A Brief PSA on the issue of clogged worlds.

[Tack]

I was under the impression from browsing about that I'd be able to sneak into Balmung around 3am-5am PST, so I set an alarm for myself at 5:30am est. It is a Sunday though, and from what I'm hearing here, I suppose I should wait until Wednesday. Back to bed with me now.

 

Love,

a desperate newbie.

[Blue]

I've already said this in another thread but on the forums the devs have explained (and this was a long time ago, so I can't even find it again), that the server lock has nothing to do with the game server where the active and inactive players are, but with the lobby server. During phases of high log-in activity, to prevent the (pretty aged at this point) lobby server from crashing, servers are locked out from receiving new characters. What the players do or not do inside the game at that time has nothing to do with the server lock, so that is why the auto-boot was removed.

 

It's not me being afk that is preventing the server to be open again. My whole LS could decide to log off at that time and the server would still stay locked. We're not taking anyone's room. It's the amount of people who are logging in at that time that induces the server lock. The developer's statement was further proven the other day with the maintenance. Why wasn't Balmung locked a half hour before maintenance? Because almost nobody logs in with only 30 minutes left to play. And why was it still open after maintenance? Because not a lot of people were awake to log in at that hour.

 

This continuous hatred versus afk players has been pointed to be unjustified several times now, and SE isn't likely to answer the same question twice, so that is why they no longer address threads like this in the official forums. The auto-boot feature is no longer necessary as of now, because the game-servers (not the lobby server) have met the capacity requirement necessary to contain all the players in each world as of now.

 

So yeah, again, blame the cheap lobby server if you want, or those who are logging in at the time you're making a new character. AFK players' got nothing to do with it.

[Naunet]

I've already said this in another thread but on the forums the devs have explained (and this was a long time ago, so I can't even find it again), that the server lock has nothing to do with the game server where the active and inactive players are, but with the lobby server.

 

Pretty much this. It's just SE being cheap as hell, which given their game's success, you'd think they'd invest in some tech that would allow potential players to better access the game...

[Enteris]

Insert post about roleplayers doing their part by afking after making their characters /doze in personal rooms/houses or company houses. After all, they're just staying IC that way, right?

[Ilwe'ran]

Just something for the people leaving their char in auto craft while they will go to bed / be away for several hours. You can use this command to auto shutdown your computer :

 

Start the command prompt.

- Press Windows Key + R.

- Enter CMD and press Enter.

 

Force Shutdown with Time.

Type in Shutdown –s –f –t 00. This will Force Shutdown your PC in 00 seconds (waiting time). Setting it to 05 will shutdown your PC after 05 seconds i.e after waiting for 5 seconds.

 

Even though AFK people aren't the reason why people can't log, this may be useful anyway

[Mae]

I wish I could find it also, but I remember reading quite some time back in either a live letter, in known issues notes, or an interview that the server/world jumping from the Duty Finder was part of the "server congestion" issues that affected character creation lockouts and regular login queue times. Whether or not this has been truly fixed or SE just slapped a band-aid on it and called it fixed is up for debate. And if it hasn't been properly fixed... well, I'll leave it to others to make up their own conclusions.

 

Either way, it's not the amount of people online (people actively engaged in actual gameplay, people idling and chattering, and the people who are AFK), it's again the amount of people attempting to log in, new and existing characters, at any one time. Considering that bots tend to appear in groups of four or more and they're constantly trying to force their way in, that's probably the biggest culprit of character creation restriction.

 

... I guess in a way, the restriction is the only 'preventative measure' SE can give us and other high-population servers against being totally overrun by bots/gillsellers. Just sucks that actual players get caught in that net.

[Ilwe'ran]

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/73680-Further-Details-on-Access-Restrictions

For some explanation

http://www.junkiesnation.com/2013/09/12/further-server-and-system-improvements-part-2/

For some more.

 

I believe I can find some others.

[No Longer Exists]

Thank you, Ilwe'ran. That sums it up nicely.

[Verranicus]

If I have a bunch of stuff to craft you can be damn sure I'll set myself to doing it and then walk away. If people want on our server bad enough they can lurk til 6AM like everyone else. Blame SE for not starting with megaservers or something like any new MMO should in TYOOL 2014.

[Cavistus]

I tried at 2AM, 2:30AM, 3AM, 3:30AM, 4AM, 4:30AM, 5AM, 5:30A, 6AM

 

It is now almost 7AM EST, and not for a single second was there any window of opportunity.

 

Well, I'm done for tonight. I fucking give up. But hey, at least it shows me how many days are left on my subscription. I can literally count the days wasted trying to do something as simple as creating a character.

[Arrelaine]

I tried at 2AM, 2:30AM, 3AM, 3:30AM, 4AM, 4:30AM, 5AM, 5:30A, 6AM

 

It is now almost 7AM EST, and not for a single second was there any window of opportunity.

