Reporting Issues Resulting from the North American Data Center Relocation

[Zalleh]

Hello!

_type of feedback
latency increase:
- ~140ms before / ~190ms after (w/ VPN)
- ~180ms before / ~330ms after (w/o VPN)
Update: as of 05/21 I've noticed that I am getting disconnected from the game very frequently, about every hour or so. Prior to the relocation, disconnects were extremely rare.

_ISP
- Vivo

_location
- São Paulo, Brazil

_world
- Midgardsormr

_date/frequency
- all the time since the servers went up after the relocation

_traceroute
Before
After

Extra observations:
I play 3 classes: BLM, SMN and MCH. I am missing skills inside cooldown windows compared to how it used to be.

- BLM: random Firestarter proc in the opener can't fit inside Raging Strikes anymore
- SMN: last Fester inside DWT + Raging Strikes window has to be used after Deathflare now or else I'd lose RS damage buff on the Deathflare, which would be a bigger loss (clarification: that last Fester goes completely unbuffed) ; was able to refresh Miasma before it fell off, now I can't anymore without letting it fall for ~1s
- MCH: initial Wildfire is missing an entire Clean Shot inside its window. Damage went down from 16-17k on SSS to 13-14k

I also noticed that inside the housing area I can execute those rotations better than I could prior to server relocation. I know that the housing zones work with a different refresh rate, but the fact that I can do things better with higher latency inside those maps tells me enough to know that doing something about how oGCDs respond is completely within your powers.

(those are observations made with VPN on)

I raid since BCoB and I like to push myself _a lot_. In this current situation, I don't feel like I can be competitive and I also feel that more dedicated groups that I like to be a part of will not want me around because this sort of change does make a lot of difference. I legitimately feel left out and forced to be excluded from the population that I identify with because of this change and this makes me extremely sad. There are some really good suggestions around the forums about changing how weavings work, so higher latency players can compete fairly with players that have good latency. Currently I can't enjoy the game and I don't feel like I should play a game that makes me feel frustrated and betrayed.

Another factor that I'd like to put into this feedback post since apparently you're taking the time to read it is that since the server relocation it is no longer viable to play this game from Brazil without a VPN subscription. Brazilians have very limited options to pay for FFXIV subscription and with most of these programs only offering USD payment, most people that want to keep playing decently now have to pay almost double the amount in USD, which is already very expensive for us. Some players "choose" to play the Steam version because Steam Wallet's dollar conversion is more affordable and does not fluctuate with the country's economy, but players like me, that bought the game as it was launched have no chance to do that. I have money to pay the premium for a VPN and the sub in dollars, but I know a lot of people that struggle even with the basic sub. Maybe give some thought to that as well. We shouldn't need to pay another sub to be able to play the game without being chastised by other players because of high latency that will inevitably lead to low performance.

I really hope you can do something about it, as this is a game I love so much and the thing I would hate the most in my life right now is to leave it.

[Koltik]

Type of Issue/Feedback: (What type of issue are you encountering? Be as detailed as possible!) Ping has increased from 45 to 90 with this server relocation, sometimes it spikes up to 130ms, especially during the evenings. Can no longer play classes optimally as I could with 45 ms ping.

I'm a very competitive player, especially in PvP, and have definitely felt the more than double ping increase affect me in Feast matches. Can no longer get burst out as quickly on melee, have issues chasing healers and staying "in range" even if I am more than close enough on my end, etc. I'll fire off Elixir Field on monk, for example, while on top of a moving player, and it will not hit.

Other games would be fine with this ping, however since FFXIV does not trust the client and moves do not actually fire when we hit them, but instead when the server says we do, then this game is not and those with higher ping are at an innate disadvantage.

