Balmung/Gilgamesh Overpopulated

[Korin]

I logged from Balmung just under an hour ago. I had no issues logging on after maintenance (I just relogged a few times and the server list popped up) and when I logged off so my folks could watch a film, I noticed that the server list had died again.

 I also couldn't create a character on Gilgamesh (still) and I've been trying since launch on that part, so I don't know what's doing on there...

 

I don't know if they're going to open Gilgamesh any time soon, I'm usually lurking after 10am GMT here which I assume is some horrendous morning hour for you guys - No queues on Balmung but Gilgamesh is still a no-go.

 

Still locked out here too, though. Not that i'm bothering to try to log on right now but I'm keeping an eye out.

[Vee]

I would say keep the faith you'll get on one of them eventually. Over Open Beta and now Early Access I hear there are a lot of maintenance issues, different errors people are getting while trying to log in. Some people I know have been able to play for hours, others were able to play for a bit - got kicked and couldn't log back in and others just haven't been able to connect or make characters. 

 

So keep the hope alive it'll happen, this is just something SE needs to work out and fix. I have faith you'll be able to create your character sooner rather than later (hopefully).

[denizenx]

I was leaning towards Gilgamesh originally because it was a brand new server but glad to get on Balmung as both have good RP communities from what I have lurked and read on the forums here. I am just upset that after my tireless efforts of trying to get in Balmung now I can't play the game because there are no queue times. Just an error that boots me back to the main screen each and every time.

 

Yesterday there were queue times so I am not sure why there wouldn't be now. I wonder if this is SE's way of telling us not to play our characters on that server. Very disheartening that we have to waste time to try and log in at the "right" time rather than enjoying the game without a worry or care in the world. I instinctively flinch when I see an instance taking a little bit of time to load.

[Korin]

Are you on the PC too? I'm still only spotting people on the PC client that are getting these loading screen boots and errors and all sorts...

 

Apparently there are a ton of server issues right now. Fortunately I haven't had those too much since I'm online while most of the NA players are asleep - I hope for your sakes that they're fixed soon, though. It sucks to get home from work and whatnot to load up a new game, especially with MMOs, just to get a LOL ERROR message shunted in your face...

[Jana]

Error 3102 is back, which is the one that says the character is still logged in, so the servers are going to be full of people who can't log out to make room until yet another maintenance clears them out.

[denizenx]

They should have done more to prepare for this I think. Investing extra money and being over prepared for the second launch of a game that had one of the most terrible launches in gaming history is better than being ill prepared and getting caught with your pants down.

 

You want to give the players giving you a second chance a good impression rather than a poor one if you want to keep them paying the monthly subscription.

 

:tonberry:

[Delixcroix]

:tonberry: Is there any plans to change where all us roleplayers are going to go? The fact that Reddit claimed Gilgamesh means a lot of people will never get on nevermind roleplay there. We need another unofficial RP server.

[ShoggMommy]

This was posted in another thread, since it was mentioned here about another rp server.

 

To clarify, the RPC will not now or ever support a third Rp server (unless SE themselves designate it). I understand this may not be what some want to hear. But the RPC has to consider long term consequences over the short term ones. This decision is final, whether you agree or disagree. Sorry. I understand this is frustrating, but know that the problem exists with ALL NA/EU servers. I can't even login to the game myself right now and have created a temp character on a JP server just to run around, so I understand people are frustrated. But again...long-term consequences > short-term consequences.

 

That being said, there's nothing stopping those locked out from uniting amongst themselves for either a temporary or permanent solution. But that ball is in their court, not mine or the mods or anyone else's. Just be forewarned that the RPC will not itself strongly advocate other servers going forward beyond Balmung and Gilgamesh.

[Delixcroix]

All I can say to that is the RPC has dug it's grave before Early access was even completed. If they are waiting for Enix to upgrade their servers this website might as well have password access at this point because there is never gonna be new blood with the servers doors locked shut.

 

Things are not going to get better when the games full release comes either.

[Alothia]

All I can say to that is the RPC has dug it's grave before Early access was even completed. If they are waiting for Enix to upgrade their servers this website might as well have password access at this point because there is never gonna be new blood with the servers doors locked shut.

 

Things are not going to get better when the games full release comes either.

 

Have you ever participated in a launch of an MMO? This happens all the time. It happened in SWTOR. It happened in GW2. It happens. We knew this was going to happen, and many people who are trying to get in understand that this happens.

 

The RPC is a hub for RP in this game. If we want the community to stay strong, we can't spread ourselves too thin. What happens when a third server fills up? Move to a fourth? A fifth? And then when access does open up again, then what?

 

We can only ask that people stay patient. They will open the servers back up.

[Lan Darklyn]

I'm new to FF 14 and obviously new to this site. I am not new to MMOs or RP though. (I'll do an intro thread later today hopfully)

Anyway I must agree with everyone that wishes us to use paitence. The RP community is small enough as is and if we spread out over too many servers we will our sense of community dissolve and the RP sessions will be few and far between.

