On triniel 3h 23m and not budging for the past 30 or so minutes .........lame chit
On another note I agree CE / Preorders were a set number of copies if they cannot account for sales intime for launch like they screwed up ingame items deployment for em 2 days or so thats pretty fail. I myself bought CE to get a headstart like they marketed, but end up wasting my time and money for few weeks + You know once the 25th rolls around it will be the same story "oh were monitering it so be calm make sure to keep the subscription up so we can keep accurate numbers guys! " I am betting atleast 2 weeks of que's for the most part during that time 10 new servers to open up still will need alot of ironing.
Yes they should credit all the people who preordered CE or basic preorder and not some lame time or silly useless item 50-60 dollars is alot to spend these days for most people to spare they should honor that .
Good interview, you were to the point and AION/NCsoft avoided any defo answer SHAME on you!!!!
Never had a queue, oh wait, thats because I intentionally rolled on a low pop server... like an intelligent person would do.. ...you know, instead of intentionally rolling on a high pop server then spending the rest of the evening whining about the queue times on forums...
right...enjoy being the only person playing on your server 6 months down the line when that low pop server has canceled subscribers and they won't merge your server
3 hour queues is a joke. Unfortunately (for me, and no fault of NCSoft's), I have been part of a large guild for a long time. Any server we choose will be a high-population server. So I have yet to actually play. I dutifully logged in on Friday with my account and my two sons' accounts and created characters on the server where dozens of my friends will be playing. Sunday, the queue time was nearly 5 hours... throughout the day. Monday, same story. Ridiculously long queue times. Basically the queue times are so long that even if I log in to play on the server with my friends (granted, I wouldn't really play until after bedtime, so this *could* work), I would miss all opportunity to play with my kids. So regardless of whatever excuse they use, there are two kids here who saved up their allowance to play with our very large group of friends and are disappointed beyond understanding. The youngest near tears. Paint it however you want, this is putting a very foul taste in our mouths. I really had high hopes for this game. I truly hope they fix it quickly, because if our pre-order pre-subbed free month runs out and we still haven't gotten a decent taste of the game, they'll never see another dime. I just wish we had purchased retail boxes so we could resell the keys without using them. Either that or we play the game without any of the friends we've made over the years. Caveat Emptor
I remember when I was a wee lad, I had to wait through the game queue, barefoot, uphil both ways, and it was snowing outside...In the summer!
On triniel 3h 23m and not budging for the past 30 or so minutes .........lame chit On another note I agree CE / Preorders were a set number of copies if they cannot account for sales intime for launch like they screwed up ingame items deployment for em 2 days or so thats pretty fail. I myself bought CE to get a headstart like they marketed, but end up wasting my time and money for few weeks + You know once the 25th rolls around it will be the same story "oh were monitering it so be calm make sure to keep the subscription up so we can keep accurate numbers guys! " I am betting atleast 2 weeks of que's for the most part during that time 10 new servers to open up still will need alot of ironing.
Yes they should credit all the people who preordered CE or basic preorder and not some lame time or silly useless item 50-60 dollars is alot to spend these days for most people to spare they should honor that .
Good interview, you were to the point and AION/NCsoft avoided any defo answer SHAME on you!!!!
In game items were not to be available until the 22nd, they started to release them a day early - what's the problem?
Azphel tonight, wait time 2.5hrs again. Today is retail release. How many people are going to want to play Aion when they can't even get onto the servers!? Most of the server wait times tonight on NA servers is around 2+hrs! The interview didn't help ally my fears for continual long wait times on ANY NA server! Etiher more servers are going to have to come online or the servers are going to have to be able to handle more customers.
I had my first que last night, for those who've been following what I've been writing. It was 1 hour long. I didn't sit around for it, because it was close to bed time. I still stand by what I said, I'd prefer a que time than closing servers months down the line. Closing servers messes with character names, guild names, and mixes communities that may be different.
