Queues are back!

[Paelos]

Does it really make any difference which time zone you're in if you live in the US? I'm asking this seriously since I've never actually considered it a problem in the past. My guild is a pacific guild and I'm an East Coast guy, so I'm wondering if there are lag issues or latency problems I need to be concerned about in theory.

[HaemishM]

Their theory (completey outdated and idiotic, but it's not like they heard) was that locating servers in the same time zone would alleviate lag/latency for those in that time zone. Yeah, that's a great idea if this is 1997 and we're all on 14.4 modems. With the preponderence of broadband providers and established multi-timezone guilds.... ehhhhh, not so much.

[geldonyetich]

Personally, I like cues.   Better that some people have to stand in line, waiting for folks to log out, than everybody have a lousy game experience because the server's being tasked to do more than it's capable of.    If I were running things, ques would go on everything massively multiplayer: From the patcher to the authentication server to the game world itself.

Lucky I'm not the one running things then, eh?

[MrHat]

Personally, I like cues.   Better that some people have to stand in line, waiting for folks to log out, than everybody have a lousy game experience because the server's being tasked to do more than it's capable of.    If I were running things, ques would go on everything massively multiplayer: From the patcher to the authentication server to the game world itself.

Lucky I'm not the one running things then, eh?

Servers are fucked even w/ queues.  They got trashed about a half hour ago as well.

This is on a "medium" population server.  In advanced areas.[/b]

[Pineapple]

Servers are fucked even w/ queues.  They got trashed about a half hour ago as well.

This is on a "medium" population server.  In advanced areas.

Yeah there is something else going on apparently. A crash or mem leak or something they did not find yet. I've noticed a bit of lag occasionally when looting corpses.

It happens. Even the best tested games are going to ship with bugs. I remember similar bugs in beta, and they fixed them.

[Pineapple]

Their theory (completey outdated and idiotic, but it's not like they heard) was that locating servers in the same time zone would alleviate lag/latency for those in that time zone. Yeah, that's a great idea if this is 1997 and we're all on 14.4 modems. With the preponderence of broadband providers and established multi-timezone guilds.... ehhhhh, not so much.

I agree. Arent all of EQ's US servers located in the same place?

It would make fixing problems a more timely thing.

[ajax34i]

Yeah but it's probably easier/cheaper to get adequate bandwidth to several small datacenters than to one big-ass one.

Plus, just cause a server is labelled 'Central' or 'Mountain' does't mean it has to physically be in the time zone it's been released for.  I don't think anyone took the time to tracert to check.

[Krakrok]

Yeah but it's probably easier/cheaper to get adequate bandwidth to several small datacenters than to one big-ass one.

No. The more you buy from one place the less it costs. Large providers have multiple locations as well so you could be at one provider, have servers in 3 time zones, and get one bill. Going rate is $35k/mo for a gigabit sustained.

[sinij]

So far this is one of the worst mmorpg launches - just first day my server crashed 3 times, laged worse than OB did and I had to wait 1000+ queue to get in.

[Trippy]

Their theory (completey outdated and idiotic, but it's not like they heard) was that locating servers in the same time zone would alleviate lag/latency for those in that time zone. Yeah, that's a great idea if this is 1997 and we're all on 14.4 modems. With the preponderence of broadband providers and established multi-timezone guilds.... ehhhhh, not so much.

It's still a roughly 30 - 50 ms difference in latency between the West and East coasts which can make a difference in "twitch" games like Counter-Strike or PlanetSide but doesn't in most MMORPGs, though with PvP combat, a split second can make a difference, especially with instant cast spells like WoW has.

[Trippy]

Plus, just cause a server is labelled 'Central' or 'Mountain' does't mean it has to physically be in the time zone it's been released for.  I don't think anyone took the time to tracert to check.

Based on a sampling of servers from each zone, the Pacific and Mountain servers are at the AT&T Los Angeles facility and the Central and Eastern servers are at the AT&T Washington DC facility.

[angry.bob]

If it was just the queues, that would be bad enough. But when you do get in, or go to a different server, you get "loot lag". Yes, for some reason their stupid item database makes you lag out of the game for minutes whenever you loot an item, sometimes when you just open the corpse.

Enough with the fancy 'better' databases assfuck devs, use whatever DAoC is using. It works perfectly fine. Fuck Oracle. You are a fucking asshole if you use Oracle, even for business apps. Anyone using or even  liking Oracle is a fucking asshole. ORACLE IS FOR FUCKING TRENDY ASSHOLES. I don't think WoW uses Oracle, but whatever it is it sucks almost as much total shit as Oracle, and they're assholes for using it.

As it stands, there's no point in even trying to log in except during early morning hours. The game works perfectly fine then. Which makes me think the game is just plain fucked about the same way SWG was.

[Righ]

I guess you don't like Oracle. I don't know if they use Windows either, but Fuck Windows. Anybody who even knows what Windows is is a fucking asshole.

[MrHat]

Asshole!


Sorry, just felt right.

[geldonyetich]

Servers are fucked even w/ queues.  They got trashed about a half hour ago as well.

This is on a "medium" population server.  In advanced areas.[/b]

Could be because the ques are set too high.

Anywho, I was referring to more of a generalized rule than a specific case thing.   From what I hear, WoW's issue is an tem database issue.

[ajax34i]

Link to the WoW general forums, you've been warned.

Edit:  It's apparently being linked all over the place, I kinda feel ashamed for perpetuating the spreading of it.

[geldonyetich]

Hmm, que should be dropping faster than that with a few thousand players in the game.  Either that's an exaggeration or the que system might be bugged too.

