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Star Wars: The Old Republic hit by DDoS attacks
If you were playing Star Wars: The Old Republic yesterday, you may very well have been hit with some lag and disconnections. The good news is that it's not a problem with your ISP; the bad news is that it appears to be yet another installment in the ongoing saga of irritating twits with nothing better to do than try to damage servers. Yes, it looks like this was another DDoS attack. Community manager Eric Musco's last update on Sunday night indicates that most of the issues should be resolved now, but it's possible that players may still experience intermittent connection difficulties. The representatives from BioWare have not officially stated that it was a DDoS attack, but it lines up perfectly with a DDoS attack made against Electronic Arts servers, leading to the accepted conclusion. [Thanks to Leiloni for the tip!]
Eliot Lefebvre11.24.2014
Qualcomm wants to get into servers after conquering the mobile world
Qualcomm is sitting pretty right now. Its Snapdragon processors and cellular chips are present in most of the big-name mobile devices you can use today, whether it's the Nexus 6 or the iPhone. However, the company isn't content to stop there -- it just confirmed plans to launch its own line of server processors. CEO Steve Mollenkopf isn't offering many details just yet, but it won't surprise you to hear that these heavy duty CPUs would be ARM-based like their mobile counterparts. There's no timing yet, either, although the exec adds that his firm is already "engaged with customers."
Jon Fingas11.20.2014
Final Fantasy XIV has been besieged by DDoS attacks
If you've been playing Final Fantasy XIV over the past few evenings, you've probably noticed some issues: odd disconnections, login difficulties, things like that. Turns out it wasn't just some general server weirdness; apparently the game is being hit by DDoS attacks that are leading to heavy server load and all of the fun that comes along with it. The official post states that the attacks are being carried out by a currently unknown third party, with Square-Enix working to try to stop the attacks from all possible angles. It also apologizes for the issues that players are having. So the good news is that it's not just your connection, and the bad news is that someone decided that it's fun to be a jerk. Again.
Eliot Lefebvre11.19.2014
In Germany, these servers want to keep every home warm
Most places around the world are getting ready to bring out the blankets and coats, in preparation for the cold, cold season ahead. Knowing this, a company called Cloud & Heat has come up with a very interesting idea, one that's beneficial to both it and the parties interested in giving it a try. In exchange for heat, the Germany-based firm is offering to put a cabinet filled with servers in people's homes. As Slate points out, Cloud & Heat isn't the only company working on heat-for-server-housing program, but others aren't as advanced in the implementation stages. Unfortunately, the service isn't free for home owners, since there is a one-time (undisclosed) installation fee. The good news: Cloud & Heat takes care of the electricity and internet bills, so the deal could turn out to be more than decent.
Edgar Alvarez11.15.2014
An ArcheAge player found a way to kill the servers at will
It's never a good day when you see players on the forums boasting about causing server crashes. In nearly every single case, it's a matter of someone bragging about doing something with no actual proof as a bit of pointless ego boosting. What's worse, of course, is when a player posts about causing a crash and claiming it can be replicated... and then proceeds to do exactly that, demonstrating that the server can be crashed at will. This is apparently what happened to ArcheAge. User ArchegeDown posted a thread on the forums on Friday, stating that a specific bug was responsible for bringing down the servers and that it needed to be fixed. To prove these claims, the user caused two more server crashes at scheduled times, demonstrating the ability, with the stated intent being to simply get Trion's attention. The thread is currently locked, but it's possible that subsequent server crashes are a result of other players discovering the same method of inciting a server crash. [Thanks to xpactor and Matt for the tip!]
Eliot Lefebvre11.10.2014
ArcheAge scrambles to fix disconnection issues after update
ArcheAge launched a big update yesterday filled with exciting new features -- chiefly, new territories that players can capture, build castles upon, lay siege to, and so forth. At least, you would be able to do any of these things if you were one of the lucky few players capable of logging into the game, which has not been the case for a great many players since the update went live yesterday thanks to serious disconnection issues. As of 7:45 a.m. EST this morning, the official Trion post on the subject says the studio has devised a new build to correct the issue, and the servers were brought down early this morning to apply the patch (they're back up now). However, that might not be enough to pacify the players who are agitating for a rollback under the perception that the update's new territory was claimed while significant portions of the playerbase were forced offline. We'll have more on this situation as it develops. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in! Our own AA players are in the same boat!]