SE will fix the problems, it has been a rough start for the game, but they have a lot rideing on this, they don't want to see it fail. Stay strong everyone, and stick together.

[ShoggMommy]

Alothia is right, this happens with all MMOs, some longer than others. In Rift I waited for maybe an hour, SWTOR maybe 30 mins, while Aion I waited 10-12hrs to play the game. This is something that is to be expected unfortunately. We just have to be patient. I was out all yesterday, but I took the time to work on other things during that time period.

[Amyr Mythweaver]

I agree with what Alothia because I have participated in more MMO launches than I care to admit to and since the genre has gone mainstream the early weeks of release are always the same of a new highly anticipated release.

 

There is at first a huge surge in numbers everyone wants to be online 24/7 levelling experiencing the new game and not wanting to miss a thing, this causes server problems in various forms from log in queue's to server crashes and everything in between.  However in a very short period of time this huge demand quiet's down the server load return to an expected level and everything works out.

 

Now of course its highly frustrating to not be able to be playing on server X, Y or Z and we as consumers should want better than face these problems but fracturing and dispersing our role player's further will only give us a very small minority on that server that never really works out for rping in the longer term.  Players will then move their characters as soon as they are able to the more established RP realms where the "grass is greener" and the small RP community shrinks until its no longer viable.

 

Now assuming that to be the case here as well (server transfers rumoured to be coming in a few weeks) I can understand why the RPC is not willing to support another RP server choice at this time, it sucks for those not able to play on Balmung or Gilgamesh right at this moment and I can understand your frustration but I feel those stuck in that position need to consider the RPC's position in the matter and they are doing what they feel is right for the RP community as a whole.

 

On a side note I am not trying to play during the early access period so I am kind of neutral right now and staying positive that SE will resolve these problems quickly so its not an ongoing thorn in our sides.

[Asyria]

It really is regular MMORPG fare.

And this is just early access.

 

At this point,  the company behind the MMO would normally create additional servers to accommodate the unexpectedly high population,

If they don't, launch will be even worse.

 

Also, at this point the RP community normally clench their teeth and wait, trying to get in their chosen server and hoping non-RPers are the one to move.

 

Now allow me a bit of egotism here... I don't care if people leave for other servers. In fact I welcome it, Even though it splits the community, it will reduce the stress on my chosen servers a bit and every bit helps.

 

However, allow me now to be back to my normal self in saying to those who leave, be prepared to either have trouble RPing (due to significantly smaller RPer pop), or to transfer as soon as possible, or both.

 

People are impatient to play right now, (I know I am!) but as Kylin said, we better think of long-term. It's why we formed this community, after all.

[ShoggMommy]

I think the concern is, of making more servers is that later X server(s) will be ghost towns and most likely merged. SWTOR had a horrible issue with this (too many servers) because people demanded them to. In the end it forced server merges and people who signed up on the first day of launch lost their names when the servers were merged. When they did a second merge they did it appropriately for those who had the name first got to keep the name rather than whoever moved from a server had to change the name. I think this may be why SE is hesitant of making new servers. However I -would- like to see them implement a 15-30 min afk kick. Anyway about it SE is damned if they do, damned if they don't. :

[Korin]

An AFK kick timer would be nice. There are people who have been idling in the same spot since I logged on this morning, and they're still there now.

[ArryDresdyn]

An AFK kick timer would be nice. There are people who have been idling in the same spot since I logged on this morning, and they're still there now.

+1

[synaesthetic]

Ya'll think this is bad? This is nothing compared to the WoW launch, where the servers went down for three days to fix a mail bug. The first four months of play were a nightmare of bugs, unexpected server downtime, heavy queues and the complete inability to either stay logged in or have a lag-free play experience.

 

This? This is minor. This is barely even a blip in comparison.

 

Granted, RIFT, TERA and several other games had relatively pain-free launches, but do you know why? Because they didn't have over a million players jamming up the servers on the first day. MMOs are one of the most incredibly complex and absurdly fragile conglomerations of IT infrastructure, so ya'll really should have expected this. Honestly, I expected much worse.

 

In 2013, nobody releases software in a "complete" state anymore. They think just because we've all got high-speed internet connections that it's totally okay to release an Obvious Beta on release... then patch it later.

[AkhutaiAngura]

Ya'll think this is bad? This is nothing compared to the WoW launch, where the servers went down for three days to fix a mail bug. The first four months of play were a nightmare of bugs, unexpected server downtime, heavy queues and the complete inability to either stay logged in or have a lag-free play experience.

 

This? This is minor. This is barely even a blip in comparison.

