Mal'ganis latency issues

Greetings folks.

The previous thread got a little crowded so I'm creating a fresh one, this should resolve the issue of not being able use the "next blue post" feature.

As a bit of background let me assure you that our technicians, database administrators and system engineers are well aware of the high latency on Mal'ganis which has been experienced mostly during prime time.

To put some rumours to rest I want to say that our investigations have shown that the Paid Character Transfer system, PvE to PvP transfers specifically have nothing to do with the current issue.

The population on Mal'ganis overall has changed very little. That is not to say you have not received your fair share of transfers over the last week and a half, only that the overall population (even during prime time) has had no significant change.

The Game Master Department has no influence over if or when compensation for this unexpected issue will be offered. If compensation is offered it won't happen until after the issue has been resolved, certainly not while it is ongoing. If compensation is offered it may be announced on your realm forum or the general forum but it is more likely that it will simply be added to your account. You can check if time was added by visiting the Payment History section of the Account Management site.

Free character moves will most likely not be offered due to this ongoing technical issue, if that changes a post in the General forum and/or main website will be made.

We understand the frustration that this has caused for everyone and we are sympathetic to your desire to find out answers and vent your frustration. We ask that you keep your comments civil and on topic and please include pertinent information whenever possible related to the latency you are experiencing. Unconstructive posts may be deleted without warning.

Q u o t e:

Please provide information for the following questions.

Where is the latency occurring? What instances? Which continents/areas?

What kind of latency are you experiencing? Is there a delay in actions, looting, spell casting, chat etc...?

Please let us know the general time you are experiencing the latency (give time zones if you can, Pacific, Central, etc...).

We can not thank you enough for your patience. This is a high priority issue and we will continue to work on it until it can be resolved.

*laughs* On topic! Sheesh.

Q u o t e:
edit: Oh yeah i forgot. Ever since this lag started happening (the day that pve->pvp transfers were enabled), there have been NO queue times. Before this started happening, it was pretty much expected that if you wished to login at peak hours (8pm CST or so) you had to face a queue of ~300. Nobody that I know of has hit a queue on login since this lag happened... issues related possibly?

The issue may be related to what is going on, I forwarded the question earlier just to make sure the technicians were aware of it. Thank you, Arikah.

Q u o t e:
This is getting fun.





Just need a working server now

Actually, not so much.

Please refrain from trolling here. This thread was designed to gather information so we can better assist those affected.

I deleted a couple posts, please don't make me delete more, or go further.

Q u o t e:

I understand this, apologies for any extra work I may have cause you Orlyia.

/me wanders off to find a pack of triple-choc Tim Tams.

Bleh, Kant - you aren't a problem - and you know it :)

Vrak's original post lists the information we've been requested to gather more input on.

A continued "thank you" to those providing the requested information. It's all in the details, and you've lent us a wealth of insight.

Culling the "no queue" rumors, as it merits discussion.

Population levels for each realm are monitored very closely, taking note of total realm population (number of total characters), concurrent population (number of characters online), and pending population (number of accounts logged into the realm, but not progressed past the Character Select screen).

While Mal'Ganis' total population may have increased due to PvE to PvP transfers, its concurrent population has very rarely reached its maximum capacity, resulting in little to no need for a queue. The reasons for this decline may be manifold: Free Character Moves, players transferring to PvE realms (now that there's no restriction or limitation on returning), and hesitancy to play with latency...just to name a few.

So, fret not: the queuing system has not changed and is working properly. :)


That said, this does not belittle the severity of your frustration. This issue remains a high priority, as Vrakthris has noted. We want to get you back to raiding, to PvPing, to questing without hindrance or interruption ASAP.

"Full" and "Locked" are a bit different, Taintedcell, but I understand your concern.

Even so, such fluctuations in population are monitored closely. If you believe we've somehow misinterpreted our data, you're welcome to express your thoughts regarding Mal'Ganis' economy in our Suggestions Forum. Just be as detailed and forthcoming as possible (regarding what you've experienced, differences or changes you've noticed as a result, etc.).

Q u o t e:
Can you share the data?

DENIED

We'll provide any updates we are given, Alldis, including an acknowledgment or confirmation that the issue is resolved. We won't just leave you hanging. :)

Q u o t e:
here's a question for you: is it possible that the mechanism with which servers measure online activity (thus regulating queues) could be broken or somehow impaired on Mal'ganis?

Nope. The increase in population during peak hours puts more strain on the realm itself, allowing the core issue to produce external symptoms. Same thing happens when you've a sprain or sore muscle; you sometimes only feel pain when the muscle is under stress.