I think it's rather impatient for people to get upset over a wise decision, but I do understand the impatience. The 3 hours prior to headstart, I could hardly contain my excitement. I'd of been heart broken if I had a long que to face. However, everyone must see reason eventually. It's unreasonable to expect them to make everyone suffer or the players who will become the core players suffer by making rash decisions now. Creating a bunch of server is a rash decision that they'll pay for, unless their sub number only grow, which is possible. Letting everyone in on the current servers is rash, because then you have 100 people competing for the same spawns, plus the area will have high latency for even the best computers and internet connection; I've been there.
I can see how letting the population in a little at a time can piss off some of you that are competitive and want to be server first, or those of you who wanted to level up with friends. Just try and be reasonable and look at this from a long-term view, and not just the short-term. In the short-term, granting your wish would make you happy, until you start complaining about getting your kills stolen, or there not being enough spawns, or the game being laggy, or 3 months from now your server merging with another and your name being taken.
AION should compensate for the lost game time, I can't argue against that.
AION devs did the right thing. I haven't had to wait in a que yet, but I'd rather wait in a que than log into a server than turns desolate after 2-3 months (like WAR). Let them do their number crunching and implement servers only when those numbers show that it's necessary.
I want to definitely second this. While the queues do suck, the last thing I want to see a few months down the line are server mergers and servers where the population dwindles.
I agree as well. Then again, I've never seen my queue time over 54 minutes. Also, none of my times lasted as long as estimated when I joined in. That time I waited maybe 30 actual minutes. Not a big deal and certainly not a deal breaker for me.
As far as rolling on a server without a wait time, all the servers have queues when I log in. Doesn't matter which server I pick.
It makes perfect sense that they can't open the servers at maximum capacity. Not only do they need to encourage balance across all servers, there's also the matter of player density. At launch, EVERYONE is packed into two starter zones. Remember Ironforge when WoW first launched? There's only so much that any server and engine can manage. So at launch, the server cap needs to be the lowest it will ever be. As people move out of the starting zone, they can raise the cap without overtaxing the starter zone density.
I believe that NCSoft played it right here. For one thing, we are seeing the queues fade. Yesterday was launch day, and I still only had a 25 minute queue -- similar to what I experienced on my server when WoW first launched. That's much better than the 2 hours that people were seeing on the same server during head start.
What good would opening up more servers now do? Would you leave your current server to jump to whatever new one opened? If not, why do you think anyone else would? We've already got friends and legions that we're running with, to say nothing of the time invested in our characters so far. Would another server stop someone's friend from rolling on a high population server so they could play together? Really, the only people who would be affected by new servers opening are those who are just rolling up new characters today. But there are already lower population servers with no queues, so it's not like new players don't have someplace to go.
We've seen other games launch and then add new servers too quickly. Most notably, AoC and WAR. Now look at them. One of the reasons many people quit those games was the complaint that the games' key areas were ghost towns. What fun is a PvP-focused game if there's nobody to fight? NCSoft clearly recognizes that there will be attrition after the first month. There always is. It's better for the game's long term to suffer through some queues at the start than to lose people later thanks to empty servers.
Originally posted by Jangocat This is the kind of BS marketing type answer I would have expected. I never expected them to admit that they miscalculated demand, which they clearly did. I expect a rough couple weeks then they will throw a bone out like a few free days or some in game item to calm the masses.
Did you really read the article???
I will explain in simple terms so you understand.
1. They had numbers for people that were playing Betas and Headstart.
2. They did not have numbers for how many people will be playing at launch and thereafter.
3. Not everyone playing the Betas and Headstart are gonna buy the game to play after launch.
So lets put this together.
Your Way:
Open as many servers as needed to accomodate all the people in que for the Headstart.
Now its 2 days after the actual launch and Headstart is over. 1/3 of the people decided not to purchase the game and play after Headstart. (Not actual numbers, just trying to show a point)
So now instead of having 12 good servers that are evenly busy, we have 24 servers, some with waiting ques and some with a small population.
That makes no sense to do it this way!
The problem is you cant add servers without keeping them. People create characters on them. Too many servers is worse for the game than a que in Headstart.
It seems it is on a first come first serve basis and that is completely wrong. Granted the first month of gameplay is no charge but people did pay for the box so they expect to be able to play. I can see NCsoft losing many subs in the NA/EU if they fail to do something about the wait times.
