**The Secret World**

An update on the chat issues
Hi guys!

I just thought it was time to give you a bit of an update on the issues with the chat system that some of you are experiencing; what exactly is happening, and what we're doing to solve it.

First, some background. Before we did the Single Server upgrade of the Dreamworld engine, the dimensions were completely separate on the server-side. Each dimension had their own set of server processes "driving" it, including one chatserver each.

The idea behind the Single Server upgrade was that the pool of servers would be completely shared between all the different dimensions, meaning a dimension in the new system is much more of a virtual concept. This technology is what makes the cross-dimension PvP matches, joining your friends in other dimensions, and (most relevant here) chatting to everyone through tells to players on other dimensions, cross-dimension cabal channels, team chat channels, and so forth, possible.

To properly implement this chat functionality, the technology for the chat backend had to undergo a complete upgrade. While the frontend (what you see in the client) may look similar to previous Dreamworld engine games, the backend is now completely different. As there's too much traffic for a single server to handle, the load has to be distributed: We structured a network of chat servers that all talk to each other, to the clients (you), and to the game servers.

So, to the problem itself. At some point after we "went live" with the game, some of the servers would suddenly stop talking to the other servers for periods of time. Unfortunately, this means that any player that connects to a problematic server while it's not communicating won't be able to chat, as the chat servers need information from the game, which they can't get. Players already connected to the server can also only talk to each other during this. The server will eventually recover, but it takes some time before everything gets synced up.

We never saw this internally while testing the technology, or during the various betas. And while the first beta weekend had an issue with the chatserver being unavailable for a time, the cause wasn't the same, so there wasn't much we could do about this ahead of time.

Again, the problem with solving this is that it's very hard to reproduce the issue in a controlled environment where we can debug it. This means that everything takes a lot longer than we'd like in terms of pinpointing problems and testing out solutions. At this point, we are working on several fixes for this, and some backup plans, as fast as humanly possible. We can't thank you (our players) enough for your patience while we repair this, and hope that you won't have to wait too much longer!

I can assure you we have our top men working on it. Top men.


Vinterstum

Lead Programmer
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Tempted to lifetime sub for this, never done this for an MMO ever, it's that good :D

However, what do you guys think the chances of this going F2P are before i'd get my moneys worth? Seems as though most new MMO's go the F2P route before the 1st year is out.
 
SixTwoSix said:
Tempted to lifetime sub for this, never done this for an MMO ever, it's that good :D

However, what do you guys think the chances of this going F2P are before i'd get my moneys worth? Seems as though most new MMO's go the F2P route before the 1st year is out.
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I'd never buy one, too many games are awesome at first but don't last the cost, too risky :/
 
SixTwoSix said:
Tempted to lifetime sub for this, never done this for an MMO ever, it's that good :D

However, what do you guys think the chances of this going F2P are before i'd get my moneys worth? Seems as though most new MMO's go the F2P route before the 1st year is out.
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From what I've seen, they're intentionally kept this game low key to avoid the same fate that most MMOs fall into of an early rush, then having to merge servers when people leave (I also think this is why they've done projections that people need to spend - I think - 35% of their sub fee a month on clothes from the shop) but there seems to have been quite a positive launch due to the quality of the game and word of mouth meaning they're getting more players than they anticipated. Add to the very interesting post launch plans and I can't see this game going F2P anytime soon.

I think there'll be a slow, steady increase of players that'll probably top at around 500-600k, which will be very profitable number for them.

I don't know about anyone else, but I can't stomach the thought of GW2 now. From being super hyped for it, I'm now in the position where another high fantasy MMO is leaving me colder than a draug's barnacled arse.
 
SixTwoSix said:
Tempted to lifetime sub for this, never done this for an MMO ever, it's that good :D

However, what do you guys think the chances of this going F2P are before i'd get my moneys worth? Seems as though most new MMO's go the F2P route before the 1st year is out.
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lifetime sub sounds excessive. Have you tried much pvp? Also we ofc have no idea what any endgame content is like yet (well I don't). I need decent and challenging endgame raiding to enjoy MMO's properly.

If you like it a lot, why not just get a 6 month or years sub, and maybe buy some of the real money vanity gear or something.
 
Azer said:
lifetime sub sounds excessive. Have you tried much pvp? Also we ofc have no idea what any endgame content is like yet (well I don't). I need decent and challenging endgame raiding to enjoy MMO's properly.
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One of the things they've tried to do with this game is make it not all about the 'endgame'. I agree with this, it should be about the game itself, not just a slog to get to a stage where the game actually starts.
 
avatar12m said:
cool thanks for web link , btw any reason you have a ql 0 sword or is it just the website ?
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Must've taken it as I restarted the Kingsmouth zone with the new weapon. I wanted to get used to blade combat so started at the beginning until I geared up a bit. Got a QL2 or 3 blade now iirc.
 
Redman said:
One of the things they've tried to do with this game is make it not all about the 'endgame'. I agree with this, it should be about the game itself, not just a slog to get to a stage where the game actually starts.
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I agree and I'm enjoying it so far... I just mean I want some meaningfull 20man or whatever "big encounters" some time with mega purple drops etc.

Funcom usually do this stuff well so I'm hoping it will be this way.
 
I think they have been quite quiet about this after their last launch (age of conan) where up until launch they were telling some wopping porkies.

Have been keeping an eye on this since before aoc release so will probly get it at some point if it keeps up with the great feedback i'm hearing.
 
Would appreciate a buddy key if anyone has one spare get me away from Elins and elves ;) Also find out what all the fuss is about :)
 
The updates sound extremely promising. Also considering a life time sub on this, I absolutely love the game so far. The improvement on animation and movement is good to see in the pipeline.
 
Pac3y said:
The updates sound extremely promising. Also considering a life time sub on this, I absolutely love the game so far. The improvement on animation and movement is good to see in the pipeline.
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Although I'm enjoying the game, I'm surprised by the poor animations/slightly clunky movement/control of this game, since it uses the AoC engine (control of movement/combat felt extremely fluid in AoC despite its various faults).
 
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