Maintenance Thursday Morning [Complete]

trailturtle · January 2013

We're going to be having a normal maintenance Thursday, 1/31/13. This will be just a server restart. Estimated start time is 7 AM, estimated end time should be 9 AM.

EDIT: Because of networking issues, maintenance was delayed. Maintenance should be done within the next hour or so.

agentnx5 · January 2013

*thumbs up*

beldin · January 2013

I wonder why there even is a maintenance for CO at all, since we don't get patches or
anything else new normally since over a half year.

Is the reason the same as with the Chat-Ban System, that the real reason is that there is a
maintenance for STO and CO must also be taken down just because for the way the systems
are linked together ?

kenpojujitsu3 · January 2013

Thanks for the update TT. Has the log in issue been completely ironed out? I was able to log in without issue yesterday but don't want to go jumping for joy prematurely.

somebob · January 2013

So, again, STO gets an actual patch (with actual patch notes).

What does CO get?

Absolutely nothing.

WHERE IS OUR DEV TEAM?!?

theravenforce · January 2013

somebob wrote: »

So, again, STO gets an actual patch (with actual patch notes).

What does CO get?

Absolutely nothing.

WHERE IS OUR DEV TEAM?!?

They have been "assimilated" to STO, NWO and anything else O that doesnt include CO

theravenforce · January 2013

trailturtle wrote: »

We're going to be having a normal maintenance Thursday, 1/31/13. This will be just a server restart. Estimated start time is 7 AM, estimated end time should be 9 AM.

Hopefully this will solve the issue of the civilian eating ren cen floor outside the AH and stop the rubberbanding which cost me 4 alerts...and being able to be FC'd through MC...

netermest · January 2013

beldin wrote: »

I wonder why there even is a maintenance for CO at all, since we don't get patches or
anything else new normally since over a half year.

Is the reason the same as with the Chat-Ban System, that the real reason is that there is a
maintenance for STO and CO must also be taken down just because for the way the systems
are linked together ?

We've been getting patches the past half-year. Heck, didn't we receive grav bikes just recently? For that matter, Reloaded with the non-prototype vehicles came out less than 3 months ago.

Though for some reason, the release/patch notes haven't been updated recently.

Also, nearly every online MMO resets semi-regularly, about once every 1-2 weeks.

tangent90 · January 2013

beldin wrote: »

I wonder why there even is a maintenance for CO at all, since we don't get patches or
anything else new normally since over a half year.

Databases require regular maintenance to make sure they run efficiently. Everything about our characters is stored in a database, and as we do things database objects are constantly being added and deleted.

I don't know the details of the CO database, but in general database indexes need to be rebuilt regularly to make sure they don't slow down. Space needs to be reclaimed from deleted objects to ensure the database files don't grow infinitely. It's a lot like defragging your hard disk.

Rebooting the server is a good idea as well, since memory leaks can be devilishly difficult to track down, and regular reboots clear out any "lost" memory allocations, TCPIP ports or any other system resources.

crosschan · January 2013

It's so certain OMs, Crisis Zones, and Cutscenes in the game can function properly for 4-6 hours(tops). :biggrin:

jennymachx · January 2013

beldin wrote: »

I wonder why there even is a maintenance for CO at all, since we don't get patches or
anything else new normally since over a half year.

main?te?nance
[meyn-tuh-nuhns] Show IPA
noun
1.
the act of maintaining.
2.
the state of being maintained: the maintenance of friendly relations with England.
3.
care or upkeep, as of machinery or property: With proper maintenance the car will last for many years.
4.
means of upkeep, support, or subsistence; livelihood: to provide a comfortable maintenance.
5.
alimony or child support.

neuraldamage · January 2013

tangent90 wrote: »

Databases require regular maintenance to make sure they run efficiently. Everything about our characters is stored in a database, and as we do things database objects are constantly being added and deleted.

I don't know the details of the CO database, but in general database indexes need to be rebuilt regularly to make sure they don't slow down. Space needs to be reclaimed from deleted objects to ensure the database files don't grow infinitely. It's a lot like defragging your hard disk.

