Can we have an update on the situation.

[Mordanthos]

Can we get some sort of update on the situation and estimated time for reinstatement of the servers. I check everyday and almost every couple hours to the information section, and still not a single thing since march 13th. Kind of annoying. Would like to at least know whats going on, before its a last minute thing thats like, OH HAI GUISE, WE WONT BRING SERVERS UP TILL NEXT WEEK, AND WE COULDA TOLD U THIS EARLIER BUT WE DIDNT FEEL LIKE IT.

Idk, im just sick of hoping for some information on servers coming up, or at least something that says, oh hey, we are fine, the servers will be up on sunday, or they wont be up sunday. something plz, im tired of not knowing a thing.

[Dauntless]

It's only been three days, calm down. I'm pretty sure there are more important things going on in Japan atm than them updating us on things that haven't changed every couple hours.

[Lukikii]

The services will be temporarily suspended for at least a week starting on Mar. 13, 2011 3:00 (PDT). We will provide an update regarding the reinstatement of the service as additional information becomes available.

Since they said at least a week, I'll be looking for news once we got closer to the week being up.

[annewandering]

Did you miss the update this morning? No it did not say when they would be up but they are communicating with us.

[Mordanthos]

that update had nothing to do with servers coming back up. Just useless version update info

[annewandering]

To be honest I figured they posted that update information hoping to pacify people like you who have little or no patience. Trust me you are not alone in wishing it was up but we can bite the bullet cant we? If not then the problem is within not from without.

[Knighhtmare]

[QUOTE=Mocchi
While the new release date has been provisionally revised to May, we are unable to provide a detailed schedule at this point in time.[/QUOTE]

Dude you need to take a chill pill, game will be back eventually.

[Lolism]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/16/japan.tokyo.notebook.lah/index.html?hpt=C1

there read whats happening before you complain.

[thoughtlessbone]

god go spend time with you family and friends the other games out there to play

[HFX7686]

Or turn on the TV and watch CNN.

[Miera]

You know these matters cannot be helped, they don't really know how long it will take for the servers to come back, Japan is kind of going through a crisis.

[Dreamers]

I would guess that SE doesnt know when the servers will be back up. They are down because of the power issues and the rolling blackouts. I'm sure as soon as they announce in Japan when the rolling blackouts will end, SE will be able to tell us when they can get the servers up.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Can we get some sort of update on the situation and estimated time for reinstatement of the servers. I check everyday and almost every couple hours to the information section, and still not a single thing since march 13th. Kind of annoying. Would like to at least know whats going on, before its a last minute thing thats like, OH HAI GUISE, WE WONT BRING SERVERS UP TILL NEXT WEEK, AND WE COULDA TOLD U THIS EARLIER BUT WE DIDNT FEEL LIKE IT.

Idk, im just sick of hoping for some information on servers coming up, or at least something that says, oh hey, we are fine, the servers will be up on sunday, or they wont be up sunday. something plz, im tired of not knowing a thing.I think this goes into that withdrawls thread. lol

[Relinaa]

No doubt...lol

[breau]

well i would love to have some information too^^ but not to know about a game, that not really important, i feel with the friends there in japan and i hope and pray the crisis will not get worse. so i think it´s gooing good, as we say in germany:
good news crawl like a snail, but bad news come on wings. so i think we not getting direct news from se is a good new.
pray for you
greetings breau from germany

[Arupopo]

Idk, im just sick of hoping for some information on servers coming up, or at least something that says, oh hey, we are fine, the servers will be up on sunday, or they wont be up sunday. something plz, im tired of not knowing a thing.

#1 Get a life.
#2 Have some god damn respect, the japanese have lost alot of lives and you are worried about a game.
#3 You are insiginificant. You are 1 person out of 50k+ people who still play FFXI. No one cares about you and the sooner you realise that the better. Because you are making yourself look like an idiot.

[annewandering]

I admit i am bored. I also hope they get things fixed over there quickly because I dont like people to suffer. I am strange like that. Oddly enough there are lots more people strange like that too. Its called empathy and sympathy and yes its real.

[NightDagger]

The OP has a point, If the DEV Team can respond to unimportant topics they could at least give us some form of update, whether it just be "The power problem in Japan is increasingly getting worse & until the situation starts to get better here we will unfortunately be keeping the servers down. We are sorry for not being able to give more information at this time but as soon as we know more we will let everyone know. Thank you for your support. SE"

Something like that would most likely keep a lot of people happy & prevent these threads having to be started everyday 4 times a day.

NightDagger
Server - Lakshmi

[Harpalina]

[Removed by Moderator according to the FINAL FANTASY XI FORUM Guidelines (http://support.na.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=20&la=1).]

Wow...really? This kind of mentality I would expect from a spoiled 4 year old. But a grown man in the military? I would think being in the military would give you some kind of compassion for your human man but apparently not. And yes, I will admit I'm slightly bored, but I bought a new game to pass by the time. It doesn't piss me off in the least that they've barely said anything. They've got other crap to worry about. Walk outside and breathe in some life, you pasty vampire.


I admit i am bored. I also hope they get things fixed over there quickly because I dont like people to suffer. I am strange like that. Oddly enough there are lots more people strange like that too. Its called empathy and sympathy and yes its real.

Win.

[Capn]

Can we get some sort of update on the situation and estimated time for reinstatement of the servers. I check everyday and almost every couple hours to the information section, and still not a single thing since march 13th. Kind of annoying. Would like to at least know whats going on, before its a last minute thing thats like, OH HAI GUISE, WE WONT BRING SERVERS UP TILL NEXT WEEK, AND WE COULDA TOLD U THIS EARLIER BUT WE DIDNT FEEL LIKE IT.

Idk, im just sick of hoping for some information on servers coming up, or at least something that says, oh hey, we are fine, the servers will be up on sunday, or they wont be up sunday. something plz, im tired of not knowing a thing.

Disaster, your family is at home, your parents aren't able to care for themselves, your significant other is at home, picking up the pieces. Work calls and says... "'Some kids want to know why they can't play their game' ... 'uh... I'm sorry, I'm busy spending time with my family after a catastrophic disaster to update you on 'the situation''"


OP, open an effing newspaper if you want "an update on the situation"

-.-;

[NightDagger]

HAHAHA wow

Is anyone aloud to start a thread & express THEIR Opinion without being told off by 300 people? Welcome to the new world with "Freedom of Speech". But the one thing that i do not like is the language used. Verbal Assault is just as serious as hitting someone, some people need to relax & if they do not like someone's point of view then just move to another thread rather then making a ridiculous comment. I have more respect for someone that starts a thread saying "Turn the servers on already, this is ridiculous" then someone that tries to belittle them thinking the way they think is the ONLY way.

Good topic OP I would appreciate some sort of update myself cause the news as not once said "SE just informed us that their servers will be down for another week, sorry FF Fans"

NightDagger
Server - Lakshmi

[Capn]

HAHAHA wow

Is anyone aloud to start a thread & express THEIR Opinion without being told off by 300 people? Welcome to the new world with "Freedom of Speech". But the one thing that i do not like is the language used. Verbal Assault is just as serious as hitting someone, some people need to relax & if they do not like someone's point of view then just move to another thread rather then making a ridiculous comment. I have more respect for someone that starts a thread saying "Turn the servers on already, this is ridiculous" then someone that tries to belittle them thinking the way they think is the ONLY way.

Good topic OP I would appreciate some sort of update myself cause the news as not once said "SE just informed us that their servers will be down for another week, sorry FF Fans"

NightDagger
Server - Lakshmi

Freedom of speech is a fairy tale that adults teach children to make them feel that their thoughts matter

If you think verbal assault is the same as someone slugging you in the jaw, I'm sorry for you

Yes, great topic OP. Ask a question that is answered every time you open ANY web page, or turn on ANY channel, or open ANY newspaper... Let's all pat the ill-informed "special" people on the head and tell them they're super awesome!

Why aren't people trolling WoW this week with free week trials or something? if you're bored be productive at least -.-; (lol)

[Kailea_Nagisa]

[Removed by Moderator according to the FINAL FANTASY XI FORUM Guidelines (http://support.na.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=20&la=1).]

Really? You have to be trolling?...... 9/11 was a few buildings (yes still very tragic though) This is the whole east coast of a country...... it is on a completely different scale.

SE can not bring the servers up anytime soon, I would not even expect it to be up in a month to be honest. Power is unreliable, internet connections are broken all over, Power plants are failing...... what the hell do you want?

SE has a crap load of more important things to do and worry about, then getting the servers back up and running.
I don't care who you are, you can not possibly be this selfish.........

I am not mad or annoyed, I have tons of other things to do while I wait for FFXI to come back up, brown nosing? No it's called thinking realistically.

[Dinh]

I can see his point, to be honest I am not expecting the servers to be up on Sunday as with the information that we are receiving about military helicopters having to dump water on the reactors to keep them cool. But to be fair, he is not making an impossible request, he has paid for this time and even though SE has promised a free month, they should at least keep us in the loop as to whether or not the servers coming back up is on schedule.

