Stuttering Issue

[Sliction]

I have a stuttering issue with the game, and it is peculiar in that the game usually runs fine on a fresh install for one and rarely two starts, and then when I start the game for the second+ time, I will have stuttering issues and slow loading times. I really have no idea what could be causing this and I've never had an issue like this with games before, I've been trying various things to fix it, and I am still working on a solution but I thought I might post here to see if anyone else has had similar problems with a reasonable fix for them. The thing about it that gets me, is that the game is fine on a fresh install, and then a couple of starts later it begins to have the problems that I'm getting. Some people might be able to deal with this and just keep playing, but I myself need to have a flawless experience to actually enjoy the game, these stuttering events that happen are extremely obnoxious, especially when it doesn't do it on the first few start ups.

Symptoms of Problem
-Slower load times when issue is occurring.
-Game has a stutter, not a lag, it will basically freeze for tiny amounts of time variously.
-Sometimes in game interfaces will lag, such as NPC related dialogue and quests, and the map for example.
-Occasionally when fighting, the game will severely stutter for up to 3-7 seconds.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Update 1: I really notice the stuttering when I interact with NPCs, the game will usually freeze for a good 4-5 seconds often when I open up an NPC interface.

[banjolier]

What sort of hardware are you using? How much RAM, how fast & how many cores CPU? In particular, what type of drive is the game installed to (SSD vs mechanical hard drive)?

Small freezes like you describe (particularly when opening a map for the first time or accessing an NPC's store) sound like loading hiccups -- the game needs to pull additional information from disk and freezes while that's happening. Such load times should be nearly imperceptible on an SSD, but might indicate a problem with the drive if they're noticable. They'll be easier to notice on mechanical drives, but a hardware problem here can make them even worse.

[Sliction]

My hardware shouldn't be a problem, but for reference here it is:

HD Radeon 6870
8 Gigs of DDR3 Ram @ 1600 MHz
Quad Core 4.2 GHz processor (AMD FX-4170 if I recall correctly)
465 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive (Not Flash)

I shouldn't need a flash drive to not have the issues though.

Edit: Thank you for the response by the way!

[EmyrSelyf]

Do you get a short glimpse of the desktop when this happens? Or does the game freeze in place....

Which version of Windows is this?


Just some considerations....

Try a clean start and reducing your settings to low and see if either changes anything.

What is going on in the background? Try using a program that cuts off unneeded services.

Do a malwarebytes scan and a virus scan.

Have you run a disk check and a defrag (try auslogics) lately?
How old is this drive? Any sounds? Squealing? Drives are primary suspects.

Drivers up to date? Check all of them, especially the sound one if you hear looping sounds.
"If you recently upgraded from one Windows operating system to another, it's possible that the current network adapter driver was designed for the previous Windows operating system. If you've had recent power outages, viruses, or other computer problems, it's possible that the driver has become corrupted. Downloading and installing the latest network adapter driver can resolve these types of problems."

Test your memory with Memtestx86

Check in eventviewer under system for any error info

Uninstall/reinstall any software for monitoring fans, CPU Temps, peripherals and make sure LOTRO is added to your virus real time scanning exceptions.

Make sure everything in the computer is seated properly and that your PSU is big enough for anything you recently installed.


Work through the connection sticky. Even if that does have nothing to do with this, it could save problems later.

[Sliction]

Do you get a short glimpse of the desktop when this happens? Or does the game freeze in place....
The game just freezes in place

Which version of Windows is this?
Windows 7 64 Bit


Just some considerations....

Try a clean start and reducing your settings to low and see if either changes anything.

What is going on in the background? Try using a program that cuts off unneeded services.

Do a malwarebytes scan and a virus scan.

Have you run a disk check and a defrag (try auslogics) lately?
How old is this drive? Any sounds? Squealing? Drives are primary suspects.
No sounds from the drive, as far as I know it's fine, it's also not that old, maybe a year and a half at most.

Drivers up to date? Check all of them, especially the sound one if you hear looping sounds.
"If you recently upgraded from one Windows operating system to another, it's possible that the current network adapter driver was designed for the previous Windows operating system. If you've had recent power outages, viruses, or other computer problems, it's possible that the driver has become corrupted. Downloading and installing the latest network adapter driver can resolve these types of problems."

Test your memory with Memtestx86

Check in eventviewer under system for any error info

Uninstall/reinstall any software for monitoring fans, CPU Temps, peripherals and make sure LOTRO is added to your virus real time scanning exceptions.

Make sure everything in the computer is seated properly and that your PSU is big enough for anything you recently installed.


Work through the connection sticky. Even if that does have nothing to do with this, it could save problems later.

I'll go ahead and run through all of these and add a checklist to the main post later when I have time. I can already tell you that most of it will be fine, but I'll check it anyway just in case. This is the only game that I play that does this.

