EA Servers interfering with Head-to-Head gameplay??

daherlihy · 14-10-2009, 10:38 AM

For a week since I bought FIFA 10, the game was really playable online in Head-to-Head matches.

But recently after all the messing around with the leaderboards had seemingly finished and since the standings and players' stats were put back in place after a brief resetting, I have experienced a lot of latency and interference with my AI and playability:

Player switching (set at between auto and half) starts switching randomly despite NO button being pressed at all, and also switches to players who are not as near to the ball as others.
Player pressing - pressing the secondary player press button tends to draw a player who is not as near to the ball as another, often a central defender, leaving a gap in defense for a through ball, despite the ball being in midfield
Defensive AI players moving into very questionable positions, if they decide to move at all!
Power and accuracy of simple player instructions (like passing) not being executed properly as from the controller
Players moving sluggishly, often showing delayed response to what is going on around them
First touches are uncontrollable - often very heavy first touches
First time playing of the ball - very irresponsive. Unless you execute it from the controller almost as soon as the player on the ball beforehand releases it, the recepient will NOT play it first time and will instead take an unwanted first touch and end up trying to play the ball while stumbling and/or losing possession

I've also noticed on a number of occasions when the latency is happening that either my or my opponents PSN username and/or XP tally don't display in the HUD, which is obviously EA Server related.

Since all this set in, I've been upable to progress my rank - been stuck on level 14 for quite some time now and have lost more games than those that I've won and drawn together.

EA Sports keep telling us that there is no connection between server hardware and peer-to-peer connection. I believe that this is technically incorrect as there is some sort of ping or channel of communication between both. And considering this sudden latency has set in after a week or two after game release, it raises questions about the servers' interaction with both peers during a match since then.

IF in fact this problem is connection related and NOT the EA Servers, then the 3-green bar beside latency in the team selection screen is quite simply inaccurate, OR the interference is being caused by tactics/formations being implemented (more likely tactics).

Can somebody from EA Sports please verify the situation or perhaps double check what changes have been made since game release when there was Head-to-Head matches ran effectively flawlessly and smoothly??

luckyliam10 · 14-10-2009, 10:42 AM

Could it really have that much of an effect on gameplay?

daherlihy · 14-10-2009, 11:10 AM

... it does for me. I've contacted my ISP and they've not changed anything, nor have I...

daherlihy · 14-10-2009, 02:13 PM

May I also point out that it is only in head to head matches I'm referring to - online Pro matches work perfectly. Indeed if it was connection related, I am sure I'd be having problems with this too...

Sn00p_82 · 14-10-2009, 03:23 PM

I had this behaviour the first day i had fifa10, 30th of September. Every button I pressed was executed only a second later, so it was impossible to play, even switching from player took about a second.
I haven't experienced this behaviour anymore sinc 1 October.

czelo · 14-10-2009, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daherlihy

Defensive AI players moving into very questionable positions, if they decide to move at all!
Power and accuracy of simple player instructions (like passing) not being executed properly as from the controller
Players moving sluggishly, often showing delayed response to what is going on around them
First touches are incontrollable - often very heavy first touches
First time playing of the ball - very irresponsive. Unless you execute it from the controller almost as soon as the player on the ball beforehand releases it, the recepient will NOT play it first time and will instead take an unwanted first touch and end up trying to play the ball while stumbling and/or losing possession

YH ive witnessed this in the past 2 days. it seems all the lalalalalala from last year are coming back

Kresh3 · 14-10-2009, 03:55 PM

its scripted. a loosing-streak is heading your way!

Slid593 · 14-10-2009, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daherlihy

For a week since I bought FIFA 10, the game was really playable online in Head-to-Head matches.