/sarcasm
I don't think CNN has any news on the FFXI/FFXIV servers being up.
/endsarcasm

To expand on that last note, those reactors are shot, the sea water corrodes the lining and renders them unusable even if they are brought under control, so the only information that we DO have is that Japan is going to need another source of power, which is why I foresee the servers not coming up on Sunday...

[Amerlyn]

I would guess that SE doesnt know when the servers will be back up. They are down because of the power issues and the rolling blackouts. I'm sure as soon as they announce in Japan when the rolling blackouts will end, SE will be able to tell us when they can get the servers up.

Completely agree with this. SE will give us an update on the situation once they themselves have more information on situation.

I suggest just paying attention to the news and to the IAEA (http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html) and give yourself a rough estimate. Were all going through withdrawls and want the game back, but I also try to keep in mind that what is going on in Japan is really happening and may take time to work itself out. Just have some patience.

[NightDagger]

SE has a crap load of more important things to do and worry about, then getting the servers back up and running.
I don't care who you are, you can not possibly be this selfish.........

What is SE doing right now? Their building is in tact. maybe you meant their employees which is different, I am sure everyone knows what they are doing at the present. But still I see Dev team responding to alot of thread hers so obviously they are still working. Unless they do not work for SE & are just random people.

And just another thought. SE is a huge company, if they don't keep there clientele informed of what is going on then why should we pay to play their game? It is proper business, nothing to do with "the are in a crisis" just they way a company operates.
NightDagger
Server - Lakshmi

[RAIST]

Due to the continuous earthquakes occurring in the eastern regions of Japan since Mar. 11, 2011,the power companies in Japan have encouraged everyone to cooperate by conserving as much energy as possible as it is feared there will not be enough power supply. Based on the current situation, we have decided to shut down the game servers temporarily, and therefore to suspend services of FINAL FANTASY XIV, FINAL FANTASY XI, and PlayOnline temporarily.

The services will be temporarily suspended for at least a week starting on Mar. 13, 2011 3:00 (PDT). We will provide an update regarding the reinstatement of the service as additional information becomes available. In connection with the temporary suspension of services, players will not be billed for any PlayOnline service throughout the April billing cycle. Additional information regarding this matter will also be posted as it becomes available.

I case you haven't been following the news over there very closely, the situation over there concerning the power grid has not had any substantial improvement as of yet. Only a handful of manufactures have started up some minimal production again (ie Sony started processing some raw materials, but most of that facility is still offline). There is still no major turn around: rolling blackouts still in effect for Tokyo (which, btw is the only area that has a section included with EVERY BLACKOUT BLOCK, so there is always a portion of Tokyo still without power at any given time of the day), thus there is no new information available at this time.

I'm sure once they see a significant turn around and they start to feel like they may be able to start planning to go back online, they will let us know something.

Raist

[Knighhtmare]

What is SE doing right now? Their building is in tact. maybe you meant their employees which is different, I am sure everyone knows what they are doing at the present. But still I see Dev team responding to alot of thread hers so obviously they are still working. Unless they do not work for SE & are just random people.

NightDagger
Server - Lakshmi

There are blacks outs, they can't run the servers with power in that condition.

[NightDagger]

There are blacks outs, they can't run the servers with power in that condition.

I 100% understand that & am personally not expecting them to be up until atleast mid-end of April. BUT in a few days they will have alot more power in Japan with the turbines on there way there and such. i still would not think SE would even attempt running their servers on that kind of power source cause it is classed as "dirty power" meaning it does fluxuate & will severely crash their servers.

[Capn]

I 100% understand that & am personally not expecting them to be up until atleast mid-end of April. BUT in a few days they will have alot more power in Japan with the turbines on there way there and such. i still would not think SE would even attempt running their servers on that kind of power source cause it is classed as "dirty power" meaning it does fluxuate & will severely crash their servers.

I'd assume that SE has a hospital grade UPS facility since their bloodline is uptime, so dirty power is moot, unless they're worried about sullying their UPS hardware. Regardless, from the sounds of their message, I would assume that they'll come back up when they get the all clear from their government. (but that's an assumption -.-;)

[svengalis]

LOL even though I am hoping they will be back up on Monday I know they won't. It sucks to cause I have not been playing for months and one week after I come back the servers go down. :( QQ

[Amerlyn]

Also, one additional thought to think on and its been noted several times. SE is located in Japan. The servers are maintained and updated by real life people. Now take into consideration this. What if these employees (i know not all of them but at least a few) had family or someone they knew that died or is missing? Put yourself in that position, would you be more worried over a video game or with grieving and/or finding your loved ones? This isn't a disaster that has effected just one person, it has effected an entire country of people. It has left half a million people homeless, 10k or more people dead, and 8k or more people missing. No one is asking you have any sympathy, just to have some kind of understanding that this is effecting more than just yourself and there are more important issues at hand than a video game. I'm sure they haven't forgotten about us, and will give us an update in due course. If they didn't plan to bring back the game, they would shut down these forums too. Just be patient and give them time.

[NightDagger]

You know that when the rolling blackouts stop SE will be having their employees back in their just to prepare for the servers to come back. They are most likely as antsy as we are.

[Capn]

You know that when the rolling blackouts stop SE will be having their employees back in their just to prepare for the servers to come back. They are most likely as antsy as we are.


I'm sure there are employees that are wanting to get back to a level of normalcy. But if it were me, I wouldn't give a crap about work or my customers if a single one of my family members was missing or injured.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

#1 Get a life.At least this time the guy saying it only has 2 posts as apposed to that other guy that had over 200. lol

[Amperage]

I figure the servers will be up just about the same time as I fall back in love with WoW and my atma of the apocalypse will have to wait another few months :p

On a side note it really would be nice to know since the power situation doesn't look to be improving in the short term if they plan to keep the servers down for month(s) until local power is stable or if it's going to be that long if they plan to move the servers someplace else temporarily.

[breau]

The OP has a point, If the DEV Team can respond to unimportant topics they could at least give us some form of update, whether it just be "The power problem in Japan is increasingly getting worse & until the situation starts to get better here we will unfortunately be keeping the servers down. We are sorry for not being able to give more information at this time but as soon as we know more we will let everyone know. Thank you for your support. SE"

Something like that would most likely keep a lot of people happy & prevent these threads having to be started everyday 4 times a day.

NightDagger
Server - Lakshmi

dang why should they do that? they told us whats going on, why should they waste time on repeating "we not know news atm, but keep on"? we know they will tell us when there are news, and they got other tings to do now. and by the way, why should they be interested in making us happy? we sitting here warm, save and comfortable, we got no reason to nag around. yes i´m bored too, and yes i´m checking many times on hope to get good news: CAUSE I WORRY ABOUT THE PEOPLE
breau, alexander/bastok

[RAIST]

not trying to derail, but that reference to going back to WoW prompted me to look for some of those "It is not WoW" YouTubes and stumbled on an episode of the Siblings that I just had to share. It's got some a rips on FFXII:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBYID_624n0

Boredom getting the better of me I guess.

Raist

[Mordanthos]

I get mixed reviews according to the news and the TEPCO website. Some say omg its not gonna be back for a while. The news says in about 3-4 days power should be back into a state where companies can continue to do their work. And other sources say its getting worse while others say its increasingly getting better. The back and forward things i have seen just are starting to bug me. Is it going to be good in 3-4 days, or is it just a publicity speech to calm people.

Bottom line is, by now SE has to know a pretty good estimate of whats going on, and when they can get back to work. Someone is looking over all the topics. Anyone read japanese? I bet the japanese threads are filled witht he same stuff, adn this is there country thats in shambles. Think im ignorant or crazy for being impatient, im positive the japanese are pretty pissed off who arent effected by the disaster and this game being offline.

[Capn]

I get mixed reviews according to the news and the TEPCO website. Some say omg its not gonna be back for a while. The news says in about 3-4 days power should be back into a state where companies can continue to do their work. And other sources say its getting worse while others say its increasingly getting better. The back and forward things i have seen just are starting to bug me. Is it going to be good in 3-4 days, or is it just a publicity speech to calm people.

Imagine living there and having them tell you "It'll all be fine" one minute... and "OMG NUCLEAR EXPLOSION" the next...



Bottom line is, by now SE has to know a pretty good estimate of whats going on...

Did you like.... completely forget the previous paragraph you typed? /sigh

[Amerlyn]

If your getting mixed reviews off the websites. I'm sure SE is getting the same mixed reviews. Not giving them excuses. We would all like an update. The did say "at least a week". So we should at least give them a week to give us an update. I'm sure they won't take that long and will update us as soon as they are positive. With all the mixed reviews out there, the company is probably just crossing its fingers to get some good news before they make an update. ^^

Just be a little patient. You've made your argument that they need to make an update on they're situation. Give them a little time to read it (At least until Saturday). No sense arguing with us (the players). We can't make it move along any faster.

