Annoying pause when friends log in/out

[Rubba]

<p>For some time now, I've been getting a really annoying screen pause that lasts approx. 2 seconds whenever friends log in/out.This seems to have been happening for the last month or two.I don't recall this happening in the past.</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p>I haven't seen that before.  Let's start with the basics before we start looking at the networking part.</p><p>First let's clear your game cache and I would also recommend archiving or deleting your Log folder.</p><p><p>You may want to make backups and then delete the following files and folders:</p><p>cache folder</p><p>eq2_recent.ini</p><p>eq2_default.ini</p><p>EverQuest2.exe</p><p>eq2.ini</p><p>As well as the character specific files, these will appear as such:</p><p>Servername_CharacterName_EQ2_uisettings.ini</p><p>Stationname_characters.ini</p><p>To do this, please follow these directions:</p><p>1. First look for your EverQuest II Extended directory. You can find the default directory in (for Windows XP): C:Program FilesSonyEverQuest II (for Windows Vista/7): C:UsersPublicSony Online EntertainmentInstalled GamesEverQuest II</p><p>2. Click on MY COMPUTER and then proceed into local disk C:</p><p>3. Navigate your way to the default directory, or your chosen installation directory.</p><p>4. Next look for any files explained above and delete them. </p><p>5. Afterwards, please start EverQuest II to have these files re-downloaded by the patcher.</p><p>If deleting these files does not resolve your issue, you can restore your backed up files and folders and retain your hotkeys, contact lists, and display settings.</p></p>

[Rubba]

<p>Thanks for the fast response; I'll look into your suggestions when I 'get to it.'</p><p>- I'm certain that networking isn't the issue. -</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p><cite>Rubba@Kithicor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Thanks for the fast response; I'll look into your suggestions when I 'get to it.'</p><p>- I'm certain that networking isn't the issue. -</p></blockquote><p>I wouldn't be so certain, because there are things that affect it even outside of your control.  Like OUR networking, your service providers, and everything in between.</p>

[Rubba]

<p>The only thing that resolved the issue is as follows:</p><p>Copy friends from the all ServerName_CharacterName_eq2_notes.txt  files into a text file.</p><p>Copy from the text file to a spreadsheet and sort by name.</p><p>Take out the duplicates.</p><p>Prune the list - only keep the most recent ones.</p><p>A few recent ones were no longer found on the server - perhaps retired or moved on.</p><p>I can only imagine how many names were inactive.</p><p>In total, I probably had 200+ names - didn't actually count, but a good estimate.</p><p>That worked.</p><p>My speculations are:</p><p>- Was the list too large?</p><p>- Were there too many names that were no longer active?</p><p>- Was the file corrupt? (doubtful, since it happened on all toons on this account)</p><p>Since nuking the list and redoing it resolved the issue, it is not a network problem.</p><p>I suspect some other factor.</p><p>If there are x number of names on a list that are no longer active, does the client/server relationship cause a 2 second pause? Or does x number of names take a bit to sort alphabetically?</p><p>Not only was this *very* annoying, but if playing a Tank, it can have a negative impact on pulling that may need a certain degree of precision and/or timing.</p><p>To summarize - nuke the list- prune it - redo it.</p><p>Problem solved.</p><p>-------</p><p>For your recommended troubleshooting, I was not about to redo Hot Keys, UI Settings, etc.</p><p>But I do appreciate your quick response and effort.</p><p>Support is always difficult whenever you come across something that hasn't been reported before.</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p>Thankfully my instructions clearly pointed out backing the files up so you could restore your hotkeys, ui settings, and so on <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>But yes, with a list of 200+ names, overhead is absolutely possibly especially with duplicates.</p><p>Now, having played from launch myself, and having thousands of people on my friends list, I do not have this problem and never have so I cannot say with certainty how that is occurring (the duplicates, errant names or anything of that nature).  Doing more testing just in case.</p>