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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.
What's the news here? It's well known that physical constraints make communication over larger distances take longer. If these gamers were serious about avoiding these delays, they'd move to Chicago (or wherever the servers they're communicating with are). Why is this even on Slashdot?!
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.
Holy fuck.
Someone is in Hawaii and they elect to stay inside playing games???
I tell you what...you come here and stay in my suburban home in the states with a high speed connection that will allow you to pwn everyone in the game, and I'll stay in your home in Hawaii, surf, scuba, hike, and lay out on the beach.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Indeed, life is about trade-offs. If you're already living in one of the 5 most beautiful states (ordering is very subjective), you've got so much more going in your favor than latency in a FPS tournament.
Here's another idea. If the tournament is that important to you, rent a hotel room and buy some plane tickets (probably not on United).
True, although Hawaii may fare better than most islands and coastal areas. Most of Hawaii is well above even the scariest of sea level rises.
Just about the entire state of Florida would be under water before 10% of Hawaii is underwater.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
But you're still in Hawaii and he's still in Detroit.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Ahhh, the return of the LPB -- the Low Ping Bastard from Quake days.
There's a solution to this, 1-and-1 home and away contests, which people regularly did for intercontinental matches.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
What about gamers who live in Europe, Australia, Asia, South America, Africa and have to contact US based servers? They also have latency.