what's a lag switch user?

I was checking out the SRK forums right now and I read someone called out someone else for being a "lag switch user." I think I've seen that term before pop up in some other discussion but never really looked into what it is. I could only assume there's a way to impede connections but is it really worth all that trouble just to pull out a win?

I can't stand trying to work in lag in the first place but I remember my days on kaillera and those who would use the 8 or so frame delay to their advantage. It takes a separate amount of skill to work in that environment but its gross. RotD in 5 frames of delay still annoys me. Speaking of Rage of the Dragons, I'm still waiting for some GGPO representation. I haven't played in a few months but I still have a score to settle against someone. I want no excuses for any losses on either side. Again, this goes down to integrity and principle rather than pulling out a win. People can talk their point to death sometimes and things still don't get resolved. In this case, there's only one way to get one definitive answer and I'll be sure to record it or have someone do it. (lol... some unfinished business. Sensei knows the history)

ok... get on point-- ON POINT DAMMIT!

lol

*ahem*

So as i was skimming over the last page of the TvC ragequitters thread, I saw that term stick out. In one of my recent matches (I was in the middle of rendering vids so I couldn't record this. I do have a witness though) , I came across this opponent. The only TvC community seems pretty small and you tend to run into the same people if you play at the same time during the day. I remember the name but he didn't seem to make a decent impression on me. All I could recall is that I beat him pretty soundly a few times.

What struck me as odd was I was fighting him in a ranked match. I forgot to mention, his tag is PACO... could be anybody with a name like that but his player icon always was the same so yeah. So PACO and I were in a ranked match ok... cool. Things were ok. No hint of connection failures on either side. The match began and immediately I got into my string and pushed him into the corner. It was pretty overwhelming and I was hoping to close out this match fast. Then it all went so horribly wrong. As I try to engage my opponent, the worst lag I have ever experienced hit. it slowed stuff down to a crawl. Things were fine up until that point. I couldn't move my characters with any type of reaction. Blocking wouldn't happen or jumping or any movement on my end yet he was able to move to some degree. special moves started getting pulled out of nowhere from his end while i couldn't even block a jab if i wanted to. While this happened I just figured he must be torrenting something and its messing with the connection. Then the frame rate started to pick up as he started landing stuff but as soon as I started my offensive strike and pinned him down again, the lag kicked in. It did that serveral times during the match and It seemed too suspect to be a coincidence that the ebb and flow of the lag would be in some kind of synchronization with the pace of the battle. It irritated me cuz i built up enough of a lead that I had to win by a timeout. I was infuriated.

I took a few moments to cool down and then I headed to the free battle side of things. Low and behold, my next match up is against PACO. the rage came back with a vengeance and I wanted to make sure I got a clean and clear victory. The match started and sure enough the same shit happened. As soon as I would gain an offensive edge, frame rate dropped down to next to nothing but as I would regroup and wait, the connection returned to a playable state and he'd be on the offensive. I remember I beat him again but i don't recall in what fashion.

Network issues are limitless so he could have just had some connection woes. I don't know. From my point of view, it seemed like things were being tampered with. If he somehow contacts me saying what the problem was then ok... nothing to be really worked up about. BUT if he is fucking around with whatever a lag switch is its such a dirty tactic to try to squeeze out a win.

Sigh. I remember Sensei and I were in a 4-player MvC match on kaillera and some guy started spewing out that the game kept desyncing. I know it happens but even his partner was like wtf are you talking about? He was trolling hard and it wasn't pretty.

I guess that ends this rant. PACO... you got some 'splaining to do.