The earlier you get on, the less you have to wait. No waiting times in the afternoons. Which is probably why there are so many AFK shops. People getting in while they can and then returning when they have the time to play.
"So I contend that the player stories will always be more powerful than the scripted stories that we try to tell the players."
Originally posted by Jangocat This is the kind of BS marketing type answer I would have expected. I never expected them to admit that they miscalculated demand, which they clearly did. I expect a rough couple weeks then they will throw a bone out like a few free days or some in game item to calm the masses.
Did you really read the article???
I will explain in simple terms so you understand.
1. They had numbers for people that were playing Betas and Headstart.
2. They did not have numbers for how many people will be playing at launch and thereafter.
3. Not everyone playing the Betas and Headstart are gonna buy the game to play after launch.
So lets put this together.
Your Way:
Open as many servers as needed to accomodate all the people in que for the Headstart.
Now its 2 days after the actual launch and Headstart is over. 1/3 of the people decided not to purchase the game and play after Headstart. (Not actual numbers, just trying to show a point)
So now instead of having 12 good servers that are evenly busy, we have 24 servers, some with waiting ques and some with a small population.
That makes no sense to do it this way!
The problem is you cant add servers without keeping them. People create characters on them. Too many servers is worse for the game than a que in Headstart.
You should post that reply under the title "How not to run a MMO". Every MMO that comes out these days better have a plan for server consolidation. It is a fact of life. Having large queues is an immediate way to inform players you don't care about them which will pretty much kill your chances of getting them to subscribe. NCSoft is doing this in fine form. I just feel sorry for all those players who bought the box and can't play.
To the poster that said play earlier, what a clueless post, most of us who play work, games are for evenings. Get a job and start earning your keep.
"To the poster that said play earlier, what a clueless post, most of us who play work, games are for evenings. Get a job and start earning your keep."
What a clueless attitude. Glad you have your life all settled so you can look down on others. Most people want to work, but that's not the same as there's a job for them. Or that they're capable of working. Or any other million reasons for not having a job. I still claim you need a bridge, Ozmodan.
"So I contend that the player stories will always be more powerful than the scripted stories that we try to tell the players."
Originally posted by Jangocat This is the kind of BS marketing type answer I would have expected. I never expected them to admit that they miscalculated demand, which they clearly did. I expect a rough couple weeks then they will throw a bone out like a few free days or some in game item to calm the masses.
Did you really read the article???
I will explain in simple terms so you understand.
1. They had numbers for people that were playing Betas and Headstart.
2. They did not have numbers for how many people will be playing at launch and thereafter.
3. Not everyone playing the Betas and Headstart are gonna buy the game to play after launch.
So lets put this together.
Your Way:
Open as many servers as needed to accomodate all the people in que for the Headstart.
Now its 2 days after the actual launch and Headstart is over. 1/3 of the people decided not to purchase the game and play after Headstart. (Not actual numbers, just trying to show a point)
So now instead of having 12 good servers that are evenly busy, we have 24 servers, some with waiting ques and some with a small population.
That makes no sense to do it this way!
The problem is you cant add servers without keeping them. People create characters on them. Too many servers is worse for the game than a que in Headstart.
You should post that reply under the title "How not to run a MMO". Every MMO that comes out these days better have a plan for server consolidation. It is a fact of life. Having large queues is an immediate way to inform players you don't care about them which will pretty much kill your chances of getting them to subscribe. NCSoft is doing this in fine form. I just feel sorry for all those players who bought the box and can't play.
To the poster that said play earlier, what a clueless post, most of us who play work, games are for evenings. Get a job and start earning your keep.
As a PAYING player (I did not only use the preorder that let's people that are not planning to buy the game play the headstart These people will be gone in a couple days) I would rather see a little congestion for the first couple weeks than have them make to many servers only to have to merge them and screw up character names and legion names 3 months down the road.
You act as though they are doing nothing and that this is going to be an on going problem. Well it wont be.