Something changed technically on 09/11; that's what our technicians are working to address. That this occurred on the same day as PvE to PvP transfers is incredibly coincidental, definitely, but it's just that—a coincidence. Promise. :)

This really isn't the place for jokes regarding specific terrorist attacks, guys.

Q u o t e:
Something changed? Do the technicians at least know what it is?

Yes.

Q u o t e:
I suppose that this is a good thing, but then the simple question has to be asked .... : If the Techs know what the problem is, shouldn't they be able to fix it?

Identifying a change, verifying the source of the issue (whether or not it's isolated, for example), and implementing a resolution are completely different processes.

Your confusion isn't misplaced, Raithx; I realize it's not always clear why things happen (or don't happen) in what you believe to be the most logical order. You can rest assured, though, that our Technicians aren't dallying around with this situation. They're just taking care that everything is resolved wholly.

Q u o t e:
Worse yet, I've been trying to use the GM feedback form and it gives me server errors everytime.

You're emailing wowgmfeedback-us@blizzard.com, correct?

The email is the better route for you, I think, based on your concerns. It's reviewed daily by Support management.

Q u o t e:
Server Down.

I noticed that. Thanks, Fdsaffe.

Q u o t e:
If only you could only use that energy and speedy response time that you used to delete my 2nd post to fixing our server then I wouldnt even have to post in the first place

I'll respond to this one instead of deleting it.

I am a Game Master, not technician. How fast I respond to a post is completely immaterial to your situation. If you review the first post in this thread it says that unconstructive posts may be deleted without warning.

*sighs* Folks, please do as I ask. I understand that this issue is frustrating but I will not allow you to spam/troll this thread. To those of you who are currently unable to post to you have my sympathies for the current issues on Mal'ganis but next time, please follow my advice and do not post in this manner.

Q u o t e:
please fix the lag or please refund this months payment cant even enjoy the game :(

Please review the first post in this forum. Thank you.

Q u o t e:
The server seemed fine after the crash tonight. During TK there were occasional jumps in casting time and delay in chat, but it was nothing compared to the latency just before the server crashed.

I've been watching the realm and that seems consistent with what I observed. I believe the technicians are continuing to look into this and see if anything else needs to be done.

Please let us know if you notice a repeat of the latency issues even if they are lower in intensity.

Q u o t e:
Latency went back up between 9:30 and 11pm (after the server crash). Sunwell Plateau.

400-700ms, delays in casting and chat.

Rest of the raid was experiencing the same thing. Definitely not fixed :-(

Thank you, Edana.

Q u o t e:
After the crash, the server was in tip-top shape for ~2 hours then slowly degraded.

Your experiences sync with Edana's time frame, Bobbo: a recurrence of latency near 9:30pm CDT? Just trying to qualify what "~2 hour later" means here?

Thanks! :)

Much obliged Kossaks, Bobbo.

Q u o t e:
Has blizzard considered investigating the amount of PVE transfers and lack of a queue when logging???

It may not be only one issue to be resolved, but a set of many smaller issues that result in this servers consistent lag at peak hours!

Please read the rest of the blue responses in this thread for answers to the questions you posed.

Q u o t e:



Please read my post more thoroughly pretentious blue representative. I am suggesting it is a culmination of multiple issues, where pve transfers, population AND queue issues could be causing consistent server latency at peak hours!!!!

And we in turn have already explained the realities of the issue. Total population, queues, and transfers are unrelated to your latency issues.

And I wasn't being pretentious. Not every shadow has a dagger in it.

Thank all for your continued efforts to provide relevant information on the latency Mal'ganis is experiencing. Although I don't have specific details I can tell you that in addition to our realm technicians, database administrators and other departments investigations our Network admins also took a look at this and they have confirmed the issue is not network related.

Our technicians continue to narrow down the causes of the increased latency and can only thank you for your continued patience.

Q u o t e:
I would like either a phone number or an email address that isn't the gm feedback as they do not respond that I may contact that is your boss.

To what end, Topojijo? If you have an issue with how I am doing my job you are welcome to write to the feedback address, that is the only point of contact if you wish rate my performance.

My "bosses" have absolutely nothing to do with technical issues of this nature so writing to them specifically, unless you have an issue with how I am doing my job, will serve no purpose.

They may be able to forward it to the appropriate department though, we normally do if e-mails end up in the wrong place, I can not guarantee a response.

