Screw timeouts

[aelf]

Well, I'm not a whiz when it comes to the internet, and I have a question that I really want an answer to.

What's with timeouts? Why do I not get an option to continue trying to connect instead of having it just timeout and me having to restart the process every damn time? I mean, sometimes it's just that the connection is sluggish, especially when there's a firewall you can't turn off (like when using the wireless in some place other than home). I know the connection is slow, so please stop timing me out and just wait. It's a real pain.

What's with this authoritarian "We have to time you out because you have been loading it for too long" crap? Screw that, let me finish loading it!

If a context is necessary, sometimes I'm trying to get a multiplayer game of Civ4 going while waiting somewhere. Sometimes I spend the entire time only trying to connect (and, fortunately for my sanity, surfing the internet at the same time).

Can anyone educate me on this? Thanks a lot!

 

[Cutlass]

Sometimes you simply will not connect. So they create a time limit to tell you that.

 

[aelf]

Why can't they just say "You might not be able to connect" then let me choose whether I want to abort or continue trying?

 

[Cutlass]

maybe the people who wrote the browser never thought of that

 

[Shadylookin]

Why can't they just say "You might not be able to connect" then let me choose whether I want to abort or continue trying?

you can continue trying just hit crtl-r, f5, or click the refresh button

 

[aelf]

you can continue trying just hit crtl-r, f5, or click the refresh button

That doesn't work in Civ. Also, that falls under the definition of restarting the process

 

[Macha]

Beacuse in 90% of the cases where a timeout happens means you wont connect even if it kept trying and it's not worth introducing more technicality for the last 10%.

 

[warpus]

Right, a time-out implies that you wouldn't be able to connect anyway - or that if you did, you'd likely get disconnected during the game at some point.

 

[aelf]

Well, it so happens that Civ4 very seldom disconnects in game for me. I only get timeouts when the save file is being transferred.

It may be that only 10% of the time is there an exception to the norm. But if you want to start saying that 10% is nothing and should hence be ignored, you'd quickly run into a lot of problems, especially annoyed customers in this case.

 

[warpus]

I remember there being some sort of a timeout issue in one of the patches for one of the Civ games. Maybe you just don't have the latest patch.

That, or there's a hardware issue somewhere, or your internet just sucks.

 

[aelf]

Slow connection, I know, but not an unstable one. It isn't actually a problem to run a game with, it's just that it keeps timing out during the game transfer. I do have the latest patch.

I think an option to continue loading would be good for everything. I remember some programs do give it to you. Not sure, though.

 

[oyzar]

set your connection to moden under advanced -> options, it helps actually... Also don't alt + tab out when dling the save file... You can get this problem with a slow sender too, not just a slow dl speed...

 

[aelf]

Also don't alt + tab out when dling the save file...

Really? It affects the download?