Server bugs result in World of Warcraft expansion to be stopped by Leo Klion Technology desk Editor
17 November 2014
World of Warcraft subscribers are experiencing crashes and lengthy waits to start playing after the latest expansion pack became the latest video game to suffer computer server problems.
Developer Blizzard has published a series blog posts since Thursday detailing efforts to correct the problems.
These included making servers in Europe unavailable for nearly five hours on Saturday in order to upgrade the hardware.
One company watcher commented that it was shocking considering Blizzard's experience.
Warlords of Draenor released to sale on Thursday is the fifth expansion for WoW's fantasy-based game for 10 years. datchley's blog It lets players play on Draenor the orc-controlled planet.
"While the majority of our players are able to play, we're sorry that a few aren't allowed to play before they're allowed in, due to a combination demand and the mitigating steps we've taken," a spokesperson for Blizzard spoke to the BBC.
"We've been working round the clock to upgrade hardware as well as implement further software solutions to reduce the wait times to get in and we've already noticed an improvement in the process."
Other titles experiencing server issues include Microsoft's sci-fi shooter Halo: The Master Chief Collection. This game was released on Wednesday.
The company that developed it, 343 Industries, has acknowledged "frustrating" issues with its Matchmaking system that connects players over the internet for multiplayer battles. As a result, 343 Industries delayed the release of an associated esports league.
"We're working around the clock with the Xbox Live team, to improve the situation," a Microsoft spokesman told the BBC.
"This is our top priority. We will keep everyone informed via Halo Waypoint."
Sony's multiplayer racing game Driveclub is also experiencing connectivity issues for more than a month after it went on sale. Evolution the studio that created the game announced on Friday that it would offer content for free.
"If you put products for sale it's expected to function in a manner that is standard retail etiquette" commented James Batchelor, editor of games industry magazine Develop.
"I do not believe that server issues] can damage day-one sales but it could damage the reputation of a publisher.
"EA still has this stigma after Sim City, over a year ago due to the fact it took so long for the game to be successful."
Crashes and lag
Problems affecting the update to WoW were made more difficult by a distributed denial of services (DDoS) attack, which affected Blizzard's servers with internet traffic during the week.
However, the American-based company acknowledges it has struggled with unexpectedly high peak numbers in the number of users trying to sign in.
Common complaints include "realms being down" or huge queues to join one.
Realms are a copy of WoW's fantasy world each with different characters , but the same content. Each is hosted by a different group of computer servers.
At the time of writing, nine of the game's 266 realms were offline and 24 were "full".
Blizzard stated that in order to improve stability it had cut the number of players who could be active in the realms simultaneously, causing log-in delays.
Other issues are:
"Player not found" error messages, preventing players from connecting to the game
Access to dungeons is blocked
Characters can get stuck when using Garrison zones - A new feature that allows users to build a fortress and manage their operations.
In-game lag is a problem in heavily dense areas, certain actions are delayed, and certain enemies attack early
Blizzard stated that it was able to boost the number of players in each realm because of numerous hardware and software improvements.
It also stated that additional oversight and testing was required to ensure that future fixes, like the addition of servers, don't cause more issues.
Balance act
Despite a succession of video game launches struck by similar issues, one expert was surprised to see World of Warcraft struggle.
Piers Harding-Rolls (head of games at IHS) said that "you would think that Blizzard have a vast amount of experience managing the demands of the many servers it has."
"It has faced in the past larger numbers of users."
He said that if the main cause of the problem was actually greater demand than was anticipated it could be a good idea if the firm fixed the issues quickly enough.
Blizzard announced that WoW had 7.4 million users in October - down from a high of 12 million in 2010 but an improvement on August's figure of 6.8 million.
Mr Harding-Rolls claimed that the company needed to perform an "balancing act" in deciding how much server infrastructure it needed.
"When a new piece is released to the market, you need to anticipate demand and the time that people will use it.
"It's not a exact science. If you're not getting the assumptions right you don't have the best results.
"And you must do it in a professional manner. Do not invest too much in infrastructure and then not recouping the investment you made."
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Similar Internet Links
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