A note about the mods. They are employees of SE, their job is to keep the forums in line. Doesn't mean they know whats going on with the game. Companies don't always keep their employees up to date. Also. More than likely. Those mods that are keeping track of the forums are located at a location outside of Japan (such as help center in the US - and the information they are getting is probably gonna be the same information were getting). ^^

[Sylvane]

[Removed by Moderator according to the FINAL FANTASY XI FORUM Guidelines (http://support.na.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=20&la=1).]

On a very serious note, and knowing nothing about you aside from the posts I've read in this thread, it seriously sounds like you have depression coupled with addiction. Not an attack on you, but this is almost one of those "Cries for help" you hear so much about. Maybe you should give an old friend a phone call, it's not like you can't talk to someone when you aren't near them. Aside from that, maybe if you went out places, you would be able to make friends where you live.

[Runespider]

This forum has way too many people getting on their high horses, the vast majority doing so just because they want to fit in with everyone else. The vast majority of the spam in this topic is about bashing op for asking a civil question, if that was needed at all (which it wasn't, one or two posts would of done it not the torrent of mindless followers).

Seriously OP asked a decent (wasn't even rude) question of a business, asking for updates on something that could ruin the title. He doesn't need to be badgered by a bunch of teenagers on a hippy mission or told to get a life, be told to do other things, be reminded of the situation in Japan or anything else, he wanted an updated as to the question he asked.

All the people jumping on him and spamming the thread up with nosnse, how many of you guys actually really care? You all seem to be so caring and interested, have you all donated money to the red cross, indeed have you donated money to help the homless in your own countries or other things where people are suffering or just the current "you care for this" disaster? Hypocrits.

This is a forum about FFXI, not a the moral high horse 13 year olds of america against the world, seriously you all spam your nonsense down on anyone making genuine business points and think your cool when your as bad as everyone else aside from your shallow statements. This forum is not just for you guys to spam every topic you don't like, its for players of FFXI that want answers to when the service will be up again. You telling them off or being stupid won't change anything at all except make this forum look like it's full of a bunch of sheltered 12 year olds, they will still look elsewhere to other games and possible never return if Square don't take this seriously. Square will care about this as much as when they ignored the beta testers and FFXIV failed hard.


Wow...really? This kind of mentality I would expect from a spoiled 4 year old. But a grown man in the military? I would think being in the military would give you some kind of compassion for your human man but apparently not. And yes, I will admit I'm slightly bored, but I bought a new game to pass by the time. It doesn't piss me off in the least that they've barely said anything. They've got other crap to worry about. Walk outside and breathe in some life, you pasty vampire.

Are you for real? Wow what a sheltered life you've lead, being in the military gives you the exact opposite outlook actually. Shows you just how cheap human life is.

[Macrom]

I kinda gather that everyone has their Opinion on what posts are posted, some ppl are out to bash on those that just want the servers up, some are out to bash on people just to bash on people lol, I know for a fact that everyone on this forum cant wait for the servers to be back up and running, i am one of those people trust me. Everyone is looking for more information, i would love to wake up and see japan back to what it was...... but i know it will be awhile, SE says a week..... outstanding. But seeing the pictures and hearing the news i honestly can say if the servers are down for a week right on, if they are down for a month, well right on also.

The OP asked a simple question, has anyone heard any info or and update on what is going on. I can say no i have not heard anything other than Japan is a mess right now. Im not here to say ppl that want to get back and play the game we all love are wrong, im also not here to say that ppl dont care. im here saying that our friends need our thoughts and support and with all this bickering about whos right and whos wrong just aggrivates us more.

Patience my friends, FFXI will be there when things get sorted out. SE said they need to conserve power so watch the news, CNN NBC ABC or whatever you get and when its time we all will know it.

[Coldbrand]

#1 Get a life.
#2 Have some god damn respect, the japanese have lost alot of lives and you are worried about a game.
#3 You are insiginificant. You are 1 person out of 50k+ people who still play FFXI. No one cares about you and the sooner you realise that the better. Because you are making yourself look like an idiot.

Thanks for the advice on life nihilistic taru! We'll certainly take your opinion into account, oh wait, by your logic you're just ANOTHER of the "50k+ people who still play FFXI." Whoops! Guess we can't listen to what you have to say then. Damn.

[Henihhi]

SE said servers would be down "at least a week". It has been what? 3.5 days and retards are spamming for updates? Seriously just wait the week, SE will update whether the servers will be on or off. Trust me there is enough amusement in all these forums to keep you busy for at least another week.

[windrider]

The Situation as it stands is people are dead in real life, and many thousands more are at risk, suggest you quit the game or the blabbering if all the game is all you care about. If you were on the receiving end of this horroric incident i'm sure you would seek compassion instead of whinging, as others have said its been only 3 days, but if it takes a month or even 2 before servers are back online so be it. After all at the end of it's just a game. They have their lives and those of their families plus their own nation to worry about!!

[windrider]

Oh Rune i read you small script but as others have stated "At Least a week" this came from SE last info so you to blabber about ppl picking on someone asking for an update is c**p, if you actually read the info given by SE which i doubt you fully understood (otherwise you wouldn't have commented such bull***t) then you would know a week is more than 3 day!!!

[Randwolf]

Unfortunately, all this free time has given me a lot of time read the news. The lack of an update may be due to the fact that the parameters of bringing the game back on-line are quickly shifting.

The initial incident at the nuclear plant was consider a Level 4 incident, comparable to Three Mile Island. The incident scale ranges from 0 - 7, 7 being the worst. Chernobyl was a 7. The Three Mile Island incident, a Level 4 Incident, lasted about 12 days. But from all the lessons learned there, you would assume that things would be handled more quickly in this case. Most experts thought that they would shortly get the plants contained and could then focus on how those plants would figure into the power-grid, salvageable or shuttered. However, all efforts to stop a full melt-down seem to be failing and, in fact, the situation seems to be deteriorating. Most experts say the incident has risen far above a Level 4, possibly a Level 6. No one at the onset of this crisis, would have given any credibility to this becoming a Level 6 Incident. Now some are conceding that there exist a very small chance that this could turn into a full-blown Level 7 Incident. If that occurred, multiple areas in Japan would be uninhabitable for many years due to the possible effects of long-term radiation exposure. Those areas would be determined by multiple factors, such as amount of radiation released and atmospheric conditions.

IAEA has stated that Tokyo, the capital of Japan, has radiation levels that are not hazardous to health at this time. "At this time" is not a very reassuring phrase. So, the bottom line is that the situation is shifting constantly as far as a decision to bringing servers back on line would relate. Add to that, we don't know how the staff at S/E has been affected by the quake and tsunami or will be affected by the nuclear incident should it continue to deteriorate.

[Vivivivi]

/panic /panic /panic

[Draiman]

As someone who used to work in sales I suppose to some people are going on the notion that "I paid for service, I should get service" But after you watch the footage I saw of the Tsunami devastating Japanese villages, the nuclear power plant exploding, or the fact that engineers are risking their lives by going inside the nuclear power plant to prevent a meltdown. If I were you I'd think twice about complaining about them shutting down servers. All we can do at this point is give the Japanese people our support and I believe that they can pull through.

[NightDagger]

People are still focusing the OP's question around the fact that Japan is a crisis at the moment. EVERYONE knows this. BUT SE is a company, when a company closes their doors for a short time (GM/Ford/Toyota in 2008) they still provide frequent updates, not say "for at least a week" and everyone is suppose to just sit around until the week is up to be told "at least another week". This is bad business & they DO need to focus on their clients. If they want to still have a company to run will have to do so regardless of the current situation. Have you ever seen a doctor that told a cancer patient they only have a couple weeks left to live & then figures out it is more like a month or two but did not bother to tell them until the initial "couple weeks" was up? That is just absurd logic.

Again good post OP & i am sure even the bashers that keep posting are sitting there wait & waiting for an update.

[Atomic646]

To be honest I figured they posted that update information hoping to pacify people like you who have little or no patience. Trust me you are not alone in wishing it was up but we can bite the bullet cant we? If not then the problem is within not from without.

For SE to postpone the Version update due for Mid april when thats 1 month away, thats saying that there planning on keeping the servers down Probably till may ;_;

[Kailea_Nagisa]

People are still focusing the OP's question around the fact that Japan is a crisis at the moment. EVERYONE knows this. BUT SE is a company, when a company closes their doors for a short time (GM/Ford/Toyota in 2008) they still provide frequent updates, not say "for at least a week" and everyone is suppose to just sit around until the week is up to be told "at least another week". This is bad business & they DO need to focus on their clients. If they want to still have a company to run will have to do so regardless of the current situation. Have you ever seen a doctor that told a cancer patient they only have a couple weeks left to live & then figures out it is more like a month or two but did not bother to tell them until the initial "couple weeks" was up? That is just absurd logic.

Again good post OP & i am sure even the bashers that keep posting are sitting there wait & waiting for an update.

