Spinebreaker and constant crashings.

I'm taking a look into the issue currently; I'll respond to your post in full shortly, Jadelyn.

All non-constructive posts and "/bumps" will be deleted; please remain patient while I look into the issue. Thank you.

Our Realm Technicians are aware of the issue and are currently looking into the matter; the realm appears to be back up. Please let me know if anyone has any further issues connecting to the realm.

Now that I have made sure of that, I have some time to respond to your post directly, Jadelyn. ;)

We are aware that realm issues can occur, and it may or may not be yours specifically. While it may seem as if yours is singled out, that's not the case. This is not to mean that there is a widespread issue regarding realm stability, however. There are many things that can go wrong with such a large amount of data being passed between the realm and a large number of clients. This is why it is possible to notice that more populated realms have more issues than others; and it's not necessarily an "issue" per se, but merely a cause of high population.

The more connections you have, the more information being passed that can become "clogged". A realm may go down unexpectedly because there is too much of a "clog". While this explanation is horridly nontechnical, it still stands correct. You're bound to witness this phenomenon if you play on a high population realm.

This is definitely something we are aware of and our realm technicians are constantly looking for ways to alleviate the issue; technology has it's limits, regrettably. Any realm upgrades, etc, are usually done en masse and require lots of planning and foresight; they'll be done when it's deemed necessary.

Q u o t e:
2. Look at the possibility of maybe providing us with some Free play time. In the past you have done this when constant issues were occurring, we ask whats so different now? why no free play time a week or a month wouldn't hurt for being your PAYING gamers.

Any reimbursement of game time are addressed on a large scale and will usually be announced on our General forums.

I hope that clears things up a bit. =)

Q u o t e:
And I can say I am happy for one thing You are the first admin to acknowledge us as high Pop because most admins are under the influence our server was stopped long ago ~_~.

You have my apologies for any confusion regarding my statement; I merely meant that as a realm's population gets larger, it is possible for more issues to occur. I'm not really able to go into a realm's population level, but the realm list says Spinebreaker is "Medium"; I do believe that changes periodically, however.

If you would like us to provide a "rebate" for any down time, you'll want to make a statement on our Suggestions forum; I'm not really able to push for it, nor am I able to provide one. That's not something the Game Master department is able to do.

Q u o t e:

I can only sit here and wonder why if the High Pop servers are the only ones having issues in regards to our servers crashing, why that information would be put in general. To us Spinebreaker people we have many alts on low pop servers were we see no such issues occuring ever.

Again, that's merely the nature of technology; it could be anything causing an issue at any point in time. I mean this time around it could be that Bunny #257853* wasn't spawning correctly and made the realm have an unexpected issue. This is why it is very difficult to ascertain the cause of an issue and resolve it.






*Disclaimer: Bunny #257853 does not exist, nor was it the cause of the issue. ^_^

It's most definitely not neglect, Ishmael; they're hard working folk. Please keep in mind that they have to watch over 200 realms and again when we do upgrade realms it's done en masse. This is to ensure that everything is the same, and there are no issues stemming from the upgrade. These upgrades take quite a bit of time to plan, coordinate and implement. If it is deemed necessary, it will be done.

Q u o t e:
They are getting our money, they do not care.

*sigh* I could argue against this many times over, Hordeyelf, but regardless of what I say I will more than likely be unable to change your mind regarding it.

But, I can at least try my best.

We do care. Do we like to hear that our players — our paying customers as it were — are experiencing an issue while playing the World of Warcraft? Of course not. Why would we? There is no benefit for us to not care.

The problem lies with the amount of time that things regarding technology take to resolve. That's just the way things work. Do we like that fact? No.

Are we working to resolve any issues that arise? Constantly.

Tobolin: In regards to in-game petitions regarding a realm's stability and issues, they are not necessary. Our Game Masters — something that I am as well — do not address these situations. They are handled by our Realm Technicians.

It is very possible that what you are experiencing is merely our inability to provide assistance regarding the issue. Sure, the information may be passed along to those who can use it, but are our In-Game Support staff going to be able to tell you anything more than "thank you"? Probably not.

Q u o t e:
my question for you is this: since you work for blizzard and probably know the technology levels of the servers, how would you rate Spinebreakers server versus some of the other "top" played servers? if we are comparable, do you have any insight as to why we are getting more crashes?

