Regarding server queues

[Kandorr]

I'm not even bothering with logging into my main toon atm. I joined the queue just to see that I was position #1187 and logged out again. Yesterday I waited 2hrs 30 mins to play and I won't do it again.

 

My concern is if they are like this now, what's going to happen on the 20th? Yesterday I all but defended BW saying that queues are inevitable on any new MMO. But these queues are unbelievable. Nearly 6 hours on some servers is absurd!

 

To alleviate some of the problems BW, why don't you just start a few new servers, slap "Oceanic" on it and allow free Xfers there. This will help the problems on Swiftsure, Harbinger, and a few other west coast servers. Oceanic people are used to not having servers hosted in our areas - it makes no difference to what we have now, but with lesser queues.

 

I want to know why though that there are 50 East Coast servers and only 27 West Coast servers? Considering the vast majority of Oceanic players will flock to WC servers, it seems a little odd that they would be so unbalanced.

 

Great game, just fix the server issues please

[solidus_snake]

The idea of the "grace period" isn't MEANT to help the queue times, it's a completely seperate issue.

 

If I've waited for 2 1/12 hours to get into the game and the game client crashes, I didn't do it to get YOU into the game. I already "paid my admission" by both buying the game and actually going through the queue. A "client crash" doesn't mean I'm done playing.

 

We deserve to get back into the game as long as we log back in ASAP.

 

 

Agreed 100%.

[Enzal]

I understand the need for ques. I understand for wanting to keep servers populated and I understand for not wanting to just throw a bunch of servers at the issue.

 

I just want to know if I'm wasting my time on the server I'm on now. On Dec 20th are the caps going to be increased to allow more people online at one time? Or are the mechanics going to work the same. Because even with the draw down of players after the 30-60 day window, I don't see enough people leaving to free up my server during peak to offset the hour plus ques. So should I look to play on another server? Also whats to say i wont be in the same boat 2-3 days from now on that server.

 

I just wish someone at Bioware could give us a WAG on how the que system worked, and how it will work come launch and beyond.

[Hellzbrute]

I have played World of Warcraft for 6 years now and was very anxious to play SWTOR. I played in the beta and had tons of fun. I was waiting anxiously for the day that I could play the game for real. This queue stuff, is ridiculous! Let me give you a hint on how to fix this problem. When world of warcraft became very popular, they had very long server queue's just like this. What they did was not only create more servers but they updated each servers cap tremendously. Blizzard has done everything they can to make the game fun for everyone, but they are losing people to this game. If your servers are not powerful enough to increase the limit, then it's obvious that you need to buy more powerful servers like Blizzard did. They spend fortunes to upgrade their servers and now the whole queue thing is absolutely unheard of, there hasn't been a queue on that game for years.

 

You know what I do when I log onto the game and find I'm 800+ in queue? I go and play WoW. Pay closer attention to them and maybe you'll learn something about how to make a game last a long time. This game is awesome and I would love to play it, but the queue's are harsh.

[Xoralis]

Queues are for companies who failed to plan accordingly, or developers who designed their game inadequately.

 

Agree x ∞

[Brussells]

I think this should be red alert for BioWare \ EA ... a 30min - 1 hour+ wait time is unacceptable....

 

Please resolve this ...

[Dren_Lithear]

Queues aren't the problem. The problem is the lack of grace period when getting disconnected. After waiting a few hours to connect, disconnecting after a few minutes and having to wait hours AGAIN is not a nice thing.

 

This just Happened to me. 90 minute wait. Played and hour and crashed to desktop. Now I have to wait another hour. I didn't hand you $200 to not play the game.

[Hardball_kil_you]

I hope that when we start paying monthly it is all fixed .

I do not see a need to pay money to wait to play a game IMO

 

I agree. If the wait times remain the way they are or they don't give you an option to move your character to a new server for free then I for one will not be paying for a monthly subscription. I have better things to do with my time and money than wait on a server.