Eliot Lefebvre11.05.2014
WildStar opens up free, indefinite megaserver transfers
How's your server's population in WildStar since the switch to megaservers? Does it still feel a little empty? Community manager Tony Rey says that the team has heard the complaints that the PvP servers are quiet, and the team is responding by opening up indefinite free transfers between the PvE and PvP megaservers in both directions. You can move your PvE character to the PvP megaserver as you wish, and vice versa. Rey says that while the team was initially happy with the stats on the PvP realms, the EU PvP megaserver in particular had certain difficulties with player numbers after PvP-to-PvE transfers were opened up but before the megaservers went live. Having free transfers in place does carry the risk of allowing people to level on a PvE server only to transfer over at the level cap, but players are assured that the team is watching for shenanigans and will shut down untoward transfers. These transfers are currently open for an indefinite period of time; Carbine will decide whether or not these free transfers will remain in place after monitoring the health of the server system.
Eliot Lefebvre10.29.2014
Driveclub deploys server update, PS Plus Edition 'on hold'
PlayStation 4-exclusive racer Driveclub has seen a "significant" server update to address online issues that linger after the game's launch earlier this month, developer Evolution Studios announced. Players should see improvements in Driveclub's competitive multiplayer component starting this week, and leaderboard fixes are also on the way. Many of Driveclub's online features were previously disabled as its developers addressed connectivity issues that cropped up post-launch. "The issues with server performance were never encountered during the past year, in any of the many rounds of testing prior to launch," a reply from Driveclub's official Facebook account reads. "The servers were actually live for over a week before Oct 7 for reviewers and none of these issues were discovered during that time either. "The servers hit their absolute limit soon after the midnight launch on Oct 7 [...] and we have been working around the clock every day since, to get more servers online and improve the way that the servers handle social activity between players." The team is additionally holding back Driveclub's free PlayStation Plus Edition, pending online fixes. "The PS Plus Edition is on hold while this work progresses and we want to get it back on track as quickly as possible, because we want everyone to enjoy the game we've poured our hearts into throughout development," Evolution Studios revealed via Facebook. [Update: Evolution Studios has issued another Facebook update explaining this week's fixes in detail. "Our diagnostics show the majority of you are now able to get online and racing," the developer states. "Today we also released a server update to optimize multiplayer matchmaking so you will now be matched with more suitable players based on the type of internet connection you have, which means matchmaking should be more reliable. This update will also fix some bugs we had with clubs where some players couldn't join or leave a club."] [Image: Sony]
Danny Cowan10.28.2014
City of Steam is merging US servers on October 21st
City of Steam's US servers are coming back together. On October 21st, the US servers for the game will be merged into a single server for everyone in the US. Players on the US2 and US3 servers affected by the merges will be getting a bit of an extra benefit out of this change; not only will they get to play with a larger population, but a consolation package is being offered to players for the delay in starting the other servers in the first place. The packages consist of subscription time, Metal, Alloy, Revamp Gems, Vehicle Parts, and Lucky Scrolls; US3 characters get more of these things, but the core contents are identical. There's also an offer to European players to obtain a similar package by emailing the support department, as those servers are already merged. Read up on the details, and get ready for the world to become a bit smaller but more populated.
Eliot Lefebvre10.16.2014
ArcheAge boasts two million registered players
ArcheAge's local launch has gone pretty well, according to producer Scott Hartsman. A recent letter to the players confirms last week's whispers that over two million players have registered for the game, which certainly goes a long way to explaining those launch queues. Between North America and Europe, the game currently has 21 active servers in total, and Hartsman stated that character creation restrictions are being rolled back as the populations begin to stabilize. The letter goes on to address the issue of bots, many of which have already been unceremoniously ejected from the game. The game's most recent patch restricts chatting in several channels (Faction, Trade, Nation, Shout, and Need Party) to characters who are level 15 or higher, and a learning anti-spam feature is on track to be integrated into the base game. There's also discussion about catching up with holiday content and the like, so those two million registered players should have plenty of stuff to do.
