PC-EU Server Update - April 11

KoultouraS

The number of ZOS apologists in something which BY DEFAULT is deemed inexcusable ,
is beyond me.

SERVERS sucked way before the WOW migration or whatever is called
ZOS still fails to answer the simple question?

How come they can estimate the projected profits of an action and then act accordingly pursuing greater profit,
and they can not estimate an influx (big or small) after the ESO is being tipped/promoted as one of the leading
MMOs in 2019.

The server update was due to be done half a year ago.
Now its just excuses I personaly don't fall for.
It's ok for ZOS to want to be excused, but when we were crying out loud about the
deterioration of the game , which was incredibly rapid the past 2 years, we were
told that "they are aware of the issues" but "no ETA on when fixes will come".

No pity for you ZOS, no excuses for you ZOS.
You go down my books as another blatant cash grab company.

Mayrael

Untill I see improvement I'll stay unsubed, I won't blindly believe in ZOS promises of performance improvement any more.

Cinbri

Unforgettable experience for sure.

Silent84

KoultouraS wrote: »

The number of ZOS apologists in something which BY DEFAULT is deemed inexcusable ,
is beyond me.

SERVERS sucked way before the WOW migration or whatever is called
ZOS still fails to answer the simple question?

How come they can estimate the projected profits of an action and then act accordingly pursuing greater profit,
and they can not estimate an influx (big or small) after the ESO is being tipped/promoted as one of the leading
MMOs in 2019.

The server update was due to be done half a year ago.
Now its just excuses I personaly don't fall for.
It's ok for ZOS to want to be excused, but when we were crying out loud about the
deterioration of the game , which was incredibly rapid the past 2 years, we were
told that "they are aware of the issues" but "no ETA on when fixes will come".

No pitty for you ZOS, no excuses for ZOS.
You go down my books as another cash grab company.

Hell yeah, damn sure cash grab company! You read my mind sir!

Blacksmoke

Thanks for the communication! I'm glad wr got some more info

Nairinhe

My queue time counted down to 12 minutes and got stuck for almost an hour, then I just left the queue
ESO is a beautiful game, but it has so many issues, and the worst part is that most of the issues could have been avoided with proper planning

visibleman

Stuck in queue, not playing. How exactly, is this an 'optimal player experience'?

Seems to me that you are driving away many of these new and returning players, not to mention the current players. Keep it up and you won't need the extra hardware.

Dayth

Well I'm stuck in a queue estimated 17 minutes until I get in...it's time like this I wonder why I even pay for ESO+

Of course it's the EU server that's having the problems too, it's the 5 year anniversary of the game and every year the EU server has continued to problematic while the US has been fine.

Childeric

There's something that bother me quite a lot. Why people are complaining so much about a company being responsible? Event with the lag, the game was far smoother to me than it ever where a few years ago when I started back the game 2 month ago. Far better, far more polished, tons of things to do, people everywhere to play with, etc...

The Wrathstone release, amongst other announcement and the fail WOW has to keep players after each new expansion, the fact there's only FFXIV and GW2 as a real competitor (in size) currently out lead people to come on TESO... Which is a really good game.

Zenimax didn't thought the trend will continue but they forgot people recommend this game around and now they kind of announced they'll follow a line really close to the "Living World" in GW2 or the main story in FFXIV, they shouldn't be as surprised people come back.

Anyway, increasing server capacity isn't done overnight. You may (or not) know that Datacenters which host games are generally using custom network organisation and even specific hardware to handle the game. Every MMO is a prototype, not fit to be hosted on easy scalable infrastructure like AWS..

So you need first to be sure it's a long time growth of the population, you need to get the hardware you need, you need to configure it and make sure everything, on the software side, is ok as well to not do more harm than good. Queue are a good way to solve that... People around here spend at least 2h playing... losing 15min and enjoying decent performance for 1h45 is better than 2h being disconnected, killed by lag spike, etc...

Even worse, people complaining the most aren't currently subscribing... So they basically are playing for free currently... really? At least Zenimax is being perfectly clear on what they're doing, it's quite different from other companies in this game sector.