SE never gave updates like that, so why do people expect it now? They told us "a least a week" why is it so hard to understand this? FRI/SAT we should get another update, if the game will be down longer, or if they have the problem under control. We don't need an update ever 12 hours saying the same crap over and over. Have you ever thought that maybe SE does not know what will happen? In a situation like this, it is not hard to imagine some of SE's higher ups just sitting at a desk with their hands covering their face, trying to figure out what to do next.


and no the OP is not "a good post" he worded it in a horrible way, and he continues to show that he does not care/understand anything.

Servers are not easy to move..... not in the slightest bit, and to even ask to move them in the condition that the area is in now, again shows that one does not understand the situation.

[RAIST]

hehe...sometimes I wonder what peoples concept of a server is these days. These things are likely racks of blade style servers connected to massive NAS racks--enough equipment to fill just about an entire floor. Yeah... lets pick all that up and move it overseas....it's just not that simple.

And as has already been mentions (starting to sound like a broken record), SE stated they would release more information WHEN IT CAME AVAILABLE. The situation has not improved enough for there to be a change in expectations just yet. Until the situation changes enough to have some sense of certainty one way or the other--there is no new information to relay to us.

Rasit

[NightDagger]

hehe...sometimes I wonder what peoples concept of a server is these days. These things are likely racks of blade style servers connected to massive NAS racks--enough equipment to fill just about an entire floor. Yeah... lets pick all that up and move it overseas....it's just not that simple.

And as has already been mentions (starting to sound like a broken record), SE stated they would release more information WHEN IT CAME AVAILABLE. The situation has not improved enough for there to be a change in expectations just yet. Until the situation changes enough to have some sense of certainty one way or the other--there is no new information to relay to us.

Rasit

Yeah i showed my wife a photo of what the servers look like & she could not believe the size. An entire floor is a good estimate. Moving them in not an option unless they are relocating their whole office! It is along the same lines as having a backup server in NA. That would be impossible to have a live back-up system, let alone the cost it would be to have another set of servers running just so once every ten years they can get used. Is everyone ready to double/triple the monthly fee for this to happen? Yeah i doubt it.

[Bloomingodsname]

you know from reading the paper here Japan doesn't even know when the power will be back to normal so in taking that I'd say SE doesn't have a clue when they can be back up and running the military dumping saltwater into the reactors is corroding them...that'll most likely lead to meltdowns in the future even if they can be prevented for now...and if a meltdown does occur all that nuclear power will go into the atmosphere - and then what? the Japanese ppl better have a new place to live for awhile as they'll need it...
and from what I've heard on the radio they're even using charter planes to fly Japanese out of Japan to get them away from the radiation...
and even when they do get back up and running say tmw...with the 3hr blackouts still happening around Japan - are ppl going to throw a fit every time the portion of Japan that SE is located in is out of power? most likely even if it's jus 3hrs a day I'm sure there will be ppl upset over that
yes I would like to see the game back up and running, but not to be able to play it but to find out if some of my Japanese friends are alright...right now I could honestly careless abt the game...

[NightDagger]

They are currently working on getting power from the mainland to help with the cooling systems. That will not restore power to everyone but it will make the workers able to start doing their job more effectively & will help delay the process.

here is a quote from the news:

A new power line could restore electricity to cooling systems at the Daiichi plant, its operator said early Thursday, a development that would reduce the threat of a meltdown.

Construction of the line is nearly complete, said TEPCO spokesman Naoki Tsunoda, and officials hoped to try it "as soon as possible."

Good article to read on the power problems:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/japan-denies-meltdown-threat-assessment-u-20110316-173527-025.html

[RAIST]

yeah.. just heard on one stream that they were looking to have that line completed by tonight US time.

<crosses fingers>

Raist

[NightDagger]

yeah.. just heard on one stream that they were looking to have that line completed by tonight US time.

<crosses fingers>

Raist

That would be a huge help, if this works & the turbines arrive soon they will be able to really start examining the situation of the reactors better & get this fixed^^

Hoping for the best!

[Sivart]

the game will be back eventually, and when it is you can get back to all the stuff you missed out on, which since no one else is playing the game either, would be nothing. so relax, smoke something and get happy.
the people of Japan are having bigger issues than whether or not you get a Final fantasy fix or not.

[chrism]

Lets wait until March 20th, 2011 for a notice on whats going on and when the 1 week mark is past and still no servers up then go complain or whatever but until then go play dead space or something... or you can get online and play everquest 2 with me :D

[Runespider]

hehe...sometimes I wonder what peoples concept of a server is these days. These things are likely racks of blade style servers connected to massive NAS racks--enough equipment to fill just about an entire floor. Yeah... lets pick all that up and move it overseas....it's just not that simple.

Erm didn't they move all the FFXI servers not long ago? I dunno they don't seem that huge to me if they moved them in less than 8 hours, WoW's servers would be like moving a shopping mall but I doubt FFXI has servers anything like that size.

As I said before though I assumed they could just rent servers in america and run it on those, ultimately I'm not a server engineer so I have no idea if thats a valid expectation. I do know that losing profits from a major MMO making millions per month is bad though. Even Konami got thier servers back up in a few days, the only other JP company to take them down as far as I know.

[goodgravy]

Lets wait until March 20th, 2011 for a notice on whats going on and when the 1 week mark is past and still no servers up then go complain or whatever but until then go play dead space or something... or you can get online and play everquest 2 with me :D

traitor! lol j/k :P

[Juri_Licious]

so relax, smoke something and get happy.
I don't need drugs to "relax" and "get happy".

[Bloomingodsname]

Erm didn't they move all the FFXI servers not long ago? I dunno they don't seem that huge to me if they moved them in less than 8 hours, WoW's servers would be like moving a shopping mall but I doubt FFXI has servers anything like that size.

As I said before though I assumed they could just rent servers in america and run it on those, ultimately I'm not a server engineer so I have no idea if thats a valid expectation. I do know that losing profits from a major MMO making millions per month is bad though. Even Konami got thier servers back up in a few days, the only other JP company to take them down as far as I know.

thought they only relocated the US portion of the servers...which only allows US, Canada, and Mexico to be able to play but not actually run the main part of the game like the servers in Japan can and do...

[Starcade]

Can we get some sort of update on the situation and estimated time for reinstatement of the servers. I check everyday and almost every couple hours to the information section, and still not a single thing since march 13th. Kind of annoying. Would like to at least know whats going on, before its a last minute thing thats like, OH HAI GUISE, WE WONT BRING SERVERS UP TILL NEXT WEEK, AND WE COULDA TOLD U THIS EARLIER BUT WE DIDNT FEEL LIKE IT.

Idk, im just sick of hoping for some information on servers coming up, or at least something that says, oh hey, we are fine, the servers will be up on sunday, or they wont be up sunday. something plz, im tired of not knowing a thing.

Anyone who thinks the servers can responsibly be brought up Sunday needs a wake-up call, or a serious check on the news over there. Things are getting worse, not better, vis-a-vis the power and nuclear situations.

[viion]

I think this event and the fact the game has gone just as the forums gone up, has really tested the worst case scenario for the forums. Though i wish it did not happen.

SE probably got fed mis-information due to economy issues.

[Runespider]

Anyone who thinks the servers can responsibly be brought up Sunday needs a wake-up call, or a serious check on the news over there. Things are getting worse, not better, vis-a-vis the power and nuclear situations.

Konami got theirs back up pretty quick.


Service restart
First, we would like to send out warmest regards to those that were involved in the disasters occurring in the North Eastern part of Japan.

Due to the Earthquakes, many energy plants have been damaged, leading to a chance of an energy deficit.
MGO Online service acted on an Emergency Shutdown on March 12, at 10:00(UTC) to save energy. MGO Online will be back online after our scheduled maintenance on March 15.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your support.

[Gadanae]

Doesn't anyone find it kind of weird that they can't have the game on..... but they sure as hell are all over removing comments from threads on this website, and censoring everything put in it? Their employees are certainly there to do this but they can't turn a server back on? Fishy to me.

Also, SE don't send me another email threatening my account to be banned just because I speak my mind on a PUBLIC forum. Freedom Of Speech is a constitutional right in the U.S., and the next time you threaten me my lawyer will get involved. If you didn't want the people in the United States to have their say on these forums, then you shouldn't have given us access.

[Vivik]

I don't need drugs to "relax" and "get happy".

Well I do! Pass that shit this way.

On Topic, however long the servers are down for and whatever SE decides to do about it, I'm sure it will be the right thing. I think we will hear something by tomorrow on what is going on.

[Miera]

Doesn't anyone find it kind of weird that they can't have the game on..... but they sure as hell are all over removing comments from threads on this website, and censoring everything put in it? Their employees are certainly there to do this but they can't turn a server back on? Fishy to me.

.
Are you speaking on behalf of the English Moderators? Because they are here safe in America.

Also, just because the GMs can access these forums freely and set up threads and junk doesn't mean that things are better than people say it is.