Not really my area of expertise. I can't really answer that.

For those of you wanting free character transfers off of the realm, please request them in the appropriate location: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?sid=1&forumId=11122 .

As an update to this: it appears that our technicians may have found the cause of the recent disconnections and are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. A restart of the realm may be required and we will let you know as soon as we are able to.

Thank you all for your patience in this matter.

Q u o t e:
So is what you're saying that the level of service Spinebreaker provides is what Blizzard expects on a realm of our population level? And that other realms of a similar population level experience the same rate and duration of issues?

Never said that. What I did say, however, was that issues are constantly being looked at and we currently do not have any more information that what I have already provided.

Q u o t e:
Clearly, if the level of downtime on this realm is in excess of what it is on other realms then there is a technical problem and therefore a technical solution.

That would definitely be the case. This is why those with the technical prowess are looking into it.

Q u o t e:

World of Warcraft is supposed to be entertainment. If I went to the movies 4 nights a week and the projector burst into flames every time I would get a refund. Actually, I'd get a refund, and apology, tickets for additional movies, and assurances that the problem was going to get fixed. I wouldn't have to complain, make phone calls, or put notes in the suggestion box that 'I suggest you give me my money back'.

Our other "theaters" are almost always open; however there are periods of time where we have to close down for the "night" to make sure that everything is working as it should. Are there going to be sporadic issues that arise with things? Of course. Technology always has issues and always will. You can only adjust and fix what happens.

Q u o t e:
Please, let us know what is being done about the problems. Or, release the historical information to show that Spinebreaker is no different than any other high population realm.

These are the only two solutions that are going to get people off your back.

If I knew that, I'd tell you. Also, we're not the ones that would release information such as that. If you want that information, please visit our Suggestions forum and recommend that as something we should provide.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: they're looking into it. No, we don't have any more information that that. Sorry.

Our realm technicians are dedicated to looking into, and resolving issues that arise. They then pass along relevant information and updates to us. We then pass those updates on to you. So, technically any update I give you are the ones they would give you.

Honestly Lojo, I'm not sure how their systems let them know about issues. I just know that many times we're like: "Hey, these folks said..." and before we can even finish that statement we get a "we know! we're on it."

Q u o t e:
Thanks!

<3

Nothing new as of yet folks. Sorry. =(

While Rey's not here tonight, I can personally attest that we've been monitoring Spinebreaker for issues.

Q u o t e:
Would be nice if something were finally done about this server

As Belfaire mentioned, we're monitoring the realm for any issues that arise; we'll continue to provide updates as per normal (meaning when we have them). As of this time we do not have an update regarding the realm.

Q u o t e:
i think they fired reythur!

I'm still here. =P

Greetings all,

Just so you know I've already spoken with our Technicians and they are looking into this issue. It looks like the Outland dropped a number of people nearly an hour ago and most recently it hit nearly all players.

The realm seems to be recovering on its own but they'll be checking it out and see if they can find the cause. I'll pass on any updates I get.

Q u o t e:
Reythur, where are you? I offer cookies :-(

I'm still here. =P

We're still keeping an eye on the issue, don't worry. =)

Nothing new as of yet, however.

Reythur responded in this thread not even an hour ago. We don't have any new information.

Additionally: The people editing posts aren't the people looking into your server. Just because you see a Blue post somewhere else doesn't mean that someone else at Blizzard who actually works on servers isn't looking into yours.

If we have info, we'll let you know. I'm truly sorry for the downtime.

Q u o t e:
Edit: Thanks Belfaire, is there any way of you gettin actual information for us?

We've passed tonight's information along to our techs for review. As always you shouldn't expect to receive highly technical information in response, but should there be something of actual relevance for your community on the whole, we'll be more than happy to pass it along to you.

Q u o t e:



WE DEMAND RESULTS!!!! not exuses that you can't fix

Quote me where I said we can't fix it, homeboy.

Spinebreaker should be coming up shortly but may require a restart to ensure no lingering issues; I'll let you guys know.

Q u o t e:


I wouldn't think good customer service would include being snappy to them when they have good reason to be angry.

Nor would hyperbole and spreading untruth help with your server's cause; ergo, some things must be said.

