Regarding server queues

[Rumik]

I spent 5ish hours queuing yesterday, trying to get into the server that Bioware picked for me and my guild. 5 hours is RIDICULOUS. Why are the queues so long? Have Bioware put a soft cap on the population number of each server in order to encourage people to create characters on different servers, thus spreading the population? That would make sense, but I'd love a clear and honest answer. Will that cap be lifted at launch? 5 hours is just too long a wait, and hogs the PC for a long, long time.

[pigalot]

I think the key point is not that you know what going on but what you are going to do about it, when you make a mistake (Slow progressive invitation of early access to stop queues then having very long queues is a big one) to admit it and detail what you are doing to set it right.

 

At the very least i think you should give out a free in game speeder, some extra free game time, or something to everyone who was effected as an apology.

[Jonnyfrag]

One of the causes is people that never logout from game.

I think that Bioware must enable some kind of workaround to avoid this problem. They can activate some periodic captcha to be entered in a limited time and kick afk players.

 

Please no. I really don't want to have to type in captchas while trying to play. The system is able to tell afk players and it needs it's timeout turned up a bit is all. Tech is already there that is not invasive, just needs some tweaking.

[Rumik]

As a paying customer, I can't help but feel short changed by the 3-4 hour queues we are having to endure, At peak time it makes the game unplayable. I get home from work and get a 4 hour window from 6-10 to play. Now 90% of that time is spent in me queueing to get on the server, giving me potentially 1 hour to play. That in this day and age is unacceptable, all I see so far from BW is we are monitoring it and if queues are unreasonable we are doing something.

 

What he said!

[BraQ]

http://twitter.com/Rockjaw doesnt answer for 2 days..

[Jonnyfrag]

I think the key point is not that you know what going on but what you are going to do about it, when you make a mistake (Slow progressive invitation of early access to stop queues then having very long queues is a big one) to admit it and detail what you are doing to set it right.

 

At the very least i think you should give out a free in game speeder, some extra free game time, or something to everyone who was effected as an apology.

 

We aren't going to get anything for our 'troubles' This is free time already. Just not going to happen, nor would I expect it to. But they DO need to get it fixed by tomorrow because it's going to be a fail launch instead of the all roses and candy one most sites seem to be reporting (although the real truth will come out once it's really really live, although probably ignored through the hordes of fanbois)

[Raisat]

OK, how about this....

 

There are 44,640 minutes in an average month (30 days on average a year). We pay 15$ a month for the game. That averages to .033 cents a minute we pay for a game that is supposed to have 24 hour access a day (less server restarts and maitinance) per your EULA. How about we subtract .033 cents for every minute we are in a cue from our subsciptions fees?

 

NO? Well I guess you dont like it when you get short changed from something you are selling. Well the customer base doesnt like to be short changed either. You knew pre sales numbers, you knew what each server could hold, and you have an estimate of how many after launch you would pick up. Now, open enough servers so we are not hanging at a load screen for half an hour.

 

WRONG! You pay to have the right to login in the game. Not in your server not even with your guild/friends. They compromise to keep your toon in their databases also. I don't know the EULA cover to cover but there is a period of time that ALL the servers can be offline and still they don't have to compensate you any way. It's being like this since forever, but people keeps not knowing it, or not wanting to know.

[LadyMilla]

WRONG! You pay to have the right to login in the game.

 

Nope. The service is sold as a Massively Multiplayer Online Game and not as a login service.

[arkhlongstride]

All those white knight,s defending BW... i dont understand really

[pigalot]

We aren't going to get anything for our 'troubles' This is free time already. Just not going to happen, nor would I expect it to. But they DO need to get it fixed by tomorrow because it's going to be a fail launch instead of the all roses and candy one most sites seem to be reporting (although the real truth will come out once it's really really live, although probably ignored through the hordes of fanbois)

 

Its not "free time" nothing is free, some people paid up to $5 for this time so it cant be free, and can you really tell me you believe that they will fix it before tomorrow? Because they wont it will be even worse tomorrow.

At this point they have to show their customers that they have the balls to admit when they have messed up and show that they give a toss about us.

[Kyus]

People need to get a bit of perspective here, there are 2-3 servers per locale, that are a problem. if you are queing over 2 hours still with more people to come in its an issue.

 

Ques of around an hour are still there to ensure a good population spread. It is likely these are being artificially maintained to spread the players out as evenly as possible as a deterent.