VinayExile

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

Everyone,

After seeing the commentary about the queuing system being enabled on the PC EU servers yesterday, I thought I'd let everyone know what has been leading up to this, and what we are doing to alleviate the situation.

Please note that the situation that led to the queuing system being enabled is not related to the overall client performance issues that we talked about at the end of last year - those engine optimizations are still underway and hopefully you'll see them in-game at some point this year. The situation that led to queuing has nothing to do with client performance - it is because our servers are overloaded.

Starting in January we've had an influx of new players - we've have had some of our highest weekly average user, daily active user, and peak concurrent user numbers in the last six weeks since we launched on console back in 2015. So, it was in January when EU players started noticing degraded server performance. We made tweaks and updates to the service to free up extra database resources and other boosts to performance, which is why you have been seeing more and longer maintenance outages than normal in the last couple of months.

However, in late March, we really saw a huge spike in the number of users logging in, which led to too many concurrent users for the platform to effectively support. As a result, players on PC EU have seen a severe degradation in service. This degradation started in January, but has greatly accelerated in the last week - lag spikes, disconnects, inability to zone from instance to instance, weird interactions with LFG, etc. These problems are greatly exacerbated by having serious load on the servers, as there are too many users for the hardware to handle.

A quick aside: these problems affect the PC EU more than the other megaservers because it has our highest peak concurrency of any of our six megaservers. The reason: the EU is a highly PC-centric gaming market - and also because almost all of our EU players are located in two time zones. Compared to the North American servers, where there are four time zones to spread out the "peak playing time", the EU has almost all its users logged in at the same time, which leads to very high peak usage.

So, here is what we are doing to fix the problem:

• Short term, we are turning on our queuing system (as you saw yesterday), which will cap the maximum number of players allowed on the PC EU megaserver. You should only see the queue at peak times, when demand is higher than the hardware supports. As was posted yesterday, the estimated time to login may not be 100% accurate, but it will give you an idea of how big the line is. ALSO: if you are disconnected from the server for any reason, you should have a twenty minute grace period to log back in and "skip" the queue.
• Longer term: we are spinning up additional hardware in both our NA and EU datacenters in order to support our growing user base. We expect the time frame for this to be about two weeks, but we will keep you posted. And yes, we are adding more capacity to PC NA as well as EU because we are rapidly approaching the same problem in NA and want to get ahead of it. We will also be looking very closely at our Console megaservers to make sure they have enough capacity.

I know it is frustrating to be stuck in queue, but it is better to do this than have the entire service be unstable and frustrating for everyone. We will do everything we can to get the new hardware online as quickly as possible and stop queuing and have the service return to normal. Stay tuned for details.

Matt

I really hope for this company that they're selling it like: you want to buy this game? Sure! But be ready to wait in queue at the time that your friends are playing it, if they even are after the queue. Oh and if you get in, prepare for a storm of performance issues, because that what you payed for right?


Insert ZOS moneygrab meme here ;

lientier

I am very unhappy about this.
Actually I just wanted to quickly grab my tickets, and the daily login reward, before heloing my grandma to bed (and going to bed myself).
Now I am stuck in a queue, and I am actually paying a monthly subscritopn for this.
The timer started at 18 minutes.. and I am afraid its even more..
No I am having no patience. You started all these log in daily to pick something up.. if you wouldnt have this kind of stuff, I wouldnt have logged in today at all, because I had no time.
very not happy.

lientier

PS: I am never patient, but I would be more happy, if you wouldnt lock content behind 'daily login' which apparently at the moment is only possible to achieve when you have a huge amount of time. So maybe while you have the queue online, give everybody free tickets and login ( i really want the chicken) rewards.

SydneyGrey

It would not let me leave the queue to log in. I tried logging in on EU and got a queue, so I tried logging out again to play NA instead, and it wouldn't let me. It just kept bringing me back to the log-in queue in EU.
The "leave queue" part is broken.
Might want to take a look at this.