 

Well, I'm done for tonight. I fucking give up. But hey, at least it shows me how many days are left on my subscription. I can literally count the days wasted trying to do something as simple as creating a character.

Try tonight, after maintenance or right before. It's usually unlocked for a good bit then. If there is one, that is.

[Steel Wolf]

Try tonight, after maintenance or right before. It's usually unlocked for a good bit then.

 

This. Last maintenance period after the servers were opened, Balmung was open for a bafflingly long amount of time.

 

I really really wish you luck, Cavistus. :c

[Kellach Woods]

Is there maintenance tonight?

 

Next week for sure, since they need to patch it to 2.5, but tonight?

[Kage]

Is there maintenance tonight?

 

Next week for sure, since they need to patch it to 2.5, but tonight?

None announced but sometimes they do do it like the afternoon before >.<

[Cavistus]

Unreal.

 

Completely unreal.

 

Third day in a row. Balmung's full at 5 o'clock in the morning on a thursday.

 

why is there such a hassle to do something so simple?  i just wanted to CREATE a character. were queues really this bad that they had to shit all over the new players by disabling character creation?

 

something is terribly, terribly wrong with this server. how many people are actually playing? if this actually is because of bots, then oh my god, damn near a quarter of the entire population is bots.

 

i'm defeated. i don't even care anymore.

[Blue]

Again, it has little to nothing to do with people already logged in on the game. The server is locked because the log ins are constant. If you really cannot find a good window (I was able to make all my 8 characters during EST mornings in the weekdays, when people go to school/work, but it was a loooong time ago, so things could be worse now), you could always make the character on another server and then transfer to Balmung for a fee.

[Cavistus]

make the character on another server and then transfer to Balmung for a fee.

 

That's it, I'm out. Nope.

 

[No Longer Exists]

Again, with all due respect, statements of "It has nothing to do with who is already logged onto the game" are simply not true. Each server is in essence, a city worth of traffic and everyone already in the city contributes to its congestion. A previous reply posted the official statements and if one reads those statements about the lock outs and restrictions, it is directly because of the congestion on specific worlds, not simply the lobby itself.

 

I do not point this out to make anyone feel bad, I point it out because I do not want new players and new arrivals to the RPC to believe misinformation.

 

Concurrent Connections

 

(I apologize for the font mess, doing this on my ipad apparently made it go "BLEARGH")

On the night following the announcement of our plans to temporarily limit sales of the download version, A Realm Reborn recorded upwards of 218,000 concurrent connections. This is in spite of the fact that the peak login times for separate regions around the world arrive at differing intervals. We estimate that without time zone differences, the total number of concurrent connections would number anywhere from 300,000 to 350,000.

 

As many of you know, this is the second launch for FINAL FANTASY XIV─something unprecedented in the MMORPG market. Considering the outcome of our first launch, our sales estimates for this one were decidedly conservative, as we believed that there would be a more gradual rise in users over the opening weeks and months.

 

Instead, to our pleasant surprise, we experienced tremendous support from a great number of players who were eager to get into the game from day one. To ensure that these players, once logged in, were able to play in a stable environment, we were required to implement login restrictions which kept server population near maximum capacity without exceeding those numbers.

 

The fact that we had to implement these restrictions is a direct result of my inaccurate sales and login estimates, and as producer, I must accept complete responsibility for this misstep. Each and every player who has been affected has my deepest apologies.

 

 

What the above is saying is not "People logging in are causing the lockout", though it can be seen that way. What it is saying is that the tremendous amount of processing required to stabilize the world for both those logged in and those logging in was reaching critical mass. This is why there are multiple gateways. The login screen and the start menu lobby. Obviously, the login lockout was lifted as its never difficult to get on the game itself anymore.

 

 

The Reasoning behind Login Restrictions

 

Each FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn World server has been designed to support a maximum of 5,000 concurrent connections. This is not the maximum number of characters which can be created on a World, however, but the maximum number of characters which can be logged into that World simultaneously. When more than 5,000 characters log into a World at once, there is a higher risk of server crashes and login errors. The restoration of crashed servers is usually followed by a rush of players attempting to log back in, which, in turn, puts a strain on our lobby server, and can ultimately have an adverse affect on all of the Worlds.

 

To prevent this from happening, we felt that the safest course of action would be to limit logins. However, we would like you to know that the restrictions are under constant surveillance. We are currently monitoring login numbers on all Worlds 24 hours a day, and actively removing/applying restrictions as soon as we detect even the smallest fluctuation in concurrent connection numbers.

 

Currently, peak login times for each region are occurring from approximately 9:00 p.m. to midnight. During this three-hour window, Worlds are more likely to have login restrictions implemented. These temporary restrictions are expected to continue until the time that we can execute the measures we have planned to alleviate the current situation. Those measures, including the addition of new World servers, are listed, in detail, below.

