Thread: 3:42 minute load time

So I just turned 75. I've noticed progressively slower and slower load times over the past 5 years. Why is it I can switch toons in DDO or SWTOR or about any other MMO in under a minute, but in this game it's a 30s logout time, and at present it's a 3+ minute load time? Am I missing something? You can't use the defrag util anymore (which used to help), unless they released a new version. Any suggestions as to how to improve that load-time?

FWIW- I'm running a core 2 @ 2.2G, 3GB of RAM and a Radeon 6770.

I think the connection with higher level is busier zones and more armour to render. My lowbies load in a second, my 75s load in about 25s. I could only suggest more RAM because I love RAM. A new CPU sounds like it would help but you're probably avoiding it for the same reason I am; it's a big/expensive switch to the new gen.

The 25s loading is the longest I've ever waited btw. Perhaps background applications? The defrag was a great tool, used it all the time on my old comp.

I typically have chrome running, but then again, I always have had it open (well, since it's been out....before that, FF).

Easy for hunters but I would suggest logging out somewhere less crowded, perhaps housing. If you're logging out in Galtrev it's gonna suck logging back. I don't see Chrome slowing it down that much. Seems the hardware may be a bit slow.

How long have you had the client installed? The client can become corrupted update after update increasing load times.

My system is not that good and loads faster than that. Normally less than a minute.

Today was much slower than normal though.

Getting an SSD reduced my load times from ~2m30s-3m+ to ~1m-.

But yes they really need to improve the efficiency of the loading times in this game. It has been getting worse and worse for a long time now, and is fast approaching ridiculous. There is obviously a lot of unnecessary work being done when we log in.

May have something to do with all the assets that need to be loaded. A while back when I created a temporary mule for a big pile of crafting mats, I noticed it loaded quite a bit faster than my 75s. Just my theory, but it could be that the number of finished quests and done deeds influences this.

If you have enough RAM do a `find $gamedir -print0 | xargs -0 cat > /dev/null` before you start the client.

Also very useful to do before doing the Bree festival horse run (no more stuttering between the wagons).

Poor mans defrag: Copy files to another location, delete originals, move copy back to where the originals where.

I have noticed the load times getting longer and longer as well and it is not a system issue! My characters used to load in under a minute, but lately I will start the load character and go off to make a cuppa and still be back before it has finished loading. That is with a new level 26 character and on a hard drive that was wiped and re-installed about a month ago. All my other games, etc are now loading so fast it makes me wish I did it ages ago.

Only Lotro keeps getting slower!

Try a reinstall, a freshly installed client made a hude difference for me.

Originally Posted by Idiotvillage

Try a reinstall, a freshly installed client made a hude difference for me.

It was a freshly installed client on a freshly wiped and re-setup hard drive and it has made no difference what so ever! It has made a huge difference for every other game I play online, but NOT for Lotro.

Originally Posted by Hazmat

Poor mans defrag: Copy files to another location, delete originals, move copy back to where the originals where.

This does not do what Turbine's provided tool did, which was defragging the game files (probably folding in patches), not the filesystem.

I have certainly noticed that something messy is going on. My windows machine loads slower and slower and my massive RAM Linux machine (which also does more aggressive readahead) gets more and more of a headstart.

Originally Posted by Darmokk

This does not do what Turbine's provided tool did, which was defragging the game files (probably folding in patches), not the filesystem.

Indeed. What Turbine's old tool did was defrag the .dat files (the tool itself was called dat defragger). The dat files have their own internal structure akin to a file structure. When patches updated their contents the assets fragmented across the dat structure, so when certain asset needed to be read from inside, part of it might be at the beginning of the file and the rest at the end of the file. So even if the dat file was unfragmented under Windows, it still had to read from two different places on disk instead of a single spot. Multiply this with a huge number of graphics assets fragmented all over a dat file, and you would get a significant performance hit.

My load times when starting the game can be as long as 5 minutes. I thought about the SSD solution but my kinmates say that doesn't really help. I am most likely to try a fresh reinstall, have not done that since Jan. 2010.

Originally Posted by jnmoriginpoint

So I just turned 75. I've noticed progressively slower and slower load times over the past 5 years. Why is it I can switch toons in DDO or SWTOR or about any other MMO in under a minute, but in this game it's a 30s logout time, and at present it's a 3+ minute load time? Am I missing something? You can't use the defrag util anymore (which used to help), unless they released a new version. Any suggestions as to how to improve that load-time?

FWIW- I'm running a core 2 @ 2.2G, 3GB of RAM and a Radeon 6770.

Yes the load times are awful on this game - especially for higher level characters. And that is only made so much worst cause I crash so much - so I end up having to wait through them repeatidly through-out the day.

It isn't so bad that it's stopped me from playing. But if it gets much worst I dunno...

Plus I have yet to be able to load in on my friend's warden. The screen simply sits there... forever... on the load screen and nothing happens. I have no clue what is up with that either.

I really do wish Turbine would streamline their client or something. This problem happens to about everyone I know - so I know it's not my PC.

Load time seems to be tied to how complex (or old) your account is. Try creating a new free account and see how fast it loads. I suspect Turbine's database organization is not the best.

