why :
This caused that internet connection stability has improved loads the last few years. Speeds have gone up for same prices and data limits have been removed.
Your "third way" is just an open invitation to government interference. Keep in mind that Comcast and the rest have a LOT more money than we do to make "contributions" to the politicians who would make any of those new laws. The interesting thing that many people forget... Comcast and other such, wouldn't even exist absent governments giving them right of way for their lines. Not to mention the Sweet Deals they have with the local politicians to keep out competition. Thats why Comcast has a virtual monopoly in all too many parts of the country. It would be much better to keep government interference out of this, to the greatest extent possible.
No monitoring of bandwidth capping here, thank god. If the ISP-s cannot provide a service to all customers 24/7, they shouldn't do it at all imo. Capping the bandwidth or speed because you're using "too much" is silly. That's like saying you're drinking too much of the water you've already paid for.
i have this annoyingly slow 100KB/S internet that really runs at about 40, or maybe 70 on a good day. i went to my friend's house for the first time and was there when "torchlight" was released, when i started to download it i realized he had 1000KB/S xD at that point i proseeded to hug his modem, to the great confusion of everyone else.
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I'd say it's more like they're giving you rental of a water fountain for the month, and you're using the water fountain too much.
Now, if bandwidth was actually measurable, like, say, a body of water, it would be understandable to limit people somewhat, but all you're really paying for is... what... a satellite? A big ol' bunch of wires that connect to various points that connect to satellite dishes that connect to other service providers and relay information?
Really, what you're paying for for "internet" just seems to be... electrical signals, and perhaps line rental.
I don't see how they can run out of electrical signals - except, well, if they run out of electricity.
All that said, I hate Australia's internet.
I am playing EVE and it's alright... level V skills are a bit much.
You all need to learn to spell.
It starting to come into play in the UK. and so if anyone is a member of a country that is in the EU, I say give it five years and it will eventually crop up there too. The problem is p2p. it cost the music and movie industry a heck of a lot of money. this in turn means that there a money drop for governments.
While they dont rule the internet, they do rule the rules that govern the ISP, and can make life hard for them. I tend to agree with people in that it probably wont really affect gaming........however, how many of you also download itunes, youtube videos and thing like that? This is where we could then come to have problems. saying that, I was slapped with a downgrade on my network band by BT (I tend to download a lot of stuff legally through Itunes and other stuff and I managed to prove it, and have it put back again) and even with that downgrade, my gaming was not affected. Sure the graphic driver I had to download that week was a bugger, and I shudder to think of anyone having to download an expansion pack for any game (out of curiousty I started the wow download just to see. the normal time I get is couple of hours. this was telling me 14 hours from the start)
But Frankly, unless you go stupid with it, and the ISP impose a reasonable limit, I dont forsee any problems. saying that, who knows? maybe future gaming will require a bigger bandwidth and then we be in a bind. Then we might wish that we got involved in the debate now.
What we DO NOT need is more government involvement. Look at the nightmare the Healthcare debate is causing. plus I like the freedom to CHOOSE! Anyway, I digress. The solution here is that we need more ISP provider options. currently in the states, wherever I move to, there really is only 2 choices, that I know of. Comcast or Verizon.
These 2 companies need some competition so that they aren't raking the customers over the coals but competing with each other to win us over to them.
If the government is to be involved, they should be shelling out a business start up loan so more broadband providers can come into business. The more business options, the more competition there is the better off the economy is and the happier the customers are. This is how America got to where it is today, but it seems to be forgetting this and going the other way.
Keep government out of this stuff. I can't speak as much to other countries, but if you give the US government a tiniest bit of power, they will use it to walk all over you. If you give the government the ability to regulate the internet, be prepared for TONS of censorship. The FCC will descend upon one of the last bastions of free speech in the US and will tear it apart. You like internet porn? It'll be gone. You like the ability to get any kind of underground news? Too bad. You like having any tiny little bit of anonymity? Not that there's much left, but that little bit will be a thing of the past.
Important facts:
1. Free to Play games are poorly made.
2. Casuals are not all idiots, but idiots call themselves casuals.
3. Great solo and group content are not mutually exclusive, but they suffer when one is shoved into the mold of the other. The same is true of PvP and PvE.
4. Community is more important than you think.
Simple solution is to change to an ISP that caters to online gaming and media streaming, they are out there and easy to find in most countries where the internet has become part of the home. Online gamers should always go for the smallest company ISP as you'll get the best service from those, compared to popular ones.
Next time, try one of these...
I'm not trying to turn this into a political thread, but if you haven't heard about this in the USA, it's time you were informed...