[Runespider]

Also, SE don't send me another email threatening my account to be banned just because I speak my mind on a PUBLIC forum. Freedom Of Speech is a constitutional right in the U.S., and the next time you threaten me my lawyer will get involved. If you didn't want the people in the United States to have their say on these forums, then you shouldn't have given us access.

They sent you a PM? o.O You don't actually have free speech on forums btw, you have whatever rights the people that run the forum say you do :/

[Gadanae]

Are you speaking on behalf of the English Moderators? Because they are here safe in America.

Also, just because the GMs can access these forums freely and set up threads and junk doesn't mean that things are better than people say it is.

Then at the very least, they could break their silence and give us an update of when the servers will be back up. As stated in a few posts back, other MMO gaming companies with their servers based in Japan have their service already reinstated.

[Gadanae]

They sent you a PM? o.O You don't actually have free speech on forums btw, you have whatever rights the people that run the forum say you do :/

Yes they actually did this. And I have to disagree. The constitutional right of free speech is not just the actual spoken word, it also covers written word, in ANY public fashion. Read the law. It might be their forum, but if it's public, they are not allowed to censor. And at the very least they are certainly not allowed to link your game account to a forum post and ban you from the game for a comment on a forum. If they ban someone from the forum, that's all well and good imo, but don't threaten to ban me in-game as well.

[Vivik]

Yes they actually did this. And I have to disagree. The constitutional right of free speech is not just the actual spoken word, it also covers written word, in ANY public fashion. Read the law. It might be their forum, but if it's public, they are not allowed to censor.

This is not a public forum. This is a private forum and yes, they can censor anything you say here. Read the user agreement.

[Chiibi]

Yes they actually did this. And I have to disagree. The constitutional right of free speech is not just the actual spoken word, it also covers written word, in ANY public fashion. Read the law. It might be their forum, but if it's public, they are not allowed to censor. And at the very least they are certainly not allowed to link your game account to a forum post and ban you from the game for a comment on a forum. If they ban someone from the forum, that's all well and good imo, but don't threaten to ban me in-game as well.


Their Forum. Their Rules. you agreed to this fact when you signed up.

[Xeth]

Yes they actually did this. And I have to disagree. The constitutional right of free speech is not just the actual spoken word, it also covers written word, in ANY public fashion. Read the law. It might be their forum, but if it's public, they are not allowed to censor. And at the very least they are certainly not allowed to link your game account to a forum post and ban you from the game for a comment on a forum. If they ban someone from the forum, that's all well and good imo, but don't threaten to ban me in-game as well.

Not everything is America, so don't bring up the Constitution in a JAPANESE RUN/CREATED website.

[Gadanae]

Not everything is America, so don't bring up the Constitution in a JAPANESE RUN/CREATED website.

Then here's the simple answer, don't do business in America.

[Starr]

I'd be happy just to hear more of what's gonna be in the next major expansion, not too worried about when the servers actually go back up really

[Chiibi]

I'd be happy just to hear more of what's gonna be in the next major expansion, not too worried about when the servers actually go back up really

Most rational players are.

[TribalProphet]

And I have to disagree. The constitutional right of free speech is not just the actual spoken word, it also covers written word, in ANY public fashion. Read the law.


The law says that the US Government cannot censor you in a public forum (be it spoken word, written, etc). "Freedom of Speech" has no bearing on a private company.



It might be their forum, but if it's public, they are not allowed to censor.

You just contradicted yourself. If it's their forum, then it is NOT public. This is really no different than if you woke up one day and someone you hired to paint your house was on your lawn tagging your house with graffiti. They have the right to be there, but they can't say "freedom of speech" about the graffiti because it is your personal property.



And at the very least they are certainly not allowed to link your game account to a forum post and ban you from the game for a comment on a forum. If they ban someone from the forum, that's all well and good imo, but don't threaten to ban me in-game as well.

If the terms and conditions that you agreed to when you signed up to post here say that they can, then 'yes', they are allowed to do that.

[Runespider]

Not everything is America, so don't bring up the Constitution in a JAPANESE RUN/CREATED website.

This is probably created and run from America, same rules apply though ofc. The internet doesn't have any free speech laws.

[Gadanae]

Yeah, let's not get off-topic. Me recieving a PM with the (laugh) threat of a ban because I speak my mind is not the point of this forum.

As stated before, other MMO gaming companies with servers based in Japan are already back online and business as usual. I realize that they are human beings and I do sympathize with their plight, don't get me wrong, but business is business. If you accept money from someone for a service you provide, regardless of any influences it is your job to make sure that service is rendered. The free month is all well and good, but if the servers are going to be down into April, that free month imo don't mean squat. If that happens and the servers must stay down into April, then they better start talking about making May a free month as well. A free month to me is only good if you can play the game the entire month.

Also as stated before, SE's employees can certainly be right at the helm of censoring and removing content here on these forums but they can't keep us updated in a regular fashion about the status of the server reconnecton? I don't buy that. What the OP wants here is information as to when exactly the servers will be reinstated, and other MMO gaming companies based in Japan have had no problem with giving EXACT info when they will be back up. So why can't SE?

In before I get called a callous, rude, uncaring individual who has no respect for human life, all because I want a business to actually be responsible if they are going to take my money every month.

[Roxeater]

Yes they actually did this. And I have to disagree. The constitutional right of free speech is not just the actual spoken word, it also covers written word, in ANY public fashion. Read the law. It might be their forum, but if it's public, they are not allowed to censor. And at the very least they are certainly not allowed to link your game account to a forum post and ban you from the game for a comment on a forum. If they ban someone from the forum, that's all well and good imo, but don't threaten to ban me in-game as well.

1, 1st Amendment freedom of speech only applies to the government. Read the law.

2, Heres the simple answer don't play the game.

[Chiibi]

In before I get called a callous, rude, uncaring individual who has no respect for human life, all because I want a business to actually be responsible if they are going to take my money every month.

You're a callous, rude, uncaring individual who has no respect for human life. Not because you want a business to actually be responsible if they are going to take your money every month. But because you try to hide it behind the fact you care about SE being a business.

[Dazusu]

This is probably created and run from America, same rules apply though ofc. The internet doesn't have any free speech laws.

13 289 ms 286 ms 292 ms squareco.asianetcom.net [203.192.149.210]
14 322 ms 297 ms 300 ms 61.195.56.121

Most definitely in Japan.

[Gadanae]

You're a callous, rude, uncaring individual who has no respect for human life. Not because you want a business to actually be responsible if they are going to take your money every month. But because you try to hide it behind the fact you care about SE being a business.

Thanks for the lol. And to the others that are still ranting about my post on freedom of speech, read my last post, and let it go already. My apologies for posting it. Let's stay on topic people.

[TribalProphet]

As stated before, other MMO gaming companies with servers based in Japan are already back online and business as usual. I realize that they are human beings and I do sympathize with their plight, don't get me wrong, but business is business. If you accept money from someone for a service you provide, regardless of any influences it is your job to make sure that service is rendered. The free month is all well and good, but if the servers are going to be down into April, that free month imo don't mean squat. If that happens and the servers must stay down into April, then they better start talking about making May a free month as well. A free month to me is only good if you can play the game the entire month.

Also as stated before, SE's employees can certainly be right at the helm of censoring and removing content here on these forums but they can't keep us updated in a regular fashion about the status of the server reconnecton? I don't buy that. What the OP wants here is information as to when exactly the servers will be reinstated, and other MMO gaming companies based in Japan have had no problem with giving EXACT info when they will be back up. So why can't SE?

In before I get called a callous, rude, uncaring individual who has no respect for human life, all because I want a business to actually be responsible if they are going to take my money every month.

The company ISN'T taking your money this month. That means legally they can take 30 days off without putting the servers back up. If they need more time, they will extend their "free" period for as long as they need to.

We were told it would be gone until AT LEAST this Sunday. We are not due for another update until then. I understand you're going through withdrawal here as I'm sure a lot of people are, but we are not owed any more updates until the end of the weekend.

There is no reason to post repeatedly that you think SE is holding back information from us. It is very likely that SE doesn't know themselves if they will be back. They are at the mercy of the power company. None of us have any idea how SE or Sony or anything other company there is physically setup to run, so judging one based on another is pointless.



If that happens and the servers must stay down into April, then they better start talking about making May a free month as well. A free month to me is only good if you can play the game the entire month.

Wow, so you want a BONUS of free time because of the earthquake/tsunami? I can't believe you're actually threatening SE if they can't come back online quick enough for you... Just, wow....

[Runespider]

Personally I don't care about being unable to play, I don't even have anything to do if I could log on.. :(

I do care that this could damage a game I think a lot of though, I havent played FFXI for a while now but I've never once let my subs drop on mine or my sisters accounts.

[Gadanae]

The company ISN'T taking your money this month. That means legally they can take 30 days off without putting the servers back up. If they need more time, they will extend their "free" period for as long as they need to.

