Game Services and Helm's Deep Update

[kidnova78]

as fun side note to add to your story of strange power outages, a few years back where my parents live, a turkey got into the power grid for the town and fried itself inside one of those machines and a good part of town lost power, twas hilarious.

Fried turkey makes me hungry...

[Xnr]

I am astonished Turbine claims all servers are online when it takes 3 tries to get a successful login in the best of cases.

[Lohi]

I am astonished Turbine claims all servers are online when it takes 3 tries to get a successful login in the best of cases.

Also note that the load today is much higher than normal, with lots of players showing up expecting to download the expansion and try it out for first time. Instead lots more people than normal in the game at the same time that the servers are still limping and trying to get recovered.

[EGONIL]

Sapience doesn't need sleep....He's secretly an Elf.....

[Xnr]

Also note that the load today is much higher than normal, with lots of players showing up expecting to download the expansion and try it out for first time. Instead lots more people than normal in the game at the same time that the servers are still limping and trying to get recovered.

If the load was so high, it wouldn't even let me in the server because there'd be too many people on (I've had that once before during the Harvest Fest). This doesn't seem to be the case. I have login issues with specific characters.

[Black_Widow]

Well..I hate to rain on anyones parade here, I realise everyone at Turbine has had a busy night and day so far but....

The game is still not fixed. The game severs may well be 'available', which is nice, but they aren't functioning.
IF you are lucky enough to actually manage to log a toon in at all (which is about 1 time in every 10 tries at the moment on Dwarrowdelf if you're lucky) you better hope like heck you don't want to go through a door or change maps or even move sometimes or you will be back off again faster than a hobbit after a free second breakfast and then you may get back on again or you may not.

While we appreciate the effort thats gone on to get the servers to this point an acknowledgement from Turbine that there are still some major issues and perhaps some kind of eta on a fix might be nice.

[Brom_Ironfist]

Ignorance must be bliss.

Making a new toon named Ardentard, gonna test it out myself.

So, the new approach is "I'll see your name calling and raise you another name calling"? Yup, that's what makes our community so grand.

I read a fair number of the Facebook posts last night and a large number of them were asking for more time to complete bounder/leveling/pre-ordering due to the outage.

If I were Turbine, granting that only makes sense, as it allows the servers to stabilize over the next couple of days to ensure that they are ready for the update. As of now, at least three servers are still seeing issues. Even if those issues resolve tonight, ensuring a solid day of smooth running before moving forward with the update would be prudent.

That being said, if I were Turbine I would also want to know why the backup systems failed for the second time. To me, it sounds like it's time to move to another datacenter.

[Bel-Astarte]

...if I were Turbine I would also want to know why the backup systems failed for the second time. To me, it sounds like it's time to move to another datacenter.

I'm pretty sure that's gonna be a discussion that is imminent, however making a move like that is not a minor undertaking either.

And that's assuming no argument about contractual obligations muddies the waters.

[Elrantiri]

Congratulations on living near them, I'm sure your interaction rates with the servers should be MUCH better than mine. Nevertheless, you don't know why the power failed to that data center any more than I do. Do you?

As much as he might not know, there's a really high chance it was something outside the datacenter. I looked on National Grid outage map earlier today ( https://www1.nationalgridus.com/PowerOutageMap ) and Boston had many power outages in several areas. I don't know how to show previous power outages on that map though, it seems to only show the most recent ones.

[Balgost]

Also note that the load today is much higher than normal, with lots of players showing up expecting to download the expansion and try it out for first time. Instead lots more people than normal in the game at the same time that the servers are still limping and trying to get recovered.

That's a load of hooey. There are 38 people in the Riddermark GLFF when there are usually 100+. Nobody can get logged in and the servers being full is patently untrue.

[Xnr]

Finally a response but now I have to sleep :/.

The Lord of the Rings Online
The Dwarrowdelf, Meneldor, Nimrodel, and Riddermark servers will be brought down at 6:00 PM (-5 GMT) for a restart. Thanks for your patience, and we'll see you back in the game soon!

[jorlan]

I know there are some unhappy campers out there right now over this delay, but as for me, I couldnt be happier about it. Havent had much play time in the last several weeks due to work and family. Finally had time on Sunday when the power outage happened. Was expecting to wake up Monday morning to my computer updating files...instead, I was able to turn in some bounder's tokens and purchase the remaining chests in my kin house before the price increase. Now i have time to go thru all my alts and get them ready for the expansion (finally a slow week for me).