Name of your Internet Service Provider (ISP): CenturyLink

State/Country: Florida / USA

Date/Time: (When did the issue start happening, at what specific times does this issue arise, if any.) Day of the server relocation

World Name: Leviathan

Frequency: (How often does the issue occur?) Always, worse in evenings

Traceroute records (optional) (Learn how to generate traceroute record) Tracing route to 204.2.229.106 over a maximum of 30 hops

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms modem.Home [192.168.0.1]
2 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms fl-76-5-40-1.dhcp.embarqhsd.net [76.5.40.1]
3 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms orlf-agw1.inet.qwest.net [75.160.222.81]
4 6 ms 6 ms 6 ms nap-brdr-01.inet.qwest.net [67.14.29.102]
5 17 ms 10 ms 8 ms 63.146.27.154
6 89 ms 89 ms 89 ms ae-5.r05.miamfl02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.166]
7 27 ms 16 ms 7 ms ae-4.r20.miamfl02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.184]
8 28 ms 28 ms 29 ms ae-4.r23.asbnva02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.86]
9 84 ms 84 ms 85 ms ae-10.r22.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.6.237]
10 88 ms 89 ms 88 ms ae-40.r02.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.121]
11 88 ms 88 ms 88 ms ae-2.r00.scrmca02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.7.33]
12 88 ms 88 ms 88 ms xe-0-1-0-1-1.r00.scrmca02.us.ce.gin.ntt.net [129.250.195.46]
13 * 88 ms 88 ms 204.2.229.234
14 88 ms 88 ms 88 ms 204.2.229.106

[Semmi]

Type of Issue/Feedback: Increased latency, increasing from 40ms to the old datacenter location to 100-120ms to the new location. Additionally, the game feels less responsive as a whole, particularly during the evenings or in an instance. Swiftcast now has a noticeable delay during the evening or in instances and does not affect my next spell cast. It has also become much harder to cancel a spell that has started casting. I can no longer reliably use 2 oGCDs within a GCD and I have had instant cast spells cancelled by oGCDs used right before the instant cast spell.

Name of your Internet Service Provider (ISP): Rogers
State/Country: Ontario, Canada
Date/Time: This has been occurring since the server relocation, the problems seem amplified in the evenings and in instance servers
World Name: Gilgamesh
Frequency: Consistently occurring in instances and during the evening
Traceroute records: https://pastebin.com/yCUx6SL0

[vanadiel]

Type of Issue/Feedback
Latency is higher than optimal. It went from 40 ms to 97 ms ms, with occasional spikes. Despite the claim of 97 ms by running a trace route, in-game my ping is usually 110-135 ms (as reported by Resource Monitor in Windows 10).

I am unable to double-weave oGCDs without severely clipping into my GCD, losing 0.75-1 second each time I try to. Additionally, abilities queue much more slowly even without using oGCDs. This has had very noticeable impact to my performance.

Name of your Internet Service Provider (ISP): Optimum Online
State/Country: New York City, USA
Date/Time: It started happening as soon as the data centers were relocated
World Name: Leviathan (Primal)
Frequency: All day

Traceroute records
https://pastebin.com/MeKvMce5

[Raskbuck]

Type of Issue/Feedback:

- There's a noticeable delay after the server migration. Specifically, opening menus (like when I talk to my retainers) and interacting with objects (like the retainer bell, or Bismark's Harpoons) take a while to register. Before the server relocation, I used to hover around 160-170ms. Now the game shows I'm between 280-300ms (despite the Traceroute saying I should be in 220-230ms or so. Not sure why).

- Dodging AoEs and attacks is considerably more difficult now, such as Titan's Weight of the Land, where I often get hit even after moving out of the way.

- Some instant skills feel a lot more awkward to use, such as turning Cleric Stance on and off when healing (sometimes it doesn't register). Another example is Swiftcast, where if I use a spell immediately after activating the ability, it starts casting as normal (instead of it being instant).

Name of your Internet Service Provider (ISP):GTD Manquehue
State/Country: Santiago, Chile.
Date/Time: As soon as the servers came back up after the migration.
World Name: Leviathan
Frequency: I'd say at all times, I haven't noticed much difference between peak hours and other times.
Traceroute records:
Traceroute

Using a VPN seems to fix the problem and lets me play with a similar ping I used to have before the server migration. I'd assume it has something to do with the routing, but I don't know much about networking. Thanks for making this thread, by the way. It's nice to see SquareEnix is aware of the issue.

[Shastra]

Hello!