 

What people should be complaining about is Biowares complete failing in guild distribution, by not launching with a a more robust list of servers and cramming guild deployment onto around half of the current server list, it has created this issue in itself. All guilds will have had people in on the first 1-2 days. During days 1 and 2 unguilded people would also have joined and flocked to these servers. Since people had started the days 3-4 people then flood in. At this point BW open more servers, for un guilded people to go to, leaving the guilded on overcrowded servers.

 

Bioware knew there numbers, they for some reason didn't want to spread guild distribution thin across them all. I have no idea why this game was always going to be a big sell at launch, they would have all maintained a healthy population.

[Kyus]

Its not "free time" nothing is free, some people paid up to $5 for this time so it cant be free, and can you really tell me you believe that they will fix it before tomorrow? Because they wont it will be even worse tomorrow.

At this point they have to show their customers that they have the balls to admit when they have messed up and show that they give a toss about us.

 

your 5$ is taken off your box sale price for release. if you get your game now or on the 20th it would have been the same from that retailer.

[pigalot]

People need to get a bit of perspective here, there are 2-3 servers per locale, that are a problem. if you are queing over 2 hours still with more people to come in its an issue.

 

Ques of around an hour are still there to ensure a good population spread. It is likely these are being artificially maintained to spread the players out as evenly as possible as a deterent.

 

What people should be complaining about is Biowares complete failing in guild distribution, by not launching with a a more robust list of servers and cramming guild deployment onto around half of the current server list, it has created this issue in itself. All guilds will have had people in on the first 1-2 days. During days 1 and 2 unguilded people would also have joined and flocked to these servers. Since people had started the days 3-4 people then flood in. At this point BW open more servers, for un guilded people to go to, leaving the guilded on overcrowded servers.

 

Bioware knew there numbers, they for some reason didn't want to spread guild distribution thin across them all. I have no idea why this game was always going to be a big sell at launch, they would have all maintained a healthy population.

 

I don't think what they have done is really important now the bigger question is what they are going to do about it.

 

Regardless of how they have messed up it is clear they have now they have to fix it and they SHOULD tell up how they intend to do that.

[KerinKor]

Its not "free time" nothing is free, some people paid up to $5 for this time so it cant be free.

Anyone who paid more than the standard price is an idiot, most people playing EGA are doing so for ZERO COST, the $5 they 'paid for EGA' as you describe it is actually an 'up front' payment that is taken off the regular price, so EGA IS FREE since you didn't have to pay extra for it.

 

Yes, I know one retailer was charging this apparently, more fools those who bought from there, they have nothing to complain about they chose to get ripped off.

[Bandred]

I've already vented my frustration regarding being in 3 hour queues in this thread before. But at the moment I'm trying to take a more rational look at the problem. It is coming up to 1:00 pm in the UK and there are 32 EU English servers available. All but 5 of these servers are at 'standard' or 'light' status. Of the 5, 1 is 'full', 1 is 'very heavy' and the remaing 3 are 'heavy'.

 

I know that at least 3 of the 5 servers were start up servers on which Guilds were placed. I also know that when I have being disconnected from my guild's server, Frostclaw, and haven't been prepared to wait for another 3 hours to get back in, I have never had to queue to play on another lighly loaded server.

 

I don't think that it is fair to complain that there are not enough servers. The evidence is that there are. The prolem is essentially one of player distribution. The mistake that was made was to place Guilds on too few servers to start with. I don't know how this is going to be resolved now. EA/Bioware's approach seems to be to try and ride it out in the hope that players will become frustrated enough with queueing and move themselves. Whether or not this strategy will work, we shall just have to wait and see.

Edited December 19, 2011 by Bandred

[AeriesDK]

So far I have enjoyed the game and have found it to run very smooth with virtually no bugs. Of course there have been minor issues, some may be bugs and others may just be me being used to other MMO Games :-)

 

But the Server Queues... that's killing my game play.

 

Playing on EU Servers, I can easily log on during morning and during the day. But trying to get on in the evening, especially later in the evening, is met with a long queue. Often for so long that I end up playing something else.

 

Since this game isn't out yet, I can't really complain about it as we have yet to see how the Launch goes and if the queues disappear after launch.

 

However, there is another problem that has been the result of being queued.

 

When I got access on December 14th, I jumped onto our "designated server" where our Guild had been created. It all went well and a couple of hours later I had reached level 10 and had a lot of fun.

