Downtime Notice: Saturday, 7:00am-11:00am Eastern (-5 GMT)

[SisAmethyst]

It won't let me because I have Windows 10. But thank you for trying. God this is so annoying. The game ran fine until the update.

Try out his Microsoft support answer:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...ae764c1?auth=1

First they advise to download the web-installer which will install missing files for DirectX (Win7/8/8.1/10 should have all DX - 9,10... 11). If one of the files is corrupted and the first solution does not work you can try the second download of the DirectX Redist (June 2010) which will then also override and possibly fix corrupted installations.

Btw.: due to the error message claiming "Could not enumerate Directinput devices...", did you by any chance also install/change a new keyboard, mouse or headset that may not yet correctly be recognized by Windows DirectX, or unplugged anyone of those ?

Last but not least from the LotRO forum, try the suggestion of fallohide to detect issues with the dxdiag tool:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/...-run-dxdiagexe

[thomassmith2]

Four hours of down time on a Saturday to fix a handful of problems? Could this really not have waited until Monday morning when we arn't all wanting to play the Game?

[LogiTinker]

I stopped playing yesterday because there was going to be a hotfix, now I've been kicked out today.

£119.99 for an expansion that I can't spend enough time in game to level to run.

Now you've made some money out of Ravenloft how about buying some decent hardware? EVE Online has a restart everyday and barring problems it lasts 15 minutes not 4-5 hours.

[Arch-Necromancer]

An update on Saturday??? And it will last for 4 hours???

Are you people aware that people who work/go to school/college mostly do this during the week, and weekend is for many of those the only free time to play the game?

I don't see anything crucial in this update for it to be needed now.

Sure, there are bugs that make some quests unable to be finished sometimes. But didn't we have such a bug in Haunted Halls with that doppelganger, and it's been present for years without a fix?

Why rush with an update?

[Stormblade721]

Chelsea and West Ham is starting

[Yalinaa]

An update on Saturday??? And it will last for 4 hours???

Are you people aware that people who work/go to school/college mostly do this during the week, and weekend is for many of those the only free time to play the game?

I don't see anything crucial in this update for it to be needed now.

Sure, there are bugs that make some quests unable to be finished sometimes. But didn't we have such a bug in Haunted Halls with that doppelganger, and it's been present for years without a fix?

Why rush with an update?

Well, if you are playing this game for a while, you should know... There's obviously an exploit in the expansion, I guess it's about sentient weapons.
People who bought Ravenloft could do anything these days, SSG won't ban anyone who just spent money on game.
So they closed the servers, until they could fix the exploit.

[morrok73]

I realy hope that the fix can include a way to re-flag players for the weapon smith at the entrance to Barovia. Even if this gives some players 2 weapons, so what. I sent a ticket in about my level 10 and 12 getting level 29 weapons and was told There is no help for it.. Why they couldnt trade me the heroic version for the epic one I don't know.

Hey Cordovan, could we get an answer for this, it would be nice to be able to get the correct weapon, or be able to trade for it, maybe give people enough of the collectables needed to trade for a heroic weapon?

[Spellonzo]

The DDO game worlds will be unavailable on Saturday, 7:00 AM - 11:00 AM Eastern (-5 GMT) for a hotfix.


This hotfix is being actively worked on, so there is some chance the hotfix will be postponed.


Here are the things we are working to fix:

• Correct an issue where the examination window will sometimes get wider over time.
• Fix an issue where the Keystone would not consistently spawn in the quest Invitation to Dinner.
• Correct an issue with The Mist wall in Raven's Bane that could prevent players from progressing past Baleful.
• Lowered the number of wolves that spawn in Fresh-baked Dreams.
• Correct typos in Fresh-baked Dreams.
• Remove an energy drain spell attack in Fresh-baked Dreams and Mad Tea Party.
• No longer allow Dimension Door to be cast in the quest Mad Tea Party due to the spell sometimes breaking the quest.
• No longer having the quest Sealed in Amber sometimes get a PvP flag activated.
• Fix an issue where the wrong level weapon would be bestowed to a player as part of the weapon giver encounter in the Barovian wilderness area.
• Resolve some issues where effects were stacking incorrectly over time (aka - "stacking effects bugs").
• Fix an issue where a Half elf Vistani Knife Fighter would sometimes display in a T-Pose.
• Provide instructions in their tool tips on how to use Sentience Toolkits, Destroyers, and Jewels.
• Correct an issue in Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords where Madam Eva would not move to open the secret passage, making the quest not able to be completed.
• Correct an issue where Grave Wrappinigs, Antipode, and the level 20 and 24 versions of Amaunator Ascetic's Handwraps were not Accepting Sentience.
• Correct an issue where the Arcane Archer Critical Multiplier was not applying consistently.
• Legendary Memory of Fine Regalia now appears with its correct Spell Power and Spell Critical values. This does not correct items already acquired; we hope to correct these items in an upcoming patch.
• The end chest in Amber Temple now spawns whether you draw Strahd's attention or not. However, drawing his attention will earn you an extra regular chest.
• Fixed effect bugs with the Crypt Raider, Beacon of Magic, and Adherent of the Mists sets.

Much appreciated. At least now we have a good idea of what's going on, and the attempts to fix it.

[Qhualor]

An update on Saturday??? And it will last for 4 hours???

Are you people aware that people who work/go to school/college mostly do this during the week, and weekend is for many of those the only free time to play the game?

I don't see anything crucial in this update for it to be needed now.

Sure, there are bugs that make some quests unable to be finished sometimes. But didn't we have such a bug in Haunted Halls with that doppelganger, and it's been present for years without a fix?

Why rush with an update?

Saturday downtime does suck, but history shows after every update there is downtime fixes within a few days to a week after and than usually a couple more after that. 4 hours is pretty standard really. Saturday is not normal though.

I'm pretty sure they are aware. its not like every single time there is a downtime someone comes to the forums and complains that it interferes with their window of playtime. I work an average of 50 hours per week 5 days a week and still play for a few hours usually at night. weekends are family time for me with my daughter that I only see at that time. I still play, but its completely random and the amount of time is usually small. it completely depends on her teenage attitude what kind of weekend it will be.

the devs could schedule a downtime for 3 am on a Teusday and there would still be people complaining about it, but than complain the devs aren't fast enough at fixing stuff that is broken.

I consider not being able to complete quests a pretty big priority to fix. I guess you don't mind wasting time in a quest that you cant complete? I'm sure you will be back again next week when there is a patch for more fixes to complain about the downtime. the "rush" is because this is a paid expansion, and just like every other update, downtime is to be expected right after per the norm.

[sudzz]

Well, if you are playing this game for a while, you should know... There's obviously an exploit in the expansion, I guess it's about sentient weapons.
People who bought Ravenloft could do anything these days, SSG won't ban anyone who just spent money on game.
So they closed the servers, until they could fix the exploit.

Could be as simple an exploit as heroic toons getting ml29 sentient weapons instead of ml10, ml10 = 10 sxp, ml29=290 sxp, setient weapon being bta could create loads of heroic toons, run through first quest grab weapon, crush fro sxp, delete toon rinse repeat? it's likely a little clumsy but that what it looks like to me. and no I'm not doing it i'm far too lazy for the hassle but others will.

[MichelOue]

the ddo game worlds will be unavailable on saturday, 7:00 am - 11:00 am eastern (-5 gmt) for a hotfix.


This hotfix is being actively worked on, so there is some chance the hotfix will be postponed.


Here are the things we are working to fix:

• correct an issue where the examination window will sometimes get wider over time.
• fix an issue where the keystone would not consistently spawn in the quest invitation to dinner.
• correct an issue with the mist wall in raven's bane that could prevent players from progressing past baleful.
• lowered the number of wolves that spawn in fresh-baked dreams.
• correct typos in fresh-baked dreams.
• remove an energy drain spell attack in fresh-baked dreams and mad tea party.
• no longer allow dimension door to be cast in the quest mad tea party due to the spell sometimes breaking the quest.
• no longer having the quest sealed in amber sometimes get a pvp flag activated.
• fix an issue where the wrong level weapon would be bestowed to a player as part of the weapon giver encounter in the barovian wilderness area.
• resolve some issues where effects were stacking incorrectly over time (aka - "stacking effects bugs").
• fix an issue where a half elf vistani knife fighter would sometimes display in a t-pose.
• provide instructions in their tool tips on how to use sentience toolkits, destroyers, and jewels.
• correct an issue in assault on the aerie of the slave lords where madam eva would not move to open the secret passage, making the quest not able to be completed.
• correct an issue where grave wrappinigs, antipode, and the level 20 and 24 versions of amaunator ascetic's handwraps were not accepting sentience.
• correct an issue where the arcane archer critical multiplier was not applying consistently.
• legendary memory of fine regalia now appears with its correct spell power and spell critical values. This does not correct items already acquired; we hope to correct these items in an upcoming patch.
• the end chest in amber temple now spawns whether you draw strahd's attention or not. However, drawing his attention will earn you an extra regular chest.
• fixed effect bugs with the crypt raider, beacon of magic, and adherent of the mists sets.

ty

[glmfw1]

Well, if you are playing this game for a while, you should know... There's obviously an exploit in the expansion, I guess it's about sentient weapons.
People who bought Ravenloft could do anything these days, SSG won't ban anyone who just spent money on game.
So they closed the servers, until they could fix the exploit.

This patch was scheduled for yesterday, but they hadn't managed to fix all the necessary things in time for then (as noted in yesterday's forum post), so rather than closing the worlds 2 days running, they postponed the hotfix.
I'm not happy with having Worlds closed on a Saturday, during prime UK playing hours, especially as I don't have Ravenloft (yet).
The fact the servers are closed now suggests they have worked out how to fix all the problems (or provide short-term workarounds in the case of shutting off DDoor in one quest).

While I suspect there are lots of annoyed Europeans, shutting down on a Saturday means Sat evening and all Sunday will be available without the bugs. With previous fixes of this nature, the downtime has been less than advertised, so people are back in game sooner. In theory there should be less complaints this way than with leaving the bugs in place all weekend. In our Guild Chat yesterday, we had a number of people complaining about only being able to get lvl 29 weapons when they were in Heroic levels... just think of how many more complaints there could be like that if the bugs were left until Monday before being fixed.

[thomassmith2]

Saturday downtime does suck, but history shows after every update there is downtime fixes within a few days to a week after and than usually a couple more after that. 4 hours is pretty standard really. Saturday is not normal though.

I'm pretty sure they are aware. its not like every single time there is a downtime someone comes to the forums and complains that it interferes with their window of playtime. I work an average of 50 hours per week 5 days a week and still play for a few hours usually at night. weekends are family time for me with my daughter that I only see at that time. I still play, but its completely random and the amount of time is usually small. it completely depends on her teenage attitude what kind of weekend it will be.

the devs could schedule a downtime for 3 am on a Teusday and there would still be people complaining about it, but than complain the devs aren't fast enough at fixing stuff that is broken.

I consider not being able to complete quests a pretty big priority to fix. I guess you don't mind wasting time in a quest that you cant complete? I'm sure you will be back again next week when there is a patch for more fixes to complain about the downtime. the "rush" is because this is a paid expansion, and just like every other update, downtime is to be expected right after per the norm.

While it is entierly valid to point out that downtime on a Saturday dosen't affect everyone and downtime at other times will always affect someone, I think we all already knew this. I think it is really more about the quantity of people affected. Many more are affected by todays hotfix than would have been had it been delayed to a week day. Many more people will be affected by not being able to play the game at all than are affected by bugs in just the Ravenloft content. If you take the reasons we have been given at face value it looks like a bad decision to apply the fix today. Having said that I too suspect this is to fix an exploit but I don't understand, if that is the case, why standing stone didn't just say they where having an emergency fix for a game breaking exploit.

[Earthbound Misfit]

£119.99 for an expansion that I can't spend enough time in game to level to run.

Looks like you may have been charged 20.00 vat on top of the ton ... as the ton included vat, contact support for a refund of the £20. I did, it took a few days, but I got it

[AzB]

Saturday morning, we're snowed in and it's a perfect time to play DDO.