Q u o t e:
Your realm technicians and database administrators have made 0 progress. No improvements have happened regardless of some of the previous posters in this thread stating its gotten a little better.

After some adjustments last week there did seem to be a moderate improvement in the latency, Privo, unfortunately it may have been coincidental and we continue to investigate the matter to find a permanent resolution.

Q u o t e:
PLEASE REINSTATE THE SERVER QUEUE

We have discussed this with the technicians and the response was that the queue system is not responsible for this issue. You don't have a queue because you are not currently reaching a high enough concurrency to trigger it.

Q u o t e:

So they're not techs, and they are apparantly unable to communicate information from techs to the userbase. What exactly is customer service's job?

You are confusing the title of this forum to mean we assist with all customer service related issues. Please review the following thread.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=965509092&sid=1

With that said, we realize that the players of Mal'ganis have nowhere else to post regarding this issue and we shall continue to provide what updates we can.

I will ask once more to remain on topic and provide only pertinent information related to the latency on Mal'ganis. Thank you.

Q u o t e:
Is the problem getting looked at in real time or only during business hours? e.g., if we see lag immediately at the start of prime time, can we just assume you didn't find the solution during that business day and just move on with our lives for the night?

There are only a couple of departments that have limited hours that would be our Billing and Technical Support Department (tech support as in helping players configure their computers to play the game and address personal gaming issues).

Everything else is 24/7. As far as I understand it, if you experience the same type of latency around 7pm PST you can assume that issue has not been fully resolved. We are here to provide what updates we receive. We will let you know when we are told that they believe they have found the issue and will also let you know when they have discovered how to resolve it and when we believe it is resolved. If we receive a ballpark figure on when they believe the issue may be resolved we will pass that along as well.

Q u o t e:

it would probably help to edit updates into the first post so that players don't have to slog through 17 pages to see any pertinent information.

You can click on the next blue post button to follow updates. If any significant information is provided to us I will be certain to update the first post.

Q u o t e:
Excuse me but up untill this problem started we had a 300 to 400 queue now its completely gone, and lag is still terrible same times every night it. This is getting old and has wrecked the game, as i'm sure your aware.

Mal'Ganis population has rarely reached its cap—the value at which a queue begins—since just prior to PvE to PvP transfers began. The cap value has not been modified and the queuing system is functioning appropriately (I took pains to verify this personally).

Less people are logging into Mal'Ganis, Grugbashsha, and have for nearly two weeks now. That population has dwindled during peak hours is most likely an effect of your realm's present instability.

Thank you for your concern, though. We're equally concerned about Mal'Ganis and its denizens; should any new information be provided, it will certainly be relayed here first.


*Amending information slightly based on player feedback.

I wish you luck with that endeavor, Topojijo. In the meantime, though, please don't worry that you've yet to receive a response from the feedback address; not all forms of questions or queries can be answered immediately.

Q u o t e:
You're wrong.

I'm not, but I do understand your concern.

The "Full" tag is set manually depending on a realm's observed population trends. It's a static label, regardless of hour, and is meant to identify high population realms, essentially warning new players that they may encounter queues during their stay. For credence, if you access Mal'Ganis right now, you'll notice its tag hasn't changed.

Thank you for the link, Chippers. To expand:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=10043093849&sid=1

Q u o t e:
Greetings all,

In the ongoing effort to maintain our servers in tip-top conditions, we will need to issue a restart to the following realms at 11:00 am PDT. We expect the downtime to be very minimal for a specific realm, but the overall maintenance window we expect to take about an hour.

That said, here are the realms that will be affected.

Aegwynn
Akama
Aman'Thul
Barthilas
Blackrock
Caelestrasz
Chromaggus
Dath'Remar
Draka
Drak'thul
Dreadmaul
Eitrigg
Frostmourne
Frostwolf
Garithos
Hakkar
Jubei'Thos
Khaz Modan
Khaz'goroth
Kil'Jaeden
Kilrogg
Korgath
Kul Tiras
Mal'Ganis
Malorne
Mug'thol
Muradin
Nagrand
Ner'zhul
Proudmoore
Rexxar
Runetotem
Sen'Jin
Silver Hand
Thaurissan
Thorium Brotherhood
Tichondrius
Vek'nilash

We will get back to this post as soon as these realms are live and ready to be played.

As always, your patience and understanding is greatly appreciated.

You're welcome to no longer contribute, Lucif; I understand why you may feel such a gesture apt and possess no ill-will for that perception. Should other players wish to continue to post their experiences herein, however, that is their right. All I ask if that you respect the possible countering philosophy of your peers and remain civil should you decide to post here again (or later on down the line).