That sonofabitch John McCain has proposed a bill he calls the "Internet Freedom Act". The irony is that the bill is - very literally - the EXACT OPPOSITE of freedom - for us. The bill gives ISPs the right to throttle content to their users. In other words, if you use an ISP that is owned by a company that also owns CNN, for example, your speeds when viewing CNN.com will be great, while they can slow down your attempt at viewing MSNBC.com or FoxNews.com.
Democrat, Republican, Independent - it doesn't matter. If you use the internet, you DO NOT want this legislation to pass.
No godless person can comprehend those minute distinctions
in doctrine that provide true believers excuse for mayhem.
-Glen Cook
What about that whole cloud computing thing? Isn't that supposed to pretty much eliminate this issue?
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
I find it hilarious how people act like such helpless morons when it comes to stuff like this. The internet is not a "Privilege" you pay money for the shit, you get what you pay for simple. If ISP's do something you don't like then complain, as for saying oh they don't listen. Guess what they WILL listen if they're going broke because no one is buying their product. People need to start thinking business and the money they put in for stuff, money runs the world so start acting like it. You're as helpless as you make yourself simple....
It seems the Stairway to the Stars starts at your ISP
Well didn't know that bill was coming up. I guess it's time to contact my senators. And set up a meeting with them. I'M NOT going to go for that kind of shit. This is that same old shit that was talked about on the chans for along time. You pay for the internet like cable. You get to "choose" which sites you go to. It's pretty much that b/c if they're like oh he's going to "www.site.com" we better make his speed go at .1Kb/s. But OH he's going to our home page. Let's make it up to 1.5Mb/s.
With that said, where i live there's "magically" no other isps that service my area except "hugesnet" which anyone who's ever used their service knows is byfar the biggest fraud ever. So there's nothing else that i can do. I have to sit here with my "1.5Mb/s" internet as they say it is. But in reality it's normally ~70KB/s to ~100KB/s for most of the day. But can i do anything? Nope, somehow Comcast, Cox, Verizon, AT&T and all of the others "magically" don't service my town. I find it great that they don't. Just plain old great. Right now i'm paying 40$ a month for "1.5Mb/s" internet. Which is slow 99% of the time. Buggy as hell and well isn't too reliable. If i had a choice i'd change it right away. I wish someone else would come out here and set up shop. That way my telephone company couldn't hold their horrible monopoly on this place. They'd make a killing. My friend out in CA tells me he gets 25Mb/s for 25$ a month. And that's unmetered. Also the EU jesus i wish i was over there right now. I'D LOVE to have that kind of network.
Currently i've been looking at server costs just out of curiosity. In the US you pay ~2x as much for a server that has bandwith restrictions as you do for one in the UK which has none. It's crazy and that's all i can say. It's byfar the most wild thing that i've ever seen.
As these ones like comcast and roadrunner attempt to put caps on it. It's completely pointless really. B/c it all balances out. It's COMPLETELY pointless. 90% of the people who get 512Kb/s+ net speed will only maybe download an attachment or two everyday. So they're barely using any bandwith at all. So those who use alot are balancing it out if not more. I HATE how the internet is in this area. When i was out in college before teh old person who ran the dorms left. That internet was amazing. I swear we had a 100Mb/s connection in the dorms. I got ~25MB/s avg. dl speed on speedtest when he was there. It was amazing. Well he quit, then the school got someone new. Actually two people, everything went down hill. The net was down 50% of the time, and also it'd go down to insanely low speeds my ping in wow was over 700Ms 90% of thetime. It was redicolous. Alot of the first year students who were there for their two semesters or well one semester never came back. They said screw this we need our internet. Alot of the people who just go out and hang around said "oh just go into the commons". Yeah sure alot of people went in there but the point was we were paying for it. Until companies have broadband EVERYWHERE i mean every company should have service providing in EVERYPART of the us. Until they do it won't get anybetter.
Also one of the site managers should seriously fix these forums. They're not letting me use my firefox builtin spellchecker.
Im glad you point this out becuase my University when I went to college this year, I tried to log into LoTRo, then EQ and then Runes of Magic all without luck. So I went to the IT support office and asked them what was wrong and why I couldnt log in. This was the response I got,
"You are unable to log into your games because we have but a filter, a bandwidth controller essentially, on the Universities internet. This is due to the large number of gamers on campus playing games such as World of Warcraft and eating up all of the bandwidth. It used to be so bad that people couldnt even access thier emails."
wtf? This is exactly what this article is talking about and it is outrageous that my university(and unfortunately ISP's) refuse to give the support that their paying customers pay for. Ugh. I dont want to be restricted at home too.