QOS - does it mean anything

[red_cardinal]

Ok, so you're shutting down LOTRO servers in Europe and merging them into a global service. How convenient? But where's quality of service here? Why the hell can't you maintain a server or two in Europe. For EU players this is a big
deal because it REDUCES LATENCY! Gaming experience isn't the same at 150ms as it is at 60ms. Graphic objects are drawn at different times and that can be frustrating! I know MMORPGs aren't FPS games, but that doesn't mean that latency is no issue at all when it's above 100ms.

I don't get it that you can't find a partner to manage a server/two and do restarts and upgrades in Europe! What a bunch of ********... :P

LOTRO is an example... What's happening to LOTRO now, happened to DDO. This post IS about DDO, not LOTRO. :P

[adamkatt]

Off topic?

[SoujiTendou]

Tbh, i bet he took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

[RudyMcghee]

LOTRO forums are that way. -->

[Sequell]

Ok, so you're shutting down LOTRO servers in Europe and merging them into a global service. How convenient? But where's quality of service here? Why the hell can't you maintain a server or two in Europe. For EU players this is a big
deal because it REDUCES LATENCY! Gaming experience isn't the same at 150ms as it is at 60ms. Graphic objects are drawn at different times and that can be frustrating! I know MMORPGs aren't FPS games, but that doesn't mean that latency is no issue at all when it's above 100ms.

I don't get it that you can't find a partner to manage a server/two and do restarts and upgrades in Europe! What a bunch of ********... :P

I bet from a strict monetary standpoint Europe has far less players...someone has to get the short straw.

[cdbd3rd]

[ProdigalGuru]

Too funny, please stop.

[Grymli]

I bet from a strict monetary standpoint Europe has far less players...someone has to get the short straw.

I've heard they have all sort of distractions keeping them from being serious gamers over there in Europe... girlfriends, social lives, pubs and clubs, etc. Pfft. They certainly don't deserve their own servers if they aren't going to take this thing of ours seriously.

[Kaieldriale]

I'm from the UK myself and now play here on the US DDO servers, yeah the latency is "slightly" higher but only noticeable if i look at the connection icon. I very rarely lag, and see more people from the US complaining about lag than I experience myself.
I've played LOTRO for 4 years on the EU servers and yeah it will be sad to see it changing, but then again it could be for the best, larger player base = easier to find fellowships for instances. We'll have to see how it goes.

Nai tiruvantel ar varyuvantel i Valar tielyanna nu vilya. ;p

Kaieldriale.

[Arnhelm]

In this case, I think it means you got the wrong forums... *shrug*

[Sequell]

I've heard they have all sort of distractions keeping them from being serious gamers over there in Europe... girlfriends, social lives, pubs and clubs, etc. Pfft. They certainly don't deserve their own servers if they aren't going to take this thing of ours seriously.

Well, I am not exactly a "serious" gammer per se, but I also have a wife, job, social life, and 7 month deployments every now and then.

More than likely the Royal wedding cost so much they can no longer afford to have servers in Europe.

[Bloodstealer]

Ok, so you're shutting down LOTRO servers in Europe and merging them into a global service. How convenient? But where's quality of service here? Why the hell can't you maintain a server or two in Europe. For EU players this is a big
deal because it REDUCES LATENCY! Gaming experience isn't the same at 150ms as it is at 60ms. Graphic objects are drawn at different times and that can be frustrating! I know MMORPGs aren't FPS games, but that doesn't mean that latency is no issue at all when it's above 100ms.

I don't get it that you can't find a partner to manage a server/two and do restarts and upgrades in Europe! What a bunch of ********... :P

And you are....ahhhhh yes lost!

LOTRO Forums was left a few miles back... head back up that dark road and you will see a sign on your right saying "Welcome to Hell"... there BYEEEE

[Grymli]

More than likely the Royal wedding cost so much they can no longer afford to have servers in Europe.

Wait. He's joking, right? Please tell me that silly island isn't STILL a part of Europe. Haven't they made it the 51st state yet? Officially, I mean.

[Flavilandile]

lol, what did you expect after they killed DDO-Europe ? Really ? Really !!! *kobold voice*

(( sorry couldn't resist ))

It was foreseable last year when Bran sent his Dwarven Tantrum on the LOTRO Europe Forums to get some DDO attention from CM and with the DDO Europe closure a few month later that it was bound to happen to LOTRO too at one time or another.

Now, what you have to do is to grab as much people as possible from your guild and try to do the best transition as possible.

The gaming experience is not very different from what you have/had in Europe... just more people...
And if you are as close knit as the DDO people were when the CM Servers were shut down you'll not notice the difference.

Your concerns should be :
- how is the transfer be handled
- which server are you going to end on
- how the transfer problems are going to be handled.
- how long is it going to take
- if it's possible to make sure that we will have the characters on the account we want

( for us it took from August to October to get our characters... and some of us never got them on the right account )

Dig into the archives of the DDO forums to look at what we had to endure/survive through.

