Mal'Ganis

Thanks for the heads-up. We'll check it out.

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Belfaire I demand you fix this immediately or I shall take my talbux elsewhere.

Fixed

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Thank you Belfaire.. Noticing the pings down around the 150's again!
Any chance you can divulge some details as to what was wrong? (I'm a techie and really curious). I assume you can't, but alas, I'll ask anyways =)

I'm not really privy to the gory details at this point, just that we've been monitoring Mal'Ganis today and will continue to do so should further issues arise.

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I blame all the transfers over from PVE servers. We're just too darn popular.

Wait 'til they read your front page!

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Sorry, it was fixed for about 5 minutes, and now it's back to being very unstable and very unplayable, at least in the Sunwell instance.

We're on it.

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Any sort of update? We're keeping folks around hoping the server will stabilize enough try for the kill.

Techs are aware of the issue. I'll let you know if I have any updates.

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If this is directly related to the pve to pvp transfers here,

It's not.

We're still presently keeping an eye on the situation, Alanis.

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grats on server second thoridal, SC.

bump because this is the THIRD day in a row of unplayable/unacceptable lag. People on the server are blaming transfers because the day they opened is the day this awful lag started... speaking of which why are transfers to malganis still open?

I'm actually fairly certain that transfers have nothing to do with it. Let me have a look into it for you.

Q u o t e:


The transfers have been the cause of lag on Mal'Ganis for a long time now. We get free transfers off this server every 2 weeks, and you can tell me that transfers are not causing problems?

I can actually tell you that for certain, yep.

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3000+ lag at the moment in Outlands. Extremely difficult to just get simple quests done.

On it.

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All that lag made Kara interesting.

We wiped on trash :<

There should be some relief incoming, though it may involve a restart. I'll keep you posted.

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Can you please tell us why the server is so bad? And how you are going to address the issue of the 30000 horde and 7000 alliance on Mal'Ganis? That number is too high, will you be offering free transfers to the horde to try and even up the odds for the alliance? And will all this lag count towards a few free days for us?

EDIT: GM's please ignore my first rant, no coffee + little sleep = Grumpy Mage.

EDIT #2: Had to change the numbers of alliance and horde.

Population numbers from third-party sites shouldn't be considered gospel.

We also can't force people to roll one faction or the other. If we see a population imbalance as a hindrance to enjoyment of gameplay, we'll look into solutions, but as of this moment I don't believe there are plans to do any of what you suggested.

The server, though, has been having some stability issues, likely hardware-related, as of late. We're working on it.

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And could you tell me the pop on Mal'Ganis?

We don't give out population statistics for realms as a general rule.

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struggling to even connect to the realm

Can you elaborate on that? Are you having difficulty at the Character Selection screen or when actually logging a character in?

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This is Mal'ganis, we have problems from the server screen, to char screen, to in game, to instances. The only thing we don't have a problem with is logging off, infact its so efficient that it happens even when we don't want it to.

I completely understand your frustration. The best way I can help you, though, is to understand precisely what is happening and where the hang-ups are. I'd really appreciate your help with this facet.

Thanks, Privo. :)

To be perfectly clear here:

Mal'Ganis' population has been steady for the past few months. Transfers have nothing to do with the stability issues you guys are experiencing.

We're investigating the root cause of said issues and hope to have some relief for you soon.

Sorry, I had a typo in my post there. It should've read "Mal'Ganis' population".

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You're exactly correct...

Not that it matters but I'm a system architect for a fortune 500 company, so I know a few things. I'm betting they didn't make the appropriate hardware upgrades to handle the PvE to PvP transfers. Resulting in the horrific latency issues everyone is experiencing. Pre PvE to PvP we usually had 3/400 in queue at peak hours, now there is none, I haven't seen a locked realm since the changes. Most likely they opened the amount of connections to the server to queue's didn't reach 2000+ during peak hours.

Tell the Techs nice try but this time they can't white lie their way out of this issue.

P.S. I'd suggest you either open up transfers to a US based Realm or start offering us credit to our accounts because we can't enjoy our playing experience.

Read my above post. You're wrong. We're still looking into the stability issues but transfers have nothing to do with them.

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Another rough night for Mal'ganis...

Tried playing some arena, but it was unplayable. I can't even properly AFK in Shat!

I know you're working on it, but I felt like I had to add my two cents :)

Here are some specifics:

1. Transfer Aborted: Instance Not Found errors while trying to join arena matches.
2. Bad pings all around. I'm generally at 100-150, experiencing ~600 since this mess began.
3. General lag all over, old world, new world, everything.