But recently after all the messing around with the leaderboards had seemingly finished and since the standings and players' stats were put back in place after a brief resetting, I have experienced a lot of latency and interference with my AI and playability:

Defensive AI players moving into very questionable positions, if they decide to move at all!
Power and accuracy of simple player instructions (like passing) not being executed properly as from the controller
Players moving sluggishly, often showing delayed response to what is going on around them
First touches are incontrollable - often very heavy first touches
First time playing of the ball - very irresponsive. Unless you execute it from the controller almost as soon as the player on the ball beforehand releases it, the recepient will NOT play it first time and will instead take an unwanted first touch and end up trying to play the ball while stumbling and/or losing possession

I've also noticed on a number of occasions when the latency is happening that either my or my opponents PSN username and/or XP tally don't display in the HUD, which is obviously EA Server related.

Since all this set in, I've been upable to progress my rank - been stuck on level 14 for quite some time now and have lost more games than those that I've won and drawn together.

EA Sports keep telling us that there is no connection between server hardware and peer-to-peer connection. I believe that this is technically incorrect as there is some sort of ping or channel of communication between both. And considering this sudden latency has set in after a week or two after game release, it raises questions about the servers' interaction with both peers during a match since then.

IF in fact this problem is connection related and NOT the EA Servers, then the 3-green bar beside latency in the team selection screen is quite simply inaccurate, OR the interference is being caused by tactics/formations being implemented (more likely tactics).

Can somebody from EA Sports please verify the situation or perhaps double check what changes have been made since game release when there was Head-to-Head matches ran effectively flawlessly and smoothly??

I've noticed this also, i hadn't played online for a few days apart from pro clubs whch is fine. I went around to my mates house and i played on his taking it in turns to play head to head, and i was having the same problems that you pointed out, i couldn't put my finger on it and went to controller set up thinking his might be set different to mine at home but it wasn't, i even changed the control pad i was using thinking that might have been the problem but it wasn't. I'm a half decent player and have played enough of Fifa 10 online to realise the issue wasn't with me, but with something out of my control.

bf2qwcx561 · 14-10-2009, 04:27 PM

you notice this delay (lag) more after you have been cranking MM or offline games for awhile, where its so responsive you have your team and your star players down pat then you go online and its like they are drunk because your button presses are delayed - big one for me has been passes not going to the right player.

Even though i have one of the fastest connections you can get in Australia i am still to play any one with Green Bars. 360 Users got shafted on EAs battlefield 1943 too with the lag so .. whatever. Guess we just have to cope until we get this new optical super cable laid in the ocean to the states.

daherlihy · 14-10-2009, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by czelo

YH ive witnessed this in the past 2 days. it seems all the lalalalalala from last year are coming back

All I'll say to that is PHEW!! This is almost exactly the same timescale that I've encountered this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kresh3

its scripted. a loosing-streak is heading your way!

Oh I've one or two already, with two seperate draws and a disconnection (leaving me with a win!) the only things to break them up. Otherwise, I haven't won in, say 15 matches (???), when before this all started, there was NOTHING stopping me from playing fluidly and freely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bf2qwcx561

you notice this delay (lag) more after you have been cranking MM or offline games for awhile, where its so responsive you have your team and your star players down pat then you go online and its like they are drunk because your button presses are delayed - big one for me has been passes not going to the right player.

Even though i have one of the fastest connections you can get in Australia i am still to play any one with Green Bars. 360 Users got shafted on EAs battlefield 1943 too with the lag so .. whatever. Guess we just have to cope until we get this new optical super cable laid in the ocean to the states.

Mate I rarely ever play offline. I only play BE A PRO / VIRTUAL PRO online and Head-to-Head matches online - the different between how smooth PRO runs and how latent Head-to-Head has become is incredible, even with 3-green bars showing for the latency...

daherlihy · 14-10-2009, 05:27 PM

*** Updated the opening post to include flawed player switching and player pressing, under these circumstances. ***

daherlihy · 16-10-2009, 04:31 PM

Just experience another match rife with these unplayable conditions, noting that the opponent's PSN or XP points tally weren't being displayed during or immediately after the match... surely EA server related???

