my ping is usually 250-350 and starting today i would join a game and at the start everything would be fine. then slowly (over a 30 second period) my ping would go to 999 and stay there. any idea on whats wrong?

for online play, turn You graphic settings to a minimal and turn your "FPS" up... if You are on dial up then bend over and kisss it goodbye who needs full graphics on a multiplayer internet game ? death comes so fast that you dont have time to appreciate the graphics anyway.

is this internet problems? or does your comp lag up as well?

it could be bolth but i never had the problem before

Post computer stats, i.e. connection speed, processor speed, RAM, etc.

1st... dial up is a "no no" for games,  2nd.... DSL is fast, but based solely on distance from the nearest node (if You dont know what a node is, dont read this) as opposed to cable modem whic is determined by how much you wanna pay.  Now that we got that out the way, lower ALL graphic settings and turn the FPS up on the network options in the game, if You dont understand, please go stand in the corner until further notic. I HAVE NEVER HAD LAG ... NEVER and I play on a 50 player server .... matter of fact, I hate when others get laggy, its too easy of a kill.

If the FPS is too high it will create lag.