Originally Posted by tessathecat

Load time seems to be tied to how complex (or old) your account is. Try creating a new free account and see how fast it loads. I suspect Turbine's database organization is not the best.

I picked up the Mithril Edition at Gamespot this morning for $20 in order to try a quick reinstall. My load time on my 75 is now about 2 minutes, a decent change over 3-5 minutes. So reinstalling seems to be worthwhile.

Originally Posted by tessathecat

Load time seems to be tied to how complex (or old) your account is. Try creating a new free account and see how fast it loads. I suspect Turbine's database organization is not the best.

Nah. I do dual-boxing and it's clearly RAM dominated.

Originally Posted by Darmokk

Nah. I do dual-boxing and it's clearly RAM dominated.

Character load time on my new PC with 8Gb and Lotro installed on the SSD is about the same as with my 7-year old PC with 3Gb. Everything else on the new PC is much, much faster (going from about 20 fps with minimal graphics to 150 fps with everything maxed.) I'll agree that if your memory is low enough, you will have problems. Another PC I have with 512 meg takes forever to load but it takes forever to do anything else as well. However, even with more than enough memory, loading characters on my main account (which has 16 toons) is much slower than on my free account with only two. And I want to make clear I am talking about the time it takes to load a character, not start the program.

Just chiming in what hasn't been mentioned yet:

The loading times have huge difference between servers...

I have characters on two servers: Snowbourn and Laurelin. Snowbourn loading times from clicking the login character button to being able to move are 1-3 minutes, depending on the time of the day. On Laurelin it's generally 20-40 seconds. That the difference between high population and low population servers.

I have 8Gb RAM installed on a Win7 64 system with a SSD. I usually load in less than 3-5 seconds most times, including the crowded areas. Sometimes I don't even get a chance to look away and I am loaded into the new area.

I have 8GB RAM installed on a Win7 64 bit OS with a SSD. I typically load in less than 3-5 seconds, including heavily populated areas

Originally Posted by Henshaw135

The loading times have huge difference between servers...

I'd have to disagree. My load times on Firefoot are in the 5-7 minute range. I switch to Brandywine and the login times are exactly the same. Possibly it's the fact that I was in Lagtrev on Firefoot versus a lightly-used intro zone on BW, but it seems the same for me.


And Korafa, when you say your loading times are 3-5 seconds; is 3-5 seconds from the character selection screen until you can move your character? Or is that the time it takes to, say, open a door and go inside a house?

@OP

May I ask what RAM setup you have?

Originally Posted by Henshaw135

Just chiming in what hasn't been mentioned yet:

The loading times have huge difference between servers...

I have characters on two servers: Snowbourn and Laurelin. Snowbourn loading times from clicking the login character button to being able to move are 1-3 minutes, depending on the time of the day. On Laurelin it's generally 20-40 seconds. That the difference between high population and low population servers.

It is more likely that the difference you are observing there is dependent on which area of the game your character was in when you logged in. That will determine how much junk has to be loaded. Different areas' data might also be fragmented differently (both filesystem fragmentation and Turbine's own file fragmentation).

I also have these issues. When I first started playing about 6 months ago, the log in times were a bit slower. Still what I consider long (2 min) but now, I click on my character to enter Middle Earth and I go make a pot of coffee, surf the internet a while, take a short drive from NYC to Florida for the weekend, come back and can start moving.

I have noticed no difference between my free account and my paid account. Also, in addition to this, it seems the more I log off characters to switch rather than exiting the game and reloading, the more laggy everything gets. If I log on my main, the switch to my cappy, then switch to my burg to craft materials, the burg no matter where she goes lags a ton. But if I leave the game and reload, it's smooth again.

Now, I'm playing on a notebook that never gets me much better than 30 - 40 fps, but I'm comparing performance among my toons, not against other computers.

I believe this:
It takes longer for a character that has done more quests, deeds, etc, to load then it does for one that hasn't done as much.

All character information is stored on turbines end, the more you have done on a particular character, the longer it takes to load.

My guard takes longer to load up then my champion.
Guard has completed almost everything in the game , where as my champ is more the minimum to be effective at his lvl (only took him to 65).
And my lowly lvl 19 hunter loads the fastest, as he hasn't done much of anything.

Originally Posted by Darmokk

It is more likely that the difference you are observing there is dependent on which area of the game your character was in when you logged in. That will determine how much junk has to be loaded. Different areas' data might also be fragmented differently (both filesystem fragmentation and Turbine's own file fragmentation).

I have quite a few characters on both servers, of which most are around the game world. There are differences between areas, that's for sure. I have timed the logins on same level toons that are each parked at the Vault in Michel Delving. Mostly there are 5-10 people at MD on Snowbourn, and at the wildest times about 30 on Laurelin (at least 10+ at any given time). Still Laurelin loads a lot faster. I didn't exaggerate the numbers either. After getting suspicious, I timed them. It's not really rocket science to realize the difference when it's three times longer on one server. As for the reason, I can only guess really. One thing I could do is to log to my second account to see if there is an actual difference, as it only has one lowbie on Snowbourn.