MoeJoeBro · 16-10-2009, 05:05 PM

Mate I too have lately found it hard to switch player. Sometimes I can mash the 'LB' button to switch player (even for 5 seconds straight) and it ignores me. Defenders are acting like 09 defenders again except their stronger...

The game is exactly the same as 09 bar 360 degree dribbling and added animations. And you saw how cheesy 09 was online, no?

Sorry you had to have your experience ruined.

daherlihy · 17-10-2009, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoeJoeBro

Mate I too have lately found it hard to switch player. Sometimes I can mash the 'LB' button to switch player (even for 5 seconds straight) and it ignores me. Defenders are acting like 09 defenders again except their stronger...

The game is exactly the same as 09 bar 360 degree dribbling and added animations. And you saw how cheesy 09 was online, no?

Sorry you had to have your experience ruined.

Its a disaster when you see the AI randomly switching your player selection and not sticking with the one closest to the ball, or indeed when you do press L1/LB and it switches to someone half-the-field away from the ball - immediately your defence is in grave danger.

EFC-STE-1878 · 17-10-2009, 11:57 AM

Having the same problem with switching players. It never goes to the player required. It takes me 4-5 presses of L1 before it gets to the player i need. By then it is to late, my defence is all over the place. So annoying. Ive tryed adjusting the settings for switch, but still the same.

elnino_yash · 17-10-2009, 12:19 PM

completely agree .SO many times im in the box and i am presented with a great chance but the striker just wont pull the trigger by the time he does.the ball is taken away. Same thing with the defence By the time he actually passes hes robbed off the ball

Through balls at times are ridiculous..When a trhough ball is played the defenders act like numbnuts as if theyre clueless on what to do..theyre so slow off the blocks it lalalalaes me off.. they can easily get the ball before the attacker But nO! they just wont start running

lemming3k · 17-10-2009, 07:07 PM

Actually that's a pretty accurate description of my troubles. I'm not going to pretend I should beat everyone, but I mullered a lot of people on last years one with ease, usually without using a 5 star team. I'm outplaying most people again this year but conceding stupid goals with dodgy ai positions, poor passing, and seemingly my defence is incompetent compared to the other team! It's unusual as passing and defence are my best strengths! Is there anything we can do to solve this?

jamesclovesso · 17-10-2009, 07:16 PM

Connection problems here takes 30mins to get a game, cant change team most times, or no longer avaliable-

some this up 1 word

ea!

lemming3k · 19-10-2009, 08:52 PM

Don't think I'm going to bother with online mode once I've done the trophies for it, there really isn't a point to it when it's so bad. Seeing as ea don't give a lalalala I won't buy their other sports games anymore either.

dpd782004 · 27-10-2009, 10:17 PM

aw man i cant believe this. 09 all over again? last 10 days or so i have had this so im glad i found your thread daherlihy.

exactly the same symptoms as last year so im not going to list them. this is definately server related. as you can see from my sig there is no problem with my connection stats even at this peak time hour. now there is no way i should be encountering any sort of online latency but almost every game i play is the same. even clubs has gone the same now.

come on EA when will you realise that there is a problem with your servers? it went on for 8 months last year and its only taken 3 weeks to rear its ugly head again this.

daherlihy, have you had any contact or discussion with anyone from EA?

daherlihy · 27-10-2009, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpd782004

aw man i cant believe this. 09 all over again? last 10 days or so i have had this so im glad i found your thread daherlihy.

exactly the same symptoms as last year so im not going to list them. this is definately server related. as you can see from my sig there is no problem with my connection stats even at this peak time hour. now there is no way i should be encountering any sort of online latency but almost every game i play is the same. even clubs has gone the same now.

come on EA when will you realise that there is a problem with your servers? it went on for 8 months last year and its only taken 3 weeks to rear its ugly head again this.

daherlihy, have you had any contact or discussion with anyone from EA?