Oh well, I'm glad to see the fixes come. I'll just go out and play in the snow with the dog, come in and take a nice hot shower, snuggle with wifey for a bit, and before you know it, the game will be back up.

[scout1822]

Sorry folks, but I am not understanding the length of these downtimes. Are you making the fixes directly on the servers? A patch or hotfix to me describes an item(s) that are fixed on dev servers, then tested on test servers, and then it should only take a few minutes to apply the patch/fix to the live servers. Not understanding why it takes you all 4 hours to apply a fix/patch, unless you are developing and testing on the live servers, which would be crazy. Please get your act together on these deployments and downtimes, as you keep losing customers, making it more difficult for us loyal fans to find decent groups if any groups. Can't even get full parties for Raids anymore. Why don't you guys fix those things that are causing you to lose customers.

[mpetrarca]

An update on Saturday??? And it will last for 4 hours???Are you people aware that people who work/go to school/college mostly do this during the week, and weekend is for many of those the only free time to play the game?I don't see anything crucial in this update for it to be needed now.Sure, there are bugs that make some quests unable to be finished sometimes. But didn't we have such a bug in Haunted Halls with that doppelganger, and it's been present for years without a fix?Why rush with an update?

Remember when crafting with Starter Rags was game breaking? Well Warner Brothers might be gone; pettiness, poor planning and lousy implementation still remain.

[dunklezhan]

Sorry folks, but I am not understanding the length of these downtimes. Are you making the fixes directly on the servers? A patch or hotfix to me describes an item(s) that are fixed on dev servers, then tested on test servers, and then it should only take a few minutes to apply the patch/fix to the live servers. Not understanding why it takes you all 4 hours to apply a fix/patch, unless you are developing and testing on the live servers, which would be crazy. Please get your act together on these deployments and downtimes, as you keep losing customers, making it more difficult for us loyal fans to find decent groups if any groups. Can't even get full parties for Raids anymore. Why don't you guys fix those things that are causing you to lose customers.

How on earth do you know how long applying the fix should take?

How much of this fix is to the database? how much to the game engine? Does any of it affect networking, I mean some of it does relate to outright crashes and freezes and such? Is there an order in which the patches need to be applied? Is there testing to do inbetween?

On top of that, when you test a complex product in a test environment - even a simple product sometimes - in my experience delivering projects/change in an enterprise IT environment with lots of bespoke code in play, even if you have a fix for errors you encounter you aren't necessarily going to have time/resources to go back and either fix the underlying cause entirely or even automate the post-update fix - you might just have to accept that during the update X error will happen, and the specific fix will then have to be manually applied so that we can meet deadline. We'll automate it afterwards.

Its not a question of competence, its a question of manpower, release cycles and making tough prioritisation choices.

In terms of the specific time period chosen, yeah, I'm hella ****ed off that I can't play this afternoon over here in the EU, as it happens. I would prefer if possible if they had a downtime period cycle, so that ultimately over the course of a year everyone gets the shaft, but no-one always gets the shaft. This would increase SSG costs hugely though in terms of unsocial hours/overtime pay (or it should, because I want our crew paid fairly and compassionately), so I get why Europe gets hammered almost every time.

Doesn't make me less narked about it, mind you.

But the length of the downtime? I'm sorry, I'd never presume to tell a bunch of systems and data centre engineers how long downtime is supposed to take on a system they are familiar with and I'm not. That's their job and you can bet they don't want it to take longer than it has to.

Then there's how much time it takes if all goes well vs how much time it might take if you have to enact your rollback plan - I would expect potential rollback time to be included in the downtime estimates too, so that if it's not needed and the system comes back early, great. A downtime estimate given to customers should be more or less 'this is how much time you should allow before you start worrying stuff might have gone wrong' that's all.

[liston33]

I was hoping they would fix the insane amount of freezing and lag , which appeared after the expansion patch.

I have been having an issue with momentary lag while playing, during a spell cast or and event trigger in the dungeon. The lag persists for about 2-3 seconds.

[KookieKobold]

Worlds have just reopened!