Am I to understand that for 2 years (or more), those completed Doff assignements were putting a huge strain on the servers and noone cared or noticed? Because it worked quite well back then.
Also if I remember correctly, not all assignements were complete at the exact same time. There were usually two groups appearing as system messages across my screen one after the other, with about a two second delay.
But somehow this was changed after the 'stuck assignements bug' - starting but not limited to 'Answer subordinate challenge'. And now I keep waiting for assignements to finish. On every character. I typically have time to check my mail, refine dil (if first log in in a given day), start reputation projects and move through several maps before it's done. Often, by the time I get to a securiity officer on DS9 or ESD (haven't been on Qo'nos much, lately) to start a new contraband turn-in assignement, the previous one is still in the process of 'finishing'.
What more am I supposed to do? Go smoke outside? Go get some coffee? Is this game trying to ruin my health even more than just by playing (as in staying put in front of a computer)?
TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class. Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider. Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Maybe assignments could process in batches? Like 5 assignments at a time, with a 2-3 second delay between batches. Then 30 assignments (including R&D and sick bays and stuff) would only take 10-20ish seconds instead of two and a half minutes per character.
Nitpicking is a time-honored tradition of science fiction. Asking your readers not to worry about the "little things" is like asking a dog not to sniff at people's crotches. If there's something that appears to violate natural laws, then you can expect someone's going to point it out. That's just the way things are.
I checked with our software engineers to see if this behavior was a bug, or intended. What I learned was that this new behavior was introduced as a means to improve server stability for all players on a map.
Without this delay, we found that having a single player container load the completion data for as many as 30 or so different Assignments (including R&D) put a noteworthy strain on the map they were loaded into. If you had multiple players doing this at the same time, that load became concerning very quickly.
So, it is an intended feature, and currently working as intended.
That said, we will investigate if it can at least be tuned a bit. The current wait time is, I believe, 5 seconds between processing each completion. There is a chance that we can reduce that window. I can't make any promises, but it will be investigated.
Some of this stuff might be worth putting in a Dev Blog or using the in-game News thingy to let people know about. I know that if I hadn't decided to check the forum just when I did I'd continue to think it was an unacknowledged bug.
That said, we will investigate if it can at least be tuned a bit. The current wait time is, I believe, 5 seconds between processing each completion. There is a chance that we can reduce that window. I can't make any promises, but it will be investigated.
Thank you for the information. If that can be reduced it would be greatly appreciated.
I checked with our software engineers to see if this behavior was a bug, or intended. What I learned was that this new behavior was introduced as a means to improve server stability for all players on a map.
Without this delay, we found that having a single player container load the completion data for as many as 30 or so different Assignments (including R&D) put a noteworthy strain on the map they were loaded into. If you had multiple players doing this at the same time, that load became concerning very quickly.
So, it is an intended feature, and currently working as intended.
That said, we will investigate if it can at least be tuned a bit. The current wait time is, I believe, 5 seconds between processing each completion. There is a chance that we can reduce that window. I can't make any promises, but it will be investigated.
Huh? This makes no sense from a database perspective and it was not an issue before the UI update. If this was the case, then how come Rep Missions and Fleet Projects are completed upon log in...a.k.a. the way DOFF missions used to be.
Something changed with the UI upgrade in the way DOFF missions are processed by the servers. They should be completed upon log in...not time waited until finished. Same with the crafting projects. You guys changed the processing on the back end to make the DOFF jobs the same as the Crafting jobs. The timer after log in for both is not necessary if you have enough server computing capacity (which you do because the Rep and Fleet system follow the old paradigm).
I checked with our software engineers to see if this behavior was a bug, or intended. What I learned was that this new behavior was introduced as a means to improve server stability for all players on a map.
Without this delay, we found that having a single player container load the completion data for as many as 30 or so different Assignments (including R&D) put a noteworthy strain on the map they were loaded into. If you had multiple players doing this at the same time, that load became concerning very quickly.
So, it is an intended feature, and currently working as intended.
That said, we will investigate if it can at least be tuned a bit. The current wait time is, I believe, 5 seconds between processing each completion. There is a chance that we can reduce that window. I can't make any promises, but it will be investigated.
Thank you for the response borticuscryptic! Please get them to cut this down at least a little, it's obnoxious.
A couple follow-up questions:
Is there a specific reason why the R&D projects are subject to this delay, when the outcomes are determined when the project starts rather than upon completion?
Is there a reason why the new UI necessitated this delay, as opposed to the function of the old doffing UI which did not?
Would it help cut down on the processing load if there weren't announcements for the projects' completion going across the screen?
Is there a reason the delay was not included in Patch Notes, with the reasoning behind it?
With each passing day I wonder if I stepped into an alternate reality. The Cubs win the world series. Donald Trump is President. Britain leaves the EU. STO gets a dedicated PvP season. Engineers are "out of control" in STO.
