Merge

[Gorathon]

This is a really good thought. Unfortunately, there is a specific technical problem we need the merge to be able to fully solve, which is why we are setting up a fresh server (that has the "solution") and migrating everyone to that. It's also why the merge absolutely has to happen (and honestly, as soon as practicable for us). Any sort of mass migration of characters to either of the existing servers would exacerbate the problem.

They haven't taught the new hamster how to say "row" yet.

[Kron]

I think it would help if you could be more specific about the specific problem with character transfer.

[Phixalicious]

I think it would help if you could be more specific about the specific problem with character transfer.

I'm sure they have been very specific about the specific problem with those who are employed and qualified to fix said specific problem.

[Gimpynoob]

I'm sure they have been very specific about the specific problem with those who are employed and qualified to fix said specific problem.

Wanna bet?

[Ilaliya]

I think it would help if you could be more specific about the specific problem with character transfer.

The game servers themselves are showing their age. As persistently run software, and from a resource management perspective, they weren't really designed to last for ten years (in the sense of handling 10 years worth of characters being created, mob spawns, item drops, etc) . This can manifest itself in some very ugly ways which fortunately we've managed to mostly avoid. But to apply any sort of fix for this, we need to start fresh. Which is why for the merge we're setting up a new server and merging everyone into that.

Allowing transfers between dimensions now would greatly increase the chances this issue would start to manifest itself and this would be highly inconvenient for everyone.

[Kron]

ok, thanks for the data.

[Raggy]

The game servers themselves are showing their age. As persistently run software, and from a resource management perspective, they weren't really designed to last for ten years (in the sense of handling 10 years worth of characters being created, mob spawns, item drops, etc) . This can manifest itself in some very ugly ways which fortunately we've managed to mostly avoid. But to apply any sort of fix for this, we need to start fresh. Which is why for the merge we're setting up a new server and merging everyone into that.

Allowing transfers between dimensions now would greatly increase the chances this issue would start to manifest itself and this would be highly inconvenient for everyone.

And the lack of population isn't inconvenient? Come on now.


FC really does need to sort it priorities out. Let me break this down into a way you'd likely understand being from a business background.

Option #1 - ??% chance of causing server instability which could irritate the remaining population, but in the short term benefits those who are on the dead server and increase the general population in one area while a merge solution is researched.

Option #2 - 0% chance of server instability, 100% chance of subscriber drop in the long run.


I'll leave it to you to figure out which is more profitable. RK2 has been bleeding from a metaphorical gunshot wound for the past 4 years and has been getting increasingly closer to death. RK2 has been crying out for medical attention this whole time too while FC has continued to either ignore it's pleas for help or just keep throwing band-aids at it. All the while various bystanders of the community, with no real medical experience have been attempting to stem the bleeding, but the real doctor, FC, has been too busy counting it's salary to even give a moments notice to its' patients.

The server is now dead. And the blood is on FCs hands.

Stop blaming it on the 'Archaic code', you've had plenty of warning from everyone for a VERY long time. Man up and take some damn responsibility.

[Psikie]

And the lack of population isn't inconvenient? Come on now.

You have a lot of passion for AO, that is obvious. However do consider, that making a live server for a mmo is not as simple as copy and paste. Not to make excuses for FC or to even say this is the reality but I like to think it's a good theory.

Remember the wierd problem we had with rk mobs not respawning a few years back because the servers assigned unique ID to each mob ever spawned or killed. Crap like that has to be accounted for so those old problems don't replicate. Or the zone crashes from using shadowbreeds? I would like to think those are the types of bugs that are getting ironed out before a new server goes live.

[Darkripper]

The game servers themselves are showing their age. As persistently run software, and from a resource management perspective, they weren't really designed to last for ten years (in the sense of handling 10 years worth of characters being created, mob spawns, item drops, etc) .

What about this new server? It's being designed to last for how long?

[Irish]

They haven't taught the new hamster how to say "row" yet.

this is what hes talkin about lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kXS37clsZw

[Raggy]

You have a lot of passion for AO, that is obvious. However do consider, that making a live server for a mmo is not as simple as copy and paste. Not to make excuses for FC or to even say this is the reality but I like to think it's a good theory.