Obviously you feel you're not receiving good service, and from your end, you have no reason to believe otherwise. I understand that. However, to say we're not doing anything about nor wanting to help you and others with realm issues is about as patently false as humanly possible; this is all we've been doing this past month.

Q u o t e:
it is up now, appears to be stable... thanks again

That is great news! Please keep us posted. =)

Q u o t e:
\
P.S. I just found out that a friend's guild was forced to be renamed due to an apparent "ToS" violation. Then tonight I see the launcher program start up and the actual expression is used as a phrase on the launcher. Blizz is run foolishly. The name was "Rogues do it from behind". They can't even coordinate a ToS posture between departments. It's whatever careless peon that decides what is right and what is not. L2Business Blizz...

Though this is unrelated to the thread, the Terms of Use apply to player-made in-game content, not to any developer-created or outside content, unless specifically stated.

I just wanted to inform you folks that we are currently aware of some issues with several realms; we are currently focusing our efforts to resolve the issues at hand. We've been receiving similar reports from Spinebreaker as well as the other realms and as such we are currently further focusing our attention to specific realms in order to try and resolve the matter.

As the realms appear to be experiencing very similar issues we are attempting to gather information regarding those realms (as mentioned here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=5974219444&sid=1 * and will then use that information to attempt further resolutions to the issue.

Once we are able to verify that a solution has positive working results we will then extrapolate those resolutions and efforts to any realm that may be affected; we hope to resolve the matter quickly regarding each and every realm experiencing issues but we currently need some time to do this.

Troubleshooting and information interpretation can take quite a bit of time to do, and we would like to kindly request that everyone remain patient while this process takes place. We understand that you are all frustrated and would like results right this very moment, but that is not something that we are able to give. We would most certainly love to provide you with that, but we are currently unable to provide immediate effective results.

I can assure you that we are working daily to gather, interpret and forward any information that is provided to us by you, our players. Information is very useful to us, however bickering and arguing over whether not anything is being done is not. We have stated several times that the issue is being addressed, and I can assure you that it is. The regrettable part is that it takes time.

Please leave the attacks about us and our realm technicians out of this thread, as it doesn't do anyone any good. Thank you all for your understanding, and cooperation.

*As a note to the sticky thread mentioned:

The thread is named Official Oceanic Realm Trace Route Thread for a reason. We are only requesting Trace Routes for the Oceanic realms at this time; this is for a multitude of reasons, but mostly to allow us to track the information. Please do not post Trace Routes in that thread if you are currently playing on Spinebreaker. Thank you.

We are asking for user trace routes because we want them from those folks that are affected at the time that it happens. Not at some random point in time, but when they are experiencing the issue; this allows us to track down a large number of things. If the post is made shortly after the trace route is run, we have the time frame. If the trace route is posted we are able to gather the information and extrapolate a number of pieces of information from it.

One such piece of information is who is affected and where they are playing from, etc. It's more beneficial to do it this way rather than have our technicians run a bunch of reverse trace routes to a bunch of people. =)

Q u o t e:

oh i did read that
right after i read a blue poster calling us spinebreakerions liars for spreading "untruth"
this is the second time this has happened and i am gettin sick of blizzards telling me that my server isnt crashing
it is

F7

I was referring to the poster saying that we said we couldn't fix the server's issues. Not that your server hasn't been crashing. It's pretty obvious your server has been crashing or we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Q u o t e:

that was from malk
whats his excuse?

F7

He didn't say that it had not crashed more than once in a day, merely that saying it crashes several times daily is a bit of an overstatement. It was not stated that it didn't occur, just that it doesn't necessarily do that every single day. You may be disconnected or have latency issues, but that doesn't mean the realm crashed.

Edit:

Q u o t e:
Could you guys take the server down for a day and copy all the data to a new server? Same server name just a actual different server?

Who's to say that will actually resolve the issue? We're attempting some troubleshooting steps to see what can be done, but a permanent resolution has not yet been found.

Thanks for the update Jade. =)

I'm glad to hear that it's been a while since you've experienced some issues. We're checking on the matter now. ^_^

Are you still experiencing issues with the realm as of this moment?

Thanks guys! I'll get back to you as quickly as possible.

Okie dokie. The realm appears to be coming up to speed now.

If you are currently stuck in an instance, and unable to login, I'd recommend logging into a different character and then logging into your 'main'. That should help. =)

I'll be watching this one for a bit. Thanks guys.