Rebooting the server is a good idea as well, since memory leaks can be devilishly difficult to track down, and regular reboots clear out any "lost" memory allocations, TCPIP ports or any other system resources.

crosschan wrote: »

It's so certain OMs, Crisis Zones, and Cutscenes in the game can function properly for 4-6 hours(tops). :biggrin:

Haha, one and the same.... Very wise. :biggrin:

meurik · January 2013

This from a recent interview of Daniel Stahl (Executive Producer, Star Trek Online);

Massively: Some players have expressed fears that there might be a bleed-off of personnel from STO when Neverwinter launches. Can you address these concerns?

Daniel Stahl: One of the strengths of our studios is that employees can quickly and easily move between projects due to the similarities in our proprietary editing engine. That said, the teams headcounts are established for most of the fiscal year, so even if some employees went onto another project, we would immediately replace them with someone else.

Notice, no mention whatsoever about the bleed-off of personnel from Champions Online to either STO or Neverwinter. I assume there ain't very many developers left actively working on CO, since it hasn't seen any MEANINGFUL updates in over 6 months. I expect (thou I hope i'm wrong), that the same bleed-off and eventual zero-development will happen with STO after Neverwinter is launched.

crosschan · January 2013

neural: Thanks

meurik: Read the forums back when STO was about to launch. The situations were very very similiar. For the time being I suspect this is the norm repeating itself.

anybody: Are the servers back up yet? My launcher is white screening and won't load properly...

jonsills · January 2013

Meurik, I doubt very much that Daniel Stahl either knows or cares about the size of CO's dev team - he's in charge of STO, not CO or NWO. That's a bit like asking Dodge's lead designer about upcoming changes to the Jeep Wrangler - to swipe an English translation of a Polish proverb from Howard Tayler, "Not my circus, not my monkey."

It might be nice, however, if we could get some word from our own guys on this - TrailTurtle has been as massively infomative as he's allowed to be, but he's obviously muzzled by his higher-ups...

lucyinspacewithdiamonds · January 2013

jennymachx wrote: »

main?te?nance
[meyn-tuh-nuhns] Show IPA
noun
1.
the act of maintaining.
2.
the state of being maintained: the maintenance of friendly relations with England.
3.
care or upkeep, as of machinery or property: With proper maintenance the car will last for many years.
4.
means of upkeep, support, or subsistence; livelihood: to provide a comfortable maintenance.
5.
alimony or child support.

heh... Well with computers a server restart is maintenance.

I like definition #5, though. ^_~ I saw you in game, by the way. :P

andromeda9899 · January 2013

Is there a problem with the game launcher?

I can't open my launcher at all. Last time I still can open my launcher even though it was during maintenance time.
Now, I am stuck with update launcher and then get a message saying failed to connect.

themightyzenith · January 2013

crosschan wrote: »

Are the servers back up yet? My launcher is white screening and won't load properly...

......mine too

pallihwtf · January 2013

Same here can't establish a connection to the patch server. FIX EEEEEEEEEETT

theravenforce · January 2013

GAAAAAAAIZZZZZZZ...I cant connect...at all..we haz teh problems...

EDIT: It would not even connect to the patch server...the little box shows up then nothing...Q_Q..TrailTurtle we need yew

EDIT 2: Hrrm...not sure what is going on here...I get a launcher box but it is totally blank...

gtw891 · January 2013

Launcher isn't coming online for me either. Glad I'm not the only one with that problem here and hope it's corrected soon.

tangent90 · January 2013

Yep, I'm also stuck at the tiny dialog "Trying to update the launcher" dialog instead of getting the normal updater window.

neuraldamage · January 2013

andromeda9899 wrote: »

Is there a problem with the game launcher?

I can't open my launcher at all. Last time I still can open my launcher even though it was during maintenance time.
Now, I am stuck with update launcher and then get a message saying failed to connect.

Yep. STO says they are running tests on the connection issue during the maintenance period and are supposed to end when the maintenance does.

I can't open either launcher though.

Why is it CO can't get the notification that STO does btw? :mad:

drgmstr · January 2013

Having trouble as well. I tried to launch game through both Steam and installed program. Seems this maintenance once again fixes one bug, creates two more.

themightyzenith · January 2013

neuraldamage wrote: »

Why is it CO can't get the notification that STO does btw? :mad:

Unfortunately, we know the answer to this...........Daddy hates his oldest child

ayala725 · January 2013

beldin wrote: »

I wonder why there even is a maintenance for CO at all, since we don't get patches or
anything else new normally since over a half year.

