Guild Wars 2

So once again we have more broken world events.

Did nothing get learned from the penultimate Scarlet event that also was broked?

That two week release schedule.

Sometimes bugs pass the QA.
I think you noticed that a few more Living Story was added after the penultimate Scarlet update, all with world events, and can’t recall of any bug.

Hopefully it will be fixed soon enough.

This is very clearly a case of a bug that would be rather hard (of not impossible) to find during testing. Since it does seem to happen due to waaaaay too many people pressing the entity at the same time.

Oh, and it was just impossible to predict that many people may press TALK to key NPC. right?

TYHE.6435:

Oh, and it was just impossible to predict that many people may press TALK to key NPC. right?

Not really.
But it is one thing to predict that people will do something and another entirely to know exactly how many and what will happen.

They don’t build stuff to break after all.

lordkrall.7241:

TYHE.6435:

Oh, and it was just impossible to predict that many people may press TALK to key NPC. right?

Not really.

Are you kidding?

lordkrall.7241:

TYHE.6435:

Oh, and it was just impossible to predict that many people may press TALK to key NPC. right?

Not really.
But it is one thing to predict that people will do something and another entirely to know exactly how many and what will happen.

They don’t build stuff to break after all.

Precisely.

Even if the event/NPC got load-tested, that can’t match what players across X number of megaservers can produce on a single script.

This is just an instance of a script breaking from stress/overuse/unseen behavior.

Thanks for letting us know

Paul Belz.7351:

Hey guys,

Just wanted to pop in and say that we are investigating the issues with the iron marches content as fast as we can so that we can get you guys back to progressing through the episode. These issues are indeed proving quite tricky to nail down (it’s not as simple as they simply won’t restart) but we are working hard to get everything addressed as quickly as possible.

Thanks for understanding and sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanks for the update.

Paul Belz.7351:

Hey guys,

Just wanted to pop in and say that we are investigating the issues with the iron marches content as fast as we can so that we can get you guys back to progressing through the episode. These issues are indeed proving quite tricky to nail down (it’s not as simple as they simply won’t restart) but we are working hard to get everything addressed as quickly as possible.

Thanks for understanding and sorry for the inconvenience.

I know what would fix 99% of your problems… say it with me… TEST SERVER!!!!!! OMG! This is the ONLY MMO I have EVER seen that doesn’t use one! How much BROKEN CRAP do you have to shove down our throats before you realise you are WRONG?!

Solomon Darkfury.3729:

Paul Belz.7351:

Hey guys,

Just wanted to pop in and say that we are investigating the issues with the iron marches content as fast as we can so that we can get you guys back to progressing through the episode. These issues are indeed proving quite tricky to nail down (it’s not as simple as they simply won’t restart) but we are working hard to get everything addressed as quickly as possible.

Thanks for understanding and sorry for the inconvenience.

I know what would fix 99% of your problems… say it with me… TEST SERVER!!!!!! OMG! This is the ONLY MMO I have EVER seen that doesn’t use one! How much BROKEN CRAP do you have to shove down our throats before you realise you are WRONG?!

Test Server didn’t fix 99% of the broken stuff in EverQuest, or Ultima Online . . . in the latter it was just a place to kick back and do some meaningless PvP zone control stuff.

Solomon Darkfury.3729:

I know what would fix 99% of your problems… say it with me… TEST SERVER!!!!!! OMG! This is the ONLY MMO I have EVER seen that doesn’t use one! How much BROKEN CRAP do you have to shove down our throats before you realise you are WRONG?!

It wouldn’t really fix anything. Especially not the kind of issues like these, since they turn up when a massive amount of people interact with the same thing, which can’t really be tested on test-servers (which they already have btw).

Solomon Darkfury.3729:

Paul Belz.7351:

Hey guys,

Just wanted to pop in and say that we are investigating the issues with the iron marches content as fast as we can so that we can get you guys back to progressing through the episode. These issues are indeed proving quite tricky to nail down (it’s not as simple as they simply won’t restart) but we are working hard to get everything addressed as quickly as possible.

Thanks for understanding and sorry for the inconvenience.

I know what would fix 99% of your problems… say it with me… TEST SERVER!!!!!! OMG! This is the ONLY MMO I have EVER seen that doesn’t use one! How much BROKEN CRAP do you have to shove down our throats before you realise you are WRONG?!

