I mean, I can't do much with the modem and I can't just call my ISP and say "UR NET SUX, GET THAT HAMSTER RUNNING FASTER!"

It could be latency or packet loss rather than a bandwidth issue.

Agreed. Jep, does Warhammer have anything like a latency meter?

deja vu, anyone?

You might want to look at this thread. It sounds like what you're experiencing, and if so, is a very common problem with WH.

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99123

I've seen the thread. The problem is, there was the exact same thing with AoC, and I've experienced it in a lot of offline games also, such as Oblivion and neverwinter Nights 2.

THis same thread, and essentially all the whinning I see on warham alliance is something thats mirrored on every other mmo's forums. Which makes me think its computers, not the game.

If you're experiencing it in offline games also, why did you make a thread about internet speeds being at fault?

I guess it didn't occure to me that I was experiencing it in Oblivion and NWN2 when the tech dude brought the internet possibility up, or when I posted this thread. You know, since I haven't played either of those games in 2 years.

Whether I thought about that or not, I still got some pretty good suggestions in this thread which made it all worthwhile.

Try defragging. That might be happening when you're moving into new areas and the game can't load the content it needs fast enough. Especially since it happens in crowded areas, but only when you first get there.

This is what CONSTANTLY happens to me in any games from oblivion to neverwinter nights 2 to lotro to AoC to Warhammer to Tabula Rasa, etc.

The data entering the graphics card is now stored on the card's own local memory, called Video RAM (VRAM), just two chips of which are circled in red above. These onboard VRAM chips provide a similar service to that of regular system RAM on your motherboard; a temporary storage area designed to help speed up calculations by the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) - circled in yellow above. Basically as you can see, your graphics card is almost like a miniature PC within itself, with its own CPU (GPU), RAM (VRAM) and motherboard (PCB), and operates in much the same way. VRAM in particular not only serves as storage point for data to be calculated for rendering, it also holds completed images (frames) ready for sending to your monitor - see Step 8 further below for details.

This is the reason why the amount of VRAM is increasingly becoming larger and more important on modern graphics cards. The more information that can be held onboard the graphics card's VRAM, the more quickly the GPU can process data and not have to pause to allow more data to be loaded up into VRAM. For example, games with high resolution textures require more VRAM space. When space runs out in VRAM, existing unused textures have to be switched out and new ones loaded up from your hard drive and/or system RAM into the VRAM. This slight pause which results is commonly referred to as hitching (when data loads into VRAM) or stuttering (when data loads up from the hard drive first), and is most noticeable when you enter new areas or see new objects during a game. Your graphics card literally pauses to wait for new data to be loaded for display before continuing.

Performance Tip: This step highlights the importance of having more VRAM on your graphics card. If running a game on a card with less VRAM, you must lower your texture settings and/or resolution, otherwise you will get more hitching/stuttering as data is constantly swapped into and out of the VRAM. This is particularly true if you have a slower hard drive and less system RAM as well. Note further that cooling the VRAM properly is also essential, as almost all cases of noticeable graphical glitches (also called 'Artifacts'), and many crashes and lockups, are due to overheating VRAM. Remember that the temperature sensor on your graphics card is not located on the VRAM - it is on or close to the GPU; so your VRAM can often run much hotter.