Please keep me posted. =)

Needless to say, we are experiencing some extended difficulties. We've been keeping our Realm technicians informed of the goings on and have been bringing it to their attention as quickly as possible. As soon as any additional information becomes available we will let you know.

I appreciate your patience despite the obvious frustration this issue is causing. I'll keep poking the realm technicians until we start seeing stability, so bear with me!

Have you experienced any issues today, Tobolin?

I haven't seen or heard any reports of issues after last night's bit.

We're still keeping a close eye on the issues that have been occurring; please do not think that we are not. I realize that it is taking some time to completely resolve, but we have seen some major improvements recently.

I do believe that we went at least a solid week without any issues, which is definitely a good sign. =)

Q u o t e:
let us get off this sinking ship.

You've always been able to transfer realms, friend. I realize that you are looking for a free transfer, but that option has not been provided as of yet. If you think it should be offered, please share your ideas on our Suggestions forum. If you do not wish to wait until that point, please feel free to take advantage of our Paid Character Transfer service: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/character-transfer-intro.html .

We believe that there may be a connection with some other realms as well, Tobolin. While it may appear that Spinebreaker is alone, and is experiencing the worst of it, I can honestly say that is not the case.

We're constantly evaluating our realms and making a note of any issues that arise. It is appreciated that many of you are remaining fairly civil when bringing these matters to our attention. We will continue to provide any updates that we may have, when they are available. Until such time, I would like to ask everyone to remain patient while we work out any lasting kinks that may be related to some realm instabilities.

Q u o t e:
Paying 25 bucks a toon to move to a stable server is not an acceptable resolution.

I never said it was the best solution, nor was it our resolution for the matter. I merely stated that option is available for anyone to use if they so choose. Any other resolution will take some time to implement.

Theafotia, our Oceanic realms, and the associated battlegroup(s) were experience much more severe issues than Spinebreaker. Most of those issues have been resolved, however. We're still keeping an eye on that issue as well.

If you are wondering what I am referring to: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=5640976872&sid=1 . Just because your realm is the only realm down right now, doesn't mean that there aren't any other realms experiencing issues. We're aware that this is occurring, and are working constantly to resolve it.

Hey, Althor. Please provide me with the following information:

Time latency began:

In what aspects of the game are you noticing the latency:

In comparison to the night before, is the latency better/worse/same:

Time latency subsided (if applicable):

Thanks!

Thanks, Ghroog. This is the kind of information we need.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

AM or PM, Stompin?

Thanks, guys.

We're aware of the issue and hope to see it resolved shortly. I'll let you know if I hear anything else.

Hey Sting,

If you are unable to log into a character who is stuck in the battlegrounds, please log into another character and submit a petition under the Stuck category. A Game Master will be with you as quickly as possible.

Q u o t e:
A WHOLE 22 PAGES and they still do not get it. Unbelievable.

Eh? We don't get that you're angry, upset, and are wanting to be able to play without any interruption?

Have you perchance read all 22 pages of this thread, friend? I can assure you that we are aware of the issue, and our realm technicians are currently working to resolve the matter.

I would like to apologize, folks, but we currently do not have an update regarding the matter at hand; when we have one, we will provide it.

Anyone seeking possible reimbursement for any issues that have been experienced should visit our Suggestion forums and recommend the idea there; we — the Game Master department — will be unable to assist in a matter such as that.

Q u o t e:
<Read my next post, please. Incoming shortly.>

As I mentioned before, if you want to request reimbursement for any downtime that has been experienced, it needs to be done through our Suggestions forum. Calling any of our Support departments will find you wanting, and you will be referred to the appropriate channel — the Suggestions forum.

We will be unable to provide reimbursement at an individual level, and requesting anything of the sort will again, find you wanting. Please suggest the idea for reimbursement on our Suggestions forum.

In regards to reimbursement, please review Sections 10 and 11 of our End User License Agreement. Please understand that we are not required to provide reimbursement to you; when we do provide reimbursement it is because we have deemed it appropriate and warranted.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/eula.html

I know that many of you are frustrated about this entire situation, and I completely understand. As has been mentioned a few times in this thread, we have been taking steps to alleviate any issues that may be afflicting this realm, and others.