And yet, even with your “99% fix” test servers… EVERY MMO has a slew of patch day bugs.

Yes. ALL of them.

Test servers do nothing internal testing can’t find. They really DON’T do what you think they do.

“When players say ‘test server’, what they’re really saying is, ‘I want early access to content’.”

bugs are trickier than you think
i heard they loaded it up and mordremoth trashed arena net headquarters  x_x
sit tight tyrians!

And computers being computers – this stuff happens. It’ll get fixed, just be patient.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Solomon Darkfury.3729:

Paul Belz.7351:

Hey guys,

Just wanted to pop in and say that we are investigating the issues with the iron marches content as fast as we can so that we can get you guys back to progressing through the episode. These issues are indeed proving quite tricky to nail down (it’s not as simple as they simply won’t restart) but we are working hard to get everything addressed as quickly as possible.

Thanks for understanding and sorry for the inconvenience.

I know what would fix 99% of your problems… say it with me… TEST SERVER!!!!!! OMG! This is the ONLY MMO I have EVER seen that doesn’t use one! How much BROKEN CRAP do you have to shove down our throats before you realise you are WRONG?!

Test Server didn’t fix 99% of the broken stuff in EverQuest, or Ultima Online . . . in the latter it was just a place to kick back and do some meaningless PvP zone control stuff.

Add to that just because they don’t have a public test server doesn’t mean they don’t test the game.

I’ve done test server on several mmos, and honestly Tobias is right. Most people go there not to help bug hunt but in order to get a sneak peek at the new stuff.

You try to come up with all the things you think can go wrong, and test for them, but nobody can think of everything.

Simple players will never get programming bugs.
And that is to be expected. They are CLIENTS.
Programmers will understand.
But…they are also clients.

Developers these days find testing on the end user is teh way to go.(cheaper)
What can you do?

Paul Belz.7351:

Hey guys,

Just wanted to pop in and say that we are investigating the issues with the iron marches content as fast as we can so that we can get you guys back to progressing through the episode. These issues are indeed proving quite tricky to nail down (it’s not as simple as they simply won’t restart) but we are working hard to get everything addressed as quickly as possible.

Thanks for understanding and sorry for the inconvenience.

Maybe ANet’s game studio should stop with these kind of events and focus on something that is doable within the development team.

Zylonite.5913:

Maybe ANet’s game studio should stop with these kind of events and focus on something that is doable within the development team.

Yeah, who needs to push the envelope and try something different when we could have yet another zergfest for people to complain about having instead of something different.

. . . wait . . .

Zylonite.5913:

Paul Belz.7351:

Hey guys,

Just wanted to pop in and say that we are investigating the issues with the iron marches content as fast as we can so that we can get you guys back to progressing through the episode. These issues are indeed proving quite tricky to nail down (it’s not as simple as they simply won’t restart) but we are working hard to get everything addressed as quickly as possible.

Thanks for understanding and sorry for the inconvenience.

Maybe ANet’s game studio should stop with these kind of events and focus on something that is doable within the development team.

Doable within the development team? What does that mean? Just because Murphy’s Law showed up suddenly the team’s talent and skills are utterly being called into question?

Things break, they don’t work right, and considering what a blessed complex system we’re working with here, I’m amazed that the first two parts of LS2 have been pretty darn smooth.

They hit a rough patch, it happens.

I think we can all agree (the people who have seen the events anyway) that these event should have been instanced.

I’m just giggling to myself recalling how broken the ship was to get to Kunark once upon a time, and how that ended terribly for my ranger . . . and I wound up almost losing a corpse over it.

Fun times, fun times.

Well, maybe Everquest just needed a TEST SERV…

Oh. Right…

lordkrall.7241:

TYHE.6435:

Oh, and it was just impossible to predict that many people may press TALK to key NPC. right?

Not really.
But it is one thing to predict that people will do something and another entirely to know exactly how many and what will happen.

They don’t build stuff to break after all.

So they didnt envision everyone logging in at once, everyone zerging thro a map with NO lower cap, and everyone being in the same place at the same time and it still would work ok?

I got as far as the 2nd char stood there like a fool for 20mins and left, not sure when Il get round to doing it again, worst is my friend who was with me got to the 2nd charr 10 secs before and managed to complete… so instead of doing it together, Il be doing it alone.

It seems Sentinal Scalebrusher is blocking the progress on Aelius event for the living story.

