The science of Ping
OR Why do my American friends keep beating me?!?!
Okay, to start, you're going to learn about the human reaction time. The reaction time is simply how long it takes from when something happens to you reacting to it. Surprisingly, reaction time is not as quick as it seems; what may seem instant to you is actually 0.15-0.30 of a second delay! Most of us gamers in here will have a 0.20-0.25 second delay! Now, this is pretty fast, if internet speed was instant everyones skill level would go up a lot.
So, what is the matter? Why isn't it instant and why on earth does ping come into this? Well, let me quote wikipedia for a start:
Right, so down to the math.
Lets say there were two people, one in Europe, one in America. The person in Europe has a ping of 175, the person in America has a ping of 75. Now lets do math! They both have a reaction time of 0.2 seconds, which is 200 milliseconds, which is what ping is measured in. Lets also say they're both using AK47s in counter strike, have the exact same skill level and are on level ground.
The American player runs around the corner, they both fire the moment they see the other player. This is important!
First of all, for the information that the player is seen to get to the American player is seen to be sent over to the European takes 175 milliseconds. Then the reaction time of 0.2 seconds (200milliseconds kicks in). Then it has to be sent 175 milliseconds over to the servers to recognise that he's fired. The result?
So that's two 175 Milliseconds, which is 350.
Add the reaction time and it's 550 milliseconds.
That's over half of a second to fire a bullet! Which is 275% of his reaction time!
The American player?
Two 75 milliseconds, that's 150.
Add the reaction time, that's 350 milliseconds.
Faster, but take a look. It's now 175% of his reaction time. However, on the grand scale of things the American has won. With a fifth of a second to spare too. So in effect, if he had a reaction time of 0.4 milliseconds (Like if he was incredibly tired) he could still win! That's a big ouch for us euro players.
OR Why do my American friends keep beating me?!?!
Okay, to start, you're going to learn about the human reaction time. The reaction time is simply how long it takes from when something happens to you reacting to it. Surprisingly, reaction time is not as quick as it seems; what may seem instant to you is actually 0.15-0.30 of a second delay! Most of us gamers in here will have a 0.20-0.25 second delay! Now, this is pretty fast, if internet speed was instant everyones skill level would go up a lot.
So, what is the matter? Why isn't it instant and why on earth does ping come into this? Well, let me quote wikipedia for a start:
Ping is simply the delay between an action being sent and it being received. For example, once you click, the information is sent along and received at the other end in game. The time it takes from sender to receiver is your ping. So if you are in Europe, it's going to take much longer to get to the eGO servers which are in America than if you were in America yourself.
Right, so down to the math.
Lets say there were two people, one in Europe, one in America. The person in Europe has a ping of 175, the person in America has a ping of 75. Now lets do math! They both have a reaction time of 0.2 seconds, which is 200 milliseconds, which is what ping is measured in. Lets also say they're both using AK47s in counter strike, have the exact same skill level and are on level ground.
The American player runs around the corner, they both fire the moment they see the other player. This is important!
First of all, for the information that the player is seen to get to the American player is seen to be sent over to the European takes 175 milliseconds. Then the reaction time of 0.2 seconds (200milliseconds kicks in). Then it has to be sent 175 milliseconds over to the servers to recognise that he's fired. The result?
So that's two 175 Milliseconds, which is 350.
Add the reaction time and it's 550 milliseconds.
That's over half of a second to fire a bullet! Which is 275% of his reaction time!
The American player?
Two 75 milliseconds, that's 150.
Add the reaction time, that's 350 milliseconds.
Faster, but take a look. It's now 175% of his reaction time. However, on the grand scale of things the American has won. With a fifth of a second to spare too. So in effect, if he had a reaction time of 0.4 milliseconds (Like if he was incredibly tired) he could still win! That's a big ouch for us euro players.
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