For more information regarding this situation, and how we are able to assist, and what we have been doing, please review the following posts:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=5640976872&sid=1&pageNo=65#1296
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=5640976872&sid=1&pageNo=66#1319

Thank you for your cooperation, and understanding.

Q u o t e:
When did this happen?

Please read the entire quote, and the linked threads. Thank you.

Our Billing department would indeed be able to inform you of the appropriate place to request these matters. I am saving you the time and effort of calling them in regards to your request; you were suggesting that everyone call our billing department en masse. Not needed, nor is a good idea. It ties up the phone lines needlessly.

Crashes and technical issues are much different than concerns regarding reimbursements.

As an update: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=6377678565&postId=63770551176&sid=1#0 .

Q u o t e:
Spinebreaker is currently the ONE SINGLE server that is off line and this is the second time i have seen this in the past few days....

You mean at the time that your realm goes offline? Probably.

It looks like the realm is back on it's feet and ready to go. Please let me know if any further issues are experienced this evening.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=6377678565&sid=1#1

Q u o t e:
or simply put, what has to occur for blizzard to believe that a free transfer is a viable alternative to this?

Not really our department, Mekiznok. I do know that many checks, and approvals have to take place on numerous levels though. If you would like to see free transfers, or anything of the like, you'd want to post it on the Suggestions forum. I can assure you that the appropriate parties will read it.

Extended!

Q u o t e:
That’s not really satisfactory to be perfectly honest, this post from you implies your work here is done, I say it’s far from done

Never said it was; nor did I imply that it was. The realm is up, and I provided that as an update.

Q u o t e:
Please send this thread to someone that both cares about the long term satiability of the server and also has some power to do something about it, as it’s clear you are here to simply fight fires and oppress an uprising from its users.

I can assure you that the powers that be are very much aware of the issues at hand; we have informed them of the issues that have been brought to light here, and in other various threads on this forum. The information has already been passed along, and this realm — as well as others — are constantly being monitored.

Just because a permanent resolution has not yet been found does not mean that we are not looking for one. You are more than welcome to assume that we are merely here to 'fight fires', but I can assure you that we are passing along any information that comes our way and it may be best to make less assumptions.

Q u o t e:
i edited my post reythor, but i'd like to say again that i'm happy you're attending the thread. plz don't think for a moment i don't appreciate this.

Never did. =)

Still not something we can really answer, however. Sorry. =/

Slimfast, please read:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=5640976872&sid=1&pageNo=65#1296
and
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=5640976872&sid=1&pageNo=66#1319

And I mean actually read them... they answer the majority of your concerns.

Q u o t e:
is someone that works at the company that has put that kind of investment into the spinebreaker community.

Most — if not all — of our employees play on various realms, and have more than likely been affected by realm issues at various points in time. We're aware that it happens, and we get affected as well. Belfaire has mentioned that he plays on an Oceanic realm due to his schedule, and has more than likely experienced them. But, we're not going to tell you which realm we play on; for obvious reasons.

Q u o t e:
For being the CSR in the CS forum, your Customer Service is terrible.

If you have an issue with the service I have provided, please feel free to send an e-mail to [email protected].

Q u o t e:
We have a valid complaint, we just want to play this game on this server.

And we want you to be able to as well; it just takes some time to resolve the issue. I understand that it is taking longer than initially anticipated and wanted. However, I can assure you that we are working to resolve the matter. Please read the aforementioned posts for more information regarding the matter.

Q u o t e:
really, the hardest part about all of this is the constant redirection and fallbacks on tos/eula stuff.

You have my apologies for any confusion regarding the matter, Mekiznok. I merely referred to that because many people assume that we are required to provide things like reimbursements and free transfers when we are not. We still provide them when the circumstances are appropriate, however. The comment was intended to show that we do care, and are providing things that we do not need to.

Slimfast, you keep asking the same question, expecting a different answer. You do realize that if you ask the same thing over and over again, you're going to continue to get the same answer over and over again, don't you? You mention redundant and copy/paste answers, what about redundant and copy/paste questions?

I'd like to recommend reviewing our Welcome to the Customer Service Forum! post in regards to what we do around here. http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=965509092&sid=1

We're here for you, but we can only help you as much as you help us. The more you argue with us about the answers that we have to provide, the less time we can take to checking in on issues that arise. We understand that you are frustrated, but this really isn't the best way to go about this.