People like you that only think of NOW have no concept of what your NOW actions will do to you in the future.
I'm satisfied with their responses. It's absolutely ignorant to pick a server you are going to play before they are up and expect to play on that server with no queue's. There are servers with no queue's, why not play on them? These queue's won't last forever and NCSoft is actually being responsible about this. The customer is not always right, if they give in it will hurt them down the road, and us players down the road when the Abyss is deserted because all the gamehoppers left.
I'm satisfied with their responses. It's absolutely ignorant to pick a server you are going to play before they are up and expect to play on that server with no queue's. There are servers with no queue's, why not play on them? These queue's won't last forever and NCSoft is actually being responsible about this. The customer is not always right, if they give in it will hurt them down the road, and us players down the road when the Abyss is deserted because all the gamehoppers left.
Im sorry you but are very wrong.
There are NO servers with low pops in Europe at all anymore. Even the FRA and GER servers would not permit us to join the queue last night (sunday). Repeated spam-clicking on my server Gorgos would get me into the queue after nearly 5 min of clicking only to be greated with a 2hr+ queue that I would get DC'd from after 5 min.
Your argument seems to be that catering to those of us who want to play but cant will only hurt the experiance of players like you who have no problems logging into a game at lunch time. What a hugely obnoxious and selfish standpoint. We paid the same as you and expect the same quality of service.
You dropped the term 'Game hopper' in your comment too... nice. So you do believe a company should sell the game to everyone it can but only provide service to its self appointed elite customers like yourself?
You believe NCSOFT doesnt want WOW like success and intenionally designed a game to fit a small number of privedged gamers? and you applaud this?
Comments
On triniel 3h 23m and not budging for the past 30 or so minutes .........lame chit
On another note I agree CE / Preorders were a set number of copies if they cannot account for sales intime for launch like they screwed up ingame items deployment for em 2 days or so thats pretty fail. I myself bought CE to get a headstart like they marketed, but end up wasting my time and money for few weeks + You know once the 25th rolls around it will be the same story "oh were monitering it so be calm make sure to keep the subscription up so we can keep accurate numbers guys! " I am betting atleast 2 weeks of que's for the most part during that time 10 new servers to open up still will need alot of ironing.
Yes they should credit all the people who preordered CE or basic preorder and not some lame time or silly useless item 50-60 dollars is alot to spend these days for most people to spare they should honor that .
Good interview, you were to the point and AION/NCsoft avoided any defo answer SHAME on you!!!!
right...enjoy being the only person playing on your server 6 months down the line when that low pop server has canceled subscribers and they won't merge your server
I remember when I was a wee lad, I had to wait through the game queue, barefoot, uphil both ways, and it was snowing outside...In the summer!
RELAX!@!! BREATHE!!!
In game items were not to be available until the 22nd, they started to release them a day early - what's the problem?
Azphel tonight, wait time 2.5hrs again. Today is retail release. How many people are going to want to play Aion when they can't even get onto the servers!? Most of the server wait times tonight on NA servers is around 2+hrs! The interview didn't help ally my fears for continual long wait times on ANY NA server! Etiher more servers are going to have to come online or the servers are going to have to be able to handle more customers.
I have only one thing to say about Aion, - Lani Blazer - WOW whee!
I had my first que last night, for those who've been following what I've been writing. It was 1 hour long. I didn't sit around for it, because it was close to bed time. I still stand by what I said, I'd prefer a que time than closing servers months down the line. Closing servers messes with character names, guild names, and mixes communities that may be different.
I think it's rather impatient for people to get upset over a wise decision, but I do understand the impatience. The 3 hours prior to headstart, I could hardly contain my excitement. I'd of been heart broken if I had a long que to face. However, everyone must see reason eventually. It's unreasonable to expect them to make everyone suffer or the players who will become the core players suffer by making rash decisions now. Creating a bunch of server is a rash decision that they'll pay for, unless their sub number only grow, which is possible. Letting everyone in on the current servers is rash, because then you have 100 people competing for the same spawns, plus the area will have high latency for even the best computers and internet connection; I've been there.