 

 

 

Now, this right here explains a bit more about how the original login restriction was handled and why. It specifically states that this is not about character creation, but about the flow of information as thousands of people attempt to log in. This section explains why we have the log in queue, which is to ensure the stability of the already overclocked server against crashing from further overflow of log ins.

 

 

Character Creation Restrictions

 

As stated above, the maximum number of simultaneous connections each World server can handle is 5,000, while the number of characters which can be created on a World is several times that amount. This estimate of 5,000, however, is based on those characters being somewhat distributed over all the in-game areas (zones).

 

At the game’s start, however, while everyone is still at a low level, the majority of players are concentrated in the three city-states and surrounding areas. This can not only lead to a lack of enemies to slay (preventing quest progression), but also see area servers overloaded, and ultimately lead to crashes.

 

Fortunately, differences in total individual play time, login times, and character/class progression will eventually lead to players being more spread out within each World. Once this happens, there will be less need for both login and character creation restrictions.

 

As is the case with logins, our team is working around the clock, monitoring the current population of each area in each World, as well as the class level of each character, and adjusting new character creation restrictions based on their findings. Unlike login restrictions, we believe that character creation restrictions may take slightly longer to be removed, as there are still great discrepancies in the distribution of characters across Worlds, and we thank players for their patience and understanding in this issue.

 

 

 

Finally, I have underlined two important sections of the character creation restriction so that there are no further misunderstandings. First, the explanation of their projected flow of information on the server. What this means is that the devs were already paying attention to IN GAME congestion. Not log in congestion, as some seem to constantly suggest. 

 

 

The second underlined section explains that overload due to in game congestion can and will cause servers to crash. Their concern for the overload of each city state and surrounding starter area is in direct correlation to the character creation restriction during peak hours of use. The already heavy stream of information from congestion cannot hold any more information safely so no new characters can be made at these times.

 

 

Now, "at these times" has become "all the time", and it is in direct correlation to the constant congestion on both Balmung and Gilgamesh. The worlds are reaching capacity and as I originally explained in the beginning, they are reaching capacity not just because of the new user logins, but because of the practically 24 hour high volume stream of information processing through them. 

Even if your character is not doing anything, they are still streaming data and taking up space figuratively and literally.

 

 

Thank You.

 

 

(I apologize for the font info, the copy pasta done via my iPad apparently didn't agree with the site. >.<)

[Kellach Woods]

Don't matter much why it happens at this point.

 

The majority of servers are under lock at primetime. I couldn't believe it - I think maybe... 3 servers had space still.

 

We've one person that this experience (granted they wanted to get into Balmung but still) has negatively affected enough that they've just straight up quit the game before they started.

 

SE needs to fix this.

[No Longer Exists]

I agree, Kellach. I am looking into something that may not fix the game itself (for I do not work for SE) but might not deterr players at least.

[Kage]

At this point I am seriously considering that it is possible that Balmung is just reaching capacity.

 

Seeing how SE views the housing situation (they've said they're quite content with what has been given with 2.4) I don't think they are going to do anything such as increase capacities until it is widespread.

[Tack]

Don't matter much why it happens at this point.

 

The majority of servers are under lock at primetime. I couldn't believe it - I think maybe... 3 servers had space still.

 

We've one person that this experience (granted they wanted to get into Balmung but still) has negatively affected enough that they've just straight up quit the game before they started.

 

SE needs to fix this.

 

Not just one person. Not to mention, there are probably others with similar struggles that you haven't heard from. While I did get into Coeurl, this whole ordeal has discouraged me from playing. Coeurl's starting area for me was almost completely empty. No community to connect with, at all! The reason I dished out $25 was because I wanted to play on Balmung with the other roleplayers, something that I deluded myself into thinking was possible. Now I'd just rather not play at all, knowing that the devs here don't seem to be involved in bettering their broken game.

[Steel Wolf]

So....they....see that both Balmy and Greg are under 24 hour lockdown and fail to do anything about it. Not even an action plan. Stellar.

 

We're going to have all sorts of Cavistus' unless we try to do our part, since it's rather patently obvious SE doesn't have any fix.

 

Sidefrown Award to SE Ops team. Way to go, folks.

[Kellach Woods]

Again, to SE they don't give two fucks you can't get on the server you want because the solution, to them, is pick another server.

 

Until all the servers are under primetime lockdown or close to it, they won't do a thing. Which, surprisingly enough, is actually close to happening.

 

Unfortunately, I fear the fix will be establishing the EU Data Center then offering a transfer for all our Euro friends

[Berrod Armstrong]

Is anyone able to check now? This is the time I'd usually get in to create my army of alts.