We were told it would be gone until AT LEAST this Sunday. We are not due for another update until then. I understand you're going through withdrawal here as I'm sure a lot of people are, but we are not owed any more updates until the end of the weekend.

There is no reason to post repeatedly that you think SE is holding back information from us. It is very likely that SE doesn't know themselves if they will be back. They are at the mercy of the power company. None of us have any idea how SE or Sony or anything other company there is physically setup to run, so judging one based on another is pointless.




Wow, so you want a BONUS of free time because of the earthquake/tsunami? I can't believe you're actually threatening SE if they can't come back online quick enough for you... Just, wow....

1. They have already taken our money for this month, so that arguement is irrelevant.

2. If they are going to take our money for a service, it is not being difficult if players ask for more updates on when the servers are going to be back up. Other MMO companies, as stated before, that are based in Japan, have had no problem doing this so I don't see why SE should be any different. And yes I have a problem with the "AT LEAST until this Sunday" part. I don't see any other MMO company leaving it to the wind of when they will be back to business as usual, in fact I see them back online already, even with the rolling power outages.

Again, SE should be responsible and provide us with EXACTLY when the servers will be back up, and if that extends into April, then May should be a free month as well. And i'm not "threatening" SE as you put it, i'm just stating what is good business.

[Kailea_Nagisa]

1. They have already taken our money for this month, so that arguement is irrelevant.

2. If they are going to take our money for a service, it is not being difficult if players ask for more updates on when the servers are going to be back up. Other MMO companies, as stated before, that are based in Japan, have had no problem doing this so I don't see why SE should be any different. And yes I have a problem with the "AT LEAST until this Sunday" part. I don't see any other MMO company leaving it to the wind of when they will be back to business as usual, in fact I see them back online already, even with the rolling power outages.

Again, SE should be responsible and provide us with EXACTLY when the servers will be back up, and if that extends into April, then May should be a free month as well. And i'm not "threatening" SE as you put it, i'm just stating what is good business.

oh for the love of....... NA SE employee don't know anymore then we do, SE gave us April fee free, if the servers are back up before the end of April, you are not getting May free as well -.- and really you use that freedom of speech thing way to much, this is a private forum that belongs to a company, they can censor you any way they want.

SE themselves most likely don't know what they are going to do at the moment, all they can do is plan for different scenarios, and there is no need for them to tell us stuff they might do, when there is no need to.

You want SE to be "responsible "? they sound like they are to me, keeping their servers off in the time of need for power.

[browolf]

the ff14 letter from the producer gives a slightly better picture of the situation
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/3465-Letter-from-the-Producer-VI-%2803-16-2011%29?highlight=Letter+Producer

also begs the question why can't we have letters from the ff11 producer too.

[Gadanae]

oh for the love of....... NA SE employee don't know anymore then we do, SE gave us April fee free, if the servers are back up before the end of April, you are not getting May free as well -.- and really you use that freedom of speech thing way to much, this is a private forum that belongs to a company, they can censor you any way they want.

SE themselves most likely don't know what they are going to do at the moment, all they can do is plan for different scenarios, and there is no need for them to tell us stuff they might do, when there is no need to.

You want SE to be "responsible "? they sound like they are to me, keeping their servers off in the time of need for power.

Ok this is getting redundant. I didn't say that SE should just give us May for free in the first place. I SAID that if the SERVERS ARE DOWN FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME IN THE MONTH OF APRIL THEN MAY SHOULD BE FREE AS WELL. Not now folks, in April. APRIL, APRIL, APRIL. DID YOU READ THIS NOW THAT IT IS IN CAPS? Jeez, some people. READ DAMNIT.

Also, not every employee that works for SE is NA. Don't try and tell me that just because the employees that monitor the forums are NA, that they can't be kept in an informational loop from Japan. That's just ludicrous to say. It's as simple as sending an email with a status update about the servers. Really getting sick of people using that as an excuse for no info from SE as well.

AND AGAIN, I have dropped the topic of the "freedom of speech" thing so why don't you? That's not the topic of this forum.

[Gadanae]

the ff14 letter from the producer gives a slightly better picture of the situation
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/3465-Letter-from-the-Producer-VI-%2803-16-2011%29?highlight=Letter+Producer

also begs the question why can't we have letters from the ff11 producer too.

^+1 this. At least the producer of FFXIV realizes that it's fan base deserves more information, and doesn't treat it's player base like the plague when it comes to talking to us.

[Kailea_Nagisa]

the ff14 letter from the producer gives a slightly better picture of the situation
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/3465-Letter-from-the-Producer-VI-%2803-16-2011%29?highlight=Letter+Producer

also begs the question why can't we have letters from the ff11 producer too.

mm nice find, it is good to hear that most of the workers and the facilities are safe.

[Runespider]

^+1 this. At least the producer of FFXIV realizes that it's fan base deserves more information, and doesn't treat it's player base like the plague when it comes to talking to us.

FF11 doesn't need to be so nice and open with its players since we are here for the game, 14 playerbase needs to be handled with kid gloves and they are trying to make the staff on that game into little celebrities. Idk one person that works on FFXI atm, I've seen a ton of the 14 staff.

This thread will probably be locked soon lol

[Gadanae]

FF11 doesn't need to be so nice and open with its players since we are here for the game, 14 playerbase needs to be handled with kid gloves and they are trying to make the staff on that game into little celebrities. Idk one person that works on FFXI atm, I've seen a ton of the 14 staff.

This thread will probably be locked soon lol

I lol'd, mostly because I must wholeheartedly agree. The new candy being delivered by the man in the van is FFXIV and they are certainly going to try and make sure that what little player base they have for that game remains intact. Screw the people that play FFXI, they are addicts and will play our game no matter what so we don't need to give them info!

You're right, this thread will be locked soon. lol.

[Juri_Licious]

In short. "I WANT FFXI BACK ONLINE, TELL ME STUFF NAO!"

/thread

[Gadanae]

In short. "I WANT FFXI BACK ONLINE, TELL ME STUFF NAO!"

/thread

Amen, you get it! I would give you a medal but you have no chest to pin it on!

[Kailea_Nagisa]

Amen, you get it! I would give you a medal but you have no chest to pin it on!

Disaster, "shit happens"

that is the only information you really need right now, we will be informed tomorrow or SAT

[Juri_Licious]

Amen, you get it! I would give you a medal but you have no chest to pin it on!

I'm sure if I use my THF tools I can open this chest up and store it in there.

[Gadanae]

I'm sure if I use my THF tools I can open this chest up and store it in there.

/clap. Nice comeback. Cmon, admit it, the reason you are on these forums right now is the same reason i'm on em. We are BORED TO DEATH and we need our FFXI back!!??!! :P

[Aengus]

Not stating that I want SE to do anything detrimental to Japans electrical grid in starting the servers, and do empathize, but an update on server status would be greatly appreciated before Sunday. Then we at least know what the general outlook appears to be or the future, and yes I'm aware that its a dynamic situation, but any word is better than hearing nothing at this point. Unless everyone is out of the main office, which maybe the case (would be extremely weird but I'd run for the boonies if I was their), until Sunday.

[Kailea_Nagisa]

/clap. Nice comeback. Cmon, admit it, the reason you are on these forums right now is the same reason i'm on em. We are BORED TO DEATH and we need our FFXI back!!??!! :P

I recommend you go here..... http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/1826-What-to-do-while-Final-Fantasy-XI-is-down.

[Juri_Licious]

/clap. Nice comeback. Cmon, admit it, the reason you are on these forums right now is the same reason i'm on em. We are BORED TO DEATH and we need our FFXI back!!??!! :P

I'm on this forum for a few reasons, the main two reasons are:

1. OMG, WHY DO NATURAL DISASTERS RUIN MY ADDICTION!?!?!?
2. I like forums.

[Aengus]

Sadly, I tried most of those, WoW trial gave me a headache after an hour, its just to ... loud or boxy or something for me (the design that is). Tried several free MMO's yet I'm really missing gaming just the ability to kill some time doing what I am used (conditioned) to doing, like logging on in the evening and chatting with friends, even if I don't step out of my mh.

Not to lighten what has happened, just stating that we all get used to what we consider normal, develop a routine, and unfortunatley don't plan much further than instant gratification (at least in this day in age/culture). Anyway, yea not like we don't know there are other things out there, it's simply a matter of what we prefer or have have gotten used too, plus I dont know anyone in any of those games... and never think to ask my ls mates what they play oh wellga... I'll go scrub the highway with a toothbrush again....

[Gadanae]

I'm on this forum for a few reasons, the main two reasons are:

1. OMG, WHY DO NATURAL DISASTERS RUIN MY ADDICTION!?!?!?
2. I like forums.

Again, I lol'd. How dare Mother Nature interfere with my gaming!!!

[Randwolf]

First good news I've heard so far on the situation (From IAEA):

"Japanese authorities have informed the IAEA that engineers were able to lay an external grid power line cable to unit 2. The operation was completed at 08:30 UTC.

