I Totally Lambasted EA Support...
I left a question with EA Games Support on the 12th. They say within 24 hours they'll respond. However I didn't get an anser until yesterday the 14th. I left an inquiry about the lagging issues I and many other people are experiencing since Patch 1.03. Here's how it went...
My initial question:
Customer 10/12/2005 12:27 AM
Ever since I downloaded the 1.03 patch, I have been experiencing horrible lags. The game would tell me that there is a problem with my connection. It never did that prior to the patch. Even when I run the game on all low settings it lags. I have attached the DxDiagnosis .txt file with this submission.Also, I updated PunkBuster and contacted Charter Communications (My ISP) about a possible loss of connection at random times, and they told me that the house I was calling from had their new cable lines, and that everything was connected 100% with no interruptions. Also, I've checked my ping count in game, and its always below 100.
Then, more than a day later:
Customer 10/13/2005 09:46 PM
???? It's been more than 24 hours...
Then they finally responded:
Response (Box Angela B.) 10/14/2005 11:19 PM
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us here at Electronic Arts Technical Support. I’m sorry for the difficulty that you are having with Battlefield 2.
If you have already updated Punkbuster and verified with your ISP that you have good internet connection, please try running the UO Trace. you can run a trace route program to see if there is any major loss on the way. We use a trace program that was originally made for one of our games. This program can be used for any online trace.
Run UOTrace to determine routing factors.
Click here for instructions on using UO Trace.
If your system has any virus scanning or Internet security software running these to, can slow down your signal. These programs check every packet that goes in or out of the system. Make sure that all non-essential programs are turned off before starting the game.
For more information about how to request help for more information about how to request help from our new Support site, please visit the URL below.
Thank you and have a nice day!
Angela
EA Technical Support
After all that BS, and after using UOTrace many times before with no dropped connections, I finally had to say this:
Customer 10/15/2005 12:34 PM
No, you see, I didn't have any problems with this until I installed the patch. This is a problem within the game. I am not the only person to experience this as I have visited many message boards with people stating the same thing. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with my PC. UOTrace turned up with no dropped connections and my Norton firewall is turned off. I don't see how EA can pawn it off as a problem with the "users" connections when in actuality the fault is their own. This was a huge patch update and heck, the Server Update list filters don't even work right anymore.
I did a little experiment. I uninstalled BF2, and reinstalled it. I just downloaded the 1.02 patch and installed that also and updated PunkBuster. I played a multiplayer game...no lag... I rebooted, changed video settings, played again...no lag, then I rebooted again, and changed the settings yet again...no lag. I installed Patch 1.03 played on some servers...then I lagged like my connection was on dial-up.
I am not stupid, I know this patch messed things up and I would like a fix A.S.A.P. I have found a temporary work around to fix the lag. When I delete the cache files each time I quit playing BF2, I let the game re-optimize shaders (which takes forever, and would like load times optimized in the next Patch.), and the game runs very smoothly with no lag. This makes me further believe that the Patch 1.03 was the culprit. Was adding the Wake Island map so necessary that testing of this patch was scrapped? Or was it a bribe to say, "This'll divert their attention until we can make the game actually playable?"
I'm going to wait for another reply, and that reply is going right up on a very popular BF2 message board so everyone else with the problem will now know how to fix it. :)
__________________________________________________ ___________
And I still haven't gotten a reply. I hope that this gets them off their asses and hurries with a fix soon. Everyone should do this with EA. It IS a little hostile, but I'm sure that its the motivation that they need. Hell, we payed $50 for this game, I think we deserve a little better customer service and a fully functional game!
My initial question:
Customer 10/12/2005 12:27 AM
Ever since I downloaded the 1.03 patch, I have been experiencing horrible lags. The game would tell me that there is a problem with my connection. It never did that prior to the patch. Even when I run the game on all low settings it lags. I have attached the DxDiagnosis .txt file with this submission.Also, I updated PunkBuster and contacted Charter Communications (My ISP) about a possible loss of connection at random times, and they told me that the house I was calling from had their new cable lines, and that everything was connected 100% with no interruptions. Also, I've checked my ping count in game, and its always below 100.
Then, more than a day later:
Customer 10/13/2005 09:46 PM
???? It's been more than 24 hours...
Then they finally responded:
Response (Box Angela B.) 10/14/2005 11:19 PM
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us here at Electronic Arts Technical Support. I’m sorry for the difficulty that you are having with Battlefield 2.
If you have already updated Punkbuster and verified with your ISP that you have good internet connection, please try running the UO Trace. you can run a trace route program to see if there is any major loss on the way. We use a trace program that was originally made for one of our games. This program can be used for any online trace.
Run UOTrace to determine routing factors.
Click here for instructions on using UO Trace.
If your system has any virus scanning or Internet security software running these to, can slow down your signal. These programs check every packet that goes in or out of the system. Make sure that all non-essential programs are turned off before starting the game.
For more information about how to request help for more information about how to request help from our new Support site, please visit the URL below.
Thank you and have a nice day!
Angela
EA Technical Support
After all that BS, and after using UOTrace many times before with no dropped connections, I finally had to say this:
Customer 10/15/2005 12:34 PM
No, you see, I didn't have any problems with this until I installed the patch. This is a problem within the game. I am not the only person to experience this as I have visited many message boards with people stating the same thing. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with my PC. UOTrace turned up with no dropped connections and my Norton firewall is turned off. I don't see how EA can pawn it off as a problem with the "users" connections when in actuality the fault is their own. This was a huge patch update and heck, the Server Update list filters don't even work right anymore.
I did a little experiment. I uninstalled BF2, and reinstalled it. I just downloaded the 1.02 patch and installed that also and updated PunkBuster. I played a multiplayer game...no lag... I rebooted, changed video settings, played again...no lag, then I rebooted again, and changed the settings yet again...no lag. I installed Patch 1.03 played on some servers...then I lagged like my connection was on dial-up.
I am not stupid, I know this patch messed things up and I would like a fix A.S.A.P. I have found a temporary work around to fix the lag. When I delete the cache files each time I quit playing BF2, I let the game re-optimize shaders (which takes forever, and would like load times optimized in the next Patch.), and the game runs very smoothly with no lag. This makes me further believe that the Patch 1.03 was the culprit. Was adding the Wake Island map so necessary that testing of this patch was scrapped? Or was it a bribe to say, "This'll divert their attention until we can make the game actually playable?"
I'm going to wait for another reply, and that reply is going right up on a very popular BF2 message board so everyone else with the problem will now know how to fix it. :)
__________________________________________________ ___________
And I still haven't gotten a reply. I hope that this gets them off their asses and hurries with a fix soon. Everyone should do this with EA. It IS a little hostile, but I'm sure that its the motivation that they need. Hell, we payed $50 for this game, I think we deserve a little better customer service and a fully functional game!
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