Server Congestion and Trial Period Extensions (09/03/2013)

[Taeh Niumoenwyn]

From http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/66dc7211d03e3676e0ecbdc5a0afea11e7c857de my bolding.

 

We would like to thank all our customers for their continued support of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

 

Since the beginning of official service on August 27, 2013, the number of users attempting to access the game has significantly exceeded our initial estimates. While we are pleased to see support for the game reach far beyond our expectations, the servers were not prepared to handle this influx of players. As a result, our servers have been pushed beyond maximum capacity. In order to allow access to as many users as possible, we have implemented login and character creation restrictions. We understand, however, that these restrictions have greatly inconvenienced our players.

 

To resolve this issue, we will be performing maintenance from September 3, 2013, at 5:00 p.m. to September 4, 2013, at 3:00 a.m (PDT), for the purpose of increasing the number of available Worlds, reducing stress on the Duty Finder servers, and increasing the number of concurrent logins allowed for each server.

 

Because login and character creation restrictions have hindered our ability to provide quality service, all FINAL FANTASY XIV service accounts will receive an additional seven days of free play time. Furthermore, users who have yet to enter their registration codes will receive an additional seven-day trial should they register before 11:59 p.m. (PDT) on September 9, 2013. Moving forward, we will continue monitoring the servers to ensure that quality service and support are provided in a timely manner.

 

The additional seven days will be reflected on service accounts after maintenance has concluded on September 4, 2013, which can be confirmed by accessing the FINAL FANTASY XIV: Mog Station.(http://sqex.to/Msp)

 

We thank you again for your patience and understanding as we continue to address these issues, and look forward to your continued support of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

 

So fingers crossed for those who haven't yet managed to get onto Balmung or Gilgamesh.

[Clover]

Aaah. Such bad timing. This means I won't be able to play on Wednesday either ;_;

Ah well, it's all for the greater good.

[erosskye]

Great find!

[Asyria]

What kind of maintenance hours is that? o_O

Oh well.. at least hey ARE increasing server capacity and not just the amount of servers. That will certainly help us.

[Lost River]

What kind of maintenance hours is that? o_O

Oh well.. at least hey ARE increasing server capacity and not just the amount of servers. That will certainly help us.

 

 

It's because they're doing it remotely from Japan. That time is 10:00 AM JP - 8:00 PM JP.

[Asyria]

What kind of maintenance hours is that? o_O

Oh well.. at least hey ARE increasing server capacity and not just the amount of servers. That will certainly help us.

 

 

It's because they're doing it remotely from Japan. That time is 10:00 AM JP - 8:00 PM JP.

 

True, but my question still stands.

10 AM is a late hour to start and 8PM is late to finish. Most companies start as early as possible so they can expect to be done when people come back from work/school or at least after dinner.

[Lost River]

What kind of maintenance hours is that? o_O

Oh well.. at least hey ARE increasing server capacity and not just the amount of servers. That will certainly help us.

 

 

It's because they're doing it remotely from Japan. That time is 10:00 AM JP - 8:00 PM JP.

 

True, but my question still stands.

10 AM is a late hour to start and 8PM is late to finish. Most companies start as early as possible so they can expect to be done when people come back from work/school or at least after dinner.

 

This... is Square Enix we're talking about though. :3

[lady2beetle]

What kind of maintenance hours is that? o_O

Oh well.. at least hey ARE increasing server capacity and not just the amount of servers. That will certainly help us.

 

 

It's because they're doing it remotely from Japan. That time is 10:00 AM JP - 8:00 PM JP.

 

True, but my question still stands.

10 AM is a late hour to start and 8PM is late to finish. Most companies start as early as possible so they can expect to be done when people come back from work/school or at least after dinner.

 

This... is Square Enix we're talking about though. :3

 

Why would they be doing it remotely from Japan? Isn't the data center in the US or UK? I mean... are we really dialing into a server in Japan? Talk about the lag that would create!

[Lost River]

Mmn, it's more complicated than that, they're doing the upgrade digitally remotely, the physical changing of a server is being done in the US. It's a combination of both. Hence the long hours.

 

For example, Funcom has multi-national servers that their server nodes are all over the world including the US. Bouncing the server capacity across the seas to allow someone to exist on the same server as the other without sacrificing isn't something different. They're just linking across the world.

