I hope ZOS addresses todays Server Lag across all Platforms

Aurielle · May 29

manukartofanu wrote: »

Did someone actually believe that DDoS story after one suspicious comment on Reddit?

Uh, Rich Lambert is the one who confirmed it… I wouldn’t exactly call it a “suspicious comment.” Only ZOS employees can use the Zenimax flair in the ESO subreddit.

DenverRalphy · May 29

manukartofanu wrote: »

Did someone actually believe that DDoS story after one suspicious comment on Reddit?

Yup. Was from a credible source. So why not?

Veinblood1965 · May 29

PS4 here. I played a little this morning CST and no issues. I logged on about 4pm CST today and non-stop lag spikes and crashing. I finally gave up.

TechMaybeHic · May 30

Thing I am not buying is a DDOS lasting this long

sarahthes · May 30

Tenthirty2 wrote: »

WHAT.

I find myself a bit angry right now.

Rich's quoted response when asked if the team was aware of the poor game performance and connection issues makes me a bit concerned:
"We are most definitely aware. It's been a rough few weeks - DDOS attacks have been a big part of perf issues, but aren't the only issue we're looking into."

Rich, what the hell?

Unless I miss my guess here we have been feeling the result of these attacks for about a week now. Building in severity to this past weekend where it was clear someone was definitely squeezing fairly hard.

"We are most definitely aware"
That's great, your customers weren't and you let them run on their own assumptions.
Some of them wasted a lot of their time troubleshooting their own networks, client installs, etc when if they'd known I'm sure they would have liked to have spent that time doing something else.

This also gives nice negative-press ammunition to your competitor's marketing\PR teams...

Once verified, a DDoS event should have been reported to the user base. It would have demonstrated:
- Honesty, "Hey all, our platform and\or its supporting infrastructure\services are being targeted."
- Responsibility, "We are aware and are working on mitigating these attacks to keep the service stable."
- Capability, showing you are willing and capable of dealing with bad actors would be a better flex than hiding or avoiding disclosing a truth, unless you are directly asked during an AMA for your next money-making content launch...
That doesn't present a strong image to anyone.

What really gives me anxiety though is the last line:
", but aren't the only issue we're looking into."

Now isn't the time to be dodgy or ambiguous.
"issue" that you're looking into could be anything and the way you framed it there, right on the heels of confirming a DDoS attack, is going to make people assume all sorts of horrible things.

And give people like me heartburn over potential "issue"s like for example, a data breach that came hand-in-hand with the attack.

Enough that I'm changing my passwords and keeping a very close eye on my charge account now. Fingers crossed that it's nothing like this, but it never hurts to be extra cautious.

NOTE: I have no hard evidence that there was any data breach or exfiltration of personal and\or financial customer data. Just speculation based on experience. I don't play ESO for a living.

Reporting on ddos tends to embolden the perpetrators. Not confirming it externally bores them after a while.

DDoS is very separate from data being compromised. It's just message/traffic spamming so that connectivity to the server is compromised.

sarahthes · May 30

TechMaybeHic wrote: »

Thing I am not buying is a DDOS lasting this long

I've seen them last longer in other games.

cyclonus11 · May 30

Just crashed out after multiple lag spikes. Just in overland. In Coldharbour.

DenverRalphy · May 30

TechMaybeHic wrote: »

Thing I am not buying is a DDOS lasting this long

Depending on the determination of the group behind it, how much they feel slighted, and the validation they may believe they're getting in return, it can last quite some time. I've seen some last for months.

infunite · May 30

Yes, has there been any acknowledgement or communication of it yet?

thinkaboutit · May 30

TechMaybeHic wrote: »

Thing I am not buying is a DDOS lasting this long

same, seems like a load problem.

TechMaybeHic · May 30

DenverRalphy wrote: »

TechMaybeHic wrote: »

Thing I am not buying is a DDOS lasting this long

Depending on the determination of the group behind it, how much they feel slighted, and the validation they may believe they're getting in return, it can last quite some time. I've seen some last for months.

I feel like there should be tools to deal with it at a certain point. We all know they use Akamai from testing connectivity in the past. Seems like this is where that should show some value

jcaceresw · May 30

I am just questing on low population vanilla zones and getting lots of lag lately. This worries me with the proximity of the new chapter where that situation may become a lot worse. Hopefully a emergency maintenance can be done before the weekend comes.

Just_Attivi · May 30

The Lack of Communication is what really gets me. and then to not even say it on their own forums after the fact....

Dont get me wrong, 3 weeks of this nonsense is insane and unacceptable, but as someone states above, to be aware, not say anything and let your clients keep wasting their time troubleshooting and researching potential fixes, all while a PAID SERVICE is largely unavailable for the majority of a month? even if they didnt come out and say DDOS, even if they left it at 'these arent client side issues in the majority of cases, and we are investigating" just so we know not to go through countless reinstalls/file verifications/checking ports and firewall allowances, so on and on...