Ya I've chatted to DR and he and the lads still can't understand what's going on there. Its clear that its not got anything to do with my ISP or connection, considering I can play Pro Club matches flawlessly, its only when it comes to head-to-head matches that things start happening and obviously not happening properly. Frustratingly inconsistent AI.

dpd782004 · 27-10-2009, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daherlihy

Ya I've chatted to DR and he and the lads still can't understand what's going on there. Its clear that its not got anything to do with my ISP or connection, considering I can play Pro Club matches flawlessly, its only when it comes to head-to-head matches that things start happening and obviously not happening properly. Frustratingly inconsistent AI.

its certainly not our connections. my stats are rock steady. i know it would be almost impossible for EA to admit a problem on there side as it opens up a massive can of worms but surely the best solution is to fix this. whilst this was going on last year, we searched high and low on our side, looking at our connections, but we never got anywhere when it came to looking at the servers.

whilst it may have nothing to do with our problem, the servers obviously are encountering problems such as random disconnections, the game is no longer available, games and ranking points not registering, etc. this shows that the servers are not performing to the required standard and that the problem we have could be a server problem, but we have yet to find why it happens and how to recreate the problem for EA to fix. i just hope EA take us seriously this year and genuinely look for the problem.

Murkvape · 28-10-2009, 01:41 AM

Was gonna make a thread about this. I knew something was up. Since the 2nd patch released I've been having issues. Everything you've described daherlihy. Lol, here we go again...

EDIT: Actually, I'm taking the game back to Blockbuster tomorrow, so I won't have to deal with it but that's disgraceful that it's come back again.

laddsy1976 · 28-10-2009, 03:41 AM

I just went out an bought a new controller (only 3 months old) thinking that was the problem. What a waste of $80

benvenom121314 · 28-10-2009, 04:49 AM

I'm having this problem as well. It's mostly in peak hours. It's the only reason I lose games now and it's very fustrating. I was playing a game last night at 7PM GMT - when I should really just turn the PS3 off due to the peak time but anyway. I had control of my defender and it took literally 10 secs for him to go the drirection I was telling him. I actually looked down at my controller to see lalala was going on when my defender was running the opposite direction to where I was sending him.

This lag might be custom tactics and not EA servers but I doubt it. It's not custom formations. They clearly just need to upgrade their hardware a lot as 2 million+ games a day probably places heavy load..

14-10-2009, 10:38 AM	#1 (permalink)
daherlihy Elite Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 6,631	EA Servers interfering with Head-to-Head gameplay?? For a week since I bought FIFA 10, the game was really playable online in Head-to-Head matches. But recently after all the messing around with the leaderboards had seemingly finished and since the standings and players' stats were put back in place after a brief resetting, I have experienced a lot of latency and interference with my AI and playability: Player switching (set at between auto and half) starts switching randomly despite NO button being pressed at all, and also switches to players who are not as near to the ball as others. Player pressing - pressing the secondary player press button tends to draw a player who is not as near to the ball as another, often a central defender, leaving a gap in defense for a through ball, despite the ball being in midfield Defensive AI players moving into very questionable positions, if they decide to move at all! Power and accuracy of simple player instructions (like passing) not being executed properly as from the controller Players moving sluggishly, often showing delayed response to what is going on around them First touches are uncontrollable - often very heavy first touches First time playing of the ball - very irresponsive. Unless you execute it from the controller almost as soon as the player on the ball beforehand releases it, the recepient will NOT play it first time and will instead take an unwanted first touch and end up trying to play the ball while stumbling and/or losing possession I've also noticed on a number of occasions when the latency is happening that either my or my opponents PSN username and/or XP tally don't display in the HUD, which is obviously EA Server related. Since all this set in, I've been upable to progress my rank - been stuck on level 14 for quite some time now and have lost more games than those that I've won and drawn together. EA Sports keep telling us that there is no connection between server hardware and peer-to-peer connection. I believe that this is technically incorrect as there is some sort of ping or channel of communication between both. And considering this sudden latency has set in after a week or two after game release, it raises questions about the servers' interaction with both peers during a match since then. IF in fact this problem is connection related and NOT the EA Servers, then the 3-green bar beside latency in the team selection screen is quite simply inaccurate, OR the interference is being caused by tactics/formations being implemented (more likely tactics). Can somebody from EA Sports please verify the situation or perhaps double check what changes have been made since game release when there was Head-to-Head matches ran effectively flawlessly and smoothly?? __________________ 1 Ireland 1 France ... & FIFA, Platini, Blatter, Escalettes, and Martin Hansson +3 assistants FIFA Fair Play my hole. Last edited by daherlihy; 14-10-2009 at 05:26 PM.