Thank for your contributions thus far. We'll continue to post updates as we're provided them. :)

Just as a small note, feedback this evening is critical, if you are willing to provide it. The format Vrakthris provided earlier, if used, would be greatly appreciated.

Q u o t e:
Please provide information for the following questions.

Where is the latency occurring? What instances? Which continents/areas?

What kind of latency are you experiencing? Is there a delay in actions, looting, spell casting, chat etc...?

Please let us know the general time you are experiencing the latency (give time zones if you can, Pacific, Central, etc...).

Thank so much, everyone, for your ongoing patience and assistance.

The dialogue is fine, Lucif. Henceforth, though, I'd like to keep this thread open to anecdotal evidence and questions rather than personal debate (that is, debate regarding one another's intentions and motivations). I know it'll be a bit difficult, since tensions are high and available outlets are limited, but I'd greatly appreciate the gesture. :)

Small update regarding today's maintenance:
http://launcher.worldofwarcraft.com/alert

Q u o t e:
SERVERALERT:
September 24, 2008 1:00PM PDT

We have encountered an issue during the restarts and the following realms are currently down for maintenance. They should be available for play again by approximately 2:00PM PDT.

Aegwynn
Akama
Blackrock
Caelestrasz
Chromaggus
Draka
Drak'thul
Frostwolf
Garithos
Jubei'Thos
Khaz Modan
Kil'Jaeden
Kilrogg
Mug'thol
Nagrand
Ner'zhul
Proudmoore
Silver Hand
Tichondrius

The remaining realms below will have their rolling restarts done when this maintenance is complete. Each of these realm will be down for about 15 minutes and the overall process will be complete by approximately 3:00PM PDT.

Aman'Thul
Barthilas
Dath'Remar
Dreadmaul
Eitrigg
Frostmourne
Hakkar
Khaz'goroth
Korgath
Kul Tiras
Mal'ganis
Malorne
Muradin
Rexxar
Runetotem
Sen'Jin
Thaurissan
Thorium Brotherhood
Vek'nilash

Thank you,

Blizzard Entertainment

Thank you for the information, too, Geeno.

Q u o t e:
I'm not experiencing anymore lag; however, it's not peak time yet.
I'll be sure to reply with my status during peak hours.

It looks like we're sitting at around 200 to 260 in most locations. Our technicians are continuing to monitor the realm so please let us know if you experience a significant increase or spikes in latency.

Q u o t e:
What is blue doing to address this issue? We have been submitting test data for several weeks now but have not received any results.

This issue has been on-going since the 11th of this month, Sunshock, so it hasn't been "several weeks".

We are providing what updates we can. I don't expect you to be pacified by what we are able to tell you, but we ask that you understand that the information we receive is limited and we are providing what we can.

To some of the others, I've been extremely lenient in that I have simply been deleting unconstructive posts. We get that everyone is frustrated by this issue but I can not allow posts like some of the more recent ones (which have been deleted). Some of you have obviously not gotten the hint so I must take further steps.

Q u o t e:
Would it be possible to speak with the techs to see if there could potentially be a temporary fix to at least bring the lag down to "playable"? I realize that the lag is good for finding the "hot spots" etc. However, with all the data that has been gathered/presented, is it possible to tweak something to make this lag.. less drastic for the short term?

As far as I know, Waggle, they are looking into whatever options they can give you. Although we wouldn't be satisfied until the realm latency is back to normal we also wouldn't dismiss an option of just trying to ease the amount of latency you guys are experiencing if we could.

Realm issues normally get a lot of attention, but you guys have no idea how much this one is. We are passing on your concerns, please believe me about that. Those who need to are well aware of the issues your realm has been going through.

Q u o t e:
The question i think that needs to be asked is if Blizzard was the company that was receiving poor response time to a issue that they paid someone else to fix for them, or maintain for them. Would they continue to employ that company?

so as this lag issue nears its 2 week mark, please help us understand why we should continue to pay you for this extremely slow remedy to the situation here on Mal'Ganis?

The question I ask myself is, what is a poor response?

Although I am not a technical expert I have picked up a thing or two in my time here and I know that not all technical issues are easily remedied and as much as you'd like it to be otherwise, some just take time to find and resolve because they simply aren't the run of the mill issue that you can fix with a reboot or a tweak. Some are hardware related and some are software related some are a combination of the two. Sometimes the issue only shows up when X condition is met.

