Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Path of Exile developers discuss open beta success]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/27/path-of-exile-developers-discuss-open-beta-success/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/27/path-of-exile-developers-discuss-open-beta-success/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/27/path-of-exile-developers-discuss-open-beta-success/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

On the down side, many creatures in the family Loothoardidae are now critically endangered.
Open betas are stressful for developers. Not just because it's the moment that the game is suddenly available for public discussion and evaluation, but also because it's time to see how well the infrastructure holds up under an onslaught of new players. Path of Exile's development team recently went through that stress, and in a new letter to the community, players and onlookers alike can see how the game weathered the transition. Here's the quick summary: Very well.

At the time of the letter, the game's peak concurrency was at 56,700 players, more than had been expected but very close to what the servers could handle. The game struggled a bit with patch downloads due to the CDN system immediately after launch, and there have been some crashes with various realms, but by and large the team seems happy with how the game is going and with overall sales figures. If you want more of the hard details on what a 30-hour open beta launch day looks like, read the full letter. And then get back to clicking things for money and loot.

[Thanks to tandarighttanon for the tip!]

MassivelyPath of Exile developers discuss open beta success originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 27 Jan 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>action-mmobetabeta-launchdiablof2pfantasyfree-to-playgrinding-geargrinding-gear-gameslauncheslogin-queuesopen-betaopen-beta-launchpath-of-exilepoepublic-reactionroguelikeserver-stabilitySun, 27 Jan 2013 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Guild Wars 2 players suffer a server outage]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/22/guild-wars-2-players-suffer-a-server-outage/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/22/guild-wars-2-players-suffer-a-server-outage/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/22/guild-wars-2-players-suffer-a-server-outage/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Guild Wars 2 players suffer an accidental rollback
Guild Wars 2 players were distressed last night to find themselves kicked from the game during loading screens and unable to log in. Shortly after the problems began, ArenaNet's community team started communicating about them via Twitter, saying that the issues were being looked into. Forum logins were also disabled.

After about an hour of downtime, the game was once again accessible to all -- with a slight problem. Many players discovered that they'd lost the fruits of recent endeavors, including map exploration, items, experience, and gold. According to the Guild Wars 2 Twitter, the team is unable to restore progression or items due to the nature of the outage.

Beyond updates as the issue was being resolved, no one from ArenaNet has given comment about the nature of the outage or how such problems will be avoided in the future.

MassivelyGuild Wars 2 players suffer a server outage originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>anetarenanetfantasyguild-wars-2gw2month-after-launch-woesncsoftoutageroll-backrollbackserver-outageserver-problemsserver-stabilitystabilitySat, 22 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Another day closer to release, another Guild Wars 2 stress test]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/08/14/another-day-closer-to-release-another-guild-wars-2-stress-test/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/08/14/another-day-closer-to-release-another-guild-wars-2-stress-test/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/08/14/another-day-closer-to-release-another-guild-wars-2-stress-test/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Because we're running out of time. Get it? It's... okay, never mind.
If you're strained to the limit of your patience while you wait for the release of Guild Wars 2, you can alleviate the pressure just a little bit tomorrow. ArenaNet is running another stress test on the game on August 15th, open to all players who have pre-purchased the game and are eagerly anticipating the launch. Best of all, character information will not be wiped from the previous stress test, saving you the trouble of making a whole new batch of characters.

The test will run from 3:00 p.m. EDT until 7:00 p.m. EDT. Development teams will be actively working on the game and the servers during the event, which may result in disconnections or login difficulties. The announcement emphasizes that these issues are indicative of the state of the stress test rather than the presumed state of the game on launch. So if you've got some free time tomorrow evening, you may want to get a nice little dose of Guild Wars 2 before the main event in two weeks.

MassivelyAnother day closer to release, another Guild Wars 2 stress test originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>anetarenanetearly-accessfantasygame-accessguild-wars-2gw2ncsoftnetwork-testpre-launch-testserver-stabilitystabilitystress-testtestTue, 14 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[GamersFirst kicks off APB's second open beta]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/07/22/gamersfirst-kicks-off-apbs-second-open-beta/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/07/22/gamersfirst-kicks-off-apbs-second-open-beta/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/07/22/gamersfirst-kicks-off-apbs-second-open-beta/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , ,

In case you missed it, APB Reloaded's second beta phase kicked off yesterday. The version 1.5.2 update "contains the biggest changes to missions, matchmaking, skill rating, and district recommendation to date," according to the latest GamersFirst dev blog.