14-10-2009, 10:42 AM	#2 (permalink)
luckyliam10 Rookie Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Aussie Aussie Aussie OI OI OI Posts: 150	Could it really have that much of an effect on gameplay? __________________

14-10-2009, 11:10 AM	#3 (permalink)
daherlihy Elite Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 6,631	... it does for me. I've contacted my ISP and they've not changed anything, nor have I... __________________ 1 Ireland 1 France ... & FIFA, Platini, Blatter, Escalettes, and Martin Hansson +3 assistants FIFA Fair Play my hole.

14-10-2009, 02:13 PM	#4 (permalink)
daherlihy Elite Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 6,631	May I also point out that it is only in head to head matches I'm referring to - online Pro matches work perfectly. Indeed if it was connection related, I am sure I'd be having problems with this too... __________________ 1 Ireland 1 France ... & FIFA, Platini, Blatter, Escalettes, and Martin Hansson +3 assistants FIFA Fair Play my hole.

14-10-2009, 03:55 PM	#7 (permalink)
Kresh3 Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Austria Posts: 602	its scripted. a loosing-streak is heading your way! __________________ LV: 24

14-10-2009, 03:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
Sn00p_82 Rookie Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 8	I had this behaviour the first day i had fifa10, 30th of September. Every button I pressed was executed only a second later, so it was impossible to play, even switching from player took about a second. I haven't experienced this behaviour anymore sinc 1 October.

14-10-2009, 04:27 PM	#9 (permalink)
bf2qwcx561 Rookie Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 175	you notice this delay (lag) more after you have been cranking MM or offline games for awhile, where its so responsive you have your team and your star players down pat then you go online and its like they are drunk because your button presses are delayed - big one for me has been passes not going to the right player. Even though i have one of the fastest connections you can get in Australia i am still to play any one with Green Bars. 360 Users got shafted on EAs battlefield 1943 too with the lag so .. whatever. Guess we just have to cope until we get this new optical super cable laid in the ocean to the states.

14-10-2009, 05:27 PM	#11 (permalink)
daherlihy Elite Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 6,631	* Updated the opening post to include flawed player switching and player pressing, under these circumstances. * __________________ 1 Ireland 1 France ... & FIFA, Platini, Blatter, Escalettes, and Martin Hansson +3 assistants FIFA Fair Play my hole.

16-10-2009, 04:31 PM	#12 (permalink)
daherlihy Elite Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 6,631	Just experience another match rife with these unplayable conditions, noting that the opponent's PSN or XP points tally weren't being displayed during or immediately after the match... surely EA server related??? __________________ 1 Ireland 1 France ... & FIFA, Platini, Blatter, Escalettes, and Martin Hansson +3 assistants FIFA Fair Play my hole.

16-10-2009, 05:05 PM	#13 (permalink)
MoeJoeBro Rookie Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 279	Mate I too have lately found it hard to switch player. Sometimes I can mash the 'LB' button to switch player (even for 5 seconds straight) and it ignores me. Defenders are acting like 09 defenders again except their stronger... The game is exactly the same as 09 bar 360 degree dribbling and added animations. And you saw how cheesy 09 was online, no? Sorry you had to have your experience ruined.

