How to Not Lag on "Lord of the Rings Online"
By Aaron Parson
Massively mutliplayer online games such as "Lord of the Rings Online" require both a fast computer and a steady Internet connection to run properly. If either your PC or your connection falters, you will experience lag in the game. To help determine the source of your problem, press "Ctrl-F" to show your frame rate in-game. If this number frequently drops or remains consistently under 30, your computer's hardware is lagging and cannot process the game fast enough. Otherwise, check your Internet connection for problems.
Hardware Lag
Step 1
Close all other programs before running LOTRO. Applications running in the background, especially those that use graphics processing such as Web videos, will take away from the power your computer can devote to the game.
Step 2
Update the drivers for your video card by downloading them from the card manufacturer's website. New drivers can improve game performance. You can also install beta drivers from your card's manufacturer: these drivers offer additional improvements compared to the last official release, but haven't yet passed testing and so may not work properly.
Step 3
Increase the size of the Windows paging file from the System control panel. The computer uses this file to store data for quick use when accessing large files such as the LOTRO data. Turbine recommends setting the "Initial Size" of the file to match the number in the "Maximum Size" box, which can slightly improve performance during times when the file grows beyond its the old initial size.
Step 4
Lower the graphics settings in-game to ease the burden on your computer. Turning off advanced features such as specular lighting and lowering draw distance will improve your frame rate at the cost of visual quality. Press "Ctrl-O" to open the options screen and make the changes. Lowering the resolution of the game will significantly improve framerate, but deviating from your monitor's native resolution can cause the game to look blurry.
Step 5
Upgrade your video card if other steps do not help and you play on a desktop PC. More than any other part, a computer's video card determines its ability to run games smoothly. A few models of gaming laptops offer upgradable video cards, but the vast majority of notebooks cannot support video upgrades.
Internet Lag
Step 1
Connect to the Internet using Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi. Wired connections provide greater stability and speed, especially if your computer sits far away from the router.
Step 2
Stop other programs that heavily use the Internet while playing, such as file downloaders and video streamers. This guidance applies to all computers in your house because they share a single Internet access point.
Step 3
Contact your Internet service provider if all the computers in your house lag, as your connection may need repair.
Step 4
Play LOTRO at a different time of day. The game's servers may simply be overloaded at one time, causing lag beyond your control.
References
Tips
- Laptops often have worse performance than desktop computers and most do not support upgrading. Try playing on a desktop PC for upgradability.
Writer Bio
Aaron Parson has been writing about electronics, software and games since 2006, contributing to several technology websites and working with NewsHour Productions. Parson holds a Bachelor of Arts from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.