If i hadnt already cancelled my sub id be figuring out how to get a refund.

Aurielle · May 30

DenverRalphy wrote: »

TechMaybeHic wrote: »

Thing I am not buying is a DDOS lasting this long

Depending on the determination of the group behind it, how much they feel slighted, and the validation they may believe they're getting in return, it can last quite some time. I've seen some last for months.

Same, have also seen prolonged DDoS attacks against other game companies in the past, and am not surprised that this one has gone on for so long. There was SO much salt here in the forums and elsewhere over the PTS debacle, and over the large endeavor compensation given to those who were affected by the PTS debacle. I wish these people would just grow up and move on with their lives. Hitting back at ZOS by making the game borderline unplayable for many players is beyond counterproductive and childish. It’s just a game.

Tenthirty2 · May 30

sarahthes wrote: »

Tenthirty2 wrote: »

WHAT.

I find myself a bit angry right now.

Rich's quoted response when asked if the team was aware of the poor game performance and connection issues makes me a bit concerned:
"We are most definitely aware. It's been a rough few weeks - DDOS attacks have been a big part of perf issues, but aren't the only issue we're looking into."

Rich, what the hell?

Unless I miss my guess here we have been feeling the result of these attacks for about a week now. Building in severity to this past weekend where it was clear someone was definitely squeezing fairly hard.

"We are most definitely aware"
That's great, your customers weren't and you let them run on their own assumptions.
Some of them wasted a lot of their time troubleshooting their own networks, client installs, etc when if they'd known I'm sure they would have liked to have spent that time doing something else.

This also gives nice negative-press ammunition to your competitor's marketing\PR teams...

Once verified, a DDoS event should have been reported to the user base. It would have demonstrated:
- Honesty, "Hey all, our platform and\or its supporting infrastructure\services are being targeted."
- Responsibility, "We are aware and are working on mitigating these attacks to keep the service stable."
- Capability, showing you are willing and capable of dealing with bad actors would be a better flex than hiding or avoiding disclosing a truth, unless you are directly asked during an AMA for your next money-making content launch...
That doesn't present a strong image to anyone.

What really gives me anxiety though is the last line:
", but aren't the only issue we're looking into."

Now isn't the time to be dodgy or ambiguous.
"issue" that you're looking into could be anything and the way you framed it there, right on the heels of confirming a DDoS attack, is going to make people assume all sorts of horrible things.

And give people like me heartburn over potential "issue"s like for example, a data breach that came hand-in-hand with the attack.

Enough that I'm changing my passwords and keeping a very close eye on my charge account now. Fingers crossed that it's nothing like this, but it never hurts to be extra cautious.

NOTE: I have no hard evidence that there was any data breach or exfiltration of personal and\or financial customer data. Just speculation based on experience. I don't play ESO for a living.

Reporting on ddos tends to embolden the perpetrators. Not confirming it externally bores them after a while.

DDoS is very separate from data being compromised. It's just message/traffic spamming so that connectivity to the server is compromised.

"Reporting on ddos tends to embolden the perpetrators. Not confirming it externally bores them after a while."
In other cases perhaps. But my response was tailored to fit the event(s?) that have been occurring with ESO, not speaking about threats\attacks in general.

In this case I would think it was clear that the DDoS op was successful based on community outcries, I don't feel these attackers would care whether ZoS publicly confirmed or not. Could be wrong, it's just a gut feeling based on his comment, posts on this forum and in-game chat.

"DDoS is very separate from data being compromised. It's just message/traffic spamming so that connectivity to the server is compromised."
Yep, that describes the intent of a DDoS attack. And yes, they are separate actions but could also be used after a breach to misdirect or burden incident response\investigation efforts.
Or could be just a nasty follow-up because the attackers are spiteful.

But my comment on that was more concerned with Rich implying they had other "issue"s and again my gut felt they could be related to bad actors committing other attacks apart from a DDoS.

Could also be nothing of the sort, he may have also meant that because of the attack ZoS had discovered they did not have, or needed to have in place, better controls that could have made the attack less impactful.

Or maybe they found that one of the fancy new hamsters they purchased a couple years ago had already died because someone forgot to feed it. Who knows? We likely never will.

Whatever the case, Rich's response was very poorly framed and did not instill any confidence at all.

Photosniper89 · May 30

TechMaybeHic wrote: »

Thing I am not buying is a DDOS lasting this long

Bingo. It was more than likely during the 1-2 days a few weeks back where all servers went down at the same time. These lag/spikes/rubber banding are not related.