17-10-2009, 11:57 AM	#15 (permalink)
EFC-STE-1878 Forum Guru Join Date: May 2009 Location: Liverpool Posts: 1,813	Having the same problem with switching players. It never goes to the player required. It takes me 4-5 presses of L1 before it gets to the player i need. By then it is to late, my defence is all over the place. So annoying. Ive tryed adjusting the settings for switch, but still the same.

17-10-2009, 12:19 PM	#16 (permalink)
elnino_yash Rookie Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 59	completely agree .SO many times im in the box and i am presented with a great chance but the striker just wont pull the trigger by the time he does.the ball is taken away. Same thing with the defence By the time he actually passes hes robbed off the ball Through balls at times are ridiculous..When a trhough ball is played the defenders act like numbnuts as if theyre clueless on what to do..theyre so slow off the blocks it lalalalaes me off.. they can easily get the ball before the attacker But nO! they just wont start running

17-10-2009, 07:07 PM	#17 (permalink)
lemming3k Rookie Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 88	Actually that's a pretty accurate description of my troubles. I'm not going to pretend I should beat everyone, but I mullered a lot of people on last years one with ease, usually without using a 5 star team. I'm outplaying most people again this year but conceding stupid goals with dodgy ai positions, poor passing, and seemingly my defence is incompetent compared to the other team! It's unusual as passing and defence are my best strengths! Is there anything we can do to solve this?

17-10-2009, 07:16 PM	#18 (permalink)
jamesclovesso Rookie Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 118	Connection problems here takes 30mins to get a game, cant change team most times, or no longer avaliable- some this up 1 word ea!

19-10-2009, 08:52 PM	#19 (permalink)
lemming3k Rookie Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 88	Don't think I'm going to bother with online mode once I've done the trophies for it, there really isn't a point to it when it's so bad. Seeing as ea don't give a lalalala I won't buy their other sports games anymore either.

27-10-2009, 10:17 PM	#20 (permalink)
dpd782004 Forum Regular Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: sunderland Age: 31 Posts: 627	aw man i cant believe this. 09 all over again? last 10 days or so i have had this so im glad i found your thread daherlihy. exactly the same symptoms as last year so im not going to list them. this is definately server related. as you can see from my sig there is no problem with my connection stats even at this peak time hour. now there is no way i should be encountering any sort of online latency but almost every game i play is the same. even clubs has gone the same now. come on EA when will you realise that there is a problem with your servers? it went on for 8 months last year and its only taken 3 weeks to rear its ugly head again this. daherlihy, have you had any contact or discussion with anyone from EA? __________________

28-10-2009, 01:41 AM	#23 (permalink)
Murkvape Rookie Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 394	Was gonna make a thread about this. I knew something was up. Since the 2nd patch released I've been having issues. Everything you've described daherlihy. Lol, here we go again... EDIT: Actually, I'm taking the game back to Blockbuster tomorrow, so I won't have to deal with it but that's disgraceful that it's come back again.

28-10-2009, 03:41 AM	#24 (permalink)
laddsy1976 Rookie Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Sydney Age: 33 Posts: 312	I just went out an bought a new controller (only 3 months old) thinking that was the problem. What a waste of $80

28-10-2009, 04:49 AM	#25 (permalink)
benvenom121314 Forum Regular Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 540	I'm having this problem as well. It's mostly in peak hours. It's the only reason I lose games now and it's very fustrating. I was playing a game last night at 7PM GMT - when I should really just turn the PS3 off due to the peak time but anyway. I had control of my defender and it took literally 10 secs for him to go the drirection I was telling him. I actually looked down at my controller to see lalala was going on when my defender was running the opposite direction to where I was sending him. This lag might be custom tactics and not EA servers but I doubt it. It's not custom formations. They clearly just need to upgrade their hardware a lot as 2 million+ games a day probably places heavy load.. __________________ PSN: VeNoM_123 / VeNoM_12345 FIWC FIFA10 Highest Rank: 34 Bring on Season 2!