Why did you buy Netduma?

[Omega]

My answer is simple CALL OF DUTY!!!!! Why? Because this series has gone from the gold standard of the FPS genre to the gold standard of rage inducing lag. As a 22 year old soon to be college graduate, I don't have as much time to relax and play as I did in the past. When I have time to play, I want to be able to sit in my recliner and play some enjoyable game sessions. Does anyone remember what COD used to be because I do (I've owned all of them)? The breakthrough game was COD4. It was revolutionary in its inclusion of killstreaks. The next breakthrough was customizable killstreaks in MW2. All these "revolutionary" changes are all well and good from a marketing standpoint, but would you say these were the reason for COD's early success as a franchise? I would say not. It was the ability to get into a game quickly and play relatively lag free. It was because of the fluidity of the game running at 60fps at a time when 60fps was unachievable in the industry. When you look at BLOPS2 (during its product lifetime of 1 year), Ghosts, and AW, can you say the same things. Sure AW ushered in the "new" era of COD with exosuits, but is that what we, the COD community, truly want (exosuits)? I, again, would say not. I want a game that runs as smooth as butter. I want to be able to play with my friends and not experience even more gamebreaking lag. I don't want to be melted in every 1-on-1 gunfight as if this is my first time playing. Keep in mind I am someone who has logged over 100 days of total COD playtime over the years. I've held K/D's as high as 5.0 and as low as 3.0. I've been ranked in the Top 100 in MW3 and BLOPS2. I am not bragging by any means, I simply want to illustrate that I'm not some random noob complaining because he is getting destroyed. I am not the only one as well. Virtually my entire friends list echoes my thoughts and opinions on the matter. These are people I've played with for years who have played and adapted to each new installation into the series seamlessly. Now to get to where I tie all this together with the Netduma. COD is the only game that lags like this, or at least to this degree. I kinda think that the majority of Duma owners, and majority of prospective Duma buyers are COD players seeking a fix to their COD lag woes. I think there should be a forum dedicated to optimizing one's connection FOR COD. Not for nothing, but COD, despite diminishing sales figures as a result of said issues, is still the highest selling FPS game. Thus, I feel that priority should be given to this franchise until either it is addressed by the dev team (not likely), or the franchise dies as it inevitably will at this rate. Please Duma team and Netduma members; provide feedback as I know I'm not the only one who feels this way and cares this deeply for this franchise. Oh, and sorry this is so damn long.

 

Thanks,

Dan

[A7Legit]

I purchased it because it gives the gamer control. Pretty simple for me.

[iAmMoDBoX]

Cause Iain is sexy

[BLCUSF]

I purchased it because of Congestion Control. I am on PC.

[lukasz]

Same here i got it foe COD for reasons u mention above

[Zennon]

Back in the day there were many noobs about it was new and fresh easy picking for people with fast reactions, as times moved on and people have years of play time under their belts it got harder and harder, not because of lag but becuase the player base is better as a whole nowadays.

 

There is inherently lag in every game and there is in cod. A 2 bar player can still beast and go top of the leader becase of lag comp.

 

I bought the Duma for the congestion control and the Geo-filter to stop the juddery motion (screen lag) so i can be immersed in the game again because immersion makes you play better.

[fuzzy clam]

Because my wife is addicted to netflix and a netduma was cheaper than a divorce   

[PharmDawgg]

--'Because some friendships are wilder than others'--

[Omega]

I purchased it because it gives the gamer control. Pretty simple for me.

Solid reason.

[Omega]

I purchased it because it gives the gamer control. Pretty simple for me.

Solid reason.

[Omega]

There is inherently lag in every game and there is in cod. A 2 bar player can still beast and go top of the leader becase of lag comp.

Yes, lag is impossible to avoid, but it can be optimized. You're notion that a 2-bar player can still beast because of lag comp is simply not true. If the lag comp in COD handled varying degrees of latency the way it theoretically should, Netduma wouldn't have a very marketable product since the Geo-Filter is one of their highest selling points. In addition, I four bar every game with or without the Duma. When I don't use the Duma's geo-filter, I might as well set the controller down and watch as I uncontrollably get melted by anyone and everyone. On the other hand, when using the Duma's geo-filter, while it's not perfect, I can drop DNA bombs or at the least actually carry the team to victory.  Go watch ovenbakedmuffin's video on youtube that documents a baseline delay of over 100ms before adding actual latency to host. This pushes overall latency up to over 200ms in some cases, 200ms is the difference between an 80 and 100 mph fastball (You can easily see the difference). Believe me the thought of me just not being great any more crossed my mind, but A. the Duma's geo-filter disproved this; B. It would be quite a drastic "dropoff" to post 3.0 K/D's or higher in ALL other COD's and only a 1.3 (before Duma) in AW; and C. These exact same complaints (being insta-killed, getting endless hitmarkers,etc.) have been echoed by literally everyone that I have played with. I purposely ask lobbies of randoms their opinion of the game and whether they have lag issues. I expected to have been trolled at least once, but everyone I asked said they suffer the same gamebreaking lag. So, I have to disagree with your statement about lag comp.