Is the reason the same as with the Chat-Ban System, that the real reason is that there is a
maintenance for STO and CO must also be taken down just because for the way the systems
are linked together ?

Not sure if it was clarified, but Server Maintenance usually involves Defragmenting and Clean-up with your standard Restart after upkeep is finished. It makes things like map loading faster and server stability higher because it realigns all the data on the server's hard drives.

Even if there aren't any patches, we still all manipulate the server's data from our end as the computers interact with each other. If you don't already have a PC Tune Up or Maintenance Routine, you should look into doing that.

You could possibly make your computer run CO even better than before if you do Maintenance on your machine while they do it on theirs!

drgmstr · January 2013

ayala725 wrote: »

Not sure if it was clarified, but Server Maintenance usually involves Defragmenting and Clean-up with your standard Restart after upkeep is finished. It makes things like map loading faster and server stability higher because it realigns all the data on the server's hard drives.

Even if there aren't any patches, we still all manipulate the server's data from our end as the computers interact with each other. If you don't already have a PC Tune Up or Maintenance Routine, you should look into doing that.

You could possibly make your computer run CO even better than before if you do Maintenance on your machine while they do it on theirs!

I Agree with this.

Most of the time its not the game that is the problem, it can be your machine as well. Right now I am using this time to check my system for any updates, found one for my graphics card and taking the opportunity to make my CO experience better.

retcon1 · January 2013

Wow, this is weird. The Launcher keeps telling me that it can't connect because I'm not connected to the internet. But then... How am I posting here? It must be magic! Super Cryptic magic that lets me post on the forums while I'm really offline! Yay!

tangent90 · January 2013

neuraldamage wrote: »

Yep. STO says they are running tests on the connection issue during the maintenance period and are supposed to end when the maintenance does.

I can't open either launcher though.

Why is it CO can't get the notification that STO does btw? :mad:

Now that I try to launch Star Trek I see that it has the same problem. What's worse is that the STO website appears to be hosed; at least we can still get on the CO forums and whine

.

trailturtle · January 2013

neuraldamage wrote: »

Why is it CO can't get the notification that STO does btw? :mad:

Because yours truly just got in the office. I'm emailing the network engineers, I'll update you if I learn anything -- thanks for your patience, everyone.

red0beer · January 2013

Same here... =/

theravenforce · January 2013

trailturtle wrote: »

Because yours truly just got in the office. I'm emailing the network engineers, I'll update you if I learn anything -- thanks for your patience, everyone.

Oh yew

*Infuses everyone with 100% Pure Patience*

We shall wait

drgmstr · January 2013

trailturtle wrote: »

Because yours truly just got in the office. I'm emailing the network engineers, I'll update you if I learn anything -- thanks for your patience, everyone.

In the mean time, anyone have any good knock knock jokes? :biggrin:

red0beer · January 2013

It seems that all games from Cryptic Studios are with connection issues...

neuraldamage · January 2013

trailturtle wrote: »

Because yours truly just got in the office. I'm emailing the network engineers, I'll update you if I learn anything -- thanks for your patience, everyone.

Fair enough. Probably saying, "holy crap, not again!" :biggrin:

Might want to plan on an early morning for "the engineers are doing what" days though, maybe a big bowl of bran? Helps keep one regular.

originalbaxter · January 2013

Knock-knock.

Who's there?

Little old lady.

Little old lady who?

Wow, I didn't know you could yodel.

themightyzenith · January 2013

drgmstr wrote: »

In the mean time, anyone have any good knock knock jokes? :biggrin:

Knock! Knock!......

itsbrou · January 2013

Knock knock,

Who's there?

Knock.

Knock who?

Knock nobody because they have 3 stacks of resistance.

trailturtle · January 2013

To quote the email I got from the engineers, we're having "a major network event" in Boston. Current symptoms are that the launcher does not load, at all. I'm experiencing this as well. At a guess, anyone currently logged in is going to be able to stay online, but if you log out you won't be able to get back in.