I can see how letting the population in a little at a time can piss off some of you that are competitive and want to be server first, or those of you who wanted to level up with friends. Just try and be reasonable and look at this from a long-term view, and not just the short-term. In the short-term, granting your wish would make you happy, until you start complaining about getting your kills stolen, or there not being enough spawns, or the game being laggy, or 3 months from now your server merging with another and your name being taken.
AION should compensate for the lost game time, I can't argue against that.
I want to definitely second this. While the queues do suck, the last thing I want to see a few months down the line are server mergers and servers where the population dwindles.
I agree as well. Then again, I've never seen my queue time over 54 minutes. Also, none of my times lasted as long as estimated when I joined in. That time I waited maybe 30 actual minutes. Not a big deal and certainly not a deal breaker for me.
As far as rolling on a server without a wait time, all the servers have queues when I log in. Doesn't matter which server I pick.
It makes perfect sense that they can't open the servers at maximum capacity. Not only do they need to encourage balance across all servers, there's also the matter of player density. At launch, EVERYONE is packed into two starter zones. Remember Ironforge when WoW first launched? There's only so much that any server and engine can manage. So at launch, the server cap needs to be the lowest it will ever be. As people move out of the starting zone, they can raise the cap without overtaxing the starter zone density.
I believe that NCSoft played it right here. For one thing, we are seeing the queues fade. Yesterday was launch day, and I still only had a 25 minute queue -- similar to what I experienced on my server when WoW first launched. That's much better than the 2 hours that people were seeing on the same server during head start.
What good would opening up more servers now do? Would you leave your current server to jump to whatever new one opened? If not, why do you think anyone else would? We've already got friends and legions that we're running with, to say nothing of the time invested in our characters so far. Would another server stop someone's friend from rolling on a high population server so they could play together? Really, the only people who would be affected by new servers opening are those who are just rolling up new characters today. But there are already lower population servers with no queues, so it's not like new players don't have someplace to go.
We've seen other games launch and then add new servers too quickly. Most notably, AoC and WAR. Now look at them. One of the reasons many people quit those games was the complaint that the games' key areas were ghost towns. What fun is a PvP-focused game if there's nobody to fight? NCSoft clearly recognizes that there will be attrition after the first month. There always is. It's better for the game's long term to suffer through some queues at the start than to lose people later thanks to empty servers.
Did you really read the article???
I will explain in simple terms so you understand.
1. They had numbers for people that were playing Betas and Headstart.
2. They did not have numbers for how many people will be playing at launch and thereafter.
3. Not everyone playing the Betas and Headstart are gonna buy the game to play after launch.
So lets put this together.
Your Way:
Open as many servers as needed to accomodate all the people in que for the Headstart.
Now its 2 days after the actual launch and Headstart is over. 1/3 of the people decided not to purchase the game and play after Headstart. (Not actual numbers, just trying to show a point)
So now instead of having 12 good servers that are evenly busy, we have 24 servers, some with waiting ques and some with a small population.
That makes no sense to do it this way!
The problem is you cant add servers without keeping them. People create characters on them. Too many servers is worse for the game than a que in Headstart.
It seems it is on a first come first serve basis and that is completely wrong. Granted the first month of gameplay is no charge but people did pay for the box so they expect to be able to play. I can see NCsoft losing many subs in the NA/EU if they fail to do something about the wait times.
The earlier you get on, the less you have to wait. No waiting times in the afternoons. Which is probably why there are so many AFK shops. People getting in while they can and then returning when they have the time to play.
"So I contend that the player stories will always be more powerful than the scripted stories that we try to tell the players."
- Will Wright
Did you really read the article???
I will explain in simple terms so you understand.
1. They had numbers for people that were playing Betas and Headstart.
2. They did not have numbers for how many people will be playing at launch and thereafter.
3. Not everyone playing the Betas and Headstart are gonna buy the game to play after launch.
So lets put this together.
Your Way:
Open as many servers as needed to accomodate all the people in que for the Headstart.