This is good information. Thank you.

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This is getting ridiculous. Every freakin' night. I'm SO SURE it has NOTHING to do with PvE transfers...yeah right?

I'm not sure how many times I can say this. Mal'Ganis has had a steady population for months. Your latency issues have nothing to do with transfers.

If you're going to ignore what I say then you have no reason to be posting here and I can easily remedy that.

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Let's see the numbers.

We will not be releasing internal information.

You can either take our word for it or not. That is completely up to you.

I completely understand your frustration, our technicians are investigating the matter but the hostility in this thread needs to end. I would rather keep this thread open so we can provide updates when we receive it but I will lock it if I have to.

Compensation would be determined after the issue is resolved and not by the Game Master Department. If warranted it is usually added to your account. You can visit the account management page and view payment history.

I've been asked to collect a little data so our technicians can pinpoint the issue. Although I believe the latency issue has passed for now it is likely to reoccur tomorrow.

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, etc...?

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

Although this may not be a factor could you give you general geographical area and your ISP provider?

Thank you all for your continued patience while these matters are being investigated.

Thank you all. The latency issues on Mal'Ganis remain under investigation and a priority. :)

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Are there any other realms having trouble like ours?

While other realms have noted issues with latency, Exclamator, they're not identical. :)

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I think i speak for everyone on mal'ganis when i say that this is ridiculous. i don't play this game so i can sit and glitch around and forced to do nothing. just fix it, there are a thousand ways to lower the population through splitting up the servers and here's an idea FREE TRANSFERS OUT OF THIS TERRIBLE SERVER!!!! plus, why are transfers even available on this broken excuse for a realm?

I understand your frustration, Vancington, but you seem to be under the impression that we are Ok with the latency that is being reported on Mal'ganis. We're not. I will say that there are absolutely no indications that this has anything to do with the current population on the realm.

Our realm technicians may have found the cause of the issue and are looking into a bit more to see what adjustments need to be made.

I will provide whatever updates I can as soon as I receive them.

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Good news, the majority of us feel like we're being left in the dark, just some more precise updates rather than "our realm technicians are looking into it" would be spectacular :).

If I was able to provide something more specific, Smallpackage, I would. Our technicians normally spend their time looking into an resolving this issues and are unable to stop to give a more complicated answer as to what is happening.

We are speaking with our system admin and engineers to work out a solution to the current issues for the realm. As always, I will provide what updates I can until this issue is resolved.

To reiterate--again, and again, and again--your stability issues have nothing to do with transfers.

Mal'Ganis has had a steady population for several months.

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Clearly the lag issues are population load related, as they only become problematic at peak hours. Perhaps until the root problem is solved a hard cap queue is in order? IMO it would be better for 5k players to play at 100ms than 10K at 3K ms. (arbitrary numbers obviously)

As Vrakthris said, our technicians believe they've discovered the root problem and are working on a solution.

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It's hard to think that if you're making money on the server being this laggy by people transfering off, that you'd be ready to fix this asap.

I'll say this once more because people keep mentioning the word: Transfer. Transfers, to or from Mal'ganis have absolutely nothing to do with this issue. The Blizzard Downloader has nothing to do with this issue. Yes the timing of the issues may appear to be related but they are not. Not in the slightest.

If it was I would have no problem in letting you all know.

Q u o t e:
I'd really rather not transfer off. We've already lost one of our main raiders. M'G hasn't even been down for maitnance which is suprising if this is being fixed.

Is there seriously nothing that can be released to at least make us think you might half way be doing something to fix this?

Some adjustments require the realm to be taken offline or at least restarted. Our realm technicians are discussing the issue with our system engineers as they believe they have figured out the cause of the issue. Now it just needs to be determined what adjustments need to be made. As soon as we are provided an update we will pass it on to you.

This has been and continues to be a high priority issue. We are not ignoring Mal'ganis and we will continue to work on the issue until it has been resolved.

If you wish to transfer off the realm due to this temporary issue you are welcome to avail yourself of the Paid Character Transfer system but I think that reaction to the issue would be a bit premature.

I commented before on this but let me say it again for those of you who may have missed it. 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.

As always thank you for your patience.

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You have to understand that when the server population jumps a lot over night, and now there are people running around that are worse than me (seriously BAD) and suddenly stuff becomes unplayable, long time mal'ganis players are going to be really unhappy.

Nope, Mal'Ganis has the same steady population it's had for many months. There's been no population jump.

And yes, we have taken notice and are taking steps to correct it--but I'm sure you already know both of what I just said, since you've read the thread.