They plan to reconnect power to unit 2 once the spraying of water on the unit 3 reactor building is completed.

The spraying of water on the unit 3 reactor building was temporarily stopped at 11:09 UTC (20:09 local time) of 17 March."

While it won't suddenly put the reactor back on-line. It will make a big difference in how they can respond to the situation.

[Sukoshi]

Back-up servers in California/Europe (Do you need it?) (Can I have it?) I love Japan and wish nothing more than for this disaster to not have happened, but for a company to not have an emergency back-up plan when something like this happens is kinda strange. They already lost over 70% profit this quarter on FFXIV being a failure and having to make it free. Now with both games shutdown for an unknown amount of time who knows what the outcome is going to be if there is little profit margin. If there were back-up servers everything could keep on rolling like it was with little to no service interruption and still have monthly fees and etc. coming in. It would also allow the people in Japan affected by this disaster to concentrate on there situations and not have to juggle to much with company issues by having it fall on the teams in EU and NA.

[Chiibi]

Back-up servers in California/Europe (Do you need it?) (Can I have it?)
No.No you can not.

[Dale]

Doesn't anyone find it kind of weird that they can't have the game on..... but they sure as hell are all over removing comments from threads on this website, and censoring everything put in it? Their employees are certainly there to do this but they can't turn a server back on? Fishy to me.

Also, SE don't send me another email threatening my account to be banned just because I speak my mind on a PUBLIC forum. Freedom Of Speech is a constitutional right in the U.S., and the next time you threaten me my lawyer will get involved. If you didn't want the people in the United States to have their say on these forums, then you shouldn't have given us access.

lol....

This is the most awesome post ever

[Eligia]

lol....

This is the most awesome post ever

I second this. MMMMMURCAN PRIDE.

[Dale]

FF11 doesn't need to be so nice and open with its players since we are here for the game, 14 playerbase needs to be handled with kid gloves and they are trying to make the staff on that game into little celebrities. Idk one person that works on FFXI atm, I've seen a ton of the 14 staff.

This thread will probably be locked soon lol

OK this may be new most awesome post ever

This thread reads better than a novel lol

[windrider]

Wtf way move it to America....... A country that also has quakes, tornado's, that move would be counter productive, If they were going to move it the move it to a Country like French, German or UK they at least dont suffer from the ill effects of horroric weather like America does!!

[Dale]

Wtf way move it to America....... A country that also has quakes, tornado's, that move would be counter productive, If they were going to move it the move it to a Country like French, German or UK they at least dont suffer from the ill effects of horroric weather like America does!!

I don't care where they move it, long as it has enough power to run their servers lol

[RAIST]

Doesn't anyone find it kind of weird that they can't have the game on..... but they sure as hell are all over removing comments from threads on this website, and censoring everything put in it? Their employees are certainly there to do this but they can't turn a server back on? Fishy to me.

A website or forum can be hosted from anywhere in the world, and monitored from blackberry while you sit at Starbucks if you had to. Doesn't necessarily mean this is being run out of Japan atm. Could just as easily be done via one of their offices in CA or WA.

Raist

[Selzak]

Wtf way move it to America....... A country that also has quakes, tornado's, that move would be counter productive, If they were going to move it the move it to a Country like French, German or UK they at least dont suffer from the ill effects of horroric weather like America does!!
lol

That's like saying, "At least Maryland doesn't suffer from the ill effects of horrific weather like America does!!"

While they probably shouldn't put them in California, if a major earthquake did hit California the servers would be fine in...well they'd probably be fine just next door in Arizona. Regardless, it's a ridiculous argument to say that they should move them because of one disaster in the 10+ years the game has been running. Stop to gather your perspective for a bit and then ask yourself if Japan is really too dangerous a place for them to have their servers. If anything they should have back ups in various locations, but I wouldn't know about the costs involved in that.

[Gadanae]

I don't care where they move it, long as it has enough power to run their servers lol

/approve. If this company had any brains in it's leadership that would have been done years ago. Do you think companies like Blizzard have back up plans? Mirror Servers? Of course they do.

With as much money as SE has made, and the low cost of doing such a thing, why haven't/can't they.

Hope they learn something from this, and take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again in the future.

[Dale]

A website or forum can be hosted from anywhere in the world, and monitored from blackberry while you sit at Starbucks if you had to. Doesn't necessarily mean this is being run out of Japan atm. Could just as easily be done via one of their offices in CA or WA.

Raist



I think you are missing her point.

The point was SE emoployees seem to have the time to meticulously monitor these forums seeminlgy 24/7 and flood our emails with threats to bann our accounts, yet can't find the time to update us on a more accurate timeline for when their servers will be back up.

I actually had my account threatened cause i suggested some guy who flamed me in a very neurotic manner may want to consider therapy lol

I understand wanting to keep the forums clean, but let's not go overboard as the secret word police shall we.

[Gadanae]

I think you are missing her point.

The point was SE emoployees seem to have the time to meticulously monitor these forums seeminlgy 24/7 and flood our emails with threats to bann our accounts, yet can't find the time to update us on a more accurate timeline for when their servers will be back up.

I actually had my account threatened cause i suggested some guy who flamed me in a very neurotic manner may want to consider therapy lol

I understand wanting to keep the forums clean, but let's not go overboard as the secret word police shall we.

That was my point exactly, thank you for affirming it. As for Raist, reading is good. Do more of it then you would know what I was meaning.

As for the threats to our accounts, you have also hit the nail on the head with what I was trying to say earlier. I think it absolutely ridiculous the amount of emails that not only I, but others who post on these forums have recieved in regards to having our accounts banned if we continute to speak our minds. They have time for this yet they don't have time to keep us informed of progress being made to bring a game back online that WE PAY for. I wonder how much of the player base they will lose now because of this blunder.

Censorship sucks. Period.

[Selzak]

I think you are missing her point.

The point was SE emoployees seem to have the time to meticulously monitor these forums seeminlgy 24/7 and flood our emails with threats to bann our accounts, yet can't find the time to update us on a more accurate timeline for when their servers will be back up.

I actually had my account threatened cause i suggested some guy who flamed me in a very neurotic manner may want to consider therapy lol

I understand wanting to keep the forums clean, but let's not go overboard as the secret word police shall we.
No, I think he got the point- it was just a bad one.

"SE employees" aren't taking a break from their usual jobs of turning the hand-cranks that feed internets into FFXI so that they can ban your forum account.

[Tummie]

This is really sad...I mean really, SE has been communicating with us, and it's been what, three days since they shut the servers down. They updated us on the situation recently. The OP should not be expecting updates every day because the people of Japan have more important things to worry about.

It still am amazes me how much MMORPG's are like a drug to some, and when those who are addicted don't get their fix, you get threads like these that pop up on different forums. Will the server come back up? Yes, in time, but we all need to have patience and let Japan recover from this tragedy. There are other things to do besides playing Final Fantasy XI.

[Ica]

There are other things to do besides playing Final Fantasy XI.

Crazy talk.

[Dale]

This is really sad...I mean really, SE has been communicating with us, and it's been what, three days since they shut the servers down. They updated us on the situation recently. The OP should not be expecting updates every day because the people of Japan have more important things to worry about.

It still am amazes me how much MMORPG's are like a drug to some, and when those who are addicted don't get their fix, you get threads like these that pop up on different forums. Will the server come back up? Yes, in time, but we all need to have patience and let Japan recover from this tragedy. There are other things to do besides playing Final Fantasy XI.

Yes well they must not be too busy doing other things if they have time to write me a gazillion emails about my supposed offensive forum posts, which should be way lower on their list of priorities than giving us updates on the servers, i can tell you that

[Dale]

No, I think he got the point- it was just a bad one.

"SE employees" aren't taking a break from their usual jobs of turning the hand-cranks that feed internets into FFXI so that they can ban your forum account.

No i think from reading the subject matter of his post he didn't get the point being made at all. It had absolutely nothing to do with where a forum could be hosted from or any of that nonsense

[Neika]

Just because the mods have time to monitor the forums doesn't mean the higher ups in SE have the time to give them updates. Pretty sure the ppl who decide when the servers come back up are not the same ppl monitoring the forums.

[CP3]

The servers are still down. There's your update.

[breau]

The servers are still down. There's your update.

lol georgeous you pointed it out
/em jobemote rdm
breau, alexander/bastok

[Gadanae]

This is really sad...I mean really, SE has been communicating with us, and it's been what, three days since they shut the servers down. They updated us on the situation recently. The OP should not be expecting updates every day because the people of Japan have more important things to worry about.

It still am amazes me how much MMORPG's are like a drug to some, and when those who are addicted don't get their fix, you get threads like these that pop up on different forums. Will the server come back up? Yes, in time, but we all need to have patience and let Japan recover from this tragedy. There are other things to do besides playing Final Fantasy XI.