Paul Belz.7351:

Hey guys,

Just wanted to pop in and say that we are investigating the issues with the iron marches content as fast as we can so that we can get you guys back to progressing through the episode. These issues are indeed proving quite tricky to nail down (it’s not as simple as they simply won’t restart) but we are working hard to get everything addressed as quickly as possible.

Thanks for understanding and sorry for the inconvenience.

It’s not just Iron Marches. Frostgorge keeps DCing people mid-event and dumping them into new maps where the entire chain is just starting.

Missy.7356:

So they didnt envision everyone logging in at once, everyone zerging thro a map with NO lower cap, and everyone being in the same place at the same time and it still would work ok?

Eh, it’s not the “didn’t envision it”, it’s the “how do we plan around this” issue. I mean, they knew this was an issue back when Lost Shores launched and failed kitten day one.

At least this isn’t “one time only”. Ugh.

chemiclord.3978:

Well, maybe Everquest just needed a TEST SERV…

Oh. Right…

Everquest had a PUBLIC test server. The idea that just because Arena doesn’t make it public doesn’t mean they don’t have one. And test servers aren’t a magic wand, even using them doesn’t promise that the release will be bug free.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Missy.7356:

So they didnt envision everyone logging in at once, everyone zerging thro a map with NO lower cap, and everyone being in the same place at the same time and it still would work ok?

Eh, it’s not the “didn’t envision it”, it’s the “how do we plan around this” issue. I mean, they knew this was an issue back when Lost Shores launched and *failed kitten day one.

At least this isn’t “one time only”. Ugh.

That would be called forward planning, but why do that when a hotfix will do.

This is what happens when your QA department is off site and third party.

Missy.7356:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Missy.7356:

So they didnt envision everyone logging in at once, everyone zerging thro a map with NO lower cap, and everyone being in the same place at the same time and it still would work ok?

Eh, it’s not the “didn’t envision it”, it’s the “how do we plan around this” issue. I mean, they knew this was an issue back when Lost Shores launched and *failed kitten day one.

At least this isn’t “one time only”. Ugh.

That would be called forward planning, but why do that when a hotfix will do.

Considering we have no CLUE what the actual problem is in the code, and the majority of us probably won’t understand it if we did, let’s not just jump to conclusions. Unless you have powers that allow you to look inside Anet and know exactly what their planning was, then all you’re doing is adding to hot air.

It must not be too off-site, as some of the QA team show up in the weekly videos. I guess maybe they just fly them in. /shrug

Solomon Darkfury.3729:

Paul Belz.7351:

Hey guys,

Just wanted to pop in and say that we are investigating the issues with the iron marches content as fast as we can so that we can get you guys back to progressing through the episode. These issues are indeed proving quite tricky to nail down (it’s not as simple as they simply won’t restart) but we are working hard to get everything addressed as quickly as possible.

Thanks for understanding and sorry for the inconvenience.

I know what would fix 99% of your problems… say it with me… TEST SERVER!!!!!! OMG! This is the ONLY MMO I have EVER seen that doesn’t use one! How much BROKEN CRAP do you have to shove down our throats before you realise you are WRONG?!

you are aware they do have test servers right? private test servers, but test servers none the less.

They may have to redo this entire update to get this fixed. As in making everything instanced. I see a rollback and a 1 week wait coming.

lawfan.7095:

They may have to redo this entire update to get this fixed. As in making everything instanced. I see a rollback and a 1 week wait coming.

Nope.

The problems appear to be based on too many people doing things at once. If all else fails, they can lower the max cap on these (2?) zones that are giving them problems until they become more stable. As the rush of players doing the story dies down, they can slowly raise the cap back to normal.

I’m hoping for a better answer than that, though.

Ariella Goldstein.3562:

Missy.7356:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Missy.7356:

So they didnt envision everyone logging in at once, everyone zerging thro a map with NO lower cap, and everyone being in the same place at the same time and it still would work ok?

Eh, it’s not the “didn’t envision it”, it’s the “how do we plan around this” issue. I mean, they knew this was an issue back when Lost Shores launched and *failed kitten day one.

At least this isn’t “one time only”. Ugh.

That would be called forward planning, but why do that when a hotfix will do.

Considering we have no CLUE what the actual problem is in the code, and the majority of us probably won’t understand it if we did, let’s not just jump to conclusions. Unless you have powers that allow you to look inside Anet and know exactly what their planning was, then all you’re doing is adding to hot air.