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I don't believe it's related to transfers either infact I believe its very unlikely...but I don't think you can say for sure that it has nothing to do with transfers since you're not really sure what the cause of the issue is yet.

I don't think the people that believe it has something to do with transfers are going to believe you until the issue is fixed and you post the actual cause.

We tend not to post technical information about realms/stability.

We'll let you know when it's resolved.

You are wrong.

Transfers are not causing or affecting your stability issues. Believing as much is fine, but after we've already said that it's not the problem--this is a hardware issue that's being addressed--it's less understandable.

If they were I'd be saying that they were. They're not. You don't believe in our professionalism enough to acknowledge as much, fine. But I wouldn't bother protesting if you weren't utterly and completely incorrect over and over in saying as much.

The issue is being addressed and I'm truly sorry that you've had to deal with it recently. I have friends and colleagues that play on Mal'Ganis and they're possibly even more frustrated than you. Just please stop using transfers of "bads" as a scapegoat for your server issues.

We're not.

Q u o t e:
Are you saying there's no correlation between the amount of people logged on and the latency?

Yes and no. A realm's population can indeed bring to light a core issue, just as increased activity may emphasize a fractured limb or sprained muscle. This does not mean that the population is the source, however; rather, simply that a realm is under more strain—as it always is—during peak hours and so is more likely to feel the effects of any systemic complication.

We regulate a realm's concurrent population through queues. Only a set amount of players may be logged in at one time. So, while Mal'Ganis' total population may have increased, the number of players online and out and about between 7pm to 10pm server has not changed; thus, incoming transfers are not the reason for the latency you've experienced.

The cause of this issue is on our end. While I will not detail to you the technical ins and outs, I will tell you that our Technicians, Developers, and System Engineers are working together right now to resolve this matter in full. As the situation itself is rather complicated (and, again, systemic—related to hard/software), reaching such a resolution will not be immediate; it will, however, occur ASAP, as this remains a top priority for all those involved.

I know this is incredibly frustrating. I'm a hardcore raider myself; I understand that establishing and keeping a consistent schedule is key, particularly when progression is at stake. For whatever hindrance this has caused, I am deeply sorry. My teammates and I will keep you all as to date as we can, providing information as soon as it's provided to us.

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Given the timing of when the server started to loose stability it would be completely fallacious to say that transfers in had nothing to do with it.

Again, only a set number of players may enter a realm at one time. The prevents the realm's concurrent population from drastically "increasing" to unsupportable levels. I've viewed the statistics myself: While Mal'Ganis maintains a healthy, active population during peak hours—and while it's base number of characters may have grown—peak population has never exceeded that which we've witnessed in previous weeks.

This issue relates to hard/software and began—yes, coincidentally—the day transfers opened for PvE realms. Something changed systemically on this day, as well, and so created the source. Since more stain is placed on a realm during peak hours, symptoms of such a change only became evident when Mal'Ganis' population was at its strongest, many hours later. That you choose to disregard these points will not make you correct, Gombrowicz, nor will it make transfers responsible for the increased latency.

I realize that incoming transfers are an easy and ostensibly-logical target for blame, though, so I can completely understand your concern and that train of thought. For any remaining confusion, I do sincerely apologize.

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To be blunt: this situation, as you probably know, will get a lot worse in Nov. with the expansion

The issue will be resolved by then—bearing drastic complications or unforeseen acts of Nature. We've no intention of letting the root cause remain for such a lengthy period of time.

No disrespect taken. :)

We've been monitoring populations very closely, Hateires—every evening, every morning, and every afternoon. There's minor variances—in fact, population levels have dropped somewhat during peak hours in the few days past—but everything's about level, between this week and last week (and the week before). I'm going to guess that these issues have unfortunately encouraged some players to not log on during peak hours.

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Did you come up with this deduction all by yourself Sherlock.....or did Watson help you out?

Fancy, colorful charts replete with Venn diagrams and whirligigs provided the most assistance, actually.

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I am just concerned with what i see as massive migrations to what might be described as "Mecca" servers in recent days and the ramifications that it will have on the population of WoW as a whole.

A completely valid concern. I understand why you may be hesitant or wary.

I'd save judgment for when your observations can be made without this issue negatively affecting Mal'Ganis' performance. Should you still see a potential conflict due to incoming transfers at this point in time, I'd encourage you to make a post in Suggestions and in General Discussion. While members of Community and Development do keep an eye on populations levels and balance, player testimony is heralded, as it lends a personal perspective and gives credence to our internal numbers.

This whole she-bang is incredibly coincidental, I know.

