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Rating WGT

• Ibbie 13 Posts

  Mon, Jan 14 2013 12:45 PM

  Dear WGT

  I have been a member of your site/game for >2 years. I have played a variety of golf games (both off and online). You are to be congratulated on producing an excellent game, however, I urge you to review the following:

  Graphics: 10 / 10

  Game play / Realism: 10 / 10

  Online community: 10 / 10

  Meter design: 1 / 10

  I have written to you in the past, and your response has been along the lines that the issues I am facing are due to Internet lag. Further to this, you noted that >60% of meter issues (in general) are the result of Internet lag. Meaning, beyond the User's control.

  My PC is a finely tuned machine. My download speed is 115Mbp/s with a 5ms ping. I can play one game with a perfect meter, find a different server, and experience an unplayable meter.

  Take this as constructive criticism. My frustrations with the inadequacies of your meter design have resulted in significantly less game play, as well as seeking other means of entertainment.

  Investing in a solid meter design, meaning a downloadable version not subject to Internet lag (as others have done), will result in a much higher member/player retention rate, more play by members, and a significantly improved user experience.

  Based on my readings from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Golf_Tour), you're in this business for the long run. I sincerely hope that on your "drawing board" you envisage a meter design which is stable and fair for all members.

  I look forward to your future updates. 

  Kind regards

  Steve (Ibbie)

• Cleworthy 3,468 Posts

  Mon, Jan 14 2013 1:16 PM

  Here, here! (golf clap).  C

• borntobesting 9,783 Posts

  Mon, Jan 14 2013 1:30 PM

  Ibbie:

  Meter design: 1 / 10

  The problem with the meter is not WGT or its design but most likely with your PC or browser. A good solid stable browser will help greatly with any meter problems you have. There are 4 that are much better than IE,Google Chrome or Firefox. Maxthon 3 SRware Iron, Rock Melt and Comodo Dragon are all very good and more stable for this game than any of the other browsers used. And the browser you use to play here with should be used for playing WGT and nothing else. That way your browser and flash cache stay as uncluttered as they can which makes the game run much smoother.

• WGTpizza 1,656 Posts

  Mon, Jan 14 2013 1:52 PM

  Ibbie:

  Take this as constructive criticism.

  Thank you for the feedback of lbbie's experiences while playing WGT.

  Here is some constructive criticism I would like you to take: The meter functions properly, on most machines, when your browser is properly maintained.

  The forum search function is currently down, but if you were to search the forums you would see endless threads like the one you have created.

  A lot of people claim "my internet connection is really fast" or "I have 10,000 gigabytes of RAM" or "My processor speed is 19.8 gigahertz" (all values exaggerated, purposely) when in reality, achieving a near-flawless meter mainly comes down to: browser maintenance.

  First, Clear Your Cache. Then, Clear Your Flash Cache.

  I can almost guarantee you will see an instant difference, once you have performed both of those steps. If you do not, I'm certain the forums will be able to help you, or if you want a one-on-one conversation, you can email our support team for additional help.

   

  Stay classy,

  -WGTpizza

• PUHOLINO 1,189 Posts

  Mon, Jan 14 2013 2:01 PM

  Ibbie:

  Further to this, you noted that >60% of meter issues (in general) are the result of Internet lag. Meaning, beyond the User's control.

  My PC is a finely tuned machine. My download speed is 115Mbp/s with a 5ms ping. I can play one game with a perfect meter, find a different server, and experience an unplayable meter.

   

  As said in this thread

  http://www.wgt.com/forums/t/150377.aspx

  internet connection has ZERO influence on your meter. As I further explained, the OS is the biggest factor. The lag you see is due to the fact that W7, 8 or Vista don't really mash well with flash (this lag is confirmed by all parties involved). All these OS are simply too protection oriented to do what you order them to do in the exact moment EVERY time. Imagine clicking the meter is a driving school, W7 and others would want you to buckle the seat belt and check your mirrors every time, while W XP just seats beside you and goes : Yeehaawww!

  I keep reading how you need to do maintenance, how different browsers perform differently, etc. All I know is what I wrote in the above mentioned thread. W XP requires ZERO maintenance, works well with ANY browser and performs PERFECTLY EVERY DAMN TIME. W7, 8 or Vista on the other hand demand a lot of maintenance, finding different browsers, clearing stuff, etc., if you wish the game to be playable. It becomes a hastle to the point people are sure it's WGTs fault. It isn't. It's Bill Gates' fault. He only wants you to work, not play golf. Damn I wish my home laptop could run on W XP.

  Edit: P.S.: Some things that could also help, I found a long time ago that the resolution that works best for me is 1680/1050. It opens the gameclient in IMO optimal size. I also prefer not to use the full screen mode, I find the meter smoother that way. And of course, it's best if you keep your other processes to a minimum while playing. It's a very good idea to NOT have the WGT main page open when you play.

• Woodoworkery 3,498 Posts

  Mon, Jan 14 2013 2:05 PM

  I,m not saying it's WGT, but I am saying it depends on the tournament ,and the hole you are playing. There is probably no one who cleans their system more than I do. Once every 7 days total clean up with graphic updates( if available) not just a restart a total shut down then every 3 days defrag the system. 

  I still get meter issues and they show up in certain  tournaments, and on certain holes. I have had the system pause for about 20 seconds after swinging  before it actually hits the ball,  it's like its gathering info.to find out where it's going to go. 

• WGTpizza 1,656 Posts

  Mon, Jan 14 2013 2:08 PM

  Woodoworkery:

  There is probably no one who cleans their system more than I do.

  Woodoworkery:

  I still get meter issues

  I strongly suggest you contact our support team for a one-on-one conversation about your specific situation.

   

  Stay classy,

  -WGTpizza

• borntobesting 9,783 Posts

  Mon, Jan 14 2013 2:15 PM

  Here is one thing I do that everyone could do,with the price of external drive dropping. I have 4 external drives and 1 of them has nothing on it but the browsers that I use to play WGT. Maybe that is why I seem to have so many fewer problems with my meter than most people.

• rswol 8 Posts

  Mon, Jan 14 2013 2:17 PM

  I'd like a one-on-one conversation with customer support .

  How do I go about It. I've just been able to e-mail so far.

  Thanks 

• bubbadork 984 Posts

  Mon, Jan 14 2013 2:23 PM

  Right on Puholino. None of the OSes running WGT are real-time OSes. Time slices are on the order of 15-30 milliseconds, depending on the OS. This is not often enough to lay down pixels on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Consequently, they're laid down in clumps.

  If multiple processes are being given run time, the response time to events (e.g. mouse clicks) gets even worse. The game client has to lay down pixels in even larger batches. The result is meter jitter.

  There are programming methods in Windows that allow the response to be faster, but the result, if not properly applied, causes heating of the CPU. In some of my applications I can get responses as rapidly as 1 ms, provided I don't ask for them too often. Flash does not appear to be using this mechanism, anyway.

  If your meter is borderline, make sure you don't have additional processes that are trying to run (there are lots of processes, but most are idle).  Examples of non-idle processes would be virus scans, streaming video, etc. Turn off preload in the options. Wait until multiple thread loading of images and data has stopped. This can be seen by monitoring the CPU with the task manager. (On my system the task manager does not materially affect the meter smoothness.)

  My personal system only has 1 gig of RAM, runs just over 3 GHZ. Internet connection speed is NOT a factor if you don't allow other processes to make internet transactions during the swing.