[skarlson]

"While we can’t promise that there won’t ever be queues, we can promise you that we are taking this matter seriously and constantly reviewing them to make sure that they are manageable and reasonable."

 

I currently see servers with a 2 hour wait time. What conclusions are you coming to exactly if you are constantly reviewing things and yet people are having to wait this long? You vastly understated the issue with politispeak by saying you can't promise there won't ever be queues. It is debatable if there ever should be queues but it is not debatable that it should be the exception not the norm.

 

A comment like we can't promise there won't ever be queues says you understand this fact perfectly well. So what is being done about the fact that waiting in a queue is the norm not the exception?

[jleslie]

The following is a brief statement from Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer, Live Services:

 

"We know there have been questions about the queues on the servers, so we wanted to take a moment to give you some insight.

 

In order to ensure that the service would be smooth and stable, we staged how we brought people into the Early Game Access program, adding people in waves. As you know, there are a lot of folks who want to play the game right now and we want to make sure they have lots of people to play with. Balancing this with figuring out when to bring new servers online to help alleviate the size of the queues is part art and part science. On one hand, you do not want people to wait too long – on the other hand, you want to make sure that people have a dynamic, engaging community to play with for long after launch. Either way, we have one clear objective – to make sure folks have fun.

 

While we can’t promise that there won’t ever be queues, we can promise you that we are taking this matter seriously and constantly reviewing them to make sure that they are manageable and reasonable."

 

 

hahahhaha he answered NOTHING

[ApesAmongUs]

Queues are for companies who failed to plan accordingly, or developers who designed their game inadequately.

 

Edit: Incidentally, I can't afford to sit in a queue. I simply don't have that much time in my schedule on a daily basis between two kids, a wife and a full time job. I just can't sit there waiting around for the game to start.

 

I know I'm not alone.

Then spend December with your family and play this game in March.

[SaltAU]

since I've got so much time on my hands sitting in queue, let's do some quick server queue theorycrafting.

 

There are currently 55 US Servers marked as FULL on http://www.swtor.com/server-status

 

Many players are reporting queues of 900-1000+ players, the estimated 5min queues appear to hold roughly 250-300 people. I'm going to give Bioware the benefit of the doubt and assume the average queue size works out to somewhere around 500 people, somewhere near the middle, leaning towards the low end.

 

That's 27, 500 people waiting in queues.

 

Even if you love Bioware so much you really want to believe the average queue size is only 300 people (it isn't, but let's go with it) - that would still leave 16, 500 people sitting in queues.

 

Here's a tip for the artists and scientists at Bioware: It was time to open more servers a long, long time ago.

 

I appreciate the goal of long term stable server populations. This is not achieving that. This is pissing off your customers before the game has even properly launched. This is turning people away from the game.

 

1. Open more servers

2. Offer character transfers. Players who started on the morning of the 13th do not want to reroll their characters on a new server now. Players who are in their guilds do not want to move servers and be seperated from their guildmates. Offer transfers to new servers.

 

Even better: Open (several) new servers and make 2 or 3 ONLY eligible for transfers.

 

But enough with the queues Bioware. Like everyone else has said, queues > 15mins are not acceptable. This is not being managed appropriately, and the response so far is insufficient. You have a massive game on your hands with an even bigger player base. Don't f*** it up.

 

Very much this. Currently I am sitting in the Swiftsure queue at 1,119 I have been waiting for just over 2 hours, i started at 1920. I would reroll on a new West Coast pvp realm in a heartbeat just to play the game. I'm not impressed at all by the launch of this game, infact I'd say so far its the worst I have seen.

Edited December 18, 2011 by SaltAU

[jleslie]

I agree. If the wait times remain the way they are or they don't give you an option to move your character to a new server for free then I for one will not be paying for a monthly subscription. I have better things to do with my time and money than wait on a server.