 

Granted, RIFT, TERA and several other games had relatively pain-free launches, but do you know why? Because they didn't have over a million players jamming up the servers on the first day. MMOs are one of the most incredibly complex and absurdly fragile conglomerations of IT infrastructure, so ya'll really should have expected this. Honestly, I expected much worse.

 

In 2013, nobody releases software in a "complete" state anymore. They think just because we've all got high-speed internet connections that it's totally okay to release an Obvious Beta on release... then patch it later.

 

This might be the first time I actually agree with Synaesthetic. But, she's right - Though, I'd attest to WoW being nearly unplayable for the first 6 months or so due to various bugs, downtime, etc.

 

I mean, seriously. Blizzard had their servers down so friggin' much, that they saw fit to give players a free month of gameplay to make up for it.

 

This isn't the best launch I've seen, but it's a far cry from 'bad'. It's normal. Buckle down, knuckle under, whatever phrase you want to use that equates to something along the lines of "I'll get what I want". I logged into Balmung this morning, with a 20 person queue. I got into a DF group as a DPS within 20 minutes. That's -amazing-. A comparable example to the DF, would be queueing as a DPS in WoW's LFG system. I've sat there for an hour as an Enhance shaman.

 

If you all think it's so bad now, then consider this.. It can only get better.

[Asyria]

Wow launch was a decade ago, and they had no previous mmorpg experience, it's simply not fair to compare WoW's launch to any mmo's launch nowadays.

 

True, if they create more servers and they end up empty later they'll be forced to merge some of them but it's still what they should do. They have the demand, they need to work on supplying or else they'll lose customers. They may lose customers later... but it's bets if they only lose them later because until then those customers will have sent some money their way, which they can use to improve the game. And with names+surnames, I'm not too worried about a name already being taken... unless it's really not original (like any name taken from a popular fantasy/sci-fi source).

 

AFK kick timer would be cool... IF they do it right. SWTOR was awful because it didn't count typing as activity, meaning if you RPed and didn't move around at all, you'd end up going "inactive".

[Delixcroix]

It's silly trying to compare wow launch to other things. Technology exists and 4 Betas were done. People playing right now are JUST PREORDERS. Square knew we were coming. When the real crowd of unexpected pick up players comes is when the real nonsense begins. That first month is going to be hell.

[Ildur]

While I'm not very fond of the 'could be worse' argument, I do have to agree that MMO infrastructure is one of those humongous monsters hidden behind courtains, leaving players unaware of how complex the issue is. And sometimes, matters don't get fixed just by throwing at them more technology. There's also logistics.

 

What I think happened here is that Squee either couldn't be arsed to upgrade the servers to meet demand, or that EU/NA didn't get enough money to do so at this point in time and tried to 'wing it' with what they had.

[denizenx]

Wow! I thought this thread was going to be dead after my Tonberry post!

 

:tonberry:

 

I have beta tested a few MMOs myself and know the problems always exist at the beginning. This doesn't mean the frustration and anger is any easier considering you are trying to play and level with friends. We managed to get on Balmung after hours of my buddy not being able to get on. It is a real chore considering we have limited time to play together.

 

The last 3-4 updates from SE is "severe limitations to logins" with not much else. I have seen a few people voice their concerns about the 'maintenance' being done as merely wiping the servers to boot out all the people AFK for hours. A rumor without facts but sounds like it can be true even in the slightest.

 

I logged in to a guy bragging about going AFK since 9:30 in the morning and just came back in the evening from work. It really baffles me as to why SE has not implemented something as simple as a AFK logout timer. You don't want to ruffle feathers? Make it a 20 minute timer. If you are stuck in the bathroom for more than 20 minutes then you might have a problem. Sometimes real life happens and you can try to get back in whenever you take care of whatever business you have.

 

..but to force everyone to try to keep logging in because you are afraid you will be locked out after you get home from work? That just isn't right.

[Tsori]

You have to understand here, I for example, spent three hours battling the 1070 full error to get online, after sitting in a queue of 637 people for another hour. Once in, I'm not leaving. My game has been logged since the second day of early access and I'm not going to log out just so someone else can get on and do the same.

 

 

Yes it sucks...that's a given, but its the same as anyone else will and does do. 

 

Time however has come at least for people to understand that the capacity of SE servers isn't the issue, but rather the login and instancing servers in the data centres, it's these that are being upgraded. Currently the worlds are not full of players, that isn't the issue, the issue is that the servers responsible for placing and moving those players in and out of instances are responsible for the entire data center instead of them being grouped per say three to four realms.

 

Hence once these are added to, accessing the server will be fine as there seriously isn't that many people on at one time.

[denizenx]

I don't mean to discredit anything you just said but you don't work for SE and I highly doubt you have worked on any MMOs.

 

All we can do as fans and players of such games is speculate but I am sure there is more to it than just that. They are beefing up the NA/EU data servers the last update I read. They are going to make them bigger and allow character creation back on servers again in due time.