Maybe assignments could process in batches? Like 5 assignments at a time, with a 2-3 second delay between batches. Then 30 assignments (including R&D and sick bays and stuff) would only take 10-20ish seconds instead of two and a half minutes per character.
ZOMG! On Tribble assignments are now completing in batches of three! I just had 19 assignments complete in less than a minute on a fresh character copy. There's still a 4-5 second delay between batches, but the whole affair took only 40 seconds instead of 2.5 minutes.
Nitpicking is a time-honored tradition of science fiction. Asking your readers not to worry about the "little things" is like asking a dog not to sniff at people's crotches. If there's something that appears to violate natural laws, then you can expect someone's going to point it out. That's just the way things are.
ZOMG! On Tribble assignments are now completing in batches of three! I just had 19 assignments complete in less than a minute on a fresh character copy. There's still a 4-5 second delay between batches, but the whole affair took only 40 seconds instead of 2.5 minutes.
Easy now tiger, breathe Lets see what happens on holodeck first
Also, honesty the DOFF timers never really annoyed me, though if they have cut down the timer for how they all get processed at the end, I think it is a good thing for everyone.
I checked with our software engineers to see if this behavior was a bug, or intended. What I learned was that this new behavior was introduced as a means to improve server stability for all players on a map.
Without this delay, we found that having a single player container load the completion data for as many as 30 or so different Assignments (including R&D) put a noteworthy strain on the map they were loaded into. If you had multiple players doing this at the same time, that load became concerning very quickly.
So, it is an intended feature, and currently working as intended.
That said, we will investigate if it can at least be tuned a bit. The current wait time is, I believe, 5 seconds between processing each completion. There is a chance that we can reduce that window. I can't make any promises, but it will be investigated.
I find it doubtful that checking whether 30 assignments have completed is an inherently computationally intensive problem. More likely, there is something highly unoptimized about the way you are doing the check. Some possibilities are
(1) lack of a database index,
(2) unoptimized database query,
(3) a separate database query for each assignment,
(4) a separate connection to the database for each assignment.
Comments
Also if I remember correctly, not all assignements were complete at the exact same time. There were usually two groups appearing as system messages across my screen one after the other, with about a two second delay.
But somehow this was changed after the 'stuck assignements bug' - starting but not limited to 'Answer subordinate challenge'. And now I keep waiting for assignements to finish. On every character. I typically have time to check my mail, refine dil (if first log in in a given day), start reputation projects and move through several maps before it's done. Often, by the time I get to a securiity officer on DS9 or ESD (haven't been on Qo'nos much, lately) to start a new contraband turn-in assignement, the previous one is still in the process of 'finishing'.
What more am I supposed to do? Go smoke outside? Go get some coffee? Is this game trying to ruin my health even more than just by playing (as in staying put in front of a computer)?
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
Joined January 2009
Some of this stuff might be worth putting in a Dev Blog or using the in-game News thingy to let people know about. I know that if I hadn't decided to check the forum just when I did I'd continue to think it was an unacknowledged bug.
Thank you for the information. If that can be reduced it would be greatly appreciated.
Huh? This makes no sense from a database perspective and it was not an issue before the UI update. If this was the case, then how come Rep Missions and Fleet Projects are completed upon log in...a.k.a. the way DOFF missions used to be.
Something changed with the UI upgrade in the way DOFF missions are processed by the servers. They should be completed upon log in...not time waited until finished. Same with the crafting projects. You guys changed the processing on the back end to make the DOFF jobs the same as the Crafting jobs. The timer after log in for both is not necessary if you have enough server computing capacity (which you do because the Rep and Fleet system follow the old paradigm).
Thank you for the response borticuscryptic! Please get them to cut this down at least a little, it's obnoxious.
A couple follow-up questions:
Is there a specific reason why the R&D projects are subject to this delay, when the outcomes are determined when the project starts rather than upon completion?
Is there a reason why the new UI necessitated this delay, as opposed to the function of the old doffing UI which did not?
Would it help cut down on the processing load if there weren't announcements for the projects' completion going across the screen?
Is there a reason the delay was not included in Patch Notes, with the reasoning behind it?
ZOMG! On Tribble assignments are now completing in batches of three! I just had 19 assignments complete in less than a minute on a fresh character copy. There's still a 4-5 second delay between batches, but the whole affair took only 40 seconds instead of 2.5 minutes.
Joined January 2009
Easy now tiger, breathe
Also, honesty the DOFF timers never really annoyed me, though if they have cut down the timer for how they all get processed at the end, I think it is a good thing for everyone.
I find it doubtful that checking whether 30 assignments have completed is an inherently computationally intensive problem. More likely, there is something highly unoptimized about the way you are doing the check. Some possibilities are
(1) lack of a database index,
(2) unoptimized database query,
(3) a separate database query for each assignment,
(4) a separate connection to the database for each assignment.