Since this was going on when we were scheduled to start maintenance, we're postponing maintenance to later in the day, after this is resolved. We've got a number of engineers working on this right now, and I'll update whenever I get more information.

(Also: I'm not sure whether this is the same issue as the launcher issues earlier. It behaves similarly, but I can't be sure it's the same.)

xcaligax · January 2013

It looks like it's time for Caliga to once again save the day and get the CO launcher working again. Excuse me while I get to work!

*Starts yelling at the computer*

themightyzenith · January 2013

Knock, Knock!.........

Who's there?........

A CO dev.............

Hahahahahahahahahaha! That's a good one!

:biggrin:

pion01 · January 2013

neuraldamage wrote: »

Why is it CO can't get the notification that STO does btw? :mad:

Cuz STO still has employees?

thunderer87 · January 2013

My launcher is working again now. Looks like the issue has been solved.

Edit: No wait, it started now, but keeps showing the "Loading. Please Wait." screen.

jonsills · January 2013

I'll check again, but as of five minutes ago it was all offline here. (Heck, I couldn't even access the forums!)

And along with all the other weird stuff I noted before, Twitter was offline for several hours this morning, and the New York Times reports that they have been undergoing a several-month-long cyberattack by Chinese hackers, using what appear to be known military viruses. It does cause me to vaguely wonder if any of the recently-broken online systems have been inadvertently playing host to a Chinese attack bot.

And now I feel like I may have wandered into a William Gibson novel...

Update: Nope, launcher still can't connect to the patch server.

bwdares · January 2013

Hey TT the main page still shows the Servers are still up. I would have someone change that.

neuraldamage · January 2013

trailturtle wrote: »

To quote the email I got from the engineers, we're having "a major network event" in Boston. Current symptoms are that the launcher does not load, at all. I'm experiencing this as well. At a guess, anyone currently logged in is going to be able to stay online, but if you log out you won't be able to get back in.

Since this was going on when we were scheduled to start maintenance, we're postponing maintenance to later in the day, after this is resolved. We've got a number of engineers working on this right now, and I'll update whenever I get more information.

(Also: I'm not sure whether this is the same issue as the launcher issues earlier. It behaves similarly, but I can't be sure it's the same.)

Yep, Boston is where my trace route is going to die.

perfectworldent-4.border11.bsn.pnap.net

Thanks for the update.

retcon1 · January 2013

trailturtle wrote: »

Because yours truly just got in the office. I'm emailing the network engineers, I'll update you if I learn anything -- thanks for your patience, everyone.

That was a suprisingly simple and direct answer. I might have to start thinking about these people as human. Please stop that, it's very confusing.

red0beer · January 2013

-Knock!Knock!!
-"Who's there?"
-"Trying to update the Launcher.
Please be patient."
-Awww.. Dammm..

=/

red0beer · January 2013

jonsills wrote: »

I'll check again, but as of five minutes ago it was all offline here. (Heck, I couldn't even access the forums!)

And along with all the other weird stuff I noted before, Twitter was offline for several hours this morning, and the New York Times reports that they have been undergoing a several-month-long cyberattack by Chinese hackers, using what appear to be known military viruses. It does cause me to vaguely wonder if any of the recently-broken online systems have been inadvertently playing host to a Chinese attack bot.

And now I feel like I may have wandered into a William Gibson novel...

Maybe it's SkyNet, trying to make us belive that this is a work frm the chineses.. =x

ayala725 · January 2013

trailturtle wrote: »

To quote the email I got from the engineers, we're having "a major network event" in Boston. Current symptoms are that the launcher does not load, at all. I'm experiencing this as well. At a guess, anyone currently logged in is going to be able to stay online, but if you log out you won't be able to get back in.

Since this was going on when we were scheduled to start maintenance, we're postponing maintenance to later in the day, after this is resolved. We've got a number of engineers working on this right now, and I'll update whenever I get more information.

(Also: I'm not sure whether this is the same issue as the launcher issues earlier. It behaves similarly, but I can't be sure it's the same.)

Thank you. Also, it seems that Account Profile Management and Editing features are having an issue. I've tried to access the Avatars page, but the 'Gateway Timeout' screen keeps popping up.

I hope it helps.

Maintenance Thursday Morning [Complete]

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