Remember the wierd problem we had with rk mobs not respawning a few years back because the servers assigned unique ID to each mob ever spawned or killed. Crap like that has to be accounted for so those old problems don't replicate. Or the zone crashes from using shadowbreeds? I would like to think those are the types of bugs that are getting ironed out before a new server goes live.

However it was simple as copy and paste for RK3>RK1/2 and it still is the case for Test.

Suddenly when everyone starts asking for a merge, a mysterious never before heard of technical issue arises, which somehow didn't plague RK1/2 when the RK3 shutdown occurred.

Hence I call BS.

I have experience with MMO servers, I've worked on various emulation projects for WoW Private Servers which if anything are just as tempermental, possibly even moreso as very slight changes to very simple things can have catastrophic results. Moving one set of data from one table to another in a database is easy and requires hardly any work to do.

[Psikie]

However it was simple as copy and paste for RK3>RK1/2 and it still is the case for Test.

Suddenly when everyone starts asking for a merge, a mysterious never before heard of technical issue arises, which somehow didn't plague RK1/2 when the RK3 shutdown occurred.

Hence I call BS.

Well true but they also had to open up 3 craters zones to fit cities. Since we already know player cities are going away why would they open up 2 more new zones for player cities just to remove them once we get to new server. They are working smarter not harder. Maybe it's time saving or work load saving not to create some new zones that will be gone or useless once new server is up and running?

[Ilaliya]

However it was simple as copy and paste for RK3>RK1/2 and it still is the case for Test.

Suddenly when everyone starts asking for a merge, a mysterious never before heard of technical issue arises, which somehow didn't plague RK1/2 when the RK3 shutdown occurred.

Hence I call BS.

It's not exactly a "mysterious never before heard of technical issue"... it's somewhat related to an issue Colin has previously talked about:

http://forums.anarchyonline.com/showthread.php?t=591664
http://forums.anarchyonline.com/showthread.php?t=591448

For the proper fix to be applied involves setting up a new server and merging everyone into that. This is why we don't really want to open up the possibility of mass migrations between servers until that time.

And the lack of population isn't inconvenient? Come on now.

To be honest, I think this is probably less convenient than the servers going down and not coming back up. Unfortunately, that's the risk we would run if we opened up the possibility for migrations between between servers at this time. And I assure you, the server merge is among our top priorities.

I have experience with MMO servers, I've worked on various emulation projects for WoW Private Servers which if anything are just as tempermental, possibly even moreso as very slight changes to very simple things can have catastrophic results. Moving one set of data from one table to another in a database is easy and requires hardly any work to do.

Don't know if you are interested, but Funcom is hiring an additional database administrator. http://www.funcom.com/jobs/montreal. This is actually one of the issues we've been working with that team to solve.

[Raggy]

It's not exactly a "mysterious never before heard of technical issue"... it's somewhat related to an issue Colin has previously talked about:

http://forums.anarchyonline.com/showthread.php?t=591664
http://forums.anarchyonline.com/showthread.php?t=591448

For the proper fix to be applied involves setting up a new server and merging everyone into that. This is why we don't really want to open up the possibility of mass migrations between servers until that time.

To which Means said that the ID allocation had been solved for 'the foreseeable future', so someone is lying.

To be honest, I think this is probably less convenient than the servers going down and not coming back up. Unfortunately, that's the risk we would run if we opened up the possibility for migrations between between servers at this time. And I assure you, the server merge is among our top priorities.

See above. Also top priority but is not mentioned in the Monthly Update? The fact we only know about the current technical issue is because you said there was one. Communication, or lack of, yet again.

Don't know if you are interested, but Funcom is hiring an additional database administrator. http://www.funcom.com/jobs/montreal. This is actually one of the issues we've been working with that team to solve.

Thanks but no thanks. Far too high requirements and I've honestly lost faith in the company.

[Le-Quack]

Take a deep breath...

Clearly FC is working on it, but they know if they handle it incorrectly, the will alienate a vast number of the population who will rage quit as a result.