If you look at this topic again, could you maybe tell me if bad latency could cause stuttering issues? I know that's a bit of a long shot but I'm trying to cover every possible explanation.

[EmyrSelyf]

You might also try disabling any drivers you aren't using in device manager, such as wireless.
You don't have raid set up do you?


http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135



There's also a setting in game to vary the response time it takes to bring the tooltip up, I've frustrated myself a few times by that thing taking three seconds instead of the default .3 to bring up a box, but that doesn't sound like what you are experiencing.

[Grapold]

I've experienced it the last few days too, as have some of my kin.

All the previous suggestions in this thread are very valid and it's always good to make sure your PC is running as efficiently as possible, but it could just be another symptom of the recent lag and reduced awareness that many people have been experiencing.

[EmyrSelyf]

could you maybe tell me if bad latency could cause stuttering issues? I know that's a bit of a long shot but I'm trying to cover every possible explanation.

http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/guides/how-to-get-rid-of-lag-guide#2

[Sliction]

The only game I have these kinds of issues with is LotRO, and only after the initial start and onward, which is really the oddest part.

[EmyrSelyf]

It may be that a technical support ticket will allow you to narrow this down faster than I can do in my haphazard way. I would certainly start the process. I'm seeing all sorts of possibilities. Maybe rolling back the driver will help. Lotro could certainly be affected by something when other games are not. Players in another game found AMD Catalyst 13.4 less stable than 13.1, yet it seemed fine elsewhere. I haven't seen a great influx of other posters on this one yet, so that's why I'm tending to look at your specific situation.

Overheating http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html, power supply failure, memory failure http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...-your-computer incomplete removal of old drivers when installing new ones, bad windows update files (it is turned on, right?). All sorts of weird things can happen. There's bad Ethernet cords, internet theft by neighbors, internet throttling by ISPs for specific ports, dying routers, IE10 or other program incompatibilities, the list goes on. Here's an old one http://www.pchelpforum.com/xf/thread...reezes.119123/ I'd be very cautious about using any solution you haven't verified.

With it happening more the longer you are in game, you should definitely check to see if it happens the 2nd time you do whatever it was that caused it. If it does, try setting your virtual memory file to whatever windows recommends for just a while and not letting windows handle it and see if that helps.

I believe lotro is more likely to heat up a single core than some other games, so that is also a consideration. I don't think it could stress out your cpu, but if it is already on the verge of overheating, maybe by some fan not operating or a fan profile set to turn on at too high a temp or at too low a speed, something like that could happen.

Whatever it is, someone out there has solved it, so I hope they read this lol.

[Lobengulu]

Sounds similar to a problem I am having. from 22:00 Friday UK, I started getting intermittent connection break during game-play. I was using my level 85 hunter on 3 man Erebor sessions. I had just come from the ettenmoors where everything was running nice a smoothly. I keep the connection status icon in the bottom right of my screen. I noticed that it was showing a broken link and then it wasn't and then it was. My hunter could use all his skills but could not move. This was in the first session we did T2 Goblin challenge, tough enough when everything is working pretty difficult with a malfunctioning toon. Obviously I died plenty times, my 2 kin-mates were unaffected. We managed to do the challenge and get all the deeds and went onto IOP T2 challenge, strange to see my kin-mates running up the hill and I am rooted to the spot. I logged out of the game and logged back in only to find I was still in the FS and still in IOP. and they were just finishing off by the time I got to the last boss, even more strangely I got the loot even though I took no physical part in the fight at all. all this time I am running with a broken link, We then went on to do 4 or 5 school challenge saving the books every time I am running behind the commands from my keyboard by about 5 seconds, rubber banding wildly.

Now is where it gets very strange. I have 2 accounts, a VIP and a F2P. and 2 PC's I run Lotro on. Both the accounts are having the same problem on both machines, makes no difference. I have conatcted my ISP (BT) who say there is no problem anywhere, I have rebooted my Modem Hub and beginning to pull my hair out as the problem is still there.

I am open to any ideas including a fresh install if necessary.

[EmyrSelyf]

I'd work through this before anything and see if there's packet loss or other fun stuff.

especially www.pingplotter.com

https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...ated-8-12-2010


Maybe the ISP can use the info to push the request downstream.


You might also try recycling the modem then turning back on the router then the computer, after each cycles through
ipconfig /flushdns
and using ccleaner to clean up things.

Some seamonster probably just chomped down on the Atlantic cable though.....

[Lobengulu]

Thanks for the help folks. On further investigation it seems the connection in the ADSL filter was dodgy. pulled all connections and put them back all working smoothly.

[EmyrSelyf]

Probably the first advice we should give on here is "turn everything off, disconnect it all, reassemble and turn it all back on" lol