Now its 2 days after the actual launch and Headstart is over. 1/3 of the people decided not to purchase the game and play after Headstart. (Not actual numbers, just trying to show a point)
So now instead of having 12 good servers that are evenly busy, we have 24 servers, some with waiting ques and some with a small population.
That makes no sense to do it this way!
The problem is you cant add servers without keeping them. People create characters on them. Too many servers is worse for the game than a que in Headstart.
You should post that reply under the title "How not to run a MMO". Every MMO that comes out these days better have a plan for server consolidation. It is a fact of life. Having large queues is an immediate way to inform players you don't care about them which will pretty much kill your chances of getting them to subscribe. NCSoft is doing this in fine form. I just feel sorry for all those players who bought the box and can't play.
To the poster that said play earlier, what a clueless post, most of us who play work, games are for evenings. Get a job and start earning your keep.
"To the poster that said play earlier, what a clueless post, most of us who play work, games are for evenings. Get a job and start earning your keep."
What a clueless attitude. Glad you have your life all settled so you can look down on others. Most people want to work, but that's not the same as there's a job for them. Or that they're capable of working. Or any other million reasons for not having a job. I still claim you need a bridge, Ozmodan.
"So I contend that the player stories will always be more powerful than the scripted stories that we try to tell the players."
- Will Wright
Did you really read the article???
I will explain in simple terms so you understand.
1. They had numbers for people that were playing Betas and Headstart.
2. They did not have numbers for how many people will be playing at launch and thereafter.
3. Not everyone playing the Betas and Headstart are gonna buy the game to play after launch.
So lets put this together.
Your Way:
Open as many servers as needed to accomodate all the people in que for the Headstart.
Now its 2 days after the actual launch and Headstart is over. 1/3 of the people decided not to purchase the game and play after Headstart. (Not actual numbers, just trying to show a point)
So now instead of having 12 good servers that are evenly busy, we have 24 servers, some with waiting ques and some with a small population.
That makes no sense to do it this way!
The problem is you cant add servers without keeping them. People create characters on them. Too many servers is worse for the game than a que in Headstart.
You should post that reply under the title "How not to run a MMO". Every MMO that comes out these days better have a plan for server consolidation. It is a fact of life. Having large queues is an immediate way to inform players you don't care about them which will pretty much kill your chances of getting them to subscribe. NCSoft is doing this in fine form. I just feel sorry for all those players who bought the box and can't play.
To the poster that said play earlier, what a clueless post, most of us who play work, games are for evenings. Get a job and start earning your keep.
As a PAYING player (I did not only use the preorder that let's people that are not planning to buy the game play the headstart These people will be gone in a couple days) I would rather see a little congestion for the first couple weeks than have them make to many servers only to have to merge them and screw up character names and legion names 3 months down the road.
You act as though they are doing nothing and that this is going to be an on going problem. Well it wont be.
People like you that only think of NOW have no concept of what your NOW actions will do to you in the future.
Go play WoW.
NCSoft keep up the great work!!!
I'm satisfied with their responses. It's absolutely ignorant to pick a server you are going to play before they are up and expect to play on that server with no queue's. There are servers with no queue's, why not play on them? These queue's won't last forever and NCSoft is actually being responsible about this. The customer is not always right, if they give in it will hurt them down the road, and us players down the road when the Abyss is deserted because all the gamehoppers left.
Im sorry you but are very wrong.
There are NO servers with low pops in Europe at all anymore. Even the FRA and GER servers would not permit us to join the queue last night (sunday). Repeated spam-clicking on my server Gorgos would get me into the queue after nearly 5 min of clicking only to be greated with a 2hr+ queue that I would get DC'd from after 5 min.
Your argument seems to be that catering to those of us who want to play but cant will only hurt the experiance of players like you who have no problems logging into a game at lunch time. What a hugely obnoxious and selfish standpoint. We paid the same as you and expect the same quality of service.
You dropped the term 'Game hopper' in your comment too... nice. So you do believe a company should sell the game to everyone it can but only provide service to its self appointed elite customers like yourself?
You believe NCSOFT doesnt want WOW like success and intenionally designed a game to fit a small number of privedged gamers? and you applaud this?
I think you need to get out more.