I'm mostly recalling The Realm back when it was in enough of a peak to have a que.

[Morfiend]

So far this is one of the worst mmorpg launches - just first day my server crashed 3 times, laged worse than OB did and I had to wait 1000+ queue to get in.

I take it you didnt play AO, WW2OL, or UO with in the first few months. Not that that excuses Blizzard, just calling it the worst MMOG launch is FAR over doing it. Cause you know, you did get to actually play it.

[sinij]

We now looking at another 2+ days of downtime on most PvP servers. Wonderful.

[Viin]

We now looking at another 2+ days of downtime on most PvP servers. Wonderful.

Hmm. I'm not sure I'd call 4-5 servers "most". :)

[ajax34i]

But once it's over, the buffed-up servers will be able to handle all your guild that are belong to them so you can play like you wanted to from the beginning.

[Signe]

I was there for UO launch but it's been so long  that the bad must have faded from my memory.  Still have warm fuzzies from that game.  It's not as bad as AO, I suppose, because it doesn't eat your computer and spit the bits out in your face.  It beats out all the rest for me, though.  I've already leveled 9 characters to, at least, level 6 and 2 to level 8.  I can do level 5 or 6 in under an hour.  I have just rolled a char and leveled to 6 on Earthen Ring which is an rp server.  So far it's been kind to me although the multitude of Rasta Trolls are beginning to annoy me.  I'm sure after the turkey is done and I sit down to play, something will go horribly wrong again.  If it does, I'll be spending the next couple of weeks learning how to read again.

[sinij]

We now looking at another 2+ days of downtime on most PvP servers. Wonderful.

Hmm. I'm not sure I'd call 4-5 servers "most". :)

When you play to PvP and every single guild you know and want to play against or with are on 4-5 servers when these servers down WoW is also down for you.

[Viin]

When you play to PvP and every single guild you know and want to play against or with are on 4-5 servers when these servers down WoW is also down for you.

To that I say: Get a life.

If you can't stand not being able to power level for 2 days (Holidays, no less) then you might want to consider a new hobby. :)

Note: Yes I agree this whole server fiasco sucks, it does make it hard to play with friends right off the bat. But I'm not going to slit any throats because of it (or swing my electronic penis around to make those whump-whump-whump helicopter sounds).

That said, no problems this morning playing on Icecrown, even though populate shows "High" (whatever that means).

[Kairos]

Queue. Queue, people.

"Que" is a Spanish word.

"Cue" is what you shoot pool with.

Queue.

[Shockeye]

Queue. Queue, people.

"Que" is a Spanish word.

"Cue" is what you shoot pool with.

Queue.

Stop it. Don't need none of that fancy book learnin' 'round here.

[sinij]

To that I say: Get a life.

Psst, your zipper is down and fanboi-ism hanging out.

[Margalis]

Some people never learn. Seriously, why are you guys playing the first day? Haven't the past 7 years or so taught you that that is an excersize in frustration?

The Beta had some bad item lag. That means the final would as well. Come on, the rule is simple: Beta = final.

The database lag is truly retarded. It seems the fancier people get with databases, the worse they are. My friend who worked on FFXI said they didn't use any database at all, just files on a filesystem, and I've never seen any loot lag problems there.

Complicated databases like Oracle and IBM are designed NOT to work. That is part of the revenue model.

[Viin]

To that I say: Get a life.

Psst, your zipper is down and fanboi-ism hanging out.

Please, I've just matured beyond the point where some bumps in the road throw me into a tizzy.

I guess being in the military teaches one some form of patience when it comes to things out of your control. Or maybe it's just because it's a game and I refuse to get worked up about it.

I already said the queue and server problems suck, I just don't think throwing a hissy fit about it is going to solve anything. :)

[Signe]

If you are that mature, you have no business on this forum.

[geldonyetich]

Alas, only the ladies are able to make that kind of statement without it being self-inclusive.

[Sky]

Queue. Queue, people.

"Que" is a Spanish word.

"Cue" is what you shoot pool with.

Queue.

ur a wicked looser imo

;)

[Kageru]

The game really does play very smoothly. Flying caused my machine to chug a little at times, but going up to a Gb of ram fixed that. And once I upgraded some ancient soundcard drivers I haven't had a crash. As expected the world is interesting and shows signs of great care and craftsmanship.

However their database system is clearly in trouble.  Characters at login are naked and have been so for many days now. Item loot lag, in which it will sometimes take 5-10 minutes to get out of `looting' mode is pretty poor, although reasonably rare now. Sliding around the landscape while in this mode is entertaining for the first minute at least. And now they've instituted daily downtime (11:00pm for me) with no mention of it being temporary.

It's a real shame that they've crafted such a good game and then stumbled so badly in the delivery. Surely stress on the data storage can't come as a surprise to them. Nor did their server roll out make much sense, given they all appeared as a block anyway.

[Soukyan]

Well, daily downtime is a fact of life for one other MMOG at least. That being Eve. Granted, they are supporting upwards of 7000+ simultaneous connections on a single server cluster, but the point still remains. The daily downtime is something the community deals with. Is it a good thing in a subscription service? Perhaps not, but if it means providing a high quality of service for the rest of the time, then for now it is tolerable. Not necessarily acceptable, but tolerable for some.

[stray]

Just wanted to say that you can get past the queue if you keep spamming the server you want to log into.

The moment someone logs out, you'll have an opportunity to cut in line and log in (at least that's my theory). Last night I found that I could log into any server in under 30 seconds, even the ones with a 700-800 queue (then again, once more people start doing this, it'll probably take longer than 30 seconds to get in, since you'll be competing with them instead of the queue...but that still beats waiting an hour or two).