Noticing Lag/FSOD

[NetNomad]

I've seen some strange stuff happen to me today. First a Knucles appears in Altair 10-1, apparantly playing Episode 3 (I know that's supposed to be harmless, but it kinda made me uncomfortable ). Then someone I had seen earlier today at level 10 comes up to me as level 69, claiming he somehow kept the levels he gained in battle mode (yeah, right...).

But then... oh boy... my first FSOD. Wonderful. I met someone in Antares 1 around my level, and we started a VHard TTF. After downloading the quest, there was quite a pause... I was thinking he was on dialup and was taking longer to download, but he said he had broadband as well. Hmm. So we get to the dragon... at the start of the battle, another pause. None of us can move for about 5 seconds, including the dragon. He also paused right after he roared, and IIRC, right before he died. Weird lag, eh?

Into the caves we go, I'm noticing some item pickup lag... the pan arms appear, I start hacking at one with my twin brand (hoping to deplete its HP with the special), and oops, right in the middle of my swing, FSOD. I could just kinda tell that's what it was... the TV was making an odd buzzing noise and sure enough, everything was frozen in place.

So I turn the cube off, and I read the little "ZOMG I killzed ur items" message when I selected my character. Thankfully, I have my backup holder for just such occasions... so I break him out, grab my backup dupes (oddly enough, it was my spread needle that remained, not my twin brand... I wonder why?), and try to get online again. The message was still there... I cursed myself, thinking I'd have to pull out another set of backups (my supplies are limited until I can borrow a non-plus copy of the game), but started offline single just to check. My items were still there, and when I quit, the message was gone again. Hmm.

I get back on, the other guy apparantly did not get FSODed. He claims I was frozen in place for about 3 minutes (about how long it took me to do all that stuff offline). Suddenly I remember the last weird thing that happened today: earlier, I'd taken my low-level FOnewm to help out this level 8 HUnewearl who had left his/her game unlocked. About halfway through caves 1 I notice the HUnewearl's stuck in a tech-casting pose. My keyboard won't send any messages at that point, either. The last time that happened, I was DC'd shortly after, so I killed a few more monsters and then quit the game. His/her game was still on the list about an hour afterward.

Anyway, after that FSOD I suggested we move to Altair 10, which we did, and then restarted and completed the TTF (with help from Sheik, because quite frankly neither of us could've done it alone ).

So here are my questions:
1. Are signs like the quirky dragon and quest download pauses signs of upcoming FSOD?
2. I read somewhere that there's, like a 50% chance of losing items through FSOD... is that true?
3. The Sonic/Knuckles/Tails/Random weird character appearances in the lobby ARE harmless, right?
4. If you are FSODed in game and you get "frozen" like that... do you stay that way, sort of like a dummy, until you get back online again (thus making it refresh you, or something)? My guess is, the HUnewearl I was playing with got FSODed, but did not get back online for quite a while...
5. What can you assume if your keyboard stops sending messages? By that I mean, you type them, you hit enter, but no chat bubble appears.

[Sycorax]

I used to play it on GC now i'm on the xbox version, but there are some signs to lag. Like you stated earlier, when items take awhile to enter your inventory after picking up items thats a sign. The ST/NPC/GM characters are harmless kids trying to impress noobs with their Action Replay codes. But some can be dangerous, I know this one guy on PSOX that has some crazy ass hacks. He figured out how to do PKing in the lobbies, etc. And about losing items through FSOD's you generally lose items that are unequipped, but sometimes you can get lucky and only lose your Meseta.


About the other stuff, not sure =/

[Sheik]

to answer question no.5, when your KB stops sending messages you're having very bad lag...how long it lasts can vary but you either are going to d/c or it's just the server acting up.

[bomber5000uk]

when i used my brothers internet to get online i used a new char cos i couldnt use a trans one and i got the strangest thing happened to me when i got to the dragon my man had somhow (som1 hacked me cough*) changed into a boomer and did nothing his health was the same just icouldnt do anything and the player i was with ran ahead as if they new it was gona happen and lreft me what the hell happened here?

[Anti Hacker]

1.) Maybe a new FSOD. I think it was either one of the less used ones or something on you're PSO disc is stuffed. Ever had problems disc reading other games? Could be the cube. Could also be a connection thing.

2.) No, wrong, if you are in a game and you get an FSOD you will lose all held meseta and un-equipped items (not including those stored in the bank, they're safe). If youre in the lobby, or not in a game, you will only lose held meseta.

3.) The codes that enable NPCs as PCs are buggy but have been found to be mostly harmless. If someone has the ability to use such advanced codes as those, get out because they may have more dangerous codes to.

4.) Yes, for a limited time until the server realises youre not connected or if you re-connect, that Hunewearl could have DC'd but I'm sure they were trying to tech-FSOD you unless it was an incredible co-incidence they DC'd/FSOD'd at the exact time they were on the verge of casting a tech. If there was no one in the game except you and them, only you could have FSOD'd her, people can not yet do it from outside your characters physical location. It most likely backfired, hah ha, sucks to be them. It may have been a faulty connection but Im unsure that can even cause an FSOD, im fairly sure its can only DC you.

5.) You are jsut about to disconnect, happens to me fairly frequently, its annoying if you're in a quest. Just quit the game yourself and save some time.

Yes, the symptoms you described are that of FSOD (BUZZZ...) but dont be too quick to pass judgement on others. If theyre so much of a jackass they will FSOD you they will usually admit it and do it again to! Sounds like a fault at youre end, or a weird glitchy time on the server.

P.S. This should be in the hacks and cheats section should it not? :beard:

[Ivan]

1. No, sometimes the game just lags like that.
2. It's more random than that. There's no real educated guess.
3. Yeah, completeley harmless, I should know...I have the code!
4. Not exactly, you just lag because the server wasn't built to handle FSODs. Your character can sometimes appear there for days but really just be lagging when it's signed off!
5. When you stop sending messages. MOSTLY happens on modems when you are lagging. Could happen when someone is trying to connect on the same line, or picks up the phone. Sometimes there's a server lag you end up getting D/Ced. Nothing bad it's just annoying. D/C isn't harful because remeber sega fixed that problem and you end up saving.

Sounds like you just had a stroke of bad luck....for an entire day! But they happen to me and eveyone else at some point.

[Hrith]

AH is right on #2, if you entered a game (whether you are still in ot or not), FSOD will make you lose all cash and unequipped items at last save.

[Ivan]

I haven't lost all my items every time I fsoded... =\

[Anti Hacker]

Kefka didnt say all he said un-equipped. And also, if you were in a lobby you would not have lost any. And if the game lags, you usually notice other people glitch around the place, you're game dosnet pause. And with exact timings like that (at the dragons roar etc.) I would be very surprised is something funny wanst going on. And Ivan, it depends which version of the NPC character code you have. The older ones are buggy, but on some of the most up to date ones you can even take these guys into a battle zone.

[Ivan]

What do you mean by buggy?? And that pause at the dragon ALWAYS happens to me.

(By the way AH send me a PM with those codes you want me to test for the site, you don't seem to be on MSN right now...)