 

The following day, my girlfriend and a common friend both get access but are unable to join the server due to a large queue for 1+ hour. So they start playing on another server.

 

Another friend had the same problem and ended up on a 3rd Server, causing us all to play on different Servers. Neither of us wants to reroll our characters and start all over again, wasting the time we alredy spent. But as it is now, we can't play together as the queues forced us onto other servers where we have now leveled up our characters.

 

Therefore I would be VERY happy if we were offered a free Character Transfer so we could all agree on a Server and finally be together as a guild and group of friends.

 

We all bought the game to play it together, but now we end up playing alone.

 

Please grant us a free Server Transfer so we can once more fight side-by-side.

 

I am not going to pull the "If we can't play, we quit!" cards or anything as drastic, but in the long run I am sure it may affect how much and for how long we decide to play.

 

Being an avid SW fan myself, I expect to subscribe for a long time, planning to get several characters to level 50. But it's not nearly as much fun when you can't share the adventures with your real-life friends.

 

Although I am no fan of micro transactions since I already pay to play per month, I wouldn't mind paying for those extra services like server transferring. Heck, I'll even consider to pay a fair amount of money to transfer my level 22 character to another server if that is what it takes.

 

P.s. Don't give me the "just reroll and stop QQ'ing" since we have all spent quite some time already getting where we are now, and we don't want to do it all over again :-)

[Valkaern]

12 noon and a 500+ person queue on a week day lunch break.

 

Weekdends have proven unplayable unless you fix the problem yourself by moving servers, despite the fact that people (whole guilds) have invested themselves in characters made during the head start - on a server Bioware assigned our/their guild to.

 

If they intend the game to be as disposable as that, that's a poor choice, it seems to go against everything they worked for in giving you some solid connection to your character.

 

While I don't have the right to make demands, I do have the right to explain that, if you want my continued subscription (ofcourse you do, you're a business - despite white the kids who are afraid to invoke your wrath think), you'd make an effort to ammend this fiasco by offering a convenient way for players & guilds to relocate.

 

I enjoy the game a lot and it'd be a shame to drop it, but there's no justifying paying for a service you can't make use of, and I have no intention of starting over - that's not fun for me and fun & enjoyment are the only reason to pay for this service.

 

What's really annoying is the lack of communication besides well spun empty words. You refer to this as 'Healthy populations'? Healthy usually implies it's functioning well, this is not the case. It's unhealthy, save the spin it does nothing for your reputation.

Edited December 19, 2011 by Valkaern

[KerinKor]

I don't think what they have done is really important now the bigger question is what they are going to do about it.

 

Regardless of how they have messed up it is clear they have now they have to fix it and they SHOULD tell up how they intend to do that.

They're not going to do ANYTHING about it, they PLANNED IT, read what they've been saying to various gamer sites, this is how they planned the server rollout.

[Ykalondr]

i can see everyone at bioware reading this just wanting to say 'calm the f**k down' its just a game...

 

so CALM DOWN its just a game guys. Its not even released yet and theres QQ all over the place. Give them time to resolve the issue instead of beating the same drum over 100's of pages of GD.

 

im sick of seeing people whinge about the QUES... they are aware of it clearly, and they will work on it...

 

i could understand if this was 2-3 weeks in to the game and there were no announcements as to what was happening, but honestly the greater portion of you people are carrying on like 2 year olds who want a chocolate

It's not just a game, it is their JOB. They do this for a living, they have to entertain us to get their salaries. If too many of us quit some will be let go and look for a new job.

 

So it is in their own best interest to fix this asap.

[Wayshuba]

We aren't going to get anything for our 'troubles' This is free time already. Just not going to happen, nor would I expect it to. But they DO need to get it fixed by tomorrow because it's going to be a fail launch instead of the all roses and candy one most sites seem to be reporting (although the real truth will come out once it's really really live, although probably ignored through the hordes of fanbois)

 

No one has any FREE time whatsoever. 30 days of play is included in the retail price of the game. So technically, the ludicrous queues are causing a degradation of the value included in the game. The box (or digital edition) specifies 30 days of game access included with the price. If you can't get on to the servers because you don't have five hours to spare waiting, then Bioware/EA is NOT providing the game access they advertise on the box. No one is here without having purchased a product, so nothing is free at all.