[Zennon]

I have beasted on a two bar in the past before the duma.

 

Three bar hard work but the sweet spot in my experience is a two bar i seem to sponge, if you do not believe me thats fine

[fuzzy clam]

A 2 bar can still run a lobby.The 2 bar player info will take longer to update the host,which means it will take longer for you to get updated on where that player is.Which means what your actually seeing on your screen is where the player was last,i.e it already happend.Your shooting at where the player used to be.And since hitmarkers are rendered on the client side you normally get lots more hitmarkers when going against laggy players,2 and 3 bar.

 

So it is possible to own as a 2 or 3 bar player.that's just the way the net and on line gaming work.

 

As Netduma Adam would say "you can mitigate the visual effects of latency in game with various methods (what people call lag comp) but ultimately you are dealing with immutable laws of physics"

[Elikenui]

I bought an R1 because COD's matchmaking system sucks donkey balls.

[BL4CK OPS V3TRN]

Can't agree with Maz ! Iain is not sexy , he is many positive things but not that . COD for me is the main reason and Dan,s original post is spot on . I too first started with Modern Warfare and how breathtaking was that back the day , you know I had many many hours of fantastic enjoyment and as I write this post it just hit me ! I didn't even know about connection at that time and I certainly was not worried about my internet or ISP never even crossed my mind , not even sure I would have understood back then . I just played and had lots of fun

[Omega]

I bought an R1 because COD's matchmaking system sucks donkey balls.

LMFAO

[Omega]

Can't agree with Maz ! Iain is not sexy , he is many positive things but not that . COD for me is the main reason and Dan,s original post is spot on . I too first started with Modern Warfare and how breathtaking was that back the day , you know I had many many hours of fantastic enjoyment and as I write this post it just hit me ! I didn't even know about connection at that time and I certainly was not worried about my internet or ISP never even crossed my mind , not even sure I would have understood back then . I just played and had lots of fun

If it weren't for COD i wouldn't even know how to port forward lol. In the good ole' days you just got online, partied up, and had fun. AW is devoid of fun.

[Omega]

I have beasted on a two bar in the past before the duma.

 

Three bar hard work but the sweet spot in my experience is a two bar i seem to sponge, if you do not believe me thats fine

Sorry I didn't sleep in the past 2 days so I'm a bit groggy  Now that I think about it you are correct to an extent. Yes you may own on a 2 bar, but its because of lag no matter how you slice it. Remember the COD4, WAW, MW2 days? If you had anything less than a 3 bar you HAD to back out. Now having a 2 bar is like hitting the lottery. I remember vividly back in the MW3 days (my favorite and personal best COD) my clan would thrash any clan we played in CTF, with the exception of one. Shockingly their entire team comprised of 1, 2, and 3 bars. My team couldn't figure it out back then. It literally felt like we were playing the US Navy SEALS (or SAS ). We couldn't hit them no matter how hard we tried, yet they would simply glance at us and we would drop. Didn't you guys like it when if you were having a laggy game you simply backed out and found a new lobby and problem solved? Now, at least 90% of games are as god awful as that one you used to get.

[ANDREWALASKA]

I've ordered mine and waiting for it to arrive. I want to see where the game (COD) is connecting me, I want control of my connection. I'm in Alaska and can't wait to see where the game tries to connect me. I know sometimes it's players in Mexico.

 

I have never quit so many laggy games until AW. I hope I can start winning more gunfights, and have less of the instant kills.

[Elikenui]

I've ordered mine and waiting for it to arrive. I want to see where the game (COD) is connecting me, I want control of my connection. I'm in Alaska and can't wait to see where the game tries to connect me. I know sometimes it's players in Mexico.

I have never quit so many laggy games until AW. I hope I can start winning more gunfights, and have less of the instant kills.

That's not so bad if it's just Mexico. AW's matchmaking system could connect you to the east coast, australia, south america, or europe. I'm in Hawaii and that's where I've seen it connect without the filter turned on. It lags bad enough when you have a decent ping but it turns into an unplayable nightmare if you get a host that far away.

[Elikenui]

I've ordered mine and waiting for it to arrive. I want to see where the game (COD) is connecting me, I want control of my connection. I'm in Alaska and can't wait to see where the game tries to connect me. I know sometimes it's players in Mexico.

I have never quit so many laggy games until AW. I hope I can start winning more gunfights, and have less of the instant kills.

You'll probably connect to the big bank of dedicated servers in Seattle with the netduma router. They should run pretty well for you.

