Cast Bar Delays

Brando · 01/08/07, 7:24 PM

A couple of guildmates and I have mage mains or alts. Since the 2.0 patch all of us have noticed that when being struck by melee attacks while casting a spell the cast bar delays quite a bit longer than when it did prior to 2.0. There have also been numerous times (2 this morning for instance) where my cast bar will actually finish yet my spell will not go off as the melee attacker continues to beat on me. I've noticed this delay being at least a second or more and has lead to my death more times than I can count. So far I've only noticed this in PvP as I haven't done any PvE lately where my mage was getting hit while casting. Another guildmate who is a priest says he thinks this happens to him as well once in a while but is unsure.

In searching the WoW boards and these boards I have not found anybody else commenting on this which for my friends and I has to be the most annoying bug/feature in WoW currently. Are we all hitting the hooka to hard and this is just our imagination or is this accurate of other casters experience currently?? If this is accurate is there any reasoning for why this is happening currently and will it be fixed in a week when TBC releases??

Vhad · 01/08/07, 7:28 PM

I've seen this as well, thought for some time it was just lag but when it kept occuring when I had ~80ms I thought something was up, not sure what to do about it though.

Chmee · 01/08/07, 7:43 PM

This is not your imagination and has nothing to do with mods.

I've been trying to pin down exactly when it occurs, as it isn't 100% of the time. I believe it has to do with client-server communication. Specifically, the client side cast bar will reach 100% and disappear, while the server knows spell interruption ("push-back") is still happening.

Example: Client A is telling the server that they hit Client B and then the server telling Client B that Client A hit them, with Client B's casting bar receiving the information at the very end.

If I am correct in my assumptions, you will most likely see this only in PvP. [wrong, this is purely a client-server deal, not client-server-client] Let us say you might notice this more often in PvP due to the generally more chaotic nature of fights.

The problem probably has to do with Blizzard including built in cast bars for opponents, thus requiring a reworking with how the server-client communication ties in with your personal cast bar. Essentially, you see only 'your client side' cast bar, which doesn't really have anything to do with the 'real server casting bar'.

Ragnor · 01/08/07, 8:01 PM

Healing in pvp you notice this a ton kick and pummel seem to cause it most often.

• Snowy · 01/08/07, 8:04 PM

Not a figment of your imagination, I've had this happen to me and it's quite annoying to see the bar "complete" yet the spell still not be anywhere near completion.

Xunwael · 01/08/07, 8:09 PM

It's extremely annoying to be counterspelled, or spell locked, or pummeled, or kicked, or earth shocked, etc, without knowing it happened. Not always easy to keep track of everything that's going on around you at all times during PvP, and when you're focusing on something else you don't always notice that your spell was interrupted - because the casting bar keeps going and your character keeps casting.

Then it reaches "completed", but nothing happens. Then I think it's just casting interruption preventing it slightly, so I wait for it to finish casting, but it doesn't. And after a second, or maybe even two, you realize that the spell was actually interrupted and that you stopped casting long ago, even though your char is standing there preforming the casting animation and your casting bar sais completed.

As stated, this problem was new in 2.0. Let's just hope they fix it soon.

EDIT: Can only be sure to have seen it in PvP, but I think I've had it happen in PvE as well.

Pyros · 01/08/07, 8:11 PM

I believe it's fixed on beta, but I'm not 100% positive, it's been a long time since I played my priest. I think however last time I played him, it was fixed. It happens an awful lot when you cast with 2mobs on you.

♦ Tecton · 01/08/07, 8:20 PM

Was noticing this tonight while doing a few quests for some gold, seemed to happen most when the mob used some kind of special attack near the end/just after it finished casting on my screen. No lag, either.

manks · 01/08/07, 9:38 PM

I've definitely had this happen in PVE. Boosting an alt through a low level dungeon and having a bunch of mobs bashing on me, the casting bar completes yet nothing happens for a good second or two.

chuckg · 01/08/07, 10:01 PM

My favorite as a healer is when you do get kicked but the casting bar continues to go to 100% although your actionbars have already updated to show you cannot cast for however long the kick lasts. It's quite the annoying little bug, I'll admit, having to watch your actionbars to see if cooldowns show up on there instead of the casting bar. It seems to happen whether you're 1% into the cast or 99% in, the cast progress will continue to 100% regardless of the interruption though it'll fail when it reaches 100%.

Edit: I'm describing the same thing as Xunwael.

Vhad · 01/08/07, 10:24 PM

I almost exclusively see this in PVE though, been doing alot of 2 manning the last couple of days and it's really annoying. IF its based on mods, what mods could cause it? If it's fixed on beta it seems to be out of our hands, hopefully it gets fixed with TBC then.

DeeNogger · 01/08/07, 10:48 PM

I have seen this a ton. I actually have video of it in a little movie I made about farming mara. By far the most noticable on Landslide when im getting beaten on by all the little adds. Sometimes the amount of time ill sit at a full bar without the cast going off is 1-2 seconds! I always assumed it was just lag or the ecb mod not displaying correctly. Now that I know its a bug... im kinda pissed off.

Spatula · 01/08/07, 10:51 PM

Originally Posted by Chmee

If I am correct in my assumptions, you will most likely see this only in PvP.

Happens all the time in PvE as well. Seems to be a bug with the user's cast bar not showing all interruptions via damage.

Incupsof · 01/08/07, 11:50 PM

I have noticed this as well. Very irritating.

Darksaber · 01/09/07, 12:16 AM

Not that I can help much but provide evidence here... I have DEFINITELY seen this happen in PvE on my mage. In PvP I wouldn't count anything as conclusive just because of the amount of stuff that you have happening at any one time, but it happened to me last night farming ogres in Deadwind pass. Not sure what causes it though, as it doesn't happen all the time.