Type of Issue/Feedback: latency went way higher after server move, from 140 to 250
Name of your Internet Service Provider (ISP): Oi Velox
State/Country: Piauí / Brazil
Date/Time: Entire time
World Name: Behemoth
Frequency: Entire time

[Buzzwords]

Type of Issue/Feedback: ping has roughly tripled, everything "feels" off. causing the basic moment to moment gameplay to be much less enjoyable.
Name of your Internet Service Provider (ISP):Comcast
State/Country: Massachusetts U.S.A
Date/Time: immediately after server migration, always
World Name: Excalibur
Frequency: Constant


i understand that there may well be basic physical limitations at play here, but ouch... i really hope this can at least improve. it's just not fun feeling like you're one beat behind the game at all times...

[Vorgoroth]

Type of Issue/Feedback: latency increase from 150ms to close to 220ms, making the game hard to play at a higher level.
Name of your Internet Service Provider (ISP): Oi Velox
State/Country: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Date/Time: Started as soon as the server change finished.
World Name: Behemoth
Traceroute records
Frequency: Rastreando a rota para 204.2.229.108 com no máximo 30 saltos

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.1.1
3 11 ms 10 ms 9 ms 200-217-90-106.host.telemar.net.br [200.217.90.106]
4 10 ms 10 ms 11 ms 200164013183.user.veloxzone.com.br [200.164.13.183]
5 143 ms 115 ms 114 ms 100.122.16.228
6 * * 11 ms 100.122.18.130
7 124 ms 124 ms 125 ms 100.122.17.161
8 117 ms 115 ms 113 ms ix-xe-10-1-0-0-0.tcore1.NTO-New-York.as6453.net [209.58.26.17]
9 113 ms 115 ms 112 ms if-ae-9-2.tcore1.N75-New-York.as6453.net [63.243.128.122]
10 116 ms 116 ms 115 ms ae-8.r07.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.9.113]
11 141 ms 142 ms 138 ms ae-2.r24.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.180]
12 191 ms 194 ms 189 ms ae-2.r20.sttlwa01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.4.13]
13 216 ms 195 ms 187 ms ae-0.r21.sttlwa01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.54]
14 191 ms 193 ms 193 ms ae-3.r23.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.124]
15 211 ms 195 ms 195 ms ae-45.r01.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.175]
16 196 ms 197 ms 196 ms ae-1.r00.scrmca02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.7.31]
17 196 ms 197 ms 194 ms xe-0-1-0-1-1.r00.scrmca02.us.ce.gin.ntt.net [129.250.195.46]
18 207 ms 208 ms 207 ms 204.2.229.234
19 216 ms 214 ms 216 ms 204.2.229.108

Rastreamento concluído.

[Jxnibbles]

-Ping went up from 30 to almost 100 and I notice it alot on Bard.
-Isp Verizon Fios.
-Nyc.
-After the Server move.
-Gilgamesh.
-All the TIme.
-TraceRoute N/A Ps4 user.

[Airget]

Name of ISP: Optimum Online
State: NJ
Date: 7:30pm
Would name: Hyperion
Frequency: Figured I'd throw in extra traceroute data to help with troubleshooting.

Traceroute:


1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms openrg.home [---.---.-.-]
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 14 ms 9 ms 15 ms 67.59.236.53
4 15 ms 9 ms 15 ms rtr1-ge6-2.mhe.prnynj.cv.net [67.83.251.129]
5 13 ms 15 ms 15 ms 67.59.251.72
6 15 ms 15 ms 15 ms 451be049.cst.lightpath.net [65.19.114.73]
7 17 ms 15 ms 15 ms lag-150.ear1.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.35.80.5]
8 * * * Request timed out.
9 17 ms 17 ms 13 ms NTT-level3-90G.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.68.110.74]

10 19 ms 13 ms 21 ms ae-3.r24.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.5.6
1]
11 92 ms 90 ms 96 ms ae-2.r20.sttlwa01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.4.1
3]
12 84 ms 94 ms 80 ms ae-0.r21.sttlwa01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.5
4]
13 97 ms 97 ms 97 ms ae-3.r23.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.1
24]
14 97 ms 97 ms 101 ms ae-41.r02.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.6.
119]
15 102 ms 98 ms 98 ms ae-2.r00.scrmca02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.7.3
3]
16 96 ms 102 ms 101 ms xe-0-1-0-1-1.r00.scrmca02.us.ce.gin.ntt.net [129
.250.195.46]
17 99 ms 98 ms 100 ms 204.2.229.234
18 100 ms 98 ms 99 ms 204.2.229.9