Did they issue you official Anet pompoms when you became a cheerleader?

I’d say that a bug of this nature that COMPLETELY shuts down LS progression SCREAMS to me it wasn’t tested properly…

lawfan.7095:

They may have to redo this entire update to get this fixed. As in making everything instanced. I see a rollback and a 1 week wait coming.

I’d rather have it rolled back and instanced to get a better feel for the story.

Palador.2170:

lawfan.7095:

They may have to redo this entire update to get this fixed. As in making everything instanced. I see a rollback and a 1 week wait coming.

Nope.

The problems appear to be based on too many people doing things at once. If all else fails, they can lower the max cap on these (2?) zones that are giving them problems until they become more stable. As the rush of players doing the story dies down, they can slowly raise the cap back to normal.

I’m hoping for a better answer than that, though.

LOL Anet makes content that is zerg based… then it breaks bc of too many people doing it… yeah… it was THOROUGHLY tested I’m sure… lol good one Anet

“Testing” doesn’t fix the problem, “fixing” does.

So no matter how many tests are conducted, whether live, public or private test servers…ArenaNet still need to fix them.

Besides, it’s always been a case where you have a 100% functioning patch that breaks as soon as it hit the live server. These things happen…at least they are fixing it and not waiting days before responding.

Missy.7356:

That would be called forward planning, but why do that when a hotfix will do.

Exactly my problem with the current crop of development processes across the board. “Release it soon as it can run, we can patch it day one” is something which has taken root quite a bit.

It’s like they’re afraid to go “hey, guys, we know we said we’d patch today but we’re not sure about it so we’d like a couple days…” . . .

. . . actually, I can totally see why they’re afraid, since any announcement of delay would be met with lots of people starting “The game is dying!!!!!!1!” threads all over the internet.

Solomon Darkfury.3729:

LOL Anet makes content that is zerg based… then it breaks bc of too many people doing it… yeah… it was THOROUGHLY tested I’m sure… lol good one Anet

It probably was thoroughly tested, to the tools and resources they had on hand. Which is about all it’s reasonable to ask of them within their job description.

Now, the fact this screams of the same problem they had during Lost Shores with Canach in Garrenhoff? Tells me they probably have to go find the people who were working that month and pick their brains over for how it got fixed then.

okay….guess i’ll just do the first 2 eps on my alts while i wait for ep 3 to be playable.

Ariella Goldstein.3562:

Everquest had a PUBLIC test server. The idea that just because Arena doesn’t make it public doesn’t mean they don’t have one. And test servers aren’t a magic wand, even using them doesn’t promise that the release will be bug free.

Yes. Thank you. That… was the joke.

It’s okay. I forgive you.

Zergs were the downfall in previous LS events and from what we’ve seen:

S2E1: Instanced – Success
S2E2: Instanced – Success
S2E3: Open World – Bugged

So it is.

Just one more reason I love the Megaservers… not! LS1 had all open world events, yet I never recall this much chaos, nor problems like NPC’s or animals having guild tags in the past 18 months. The cap on maps is too high currently, 50 per map unless TeQ or Evolved Wurm is up.

chemiclord.3978:

Yes. Thank you. That… was the joke.

It’s okay. I forgive you.

So you didn’t want me to drop the ten thousand cream pies on them?

Um . . . I need to see an asura baker about something totally unrelated to this conversation.

Actually, this would be a good use of time. Where’s my baking goods, I should get on that discovery tab.

dkspins.4670:

Just one more reason I love the Megaservers… not! LS1 had all open world events, yet I never recall this much chaos, nor problems like NPC’s or animals having guild tags in the past 18 months. The cap on maps is too high currently, 50 per map unless TeQ or Evolved Wurm is up.

I dont think this has anything to do with megaserver. We’ve seen these kind of issues before.

Hopefully, they will have this fixed soon. Til then, alot of people are still having fun just hanging out on the map.

Well, the Champion (moron) showed up 2x while I waited for the show to begin—the first time was a ROYAL kitten————-no one could figure out what it was doing or when————2nd time around we just AoE’d to death——no problem! Then I guess it suddenly sickened and died————gave up and went home——————begged for allies??———wondered where the help went (ya just can’t get good ones these days)——————cuz it been back no more, no more! As far as the story is concerned, blank pages do not a story make!