Bjorn Book-Larsson has a few words of wisdom for residents of San Paro in terms of 15-minute patching-related disconnects. GamersFirst is working "round-the-clock" to isolate issues and come to terms with bugaboos that don't necessarily crop up prior to a large-scale player influx.

The latest Reloaded dev diary also contains detailed info relative to all the matchmaking and threat level changes, as well as a bit about cheating statistics and upcoming Nvidia support. Finally, there's a blurb about future servers, and gamers in Russia, Hong Kong, and Australia can look forward to dedicated shards before long.

MassivelyGamersFirst kicks off APB's second open beta originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>all-points-bulletinall-points-bulletin-reloadedapbapb-reloadedbetabeta-2Bjorn-Book-Larssoncheatingcrimedev-blogdev-diaryf2pfree-to-playgamersfirstmatchmakingmmo-shooteropen-beta-2san-paroserver-stabilityshootertestingthreat-levelFri, 22 Jul 2011 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[NCsoft extends a thank you to Aion players for their patience]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/16/ncsoft-extends-a-thank-you-to-aion-players-for-their-patience/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/16/ncsoft-extends-a-thank-you-to-aion-players-for-their-patience/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/16/ncsoft-extends-a-thank-you-to-aion-players-for-their-patience/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Remember those server queues? Yeah you do. How could you forget the glorious two-hour-plus waits to get in to play NCsoft's Aion?

Well, those times are in the past now. The Aion servers have settled down, leading to most people being able to log in immediately, even during peak hours. Queues have all but vanished, and the game is settling in for its long haul.

However, NCsoft did want to give the Aion devoted a little gift for putting up with all of the hassle. While it may not entirely make up for the time spent waiting in line, it will certainly help speed your progression -- Lodas Amulets.

These amulets, when used, will provide 20% bonus experience from monster kills for one hour. Every character has been given five of these unique items, meaning that pre-order customers will now have 10 of them, as they have already received five from their pre-order. Enjoy the weekend of adventuring!

MassivelyNCsoft extends a thank you to Aion players for their patience originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>aionaion-the-tower-of-eternitybreakingexperience-boostlodas-amuletncsoftserver-queuesserver-stabilitythank-you-giftFri, 16 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Winds of Change to blow through Warhammer]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/29/winds-of-change-to-blow-through-warhammer/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/29/winds-of-change-to-blow-through-warhammer/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/29/winds-of-change-to-blow-through-warhammer/#commentsFiled under: , ,


What's the worst case scenario for an MMO pitting hundreds of players against each other in epic large-scale RvR combat? Lag. Crashing. Rollbacks. Unfortunately, many Warhammer Online players have experienced all these issues while participating in open RvR. Mythic has been working on server stability since launch and now plan on taking a more aggressive stance by testing a new mechanic called The Winds of Change (WoC).

The WoC will basically teleport certain players to the nearest PvE safe spot (warcamp or chapter hub) when the server determines it is under enough stress to soon buckle. If people do not voluntarily leave once the WoC message is broadcast across the zone, dead players in the effected area will be teleported first, followed by the severely wounded. On the plus side, at least those players who qualify will still have a chance at rolling for rewards.

Some players believe the solution is not ideal because it forces people out of RvR, the game's bread and butter, but Mythic says the WoC only be a temporary fix until they can solve their server stability issues once and for all. One has to wonder if that is even possible given the game has been on the market for over 7 months already. Still, we remain cautiously optimistic. A more permanent solution may arrive with The Land of the Dead as we predict many players will flee the original open RvR campaign for RvR in the desert.

Update #1 - Mythic has released a server maintenance announcement.

Greetings!

Today, 4/29/09, all North American and Oceanic servers will be brought offline at 9:00 AM EDT for an update. We anticipate all servers to be back online by 1:00 PM EDT. This update will improve City Instances and server stability; in addition the Winds of Change feature will be removed from Dark Crag during this downtime.

Thank you and as always keep an eye on the Herald for the latest news and information during server updates!

Update #2 - GOA's Nilax has released this statement on the official European forums.

"After reviewing the metrics and community feedback Mythic have removed the Winds of Change feature from Dark Crag. As they will continue to look at this or similar options to improve stability I will leave this thread open for now."

MassivelyWinds of Change to blow through Warhammer originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>call-to-armsland-of-the-deadlands-of-the-deadmythic-entertainmentpopulation-controlRvRserver-stabilitywarwarhammer-onlinewinds-of-changeWed, 29 Apr 2009 10:30:00 EST