[red_cardinal]

In this case, I think it means you got the wrong forums... *shrug*

This ISN'T about LOTRO! This IS about DDO and latency issues as a part of quality of service. I only mentioned LOTRO as an example. The same thing was done with DDO Europe. I really miss latency at 60 ms. Considering DDO, they chose a bad partner/operator. I'm not going through who screwed up, I'm only saying they need EU servers. With F2p and some propaganda it would bring new players - even if it's only one server. Same would probably be LOTRO, although I don't care about LOTRO. On the other hand, these games are old. Old engines, old hardware, reduced player base... Turbine needs new stuff.

[red_cardinal]

Wait. He's joking, right? Please tell me that silly island isn't STILL a part of Europe. Haven't they made it the 51st state yet? Officially, I mean.

England drifted away from Europe. Not to much, but enough not to be considered Europe.

[Sympl]

On the other hand, these games are old. Old engines, old hardware, reduced player base... Turbine needs new stuff.

...

...

old...engines? New engine = new game entirely = current engine/incarnation down the commode
old...hardware? We've had several server moves/hardware upgrades/additoonal servers (Cannith and Orien almost dropped as a conjoined pair on us) and the downtimes to prove it while they happened.
....reduced player base? Ummmm...no. And if you think the player base is reduced because no one wants to come looking for you while you're hiding in the Harbor anymore....*slygrin*.....sorry couldn't resist a mild barb at the hide-n-seekers....
Turbine needs new stuff? That's what Updates are for....and who knows...maybe someday they'll try and implement a full crafting syste.....what you mean it's in beta already?!?

**PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT***
**This post has nothing to do with latency or overseas play but is strictly in response to the above quote***

[red_cardinal]

Dude, D&D is a brand! And a very wide known brand. Now, I'm no branding specialist, but I can see what has potential for a great game and what lacks potential. DDO had to be a GREAT game... Now it's mediocre. Not because of the F2p model, but because of loads of stuff which had to be done like 2-3 years ago. Not to mention covering Europe, constant marketing, stronger quality gameplay testing and so on. The company lacks money for that sort of stuff and I don't believe they will expand DDO (not with a new adventure pack or a few new PrEs).
One of the big screwups is the fact that Mac was ignored almost completely... As an unofficial rule in game development - if you make a game for a PC only, port it to Mac too. Screw consoles. They didn't make it happen as they should've done years ago... And one of the reasons is that they chose M$ as their strategic partner... You can't write a game with DirectX and then port it to MacOS. Graphics engine should've been some from the 3rd party - like Source 2 (which was used in Left 4 Dead 2). Dang, I need to get myself 40-50 milion Euro to get some things done even if it kills me.

[Esserbe]

If you are experiencing lag, and believe 150 ms is considerable lag in a game like DDO, take it up with your ISP. I'm not experiencing lag except when everyone else does it and the server takes a hiccup - I'm having a fun, smooth gaming experience from continental Europe.

Of course, I have real broadband, not whatever it is you have in the UK.

Also, porting DDO to Mac will almost definitely cost more than it brings in. It's niched enough for the PC as it is, what kind of numbers could it possibly pull from a 5% worldwide installed userbase? Tech savvy Mac users who want to play the game on their Macs are already doing it.

[Bloodstealer]

Dude, D&D is a brand! And a very wide known brand. Now, I'm no branding specialist, but I can see what has potential for a great game and what lacks potential. DDO had to be a GREAT game... Now it's mediocre. Not because of the F2p model, but because of loads of stuff which had to be done like 2-3 years ago. Not to mention covering Europe, constant marketing, stronger quality gameplay testing and so on. The company lacks money for that sort of stuff and I don't believe they will expand DDO (not with a new adventure pack or a few new PrEs).
One of the big screwups is the fact that Mac was ignored almost completely... As an unofficial rule in game development - if you make a game for a PC only, port it to Mac too. Screw consoles. They didn't make it happen as they should've done years ago... And one of the reasons is that they chose M$ as their strategic partner... You can't write a game with DirectX and then port it to MacOS. Graphics engine should've been some from the 3rd party - like Source 2 (which was used in Left 4 Dead 2). Dang, I need to get myself 40-50 milion Euro to get some things done even if it kills me.

Well you make alot of wind about very little i'm afraid.. your original post did not point to DDO but lots about LoTRO now your wanting to poke Turbine about DDO:EU... take a look at the court case papers..maybe then you may have a rethink as to the why and wont's around the EU pull back.
One thing you are correct about... you are obviously not a brand specialist or tech savey... the PC market is globally more profitable for DDO otherwise I am pretty sure they would of steered the ship in alternative waters long before it set sail on a Windows/DX platform.

Playing from the UK I normally had latency between 40-70ms now Iam getting 60-90ms... no big issues unless my ISP is having abad hair day or when server wide lag issues arise... show me an MMO that does have lag from time to time.
But there is of course an alternative to your pain... dont like it, dont play it... Turbine aren't holding a gun to your head are they...