My pleasure, Gombrowicz. :D

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Why haven't there been any queues since this started happening?

Likely because many folks on Mal'Ganis are hesitant to log in while latency is affecting their game play.

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Are we going to be given an ETA on when this magical fix is going to take place?

Nothing solid, no. Not yet.

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Also, I have no idea why you bother responding to people so often saying that the problem has nothing to do with transfers. You should ignore these people, since they obviously didn't read your first post so chances are won't read any of your others.

It's just courtesy. :)

Totally not appropriate commentary, dude. =/

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Did not know humor was inappropriate, was trying to bring some to this thread, make people laugh a little maybe get there minds of the fact that for the last week all they can do is log in and stand in major city's. then log out and be upset that nothing has been done..... guess i will refrain from humor from now on and just be angry.

Humor involving terrorism and specific terrorist attacks, even if said benignly, just isn't apt for a public forum. I meant no slight by the deletion, Rozgreez. :)

Q u o t e:
Hesitant to log in would create lower pop, not unchanged, at least in my mind.

Server population and concurrent population are completely different variables—one addresses how many characters a particular realm possesses, one how many characters are logged in at any given time. While the server population has grown, its concurrent population has not (as we regulate this number).

The concurrent population has remained stable. Noted this here:

There's minor variances—in fact, population levels have dropped somewhat during peak hours in the few days past—but everything's about level, between this week and last week (and the week before). I'm going to guess that these issues have unfortunately encouraged some players to not log on during peak hours.

A hesitancy to log into Mal'Ganis has likely mitigated queue length considerably, but not overtly affected the overall concurrent population. Not enough to cause concurrent pop levels to drastically drop, at least.

That make sense? I may not be explaining this well. :)

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Going on over a week now of not even the SLIGHTEST fix on this issue? ... really?

This has been happening since the 11th, not at a week yet. I don't really want to quibble about the time frame though.

Just like you, we believe it happening only one day is too much. Unfortunately it took a little time to investigate the issue and now that they believe they have isolated the cause, which appears to be a bit more complicated than originally thought, it may take a little time to come up with a resolution.

This doesn't appear to be something that can be resolved in increments, if we could at least lighten the amount of latency you are experiencing we would.

We have requested an update from those who are working on the issue and I will provide what I can when we hear back.

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we should be compensated

I provided commentary on this a couple of times in this post.

Q u o t e:

I commented before on this but let me say it again for those of you who may have missed it. 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.

Q u o t e:
- or admit that its population limits unlocked because transfer greed.

It's not.

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Cant Blizzard just ... make the transfers go back .... and give them their money back for 1 day ... and see if it works??? .... Just a theory.

This has absolutely positively nothing to do with transfers.

This has absolutely positively nothing to do with transfers.

Say it with me now.

Q u o t e:

This has absolutely positively nothing to do with transfers.

Thank you.

Please read the entire post and not spread this misinformation.

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Can we get an explanation then of what it is? Besides "it's complicated". Those of us who play WoW this much tend to be strong enough in the technology department to understand "complicated".

The only information I have is what I have provided, it has nothing to do with transfers, or the Blizzard Downloader. Our technicians do not normally provide the Game Master Department with technical specifics otherwise.

From what I've seen it isn't a hardware issue specifically it seems to be a software issue. If it was a hardware issue and we were waiting on a part, I would tell you. I would probably be able to give you some kind of ETA if that was the case.

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If this is nothing to do with xfers or to many people while only during primetime that is what i do not understand

The issue doesn't seem to crop up until the population reaches a certain level BUT, that population is no larger this week then it was last week or the week before or for the last few months. The overall number of players who are logged into the realm has not changed.

The issue Mal'ganis is experiencing would still be happening even if transfers were halted to the realm, the issue Mal'ganis is experiencing would still be happening if the Blizzard Downloader wasn't active.

Q u o t e:
Please explain how this is a software issue then, since that hasn't changed since last week either.

I was willing to believe that there could be a failed hardware component. A random software bug that only affects one realm and isn't in any way related to the only thing that's changed on the realm is a bit harder to swallow.

Really? And how would you know that? You don't have to believe anything I tell you, Hag, that is completely up to you. I have already stated that if the cause was the transfers or the downloader or some other idea that someone has thrown out there I would have told you. Instead I have specifically said that our investigation has shown that the latency has nothing to do with any of these reasons. If you do not believe the information I have provided you you are essentially calling me a liar and nothing I say will convince you; frankly I have nothing further to add at this point.

I am not a technician, I will not be able to provide specific information unless I am provided it to relate to you.

I am providing what information I have available.