You guys can't see it but if you knew the amount of work that is going into this, you might feel better about it. Then again you might not, all I can say is this continues to be a high priority issue and with every failed troubleshooting attempt we have we get closer to finding the correct one.

Nikodermos, you must make your own decisions as to where you spend your money, you all must. I will wish you well in whatever you decide to do.

Q u o t e:
I believe we deserve some kind of compensation. It's been brough up earlier week, and I just laughed about it. But now, most of people are not happy.

Q u o t e:
The Game Master Department has no influence over if or when compensation for this unexpected issue will be offered. If compensation is offered it won't happen until after the issue has been resolved, certainly not while it is ongoing. If compensation is offered it may be announced on your realm forum or the general forum but it is more likely that it will simply be added to your account. You can check if time was added by visiting the Payment History section of the Account Management site.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=10043241309&sid=1

Q u o t e:
Between 4 and 6 PM server there was pretty much little to no lag (Shatt, Thunder Bluff, Terokkar, Shadow Lab). I don't have any numbers for the latency because I have the bar hidden, but it actually seemed to be better than it was in previous days. But I wasn't on during peak hours tonight so I don't have any input for that.

I was logged into the realm nearly all afternoon and had been keeping track of the latency as well. Some players are reporting that the latency was much improved where others have reported no apparent change. I've been forwarding this information up to aid in the investigation.

Thank you all for your help and in some cases, your incredibly detailed accounts of the latency you have been experiencing.

Arconite, bumping is not an accepted practice at all, unless the post has fallen off the page, that is the one and only time it would be permitted. I have continually asked everyone to keep their posts to constructive comments and information only. Quoting to agree with a post that had no relevant information isn't constructive or contains requested information neither are posts that say "Answer this!"

Q u o t e:

I posted a temp solution to ease the amount of latency on post 89 and again on 187 and got several good responses from other players as well as being trolled for for several posts. I got not even a simple blue post, even a "sry that won't work" or "that would mean we couldn't fix it" would have pasified me but I got nothing.

We are not technicians, this has been stated repeatedly. You posted an idea that you believed may have an impact, I'm sorry, Arconite, but you have no knowledge of our systems. Our technicians are looking into many possible resolutions for Mal'ganis, even temporary ones. I left your original post 89 because although it didn't contain information that was requested it was constructive and civil, then you quoted it again with the request " If ppl really wanna raid and get stuff done /bump this post plz.". The posts that were deleted are what pushed you and a few others over the line.

Q u o t e:

So will Brewfest be extended on our server due to all these latency issues or will it it only be available for those not playing during peak hours?

Not likely, Armiger, these events once set in motion can not be easily adjusted.

As to an update, I'll see what I can find out I just got in a little while ago and need to contact a few people to find out what progress was made.

Q u o t e:
Just out of curiosity. Would it be possible to, temporarily, reduce the maximum number of characters that could be logged in to Mal'Ganis during peak hours?

queue > unplayable lag

That has been brought up before, I don't know if it is a viable option but I am certain that such options have been discussed. One of the issues with tracking down something like this is everything looks perfectly normal until...it doesn't. If the issue only appears when the population gets to a certain level it is near impossible to track down the issue unless you allow the population to get to that level.

Greetings all.

I promised an update and here it is.

Our technicians have isolated the issue and are working on implementing the resolution. The resolution is tentatively scheduled to go in during the morning hours. As soon as a specific time is known we'll update this thread.

We are confident that the increased latency issues for the Mal'ganis realm will be resolved with this resolution but will continue to monitor the issue.

We apologize for the inconvenience and frustration that this has caused and thank everyone for their patience.

Edit: To stave off the questions, I do not have any specifics on what the issue was and as stated in my first post the Game Master Department has not control over any possible compensation will be granted.

Q u o t e:
Who do we go to in regards to compensation then?
Is it another thread that needs to be made or an email or a petition or a phone call or a letter?

You can post in our Suggestion Forums if you wish to request any form of compensation.

Q u o t e:
NOT FIXED.

Q u o t e:

The resolution is tentatively scheduled to go in during the morning hours.

Q u o t e:


My friend, you are foolishly optimistic if you think that will work! ;)

Thanks for the updates and your patience.

*laughs* You know, Sedna, I am foolishly optimistic. :D

Ok gang, I have a bit of an update. It seems that they may be able to move this resolution up a bit. Several Realms are going to be restarted starting at 7:30 PM PDT.

That still needs to be confirmed but an official post should be made shortly if it will be done.