Decado

Got a 5 minute estimated time, that ticked down to 30 seconds where it stayed for 1 hour 10 minutes while I watched a film and ate my tea, gave up trying at that point:

Basically what this is is you can’t play PCEU if you try to log in after 7 o’clock, Might aswel go play something else,

WP! All motivation to even attempt to play just got dumped all over

UrQuan

lientier wrote: »

So maybe while you have the queue online, give everybody free tickets and login ( i really want the chicken) rewards.

This is actually a good idea. If there's a way to do it, please give all EU players their daily tickets and login rewards for every day that the queue is active, whether they logged in that day or not.

Tumladen

Hello Matt, I pay for ESO +, so my time is your money. Now, tonight on EU server I have to wait 17 minutes to play.

[edited to remove demands]

TheValar85

Oh for the love of Talos we have been saiyng basicly almost years now to upgrade your servers
sometimes i wonder why i subscribing to this game? xD

Azurya

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

Everyone,

I know it is frustrating to be stuck in queue, but it is better to do this than have the entire service be unstable and frustrating for everyone. We will do everything we can to get the new hardware online as quickly as possible and stop queuing and have the service return to normal. Stay tuned for details.

Matt

why is this not sounding very trustworthy????
they see it coming all the way and don´t act earlier???
if you are having the flu, vaccinate doesn´t help anymore.............

Svealyn

More than 15 minutes of waiting on a regular Thursday night? How is this going to be during the weekend?

Well, I'm glad there are other games available in this universe...

Lord_Eomer

17 minutes waiting...

Its indeed worst thing ZOS forcing on PC EU players.

If this would not stop soon, I may stop ESO Plus (subscribed since last 3 years) and even stop playing ESO!

Jaraal

zvavi wrote: »

I blame the WoW refugees
Just kidding, welcome new players!!!

I believe it's Y'ffre's revenge for the humiliation of his chosen people. He has sent real Bosmer agents to stealthily place gremlins in the server infrastructure, while the fake ZOS Bosmer are futilly trying to detect them.

Rustyfish101

Glad to hear things are being done! Thanks for the communication.

Ragnaroek93

I hope they invest the money they got from all the new players into better servers. However, at least it's good to see that player numbers are doing well.

FleetwoodSmack

As a PC-NA person, I decided to see what this hubbub was all about.

I'm extremely disappointed in the handling of PC-EU. For years they've been treated like second class players and for years they've been the scapegoat during crappy maintenance times. Not only have you ( @ZOS_MattFiror ) have ignored the trends that catered toward ESO, you also ignored following the global markets in terms of how your product has sold. You claim that all of your staff reads the forums, but this post here blatantly tells us that you haven't been and that's just disappointing. PC-EU deserve better treatment, especially considering that this is (again) happening around a major ESO event.


For those affected (and who are tired of it), had I not seen it for myself, I'd have brushed it off. This is ridiculous.

Verbal_Earthworm

FleetwoodSmack wrote: »

As a PC-NA person, I decided to see what this hubbub was all about.

I'm extremely disappointed in the handling of PC-EU. For years they've been treated like second class players and for years they've been the scapegoat during crappy maintenance times. Not only have you ( @ZOS_MattFiror ) have ignored the trends that catered toward ESO, you also ignored following the global markets in terms of how your product has sold. You claim that all of your staff reads the forums, but this post here blatantly tells us that you haven't been and that's just disappointing. PC-EU deserve better treatment, especially considering that this is (again) happening around a major ESO event.


For those affected (and who are tired of it), had I not seen it for myself, I'd have brushed it off. This is ridiculous.

Finally some sanity, cheers muchly.

joseayalac

This is my first online game and when I started I was a total noob about servers, lag, ping and all that stuff.

I'm from Mexico but I, because of my noobness, chose the EU server as I read that the community there is more helpful and social.

Many years have passed and I now have over 900 CP, 9 lvl 50 toons, a master crafter, lots of motifs and a ton of collectibles.

Is there a way I can make it to PC NA with all my stuff? Or is it too late.

The Uninvited

I call fake news. Remember when half the US server came over to EU and vice versa because we could win a villa? Performance was fine then and all those players were in 1 zone...

And I think it's not because of the commentary either, it's because they probably noticed a lot of players cancelling their subscriptions yesterday everning.