 

Honestly, the game is great in true Bioware fashion. The MMO part of this launch has really shown Bioware's inexperience with staggered access, low pop caps and queues which will earn them a space in the MMO record books. Lastly, Bioware not addressing this isssue urgently is showing their lack of understanding of the MMO space. They need to understand people are paying for access - not a deliver a product and when we get around to fixing it we do - product.

[pigalot]

Anyone who paid more than the standard price is an idiot, most people playing EGA are doing so for ZERO COST, the $5 they 'paid for EGA' as you describe it is actually an 'up front' payment that is taken off the regular price, so EGA IS FREE since you didn't have to pay extra for it.

 

Yes, I know one retailer was charging this apparently, more fools those who bought from there, they have nothing to complain about they chose to get ripped off.

 

I also count uncertainty as a price (the risk involved in ordering and perhaps putting money down on a game without knowing anything about it). Not all costs are monetary.

 

I gave the $5 thing as an example and its still a cost as they may not get that back if they ask for a refund. Here in the UK they don't do that sort of thing so i was just using it as an example as i guessed you would have a hard time contemplating non monetary costs.

[Jhava]

14:08 pm CET (server ToFN): Position in Queue 678, Estimated Wait < 45 min

 

It is not normal than on a working day you have to wait around 45 minutes to get in. Btw, yesterday I gave up after 4 hours waiting.

 

This is not a nice gaming experience.

 

For the people who say these EGA days are free, maybe you should consider that you have prepaid the game, so it's not free. You will have to pay the full price of the game now or loose the 10 € (Even if you recover your reservation costs, it's not free yet, as the money was not in your account during that period, that's basic finance knowledge).

 

But that's not the point, the point here is that servers are extremely poor, which is not good fo the game publicity. The game is nice, the background is great, but the servers are really bad. It must be fixed and it has to be done fast, since we are in Christmas and there are a lot of people who won't be able to play so much after Xmas holidays.

 

EDIT: I was finally in at 15.25 which is 1h17m instead of the 'suggested' of less than 45 minutes. Queues waiting time needs to be fixed as well.

Edited December 19, 2011 by Jhava

[cirk]

Its not "free time" nothing is free, some people paid up to $5 for this time so it cant be free,

I keep reading that. Is whole of America really so stupid? It is a deposit you make to show the seller that you really mean it with your order and to compensate him if you cancel. You get it back when the main deal concludes (effectively reducing the final bill by the amount payed before).

 

It has bee said thousands of times all over the forum and it should be common knowledge and should be told you when you place your preorder.

 

 

Also: Free char transfers before the release would help to even out population, bit considering the date it won't happen. I hope the pull something from their sleeves for the release...

[DariuszPol]

1. Best way to approach problem is to allow us for free to MOVE OUR CHARACTERS. It's standard in other MMO like WoW. When servers are full you can for free move your character.

 

2. Server queue put me at 1600 position (EU) and I have around 1 hour and 45 minutes of waiting. But after 30 minutes I was around 1500....

 

3. On sunday night almost EVERY server was full.

 

4. Ofcourse you cant leave your character for long loged in because they will log you out and then you must wait again.

 

In other words - EA screw this up again. I know that some nolife people can wait 3-5 hours but come one. Lot of us work and have a life. Playing hour or two in the evening is everything we can do and ofcourse we cant because servers are full.

Who cares if they add new servers ? I have 20lvl character on one of them and I don't want to start over.

 

So please allow use to move our character or something because right now loot of us just have hard time to play the game and more to that - tomorrow there will be full launch and things will get more ugly.

[pigalot]

I keep reading that. Is whole of America really so stupid? It is a deposit you make to show the seller that you really mean it with your order and to compensate him if you cancel. You get it back when the main deal concludes (effectively reducing the final bill by the amount payed before).

 

It has bee said thousands of times all over the forum and it should be common knowledge and should be told you when you place your preorder.

 

 

Also: Free char transfers before the release would help to even out population, bit considering the date it won't happen. I hope the pull something from their sleeves for the release...

 

I'm not from the America so i wouldn't know but this hole point is what if a person want to cancel now? And from what has been said not every place does it the way you have said (i can only go on what has been posted as I'm from the UK were we don't tend to have that).

 

Also as i posted before its very ignorant to assume that all costs are purely monetary.

 

A preorder regardless of if it is guaranteed or not has a value to someone, if it didn't why would they give incentives for you to do it?