Eliot Lefebvre10.03.2014
WildStar settles on megaserver names
Players have cast their votes for the new megaservers coming to WildStar, and the decisions have been reached. In North America, the PvE server will be Entity and the PvP server will be Warhound. European players will soon be hanging out on Jabbit (PvE) and Luminai (PvP). WildStar previously announced that it would be merging all current servers onto these four megaservers to facilitate increased population density and player interaction (and, presumably, to clean up the desolated servers). Until megaservers are instituted, players may transfer to other servers for free within their region.
Justin Olivetti09.29.2014
Rejoice! Visceral says Battlefield Hardline 'will work' at launch
Battlefield Hardline will operate as expected at launch, according to Ian Milham, creative director at Visceral Games. "What you're basically asking is, 'Is your game going to work?' And the answer is yes, it's gonna work," Milham told Game Revolution. The statement follows a rough launch for the last game game in the series, DICE's Battlefield 4, which suffered months of connectivity issues after its October 2013 arrival. That led to multiple law firms alleging that publisher EA issued "materially false and misleading statements" regarding Battlefield 4's playability. When a CEO like EA's Andrew Wilson publicly deems a game's launch as "unacceptable," questions about the next game's stability will certainly come up.
Mike Suszek09.29.2014
WildStar puts megaserver names up for a vote
Do you have strong feelings about the name of your server? Then you'll want to make sure to get involved with the poll for WildStar players that's running until September 24th at 12:30 p.m. EDT. While the megaserver system has not yet been rolled out, the team is nearly ready and is looking for feedback on just what to call the new PvE and PvP servers for each region. Both server types have five names to choose from. Currently, the North American vote is leaning toward Entity for the PvE server and Deadeye for the PvP server, but there's still enough time for players to change that trajectory. If you don't care about your server name, it's nothing to worry about, but if it matters a lot, jump on over and share your feelings.
Eliot Lefebvre09.23.2014
ArcheAge opens still more servers, promises compensation [Updated]
Trion's Scott Hartsman has delivered a "progress report" following another shaky weekend for ArcheAge's servers. He writes that patron queueing changes and three new North American servers (Ezi and Lucius Saturday and Calleil yesterday) have helped alleviate some though far from all of the login issues and queue times. To Europeans, he issues an apology, saying the new hardware for that region is still in customs and should arrive Tuesday. Daily restarts will also "flush out AFKs clogging the server," and he claims that around 10,000 botters and fraudsters have been recently banned. What about the reportedly long customer service wait times? "Our CS capacity has continuously been increasing even in the short time since launch. Chat wait times are about two thirds faster than what they were last week, even though the weekend's been the busiest time ArcheAge has seen as a whole. We're still pushing hard here to make sure even more people are wanting to help, and the next group of folks ready to help starts work first thing Monday morning." Hartsman notes that players will likely be compensated for last week's problems. "We are continuing to look into ways to make sure that everyone's made good for their troubles during this launch," he wrote. We have reached out to Trion to follow up. [Update #2: Hartsman has spoken to us about the game's launch troubles here.] [Update #1: Trion says the EU hardware has cleared customs early and is currently being set up.]
Bree Royce09.22.2014
ArcheAge battles queues with new servers, character creation blocks
In a post on the official ArcheAge site last night, Trion Worlds confirmed that it had opened two new servers and shut down character creation on others to alleviate some of the queue congestion plauging players since the game's head start last weekend. The entry reads, We've added two new worlds to our North American server list: Ezi (NA) and Lucius (NA)! These servers were racked (physically installed) and imaged (updated with ArcheAge server software) in our Texas data center all in the past day. Here you can see Ezi (NA) and Lucius (NA) in their new home with Senior Systems Engineer Jonathan Johnson. These two servers will be on the new Auction House cluster 5 (AH5). These new servers are now online and available to play right now: Friday September 19 at 4:15 PM PDT (GMT-7). Critically, four US servers -- Kyrios, Ollo, Salphira, and Aranzeb -- have been "temporarily closed to new character creation," so we sure hope you aren't trying to join friends there today. The studio also says new European servers are physically en route to the Amsterdam data center. [Thanks, Siphaed.]
