lexlazootin wrote:Ah, so it's mystical quantum packet differences that is only testable based on the FEEL of the player and not some quantifiable results?
Now thats funny, because you clearly do not understand the issue here and how network performence affects online fps gaming. FEELING is the only thing you have here, and the more variance there is (network performence fluctuations) the more you can feel it. For example:
1-10 variance, meaning 10 is best hit reg possible, 1 is the worst possible. If you have a consistent network performence, for example in these ranges 7-9, 5-7, 8-10, 4-6 then you can't really notice a difference, because there is not enought variance in your network performance. Also, the difference might be minimal and you thought nothing of it because it doesn't bother you enough or alter your in game performance to a significant degree. People in the lower consistent ranges might not be even aware that they have slight hit registration problems, because they have never experienced near perfect hit reg. Also, many people are not tech savvy, and they are just avarage players playing with friends for fun, so they might don't even care or notice the things other people are seeing. It also depends on many other variables, for example how much you play, if you play rarely there is a less chance that you will see and experience that something is off, you will have less experience in this area overall. If you play a lot, you care more, then you have a higher chance of experiencing different scenarios related to network performence. Same thing with refresh rates, not everyone sees the difference and to the same degree, people are differently affected/bothered by blurring, tearing and other display artifacts. Nothing is equal in this area, same with network performence and noticing the changes based on your game performence. Back to hit reg, if your variance is high enough, for example in 2-8 range, then you can actually experience a very good hit registration and you will know exactly how it feels playing the game when you have good network performence. Same goes with opposite, you will notice immediately when something is off and that is how you can identify the problem.
Why the feeling is the most important thing here ? Because you can't alter your network performence on your side, it is not display or hardware related, it has nothing to do input lag (although it may seem like it does for some people), system changes and tweaks will not work, same with ingame changes (cfg related), literally nothing you do will work, so you can't really test it the same way you can do test other things in different areas related to displays, hardware and gaming equipment. The only thing you have is going by the feel, and looking objectively how the game performs and what is your in game performence. And you should also know, that hit registration is not the only thing that is affected by poor network performence. It is the most important thing in fps gaming, that is why it is mentioned most of the time, but other areas are also affected:
- reflex and your reactions, when your network performence is on point you will clearly see a boost in reflex and your reaction time in comparison to playing when network performence is poor.
- game will feel more smooth and effortless when everything works fine, and you will see that something is off (game smoothness, player movements, aiming, recoil) and it will bother you, both visually and performence wise.
- peeking corners will feel off, controlling recoil will be harder (it will feel sluggish and somewhat more random) and recoil time will be affected, it will take longer for crosshair to go back to its natural position, both while firing and when receiving damage.
That is also why many people describe this problem differently, because they are affected by all of this differently and to lesser or higher degree. And the more network performence fluctuations there are, the more you can see and feel it.
Chief has talked a few times about input lag variability, and this is very similar to what i am talking about. High input lag variability will affect your performence and how you aim, you might feel that something if off when there is big discrepancy in this area. If input lag will be consistent (low or minimal variability), same thing will go for players performence. I believe that our minds do like consistency in what we see and feel, this is how we can perform and do our tasks to the best of our capabilities, feel comfort doing this, and not be bothered by outside things. But when you introduce a change (even a small one that might not be really noticeable for everyone) your mind will try to adapt to it, creating a non optimal performence, until it fully adapts to the change. High input lag variability basically forces our minds to adapt constantly to the small changes, making your in game performence non optimal. Same with internet lags and ping spikes, it creates a sudden change that your mind doesn't like and it bothers you, and you can no longer play the way you want. And believe it or not, there are some unfortunate people out there that are forced to play with higher ping and lags, and they can't do anything about it. Their minds are also being tweaked in a way so they can perform in a best possibile way in these circumstances (so it doesn't bother them so much, they are getting used to it!). You know what else will happen ? These people will alter their in game decisions, movement and tactics so they can make the best use of what has been given to them. Sometimes lagging players are harder to hit cleanly, and they will use it against you if they know that sometimes high ping/lags might give them an advantage in certain situations. Now, going back to network performence fluctuations and bad hit registration, this is the exact same thing. Apart from being unable to get hits on your enemies, the game performence varies and feels more random... which your mind doesn't like and your overall performence will suffer even more because network performence is constantly changing. Even if someone has non optimal hit registration (variance 4-6) it will feel much better and consistent (easier for your mind to adapt) than for someone that has hit reg variance in the 2-8 range. What really bothers people are huge performence drops and inconsistency of the network game performence, because changes are big, noticable and annoying, and your mind needs to constantly make changes and try to adapt to it. What is even worse, is the fact that someone may know exactly what optimal game performence is (good hit reg - variance 8) but his hit reg is constantly changing and feels random making it impossible to play at your true skill level.
lexlazootin wrote:Because i can't find anywhere any proof of what you're saying.
At one point in time people were saying that you don't need more than xx FPS or more than xx Hz, there were no tests, there were no real studies done, and we were in the dark ages with no real progress for a long time. We have also regressed with LCD tech and for many people 60fps@60Hz was a perfect scenario and nothing better was neeeded.
There are no tests, because most people think that the problem is either game engine, input lag related, problem is their monitor, hardware or gaming equipment. And there are other people like you thinking that this problem is an imaginary problem, it doesn't exists, and people are just crying and whining because they are just not good enough in a xxx game and they don't know how to play it. There is ignorance and misinformation all over the place.
Another important thing is this, this problem can't be "fixed" just by buying new mouse, monitor or better hardware. Or even by making tweaks and changes to your system, increasing fps, reducing input lag bottlenecks. In many cases, this problem randomly goes away and comes back, making it even more frustrating and making people desperate. So there is no real money to be made by anyone here, that is why no one really cares, and especially not the people who have no problems with hit registration.
Testing this will also be difficult, because it is not the same thing as doing tests in different areas related to displays, hardware and gaming equipment, where you can do a reliable test in your home, without any interference of outside sources. Testing a real network performence in relation to fps gaming and hit registration is a completely different thing, as it is directly an "outside source" performence that you would need to test, the thing that you can't really control. It is not even related to how fast your internet is or even to what your ping is, it is directly correlated with things like error correction on your line (number of errors, interleaving depth, impulse noise protection ratio) and the overall network usage in your area/city during the time you play the game.