For instance, let's take org cities and tower fields for an example... How would you handle that? Do you think for that it will be a simple thing to accomplish? Look at what FC had to do in order to have a mostly orderly transition for RK3 to RK1/2.

There needs to be a balance between quickly and correctly.

ok i love this Line ( Clearly FC is working on it ) gave me a good laugh
this has been said for years by randoms.. and still we have nothing.

[Le-Quack]

Yeah, I hear ya. Thing with a server "merge" (and you are absolutely correct, we're actually technically merging both existing servers into a brand new server and copying everyone's data onto that) is that there is a lot of database magic that has to happen, and a lot that can go wrong. That's the nature of the game.

So lets just say there are substantial technical considerations. This means we need our internal hardware/database experts to allocate a block of free time to be "on call" to immediately respond in case their are issues. Since when we do the merge, server(s) are going to have to be down (and they can't come back up until it's all working, so we have to get it right the first time!) and then the same guys are going to have to be on call for awhile after the new server comes up "just in case." And this is after the time they spend doing the prep-work. We also need a time-frame where we aren't in the middle of a patch. So don't take this as a commitment and it's completely subject to change, but in a best-case scenario we're currently looking at roughly after the summer, sometime in the fall. Needs to happen this year though, but then again keep in mind a lot needs to happen this year

i doubt anyone would care if funcom tok down anarchy online for 1 week to fix evrything for a merge and other stuff. 1 week is worth 3-4 years of suffering with nothing

[Psikie]

It's not exactly a "mysterious never before heard of technical issue"... it's somewhat related to an issue Colin has previously talked about:

http://forums.anarchyonline.com/showthread.php?t=591664
http://forums.anarchyonline.com/showthread.php?t=591448

For the proper fix to be applied involves setting up a new server and merging everyone into that. This is why we don't really want to open up the possibility of mass migrations between servers until that time.

Woot I was partially right!

However you can never please all the people all the time.

[Ilaliya]

Woot I was partially right!

Yep! These are exactly the sorts of things we are getting ironed out (and there is a large number of things in this "category" of issue, as it were... not just the specific ones Colin was talking about). The new server is the ironing board.

[ByLogic]

They haven't taught the new hamster how to say "row" yet.

string jokes =

"And i am sure they need 1 Hamster for each columns to.

Changing the database for a merge. That probably means FC have to teach hamsters
to be bears.

Database so hard wildlife stuff.."

if (jokes == null)
{

No offence Ilaliya, i am sure you guys are doing your best. But i have very good memory of the history of Anarchy Online. There was new server out after you changed them to new ISP location
and started to parse with Visual Studio 2010 (if i remember correct?) Means said this 2 years ago. So the servers arnt 10 years old..

You cant blame Database for making mixup, they are innocence creature, i would rather blame the codes handling the t-sql and validations.
New patch looking good, looking forward to test it out..Keep the good work up.

}

Personally i have abit more fate on the pop after the new engine comes, we dont need a merge now. If you look at many new mmorpgs out today, they have fresh shiny dx10 engines rendering all sort of useful and less useful stuff. Take all that away and you end up with a game allot (i mean allot) less interesting than AO.

Wait with any merge till new engine comes out. and Duel logging is pretty fun btw i dont mind supporting my fav game with 2 accounts each month. I will ofc come to the forums and kick there
butt now and then, but overall i have pretty good fate in FC. Give them time, pop will come.. before that.. all loot is mine!

[Psikie]

No offence Ilaliya, i am sure you guys are doing your best. But i have very good memory of the history of Anarchy Online. There was new server out after you changed them to new ISP location
and started to parse with Visual Studio 2010 (if i remember correct?) Means said this 2 years ago. So the servers arnt 10 years old..

AH but the system program and databases are 10years old. All that 10year old data must be converted to the new engine and onto new server. Then tested to make sure the major bugs are ironed out. I wouldn't be surprised if FC was actually building 2 new servers 1 for test and 1 for live.

I really would much prefer that any major kinks were ironed out before I have my toons transfered over to the new server. I would hate to be in the middle of 12m, pande, collector, or gauntlet and all the sudden some bug causes my armor and weapons to go poof from a bug.