I am a much more happy camper than I was on Sunday, so much so that I have decided to buy the expansion now when I wasnt going to before.

Just wanted you guys at Turbine to know that.

[Jeb682]

I have only one comment. Several people have laughed/complained about Sapience "blaming" the players by saying that they had been wanting extra time for spending tokens, pre-ordering, etc. I read what he said and didn't take it that way. It seemed to me he was just saying that the extra time was a compensation for those who had wanted it, so they wouldn't feel so bad about the delay or wouldn't regret the loss of those last few hours of playtime Sunday night. I'm not affected, but someone in my kin had just gotten the last few tokens he needed to get something he wanted just before the game went down. Not everyone waits until the last minute on purpose!

[FoxMcCloud]

So, usually how long does it take to reboot the server? :P

[Coyote503]

Just wondering why it took so long after the scheduled downtime to get a report on the situation here on the forums? Took me 20 seconds to write this post...

Cas

[KingJoe]

AS we've mentioned several times in the past, when specific systems are unavailable we cannot log into the forums. YOU can, we cannot. This leaves us with 1 option. Social Media. In fact for the majority of this outage the forums were not available to anyone. So any post there would have been viewed by exactly 0 people.

You know, I might not be a big city lawyer, but it should be possible to have the twitter feed somewhere prominent on the site, or even in the launcher. That way you can make announcements via twitter AND have people who check the site have a chance to catch 'em too...

[Borafin]

Just wondering why it took so long after the scheduled downtime to get a report on the situation here on the forums? Took me 20 seconds to write this post...

Cas

Probably something to do with the fact you don't have the information handed down to you by your boss(es) after they had to decide what the best course of action would be?

[Skalanis]

Really, Turbine?

I really can't trust you guys. Don't strange if so many players stop playing. EVERY expansion you guys let something like that happen. I bought HD Premium Pack, pay my VIP every 3 months, but it's starting to get no sense. Can't play. HD delayed. 1 day without the whole game and now 3 characters bugged.

Will be 1 day that you guys will provide the game without these interruptions? I love the game, I love your support. But it's time to reconsider somethings around.

QQ

you mad?

[Keneras]

All LOTRO Game Worlds and Websites are now available. Thank you for your patience while we worked to resolve issues that resulted from a power outage at our data center. In order to provide the best possible experience for players, we will be delaying the release of Helm’s Deep until Wednesday November 20th.

As a result, we will be extending our Helm’s Deep pre-purchase offers as well as the 100% XP boost and Bounder’s Bounty events until the 20th as well.

Perhaps it's just me, but is there a good reason why the expansion content can't be assembled into an installable image that VIPs /Lifetimers could download a day or two ahead of time? This would give you a good opportunity to spread the load for the patch downloads and gives a number of paying subscribers the opportunity to forego the mindnumbing circuit hogging on RTW-day.. I'm sure you could even find a way to monetize it further than it has been already...maybe spend bounders tokens on it?

[Alex_Knight]

Are people really comparing Minecraft with LORD OF THE FRIGGING RINGS? SERIOUSLY? The fact that Lotro servers are on the same servers Minecraft is on should really be troubling to a lot of people (everyone).

One is the greatest IP ever (sorry Star Wars geeks) that is now under the umbrella of a multi billion dollar company. One some guy built in his basement and is browser based.

It would be funny if it werent so sad.

Minecraft server hosting company, not the official Minecraft site, which is likely in Sweden. I'm sure there are lots of other companies that have website server hosting in the same data center. I'm sure that Turbine is not the only company that doesn't have its game servers on site. So no, this is not troubling to me at all. It's how things work.

(Also, Minecraft is Java based, not browser based. Yes you can play it *in* a browser, but only because it is Java. Whether or not it was built in his basement, it this it's pretty telling that they are now a multi-million dollar company from just the one game, and only over the course of a few years. So even if it *was* the same servers as Mojang's site, I wouldn't be troubled.)

Additionally, no, there isn't a comparison between Lord of the Rings Online and Minecraft. In one, I can visit the Shire, and Moria. In the other, I can build them. Or Disney World. Or Azeroth. Or Hogwarts. Or you get the point. Simplicity does not equate inferiority. Just difference. I love both for different reasons.

[JohnAPrescott]

it was a joke... no they've not...

I'm already regetting posting that now...

heh, sorry...

[rodarin]

Minecraft server hosting company, not the official Minecraft site, which is likely in Sweden. I'm sure there are lots of other companies that have website server hosting in the same data center. I'm sure that Turbine is not the only company that doesn't have its game servers on site. So no, this is not troubling to me at all. It's how things work.