[lukasz]

Amen to that i just watched the ovenbakedmuffin and it is a fackt that this games have some crazy base line letancy drift0r have talked about it to being connected with frames per sec yet this bad boy can give you joy even in such games like aw

[Dillinger]

I bought the Net Duma originally because it seemed to hold out Hope.  Hope that I could play on a more even playing field, against local people with good internet.  Not where the lobby host is in some far off locale where the only people enjoying the game are the 2 splitscreeners sitting in a grass hut with a hand crank on their battery power source for internet connection.    

 

I pretty much play Black Ops 2.  It was the first of the series that I bought, because some "friends" wanted to game at night, and I was hooked.  I started with a wireless OEM Xbox 360 controller, playing on a 55" TV (with just the standard speakers), on a standard router from the cable company, and NOTHING was hard wired.  My wife also loves to watch movies or shows from the DVR or from Netflix.  I knew this affected my gaming experience, but I never knew HOW BAD it was back in those days.  I used to get DESTROYED!  Mind you, this was only 2 years ago, so when people start talking about "Pay to Win" I have to laugh.

 

I upgraded to Astros, multiple Scufs for the given platform (360, XB1, PS3), a BENQ monitor, everything hardwired with good internet and I was still losing gunfights where I knew I should be winning.  Shoot First = Die First Ops was the game I was playing and it was genuinely frustrating because all the map knowledge and spawn knowledge and in game meta I learned, I was still having average games at best.

 

Congestion Control and Geo-Filter.  Outside of all the cool stuff this router can do aside, with all the fantastic customer support including this open and honest forum - I would have paid double for just these two features.

 

Congestion control allows me to allocate bandwidth to my gaming console and still allocate everything else to whatever the wife wants to use for her viewing options.  This alone led to better overall evenings of gaming, more harmony in the home. and a better overall quality of life.  If you don't understand that now, just wait until you share a house with that significant other who's only crime, to entertain themselves and not sit by with a book in some sort of monk-like state existence, is causing gaming stress and it will suddenly hit you like a ton of bricks.    If only there was a way to have good games and not have to change the locks on the door to buy a few hours for myself?!?!?

 

Geo-Filter gave me the information to confirm what I had always expected.  I was being put in lobbies in the mid-west and in Florida on the regular, when I live near Seattle!  What was worse was at least those were usually dedicated servers, but the P2P hosts would be in central/south mexico, Japan, South America, along with places all along the eastern seaboard.  Now my internet isn't awesome, but it's damn good for my area and it seemed like the lobbies where lag was minimal were almost ceremonial, coming around once in a blue moon.  

 

Once I was able to filter on games only on the West Coast, I place my "home" in northern California and extend my radius to include Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Nevada, I began to absolutely dominate lobbies.  There are always people who have marginal internet, or internet that is fine until you get a really busy game with a lot of streaks and crap gear going off (betty's, shock charges) and then it just crashes and becomes unplayable.  Those people still exist, but now they don't get to host.  The matchmaking+Duma just skips over them and puts the lobby on a more solid host (*DISCLAIMER:  my words, not Net Dumas)

 

Now that I am an owner of the Net Duma, I can't honestly name you another piece of equipment that has made THIS much of a change in my gaming "ability" or my "fun" in gaming.  I have seen an increase in playing skill/enjoyment with the monitor first, the Scuf second and the headset third, but none of them made as much of an improvement as simply connecting to a lobby where you have a chance to compete on a level playing field when it comes to lag.

 

If Net Duma can take a game that was as hated in it's time as Black Ops 2 was, and make it run as well as it does for me now, I'd say that alone speaks volumes more than I can write.

[Guest Netduma Fraser]

Wow Dillinger! Thanks so much, what a fantastic read. You dont really think about how much it affects peoples lives until you see something like this. So thank you and I'm glad you're happy

 

Thanks to everyone as well, its really great to see 

[Dillinger]

Wow Dillinger! Thanks so much, what a fantastic read. You dont really think about how much it affects peoples lives until you see something like this. So thank you and I'm glad you're happy

 

Thanks to everyone as well, its really great to see 

 

Thanks Fraser - I assume the idea was to develop a router that gave you more control over the host experience, produce in mass form, market to the FPS community, make a boatload of money, do shaving cream adds the rest of your days for the women.  I'd say you are safe on that plan.  

 

But the overall quality of life improvement, for me, has made this product easily one of the best purchases I have made in gaming.  Having a bad game or bad night is one thing.  

 

Having a bad game, wanting to spike a controller because you KNOW you aren't that bad, and then hearing something like "If the game makes you that mad, why do you keep playing it?" from the woman you love will hit you in a spot few personal trainers or Drill Sargents could reach; even with a Sherpa and a map.   

 

Quality of life Post Duma is just better.  I can try to quantify it if pushed, but the fact is there is less stress, less tension, and no one is being inconvenienced or altering their normal routines so I can play a game.  And the game runs better than it ever did before, so win/win/#WINNING!!