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Gamers in Hawaii Can't Compete... Because of Latency (theoutline.com)
Sometimes it's very important to know that the servers of the web services you're using are situated somewhere in your neighbourhood. And it's not just because of privacy concerns. The Outline has a story this week in which it talks about gamers in Hawaii who're increasingly finding it difficult to compete in global tournaments because the games' servers are almost every time placed overseas. From the article: [...] The game's server is in Chicago. That means if you live in the Midwest, your computer can communicate with it almost instantaneously. If you're in L.A., it can take roughly 60 milliseconds. But if you're in Hawaii, it can take 120 milliseconds, with some players reporting as long as 200 milliseconds. And at the highest echelons of competitive video gaming, milliseconds matter. [...] In League and other eSports games, playing on a high ping is a big disadvantage. The goal of the game is to set up defenses to protect your base while pushing forward to capture the enemy's base, and there are typically lightning bolts and fireballs and slime-spitting dragons shooting across the screen. Playing on a high ping means players may not see all of the action that happens in a game. Latency can really screw things up for a young eSports scene, said Zack Johnson, who runs gg Circuit, a global tournament provider for gaming centers like PC Gamerz. Players on the mainland sometimes say they don't want to compete against Hawaii players, he said, because the high ping throws things off.
The game's server is in Chicago. That means if you live in the Midwest, your computer can communicate with it almost instantaneously. If you're in L.A., it can take roughly 60 milliseconds. But if you're in Hawaii, it can take 120 milliseconds
On the plus side, they don't live in Chicago.
I would take latency, sandy beaches, perfect weather and bikini clad women over snow and death by homicide.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
In other sports, runners who live at sea-level are disadvantaged in competition against runners who live high up in the mountains.
The life of athletes is full of unfairness.
That made me chuckle in a conversation about gamers.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
The current speed of light is clearly racist against indigenous Hawaiians. We need to expand federal net neutrality regulations to require telecommunications companies to use faster light on the cables connecting Hawaii to the mainland. /sarc
That's what you git for losing O's birth certificate!
Table-ized A.I.
I'm amazed that a gamer sitting on an island in the Pacific could unilaterally block a tournament.
If you can't figure out what to do at night time with an island full of girls in bikini's maybe it would be best for you to stay on the computer.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.