 

there gonna lose ALOT of customers if game demands subsciption and these servers are still screwed, be just like STO, complete utter failure, hope they fix it quicksmart

[jleslie]

there gonna lose ALOT of customers if game demands subsciption and these servers are still screwed, be just like STO, complete utter failure, hope they fix it quicksmart

 

yup EA have got their name in this, tainted from start

[Drakearth]

i was 600+th on my servers but suddenly at 300 i got in .... and my friend who was 400 wait until 0 before got in . i dont understand why but it's was cool

[SaltAU]

I can certainly accept a queue time. But that queue time should NEVER be more than 30minutes period.

[jleslie]

Then spend December with your family and play this game in March.

 

lol you do understand "play thius game in MArach" basically means Play Guild Wars 2 right?

[Magaric]

Server transfer to a new server the ones with ques

[DrRetarded]

Is there any sort of rhyme or reason in regards to being placed in a queue upon a game crash? The game has crashed for me a handful of times (maybe 5) since the head start on Tuesday, and it seems like it's a 50/50 chance whether I go straight to character select, or I'm stuck in a 500 person queue. Seems the same for most of the folks in my guild, as well. Can anyone shed a bit of light on the subject? I'd be most appreciative, because it's become very frustrating when it happens.

[Xoralis]

Hey Everyone GUESS WHAT?!?!?!

 

I'm still in the Queue.....

 

4 + hours FTW!

 

They don't seem to realise that when people FINALLY GET IN...they won't leave EVER.

 

I will pay some bum off the street to sit at my PC while i go out to just hit the SPACE key and keep me logged in.

 

Where's Homer's drinking bird when you need it?

[Grassroots]

just waited 3 hours in the q just to have connection error and be put back in the back of q f this game its broke

[Grassroots]

I can certainly accept a queue time. But that queue time should NEVER be more than 30minutes period.

 

i totally agree with you 3 hours is game breaking they should have hotfixed this already

[mehplz]

I think it's a shame that a game this anticipated could not have been managed better during pre-launch... I am a casual gamer, and in my opinion, waiting an hour and a half to play with my friends is not acceptable. Thank god I don't have to beg them to roll on another server with me just to play. I don't know maybe I am ignorant when it comes to server load balancing, but sheeeit son.

 

P.S. - If load balancing is "part art part science", then you got some scientists/artists who don't know anything but the episodes of Mr. Wizard they watched as a kid, while drawing ***** on an etch-a-sketch. Holy crap, I didn't know artists worked on servers in the first place!

 

I know I shouldn't sling insults if I don't have a solution, but I'll be a paying customer soon... and when i pay for entertainment like this I expect good service. Perhaps Bioware wants to wave the monthly until they get the problem fixed. I think that's a fair solution. And maybe... just maybe they'll get it fixed in less than three months?

 

/dismount soapbox

[ComSubDad]

There are some things you can do to help the que.

 

Don't tab out auto running into a wall. You know how many people I have seen doing this?

 

Things like that aren't helping this que.

 

I helped my wife get some food out of the car, so I logged out. When I came back to log into the game, I was 785 in que. WHAT!!!! 785! you got it!

 

 

I WILL autorun into a corner until BW has this fixed. I don't care if I have to scratch my head, walk the dog, eat a meal, take a bio break, WHATEVER!!! I am going to auto run! If you have a problem with that, then log off, then you don't have to see me auto running.

 

I had something to do and I made a mistake, I logged off and got back in the BW trap called "the que". SMART players recognize "the que" and have learned how to avoid it by... you got it! auto run!

 

BW moles are sure to find this post and delete before to many other intelligent players find it so pass the word to all the other smart players! If you are done for the day, then please, log off. However, recognize the BW trap for what it truly is... the que.

 

Remember, doing the same thing over and over and expecting it change is the definition of insanity! Change the world.

[daveslzmn]

I wish I could sit in queue for a few hours so I could play. Every time I log in I either get a server selection screen with no servers listed (when the website states all servers are up), or I select a server and get error code 1003. Oh and was on hold with customer service for an hour before I gave up waiting for someone to talk to me. Makes me long for the days of running wow on an outdated pc at 4 fps LOL