So this is a weird one, and it may be just me. Since the last update, I've been seeing very long High Seas server search times when joining the game and during dives. Typically about a minute or so.
However, when I get into the game or new server, I am actually ending up with a much lower ping than before the update. Previously, I would see my ping average around 60 to 80 with high spikes happening fairly frequently. Now though, I am seeing pings in the 45 to 55 range, and the spikes are very rare and last a shorter amount of time. I still see some lag when selling, but that may be a client-side issue on AMD when dealing with all the pop-ups.
Unfortunately, since Windows removed the Xbox Networking test from the Gaming settings, I don't really know of a way to check my NAT to their servers, so it may be NAT-related. I don't see any other issues with my internet connection though.
Now, if this was a deliberate change, I actually prefer it this way. I would much rather have a long search time like this and end up on more stable servers than be instantly put on rocky servers and spend hours dealing with lag spikes.
(Edit: a thought did occur to me that this may just have been because of the event, as more servers were spun up in a closer location to me so it could find more optimal ones to put me on. If that was the case, I should see it revert back the next time I sail. Which would be unfortunate.)
