Curse

TomD22 · Mar 12, 2007, 12:01 AM // 00:01

Any news on how this (http://www.guildwars.com/support/networknews/) is going? The message has been there quite a while now, and after another GvG today with a ping consistently above 800 (rubber banding, skill lag, etc) some feedback on progress being made (even a time frame for resolution?) would be nice.

Neo Nugget · Mar 12, 2007, 02:27 AM // 02:27

wow i hear lots of bad stuff about euro servers.....glad im american server

lucifer_uk · Mar 12, 2007, 02:37 AM // 02:37

Had a lot of err 13 earlier. ANET know about this but will make all the excuses under the sun until either:
A) They find the problem
or
B) Admit they can't find/fix the problem.

Gaile Gray · Mar 12, 2007, 03:00 AM // 03:00

I'm not going to engage in excuse making. I am going to say that we're sorry that there were issues today. To honestly report not one but two observed temporary outages. And to assure you that I sent an email to our network team, and they circulated it more broadly to people on both sides of the Atlantic to ask for any details that we can provide to you guys to explain what the situation is, and what we're doing to make it better.

From what I heard today, there were quite a number of Error 013s. One person said he was out for a few hours. That is absolutely unacceptable, we fully agree! I can't speak to lag issues, because those are far less easy to pin down, but I will report that you've experienced those. If you would report directly to Support, they can work with you to get personal reports that will help us nail the issues, or at least identify what the cause may be. That would be more helpful than you can know.

In the meantime, I did pass along the irony of our network news page, and how just when we think "Hey, let's remove that note!" we have another network burp. I know our team is made up of great people who staff the network 24/7 and I know they are very concerned about this. When I have more to share, I will do so. In the meantime, once again, we apologize for the situation.

lucifer_uk · Mar 12, 2007, 03:35 AM // 03:35

Gaile, I really really hope your network guys can get to the bottom of this soon because its obviously going to be frustrating the players and you guys alike. Reading back my post was not to intention that you may make excuses but rather the network guys may fob you off until they get to the bottom of it. Thank you as ever for your timely response.

Gaile Gray · Mar 12, 2007, 03:43 AM // 03:43

Good news! I sent an email to.... ummm... well, to far too many people, and on a weekend, too!

However, two kind people responded, and here's the skinny. I already wrote this up, so I'm just going to share it across more than one forum, excuse the multiple posting.

There was a piece of equipment in the German Data Center that was failing. You may not be aware, but sort of like in Nightfall, "You never fight alone," in Guild Wars as a whole, our servers "Never serve alone," they have backups. (Yes, ok, it was a strained analogy, but I had fun with it.

)

Anyway, because this failure was erratic, it never got to the point where the backups (failover) devices took over, and it wasn't possible with earlier outages to point the finger with certainty to this piece of equipment. But once the data indicated the problem machine, one of our IT guys forced traffic to the redundant (backup) device and communication (which means access to the game) resumed.

Now, we pay to have a really great replacement contract in place for situations just like this. This means our supplier will high-tail it to the data center within a matter of just a few hours with a spankin' new machine. By the time some of you are reading this post, I bet the suppliers already have the machine in the truck and are heading at breakneck speed towards the DC. By the time the majority read this post, the machine will be happily esconced in its new home, serving its little heart out, the recollection of its predecessor's embarrassing failure a distant memory.

Or somethin' like that.

Short answer: Help is on the way, and well before lunchtime in Europe, the issue with Error 013 should be resolved. (If it's not, obviously we want to know about it, of course!)

It's good to know there is redundancy, and that the team will keep a watchful eye out to nab malfunctioning machines and get them out of the rotation as quickly as possible.

lucifer_uk · Mar 12, 2007, 03:49 AM // 03:49

Good to hear. Whatever happened to German efficiency eh?

Just a joke obviously the German sever hosts can't be held personally responsible for a random fault like this.

Gaile Gray · Mar 12, 2007, 03:51 AM // 03:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucifer_uk

Good to hear. Whatever happened to German efficiency eh?

Well, in it's way, I think this is a pretty good testament to German efficiency. I mean, a few hours, in the middle of the night, and they have a new server shipped, installed, and functional? I'm impressed!

Feminist Terrorist · Mar 12, 2007, 03:57 AM // 03:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaile Gray

Well, in it's way, I think this is a pretty good testament to German efficiency. I mean, a few hours, in the middle of the night, and they have a new server shipped, installed, and functional? I'm impressed!

And on a Sunday night/Monday morning, no less. That's impressive, 'cause nothing happens in Germany on Sunday.

lucifer_uk · Mar 12, 2007, 03:58 AM // 03:58

Very true, if it was in the UK you would be waiting for us to finish planning the heath and safety to respond to your request and then do a risk assessment of driving the truck.

coleslawdressin · Mar 12, 2007, 04:07 AM // 04:07

Is there a better chance of getting an answer if I made a new thread, or should I just give up or wait longer?

lucifer_uk · Mar 12, 2007, 04:11 AM // 04:11

New thread and hope for the best D:

Gaile Gray · Mar 12, 2007, 04:15 AM // 04:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by coleslawdressin

Is there a better chance of getting an answer if I made a new thread, or should I just give up or wait longer?

Sorry, when you post something entirely off topic and I'm trying to address a critical issue, I'm not going to be able to help you right away. And too, I don't really want to derail or highjack threads.

In response to the question about Heroes' Ascent, there's no need for a new thread -- lord knows we have many threads on HA, including an official tally on the matter. Please post your questions or suggestions within those threads, if you feel that you should. But in a short-form answer, there is nothing new to report yet. We will not forget to post when we have news on a decision regarding Heroes' Ascent and we do completely understand the very intense interest that this issue has around it. Thanks for your patience.

Undressed · Mar 12, 2007, 12:45 PM // 12:45

Oh yes, we Germans still can "blitz".

Esprit · Mar 12, 2007, 01:08 PM // 13:08

It's been almost half a day since Gaile reported that the issue was found and a fix was on the way. Are the Europeans still having problems or has the issue been resolved?

TomD22 · Mar 12, 2007, 01:21 PM // 13:21

Thanks for the feedback; that's exactly what I was after with this thread.

c_ras · Mar 12, 2007, 05:45 PM // 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaile Gray

By the time some of you are reading this post, I bet the suppliers already have the machine in the truck and are heading at breakneck speed towards the DC.

I'm sure they will take the autobahn!

Sorry...a little humor was needed.

It is good to know that our European counterparts will have things all back to normal.

TomD22 · Mar 12, 2007, 09:11 PM // 21:11

Well, so far we don't ^^

The lag in GvG today for our guild was just painful....

Gaile Gray · Mar 12, 2007, 11:23 PM // 23:23

I would urge you to write to Support about the lag issue. There appear to be two distinct problems: The disconnects (hopefully amended) and the lag (still ongoing, from what you write).

If you could let Support know about this, they may ask you to run a diag that helps them nail what the problem is, within or outside our system. But at least you'll know, and knowing is half the battle.

nirhan shadowmauler · Mar 13, 2007, 12:13 AM // 00:13

so in hopes to not totally derail the or hijack the thread, if your experiencing lag in the range of a 36000 ms ping while on a very fast connection you should contact support?