[quote1205863391=Flippy Squirrel]
[quote1205863038=Jeebus]
Wow seems like this thing is doing more harm than good for you guys...
[/quote1205863038]
I don't know if that's really the truth. The concept behind GameRail is sound, and I just need to figure out how to best make it work. I've decided against uninstalling it and instead I'm going to do some work to fine tune things.
Because I live in Albuquerque, and my connection to the GameRail servers might be iffy, the results I'm getting are questionable at best. I'm due for a complete format and reload of my computer, so I'll re-evaluate after that and see where I stand.
[/quote1205863391]
While it's a neat concept, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Firstly, unless your ping is horrendous or you are experiencing high packet loss this service can't really improve your life much. Thanks to the laws of physics, you're never going to lower your ping below a certain level. Assuming every leg of the trip is on fiber, you're still bound by the speed of light and that's ignoring overhead created at the transfer points.
Secondly, for this concept to work smoothly in the real world, both ends of the connection need to be completely open to the GameRail network. That means if your ISP and your game server host are both listed on their partners page, you're more likely to see a favorable result. Although, the ISP is the most important. If your ISP is not on that partner list, the GameRail client has to work through regular channels to route the traffic, which adds overhead. A lot of ISPs are not fond of folk attempting to bypass their network.
Frankly, I'll be surprised if the percent of 'Dude! It cut my ping in half!' stories is even a recognizable fraction next to all the 'Meh, it didn't do much' and the occasional 'Wow, it actually made things worse.'
Love the concept though.
