Several big functions may not fit 0.25s (a pulse time?).
Did you guys consider splitting them into several smaller pieces and spear across different pulses within a tick?
For example you could update all characters and mobile hps at a tick front and move mobiles in the next pulse. Then update weather and area repops in a consequent pulse, etc?
While, certainly, some things can't be split, I think there are opportunities where you could actually do different updates in different pulses even if it implies slightly changed game mechanics (different != bad).