(Also, Minecraft is Java based, not browser based. Yes you can play it *in* a browser, but only because it is Java. Whether or not it was built in his basement, it this it's pretty telling that they are now a multi-million dollar company from just the one game, and only over the course of a few years. So even if it *was* the same servers as Mojang's site, I wouldn't be troubled.)

Additionally, no, there isn't a comparison between Lord of the Rings Online and Minecraft. In one, I can visit the Shire, and Moria. In the other, I can build them. Or Disney World. Or Azeroth. Or Hogwarts. Or you get the point. Simplicity does not equate inferiority. Just difference. I love both for different reasons.

nice try.

The FACTS are this is a company with an IP that should be a licence to print money, literally. Instead this is at least the THIRD time there has been a MAJOR outage like this. Not counting the other 10 or more ties we have ad 'minor' downtimes with related issues. So why does it keep happening? Why hasnt there been a change? Even a 'minor' one to at least address the issues that have happened in the past?

These are ultimately the results of how they have mismanaged and misused this awesome IP. How it has gone from a gold mine to whatever it is now.

Their inability to have a PROPER server set up is just an extension of how they mismanage and coordinate everything associated with this game.

Look around these forums, complete ghost towns, go look at facebook or twitter or whatever other means of communication they use. No one really cares. Thats because...no one really cares. There arent enough people left to care. I was here in 2006, and have seen this game become what it has today. It isnt like this is a shock or anything but each new era brings a new disappointed segment of people who play this game.

This game is six years old has had literally millions of people play it, I would dare say over 10 million people have tried it at one point or another. Where are they? How many people are left playing? How many people beyond ones who bought founders passes or lifetime subscriptions six year play with any regularity, and even a lot of them I suppose come and go now.

It is just sad what this game has become on all levels.

The handful of people here still defending Turbine either havent been exposed to reality yet or are paid employees pretending to be customers. But their numbers are so few now they really arent worth noting, but then again the detractors numbers arent worth noting, but mostly because theyre off playing something else right now.

This whole thing is just a..... no its not even a culmination because it will get worse you can count on it. But it is more of the same ongoing stuff that keeps piling up in this game that makes it embarrassing for a fan of the IP to even talk about in most cases.

[Belnavar]

Some servers were restarted, like Riddermark, but the problems still persist there for many players. I was able to port to and from the Moors with no issue, but as soon as I entered the AH in Galtrev I got stuck on a loading screen, until I lost my connection. I restarted and now cannot log into my main, due to the eternal loading screen and subsequent crashes. EDIT: I have finally logged back into my main after multiple restarts.

I would appreciate if Turbine could acknowledge that there is a problem and that it is continuing to work on it. I get that server problems and outages occur, but this is really unacceptable. The servers might be "up" now, but they are really not playable by a large number of people, from what I have heard and seen, and what I am continuing to experience myself.

I am concerned that this will not only impact on our ability to play for these two days before the new HD launch date, but that the continuing server issues will further impact and delay that launch.

-Bel

[airsoftg36c]

C'mon, Turbine. You just brought the 'broken' servers down to 'fix' them, then give us 'broken' servers back.

We on Riddermark are still losing connection. You've had ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT to work on this, the fact that it's taken you so long is really quite sad.

I've been off playing my other games very happily (Outlast ROCKS, BTW), I've been very patient. But I really, really would like to play some LotRO now.... Please fix 'em. For realsies this time.

[Cordovan_]

Some servers were restarted, like Riddermark, but the problems still persist there for many players. I was able to port to and from the Moors with no issue, but as soon as I entered the AH in Galtrev I got stuck on a loading screen, until I lost my connection. I restarted and now cannot log into my main, due to the eternal loading screen and subsequent crashes. EDIT: I have finally logged back into my main after multiple restarts.

I would appreciate if Turbine could acknowledge that there is a problem and that it is continuing to work on it. I get that server problems and outages occur, but this is really unacceptable. The servers might be "up" now, but they are really not playable by a large number of people, from what I have heard and seen, and what I am continuing to experience myself.

I am concerned that this will not only impact on our ability to play for these two days before the new HD launch date, but that the continuing server issues will further impact and delay that launch.

-Bel

Yes, we are aware that some people are still experiencing issues on the servers that underwent a restart this evening (Dwarrowdelf, Riddermark, Meneldor, and Nimrodel.) We are investigating.