I have read many posts about players having problems with their games loading or running slow, not loading at all, stopping or freezing and receiving the dreaded "EA directed too many times" error message. I've read a lot of the information here at Pogo and online outside of Pogo on this subject, and I've decided to create this post and place that information in one place for others to read if they are having problems with their games that might be caused by their browser's cache.
The web browsers we use (Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer 11, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari and others) store and save information from where we have been when travelling on the internet. In this way, this information is already there saved in our browsers so that it takes less time to start doing things at the websites on our future visits.
Stored in our browsers are the web page titles and addresses where we've been called browsing history. Also in our browsers are text files used at the websites called cookies, including our login information (account name or email address and password). In addition, in our browsers are images and other files called cache.
The more places we go on the internet, the more information is stored in our web browser. Eventually our browser collects so much information it becomes full, kind of like becoming constipated and needing a cleaning out so more information can be taken in. When one's browser becomes full, activities like loading and running games at Pogo start operating slowly and sometimes the games won't load or they just stop and freeze. When you are unable to load the games or when you receive the error message "EA redirected too many times", that is a sign that your browser may be getting full and needs to be cleared, especially the browser's cache, because images there take up a lot of memory.
Not only is clearing your browser's cache important when your games run slow or won't load, but it's a good idea to periodically clear your cache (like once a week) so that you don't reach the point where your browser is getting full. Clearing the cache of the different browsers is similar but not exactly the same. One thing that is common is that each browser uses the word History to help you find the cache so you can clear it out.
To clear your browser, start by opening it from your computer (or tablet). For most browsers (except Safari) look in the upper right corner. For Edge and Chrome, click on the 3 dots (vertical or horizontal). For Internet Explorer click on the gear symbol. For Firefox, click on the vertical lines (not the horizontal lines). Click there, and a drop down menu will appear. Look around for the word "History". For Internet Explorer 11, look first for the phrase Internet Options, and it will take you to a menu with browsing history. Now chose the option to clear the cache. For Safari 8.0 - 10.0 (Mac), click Safari in the upper left hand side of your screen. In the menu that appears, click Preferences. In the window that appears, click the Privacy tab. Click the button Remove All Website Data. I don't use a Mac computer, so it is possible that doing these steps might also remove the cookies. See the warning about that below.
If you've never cleared your browser cache before, it could take some time to remove all that saved information, even a half hour or longer. But the time taken is worth the effort for better game performance. If you clear the cache periodically, you will see that clearing the cache goes much faster. When the cache is being cleared, there is usually some animation shown that the clearing is in progress. When it's finished, the animation stops and sometimes there is also a message letting you know the the cache is cleared.
When you are clearing your browser's cache, if you want to free more memory, you can clear the browsing history and/or cookies. Clearing the browser history is fairly safe. However, I have a warning about clearing the cookies. CAUTION.... if you clear the cookies, you will delete your login information (account name or email address and password) at ALL websites where you log in. So I would not recommend clearing your cookies UNLESS you have your log in information written down or saved someplace on your computer. If you clear your cookies and cannot remember your login information, the next time you return to the websites, you will not be able to enter.
One other suggestion I will make. If you use only one browser at the Pogo website, I would recommend starting to use another one. Some browsers work better with some games. For example Internet Explorer works better with the older Flash and Java games, but not so well with the newer HMTL5 (HD) games. Google Chrome is a good browser to use as an alternative to the one that comes with your computer or tablet. I use Chrome most often at Pogo, because I've found it seems to have fewer problems with the games here. To download another browser, go to the browser's website and download the latest version available. Another advantage of using more than one browser is that if your primary browser has a full cache, you can switch to another that may be less full. However, when you use more than one browser you should periodically clear both of them.