[lady2beetle]

Mmn, it's more complicated than that, they're doing the upgrade digitally remotely, the physical changing of a server is being done in the US. It's a combination of both. Hence the long hours.

 

For example, Funcom has multi-national servers that their server nodes are all over the world including the US. Bouncing the server capacity across the seas to allow someone to exist on the same server as the other without sacrificing isn't something different. They're just linking across the world.

 

That makes sense. I've always wondered if the US data center is on the west coast because they really like to post updates in PDT time.

 

However, it seems to me that this answers the question about 'why then'. You would theoretically want to do it at night, for the US and UK. To me, starting at 5 PDT is early, not late, because it starts right at prime time. However, if they are also having to handle the update from Japan, you wouldn't want it any later. So, this is probably their best attempt at a compromise for both groups of employees.

[Lost River]

Mmn, it's more complicated than that, they're doing the upgrade digitally remotely, the physical changing of a server is being done in the US. It's a combination of both. Hence the long hours.

 

For example, Funcom has multi-national servers that their server nodes are all over the world including the US. Bouncing the server capacity across the seas to allow someone to exist on the same server as the other without sacrificing isn't something different. They're just linking across the world.

 

That makes sense. I've always wondered if the US data center is on the west coast because they really like to post updates in PDT time.

 

However, it seems to me that this answers the question about 'why then'. You would theoretically want to do it at night, for the US and UK. To me, starting at 5 PDT is early, not late, because it starts right at prime time. However, if they are also having to handle the update from Japan, you wouldn't want it any later. So, this is probably their best attempt at a compromise for both groups of employees.

 

Yeah, it's because the primary data center for the entire game is located in Japan and that the servers are in fact linked across. If it wasn't, you wouldn't be able to access the servers from EU and JP at launch, only US or whatever your region was. 

 

Seeing as their master hub is in Japan but linked internationally it also relieves the stress of having to manually update (minus this time of course) servers when everything can be done remotely from the master hub. It's more cost effective that way.

 

For example, TERA Online has servers per region instead of a server hub, it's why the game in NA can only be played in NA & CAD, EU can only play with EU, Korea and Japan can play with one another due to closeness and have dual-servers.

 

FFXI was done the same way as FFXIV was done. And as you said, a compromise was done easier, hence why the weird timing to do maintenance. Also, for example, Balmung has PDT time if you look at time while in the game if it isn't set to ET or LT.

[Asyria]

The US and EU data center is in Montreal, so East coast.

I have no idea why they use PDT. o_O

When ti first launched though, we did have to connect to the unique Japanese data center.

They only added the Canadian one later.

[Levi Druthers]

What kind of maintenance hours is that? o_O

Oh well.. at least hey ARE increasing server capacity and not just the amount of servers. That will certainly help us.

 

This has always been a major pain when dealing with MMOs

 

I can say in EQ2 for example, when we would have maintenance in the US at times when we were sleeping (like 5am) Europe and Asia would be up and wanting to play.

 

They try to do it during times when the least amount of the playerbase is on, but that never wins with anyone either!

 

I am happy they are doing this, and truly hope they consider server transfers, even for a week, so people can move around onto the new worlds.

[Lost River]

They should do it during the midnight hour where every person is a coffin. I wonder who will get the reference.

[LeCard]

They should do it during the midnight hour where every person is a coffin. I wonder who will get the reference.

I got it I got

[Chisae]

Server maintenance right now is scheduled around Japan time, which unfortunately is our prime time... just gotta deal with it. NA games often schedule maintenance for the early morning which is later in the day for Europe... so

 

You cant please anyone with server maintenance. Some one's going to get shafted on their play time.

 

Also, I remember way back when I first bought EQ2, got all registered and everything, and then they had some weird bout of maintenance where they had to have the servers down every day for several hours. Which just happened to be right at the only time when I could play.

[Lost River]

For me, I'd rather sacrifice a day of playing (or attempting to play) for a day of maintenance if the end result is an improvement for everyone!

[Chisae]

For me, I'd rather sacrifice a day of playing (or attempting to play) for a day of maintenance if the end result is an improvement for everyone!

 

I will gladly sacrifice two days if it means severs are unlocked for chargen as well. I've been waiting since the last day of beta to make a character on Gilgamesh.

[SorrowTheEternal]

Servers are up, Made it on Balmung. g33g33.