Bree Royce09.20.2014
Carbine Studios planning to address WildStar server issues
Does your server in WildStar feel just a bit empty lately? Of course it does; there are always population issues in a game after the initial subscription rush, and players trying to gear up for the game's larger raids have been feeling the pinch. There's good news, however, as the developers are apparently looking into solutions. Design Producer Stephen Frost replied to fans on Twitter earlier today stating that the team is working on some new technology to help alleviate the issue of population. Whether this means a more open server structure, guesting on other servers, or something else altogether remains to be seen, but it's at least comfort for players stuck in something of a ghost town.
Eliot Lefebvre08.25.2014
Guild Wars 2 improving megaserver guilds in September
Another feature pack is rolling out for Guild Wars 2 in September, and it's bringing improvements to guild functions along with it. It's starting with the rollout of global guilds, allowing the resources earned by a given guild on all worlds to feed into the same central group, rather than creating small-scale copies of the guild on every individual world. That includes guild vaults, guild merits, and guild influence, all of which will be pooled with the feature pack update. Guild missions and finding allies on different maps will also receive improvements, making it easier to take care of objectives with your friends across the globe. The official post also discusses the language divisions found on European servers, with the team electing not to split players based upon language at this time to bolster population. Read the full update for more details on how the changes will affect guilds and players when the patch goes live in September.
Eliot Lefebvre08.25.2014
DUST 514 shuts down Oceania server
Oceania DUST 514 players have gotten an eviction notice from their home. CCP announced that it will be closing the game's Oceania battleserver this upcoming Monday, citing low population and player exploitation of those remaining. "Due to some players from other battleservers using Oceania battleservers as a venue for farming battles thanks to the lower population there, we will be shutting them down during downtime on Monday, 28th of July 2014. Any players in the Oceania region will be directed to either the Asia battleservers or the US battleservers, depending on their individual ISP routing," CCP posted. The studio said that Oceania players will be seeing "a slight increase in latency" due to the move. [Thanks to Ghural for the tip!]
Justin Olivetti07.27.2014
Russia forcing websites to store personal data within the country
The lower house of the Russian parliament (known as the State Duma) just passed a bill that could change the way the internet works within the country. If it becomes a law, websites and apps will be required to store Russian citizens' personal data on servers within the Federation itself. In other words, Russians will only be able to use Facebook, Google, Twitter and most online services if these companies decide to build or rent infrastructure in the country for their sake. That's not all, though: Russian website Lenta also reports that these companies won't even be able to transmit data to the rest of the world from within the Federation without the government's consent.
Mariella Moon07.03.2014
WildStar releases its server list
Head start for WildStar starts on Saturday, but where will you be creating your character? How can you know without a server list? You can't. So it's a good thing that the official server list has been released for both US and EU servers. A grand total of 22 servers will be available, with equal numbers for both regions and at least one PvE, RP-PvE, and PvP server for each. US PvE servers are Avatus, Caretaker, Mikros, Thunderfoot, Orias, and Stormtalon. PvP players in the US can choose between Widow, Pago, and Pergo, while roleplayers will be on Evinora. There's also an Oceanic PvE server available, Myrcalus. Meanwhile, English-speaking players in Europe will choose between Ascendancy and Eko for PvE, with Hazak for PvP and Lightspire for RP. German players get Ikthia and Kazor for PvE, Progentior for PvP, and Toria for RP. Last but not least, French players have three servers: Stormfather (PvE), Treespeaker (PvP), and Triton (RP-PvE). So you can start making your plans about where you want to go; the servers are all right here.
Eliot Lefebvre05.28.2014