VIEWER UPDATES GETTING WORSE EACH TIME

[HarleyRainn]

Ever notice that each time they have the viewer update that it is just getting more bogged down even tho most of us have the setting at 'low' and everything is unchecked viewings at 64 0r 72  only the basic water is checked yet it's still bogged down. Was a time when we could log in and it only took a few seconds for the inworld to go into color now when we log in we must wait some time or risk crashing or 'not responding'. Its one thing that we are able to log in but its another that we don't have high end processors like they do at the HQ in California

[wiked Anton]

I5 with 6 gyg ram does it well enough.

[Paul Hexem]

Sounds like it's time to upgrade?

[phaedra Exonar]

Suck to be stuck on low setting , I was there for over a year when my graphics card died on my last computer.

Cheapest thing to try would be to upgrade your graphics card, depending on how old your computers is.

I don't think the computer I had when I first got in to SL 5 years ago would run SL of today very well, and it cost 2.5 times as much as my current one.

A computers age is measured in dog years  

[MoiselleErin Teardrop]

Not everyone can afford to run out and upgrade or buy a new computer each time LL decides to bog SL down with more BS that it doesn't really need.

That is why SL will never be very popular except for a very few who get hooked on it. Imagine some newbie coming in, things are gray for a bit, movements are jerky, and things just freeze or the camera is jerky. YEAH they are going to want to stick around to enjoy this aggrivation.

 

The more they "upgrade" the viewers, the more people SL shuts out. Sure people can use old viewers (like I do) but the average Joe who has little clue what SL is isn't gonna know about V1 or V2 and probably won't care.

 

Prospective players see videos of SL and the motions are fluid, FPS of 30 or higher, and it looks fascinating. So they get in and their computer cannot quite handle it so their view of SL looks like something that came out of a horse's ass. That will make the first AND last time they log in.

 

Meanwhile LL is wondering why most new users don't stick around. "how can we get people to stay?" Well, quit "upgrading" to even more cumbersome viewers might be a start.

 

OH and time to strike a nerve like I am good at doing - they say a lot of people in SL cannot work cause they are crippled or whatever. Yet they can afford to buy computers that run SL at high graphics and get 30 FPS or better. How DO they afford this?

[Ryu Darragh]

Here's a thought for you. Just bought the wife a Net Book (LT4004) and we loaded SL onto it (the latest Mesh Viewer) just for the giggles. Much to our surprise, this lowly little chicket of a wanna-be-a-laptop-when-I-grow-up actually ran SL. Albeit not well or quickly, but the landscape was correctly rendering and we could move her Avatar around fairly well.

 

Just think about it. An Atom processor, 2G of memory and an Intel graphics GPU.

 

It is NOT SL getting more and more demanding with each update.

 

In my own well educated and not so humble opinion this problem is related to cruft that accumulates from all sorts of sources, including that left behind by SL at each update.

 

Sadly, only a complete reload of Windows and a brand spnaky new installation of the latest version of SL can alleviate this sort of problem.

 

Since the "update" woes apply to more than just SL (some updates have killed access to Facebook for some who followed "recommended updates" practices for Windows, for instance), your only recourse is as mentioned above. No, this is not right. Yes, these are minor "bugs". But, also, no, this is not just SL.

 

I recommend folks do a complete "robotomy" on their PC, apply all updates, etc. Then, before loading ANY software, do a complete backup onto a DVD using a "Quick Restore" method so they can reload their system from time to time with a happy and not so crufted up version of windows (yeah, you can do the same after reloading all user software, if you don't mind multidisc restores).

 

After all, PCs are not like automobile engines that wear down with continued use. Reload everything from time to time can work wonders for PCs.

[Paul Hexem]

Online gaming is like any other hobby, there are equipment costs. Rock climbers have to regularly buy new rope and other equipment, vehicle racers have to buy tires and keep engines tuned, even stamp collectors have to buy storage books, or whatever they use. And so on.

 

For those of us that choose online gaming, the equipment costs are computer parts. MMO games have been dealing with user retention for years. It becomes a simple question- do we want to lose the casual players that won't upgrade with us in order to give the best possible experience to those that we know will stay, or risk losing those serious gamers so we can keep people that aren't serious about it anyway?

[MoiselleErin Teardrop]

Yeah true about equipment costs with hobbies.

On the plus side with SL, at least the old viewers still work.

I have a friend who thinks I should buy a new computer but I am not about to drop $1,000 that I clearly do not have in order to play an online game "better". I mean what if the majority of the problems are still there?  I would not be able to eat for a few months but at least I would be able to see crap in a game that is 5,000 meters away and get 45 FPS. Yeah, bye bye food. NOT

[Hitomi Tiponi]

As someone who uses several machines and works on UI mods I monitor this closely.  After incremental improvements in Viewer 2 (after it's extremely laggy/buggy start) there was a big fall back in performance for older machines with 2.8/3.0 (for mesh) which has never been fully recovered subsequently.  Viewer 3.4 seems a bit all over the place from the limited amount I have used it, but that may be because pathfinding is still settling down, and I haven't explored the grid with it.

For performance on older machines Viewer 1 and Viewer 1 based TPVs tend to still be the best option - I think that says a lot about Viewer 3.

[Paul Hexem]

You shouldn't have to drop 1k USD all at once to have a decent computer. Buy it in parts, upgrade over time, and you can get the same performance for half the price.

[Dilbert Dilweg]

I upgraded my PC with 300 dollars.  A new 6 core CPU 8 more gigs of ram and a new motherboard.. Guess what .. No more lag or performance problems..

People need to stop blaming Sl for things they refuse to do

Technology changes every year. That's why people buy new cars because the technology changed and got better and more powerful.. Same with internet. Technology is fast changing. If you don't have the green backs to keep up with it. You will just have to stick to your gremlin PC until you can afford a Lexus

[Paul Hexem]

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Dilbert Dilweg wrote:

I upgraded my PC with 300 dollars.  a new 6 core cpu 8 more gigs of ram and a new motherboard.. guess what .. no more lag or performance problems..

People need to stop blaming Sl for things they refuse to do

Technology changes every year. thats why peole buy new cars because the technology changed and got better and more powerful.. Same with internet. Technology is fast changing. If you dont have the green backs to keep up with it. you will just have to stick to your gremlin PC untill you can afford a lexus

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I've been saying that sort of thing for months.

Except when I say it, people get offended.

[Dilbert Dilweg]

I totally agree with you. And another thing. Compters dont last forever either. they get slower over time as well.

Yea hmmm. Wonder why they would. But the truth of the matter is evident.. It would be silly for me to ask technology to stop and wait till I can afford to keep up.. " Okay everyone stop. Time out! I can't afford new stuff. So hold up for 5 more years till I can scrape together 300 bux for an upgrade" LOl it just doesnt work that way.