City of Heroes nears launch...

[TaiDaishar]

While that may be part of it, I'm 95% certain my real problem is graphics chug. Even on a 56k connection I can play just fine with a 400-500 ping

I'm quite sure none would've helped you in there, it wasn't your graphics nor was it your connection, it was the server itself, the stress test made with that invasion probably failed, the servers were no match for it and that's why I, at least, got horrendous lag even at places where there was no one at.