That's why Matt Firor himself responds from up high in his tower, he's losing money so he has to...

DonRavello

Although I appreciate the extra communication, the whole story is a proof of mismanagement and/or greed.

If people are pouring into the PC EU server, this means extra cash. A company running a sustainable business reinvests the money into its product and its infrastructure. Ideally this happens in anticipation of new players buying the product (that's what market studies, sales forecasts etc. are for).

If the company fails to anticipate the flood of new players proactively, it has instruments like system performance indicators to react to such developments in time. Customer feedback could have been such an indicator. Since January.

Now, with the 5 years celebration, which lures - surprise! - additional players to the servers, the necessary countermeasures are drastic but at the cost of the customers, who have to waste time waiting in a bugged queue system instead of enjoying the game they paid (and pay!) for.

A company running a sustainable business would have ordered additional data center capacity in January, latest February. If that was not done on purpose (to save some money), it is just greedy. If it was not done out of incompetence, it is just bad management.

Hard choice?

Tavore1138

BrightOblivion wrote: »

Tavore1138 wrote: »

Not wanting to be a d**k about a problem situation and with all appropriate sympathy to ALL players impacted - is the queue designed to favour those who pay a monthly sub as with other games that have both subbing and free players?

Personally I'd be disappointed to be in a queue behind players who don't pay.

Then you needn't worry, because everyone who plays this game outside of a free week has paid in some form or fashion. You don't get access to DLC/expansions without buying them, either with your money/crowns or by giving gold to others in exchange for the crown gift (thus sinking those crowns and necessitating that more be bought in order to fill other orders). If people have access to parts of the game, it's because they bought that access.

As someone who's bought every single DLC that's come out and several costumes, and who has given gold in exchange for various crown store items, I can assure you that the money which I have spent or caused to be spent on my behalf is no less green and no less valuable or useful in funding the game. This myth that non-ESO+ members are somehow freeloaders is just that, a myth, and, with all due respect, it needs to stop.

You misunderstand - I would not suggest anyone has not paid at least the cost of the original game even if they have never paid for anything else. Although if you want to compare on crowns items bought I think I'd be at the top end.

My point was more that only subscribers are paying a per time unit fee for access to the game, time spent queuing literally ticks down our sub whereas for you it is frustrating but you are not actually paying by the minute for the time you spend queuing and you will not have lost anything when you eventually get in your DLC, crown items and so on will still be there whereas for us that, albeit small, sum of money has lost and will never come back.

If they chose not to favour sub players that is their choice, games i have played before tend offer priority to their steady revenue stream over the sporadic one so I felt it was a valid question to ask because if nothing else it informs me as to the value they do or do not pace on our subs.

FleetwoodSmack

Verbal_Earthworm wrote: »

FleetwoodSmack wrote: »

As a PC-NA person, I decided to see what this hubbub was all about.

I'm extremely disappointed in the handling of PC-EU. For years they've been treated like second class players and for years they've been the scapegoat during crappy maintenance times. Not only have you ( @ZOS_MattFiror ) have ignored the trends that catered toward ESO, you also ignored following the global markets in terms of how your product has sold. You claim that all of your staff reads the forums, but this post here blatantly tells us that you haven't been and that's just disappointing. PC-EU deserve better treatment, especially considering that this is (again) happening around a major ESO event.


For those affected (and who are tired of it), had I not seen it for myself, I'd have brushed it off. This is ridiculous.

Finally some sanity, cheers muchly.

Anytime. When it's something like this, it's something that just irks me. EUers and Oceanic players are often treated like second class players and it's not fair to you guys. In a lot of cases, you guys paid MORE for the game than we have and then you get locked out like this on almost a monthly basis. Had this been a few years ago? I'll be honest. I'd have been all "Suck it up." But having seen this repeat year after year after year, and see it happen with personal friends of mine all over the world? I'd say hit them where it hurts. Anything that has a review system that you bought ESO from? Drop bad reviews. Encourage people to drop it until they fix it.

[snip] I'm just shaking my head at this point.

[edited for discussing moderation]