Here we go again. Someone who is crying that those of us complaining that SE isn't more of a responsible company that we are "heartless", "uncompassionate", "addicts", yada yada yada.

I've said time and time again that I feel for the people of Japan and that is genuine. However, i'm not a sympathist by nature. The world has had major disasters everywhere. Life goes on. Business goes on. In fact it should. By grinding everything to a halt (like SE has done in a way by shutting the servers down) it only makes things worse. The best thing to do in the face of peril is stand, be strong, don't let the situation beat you, you beat it. It's what drives mankind. If we all threw up our hands and quit things the moment things went sour, then we wouldn't survive. My compassion for the situation of our servers being down has lasted until now. It has changed because SE CAN take steps to bring us back online, and has not. And it also angers some of the population of this game that steps could have been taken BEFORE THIS TRAGEDY EVEN HAPPENED that would have ensured that a game WE PAY for stayed online.

Now I know this may be a grand assessment to be sure. But seriously, it is not the fault of the players that SE is a company that was completely unprepared for this disaster. As stated before, there are many companies that run MMO games out of Japan that are still online, or have gotten back online without a hiccup. Konami is having np with this it seems.

Getting really tired of people saying that people that feel the same way I do are told that we are inhuman, callous, hopeless FFXI addicts. I love the game sure but in this off-time I have been doing many things outside of the game, things that I have been doing EVEN BEFORE the game was down. FFXI is not my life, but it's a part of it, I miss it, and i'm angered that it's down when it doesn't have to be. If that makes me a bad person in your eyes, so be it. I'm not on this earth to please you.

[Loeyuue]

I have a feeling that they won't be able to get the servers back up next week. From what I read, the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is still pretty bad. At least 3 or 4 of the 6 reactors will have to be decommissioned. Many other plants are shutdown as well. I don't think they'll be able to bring the shutdown nuclear reactors back up too soon. With the rolling black out and lack of electricity, they probably won't restart the servers until they have enough stable power supply for other more important needs.

[Gadanae]

Yes well they must not be too busy doing other things if they have time to write me a gazillion emails about my supposed offensive forum posts, which should be way lower on their list of priorities than giving us updates on the servers, i can tell you that

/applaud. Wholeheartedly agree.

[Dale]

Just because the mods have time to monitor the forums doesn't mean the higher ups in SE have the time to give them updates. Pretty sure the ppl who decide when the servers come back up are not the same ppl monitoring the forums.

I don't care Neika, it just looks bad that their underlings can find the time to perform such pointless duties as those during a time like this when there should be so many other things being focused on.

[Selzak]

No i think from reading the subject matter of his post he didn't get the point being made at all. It had absolutely nothing to do with where a forum could be hosted from or any of that nonsense
This is exactly why what you guys are saying doesn't make any sense. Neither of you have any idea of what you're talking about.


Just because the mods have time to monitor the forums doesn't mean the higher ups in SE have the time to give them updates. Pretty sure the ppl who decide when the servers come back up are not the same ppl monitoring the forums.
:cool:

[RAIST]

I think you are missing her point.

The point was SE emoployees seem to have the time to meticulously monitor these forums seeminlgy 24/7 and flood our emails with threats to bann our accounts, yet can't find the time to update us on a more accurate timeline for when their servers will be back up.

I actually had my account threatened cause i suggested some guy who flamed me in a very neurotic manner may want to consider therapy lol

I understand wanting to keep the forums clean, but let's not go overboard as the secret word police shall we.

I think you are missing my point. SE is not just one division sitting in Japan. They have MASSIVE operations in CA and WA in the US, as well as several divisions in JP. I have seen maybe a dozen different moderator's names so far. It's not like it requires a massive team to watch these things, and again...they can be located anywhere in the world.

Raist

[hiko]

I think you are missing her point.

The point was SE emoployees seem to have the time to meticulously monitor these forums seeminlgy 24/7 and flood our emails with threats to bann our accounts, yet can't find the time to update us on a more accurate timeline for when their servers will be back up.

I actually had my account threatened cause i suggested some guy who flamed me in a very neurotic manner may want to consider therapy lol

I understand wanting to keep the forums clean, but let's not go overboard as the secret word police shall we.

and you miss his point that people who work on this forum are not the people from the dev team, are probably not even in japan (for the us/eu forums) and dont know better than you when server will be up

[Selzak]

Doesn't anyone find it kind of weird that they can't have the game on..... but they sure as hell are all over removing comments from threads on this website, and censoring everything put in it? Their employees are certainly there to do this but they can't turn a server back on? Fishy to me.

Also, SE don't send me another email threatening my account to be banned just because I speak my mind on a PUBLIC forum. Freedom Of Speech is a constitutional right in the U.S., and the next time you threaten me my lawyer will get involved. If you didn't want the people in the United States to have their say on these forums, then you shouldn't have given us access.

I could get my clothes looking real nice with that much irony.

You have no idea how networking, software systems, the law, or the Internet works. You should avoid being so aggressive about things that you're clueless about.

[Neika]

I don't care Neika, it just looks bad that their underlings can find the time to perform such pointless duties as those during a time like this when there should be so many other things being focused on.

Lol, they do these "pointless duties" because it's what they are paid to do. This is their job. It is not their job to worry about stuff with the servers. They are probably entry level employees who aren't even in Japan atm.

[Dale]

Lol, they do these "pointless duties" because it's what they are paid to do. This is their job. It is not their job to worry about stuff with the servers. They are probably entry level employees who aren't even in Japan atm.

Oh I'm sure they could find better things to do with their time. Like get in touch with their bosses and then update us on what's going on. I'd much rather see something like that in my email than these threats to bann me from the game for suggesting some of these posters may want to consider therapy because of their obvious anger managmenet issues lol

[Gadanae]

I think you are missing my point. SE is not just one division sitting in Japan. They have MASSIVE operations in CA and WA in the US, as well as several divisions in JP. I have seen maybe a dozen different moderator's names so far. It's not like it requires a massive team to watch these things, and again...they can be located anywhere in the world.

Raist

Ok since SE has so many employees in so many places..... here's a hint. Start working on creating mirror servers in the U.S. RIGHT NOW... or wherever you'd like to put them, and get em up pronto. Get your employees OFF monitoring this forum and put em to work getting your service back up so you can actually EARN the money you charged us for March instead of trying to appease us with giving us a free month like we're monkeys looking for a banana. And I work in IT so DON'T tell me it will take a long time to do this because it wll not. Longest portion of time would be to actually get the equipment and get it housed somewhere that has reliable electricity, and that doesn't even take long. And spend less time monitoring these forums and sending threatening emails to people that are obviously disgruntled with your service and actually DO something about it. As far as I can see, they are not doing anything about it at the moment. Maybe I would change my view of the situation IF THEY UPDATED US ON THE PROGRESS OF GETTING THE SERVERS BACK ONLINE, but it doesn't seem that they care enough about doing that, but they sure as hell care about banning us from these forums in any way they can.

Congratulations SE, whe you started open forums for your members, you opened up a can or worms for yourself. Now you get to hear the complaints and gripes from all the peole who have played this game for years that are sick of the way SE does some things. I bet I get banned for saying that. Lord knows they will ban people left and right and destroy their already shrinking player base (especially after this) rather then actually address and take care of the problem.

THIS is the point i'm trying to make. I hope everyone gets it now, and no one is confused.

[Neika]

Oh I'm sure they could find better things to do with their time. Like get in touch with their bosses and then update us on what's going on. I'd much rather see something like that in my email than these threats to bann me from the game for suggesting some of these posters may want to consider therapy because of their obvious anger managmenet issues lol

It is not the job of an entry level employee to badger the CEO of the company for updates. They probably wouldn't get any answers anyway, and would still have to monitor the forums if they wanted to keep their jobs.

[Dale]

and you miss his point that people who work on this forum are not the people from the dev team, are probably not even in japan (for the us/eu forums) and dont know better than you when server will be up

Yes i'm sure the people who head up these forums have no clue about anything...in fact they probably dont' even work for square, are based on Mars, and have no contact what so ever with planet earth. So who are we to dare ask them for an update about this game. We are so stupid for thinking they may know something we don't.

I totally agree, and we are being so unreasonable!

[Nattack]

a minor amount of education and common sense, as well as compassion for ones fellow man would have prevented the invention of this thread

[Selzak]

Ok since SE has so many employees in so many places..... here's a hint. Start working on creating mirror servers in the U.S. RIGHT NOW... or wherever you'd like to put them, and get em up pronto. Get your employees OFF monitoring this forum and put em to work getting your service back up so you can actually EARN the money you charged us for March instead of trying to appease us with giving us a free month like we're monkeys looking for a banana. And I work in IT so DON'T tell me it will take a long time to do this because it wll not. Longest portion of time would be to actually get the equipment and get it housed somewhere that has reliable electricity, and that doesn't even take long. And spend less time monitoring these forums and sending threatening emails to people that are obviously disgruntled with your service and actually DO something about it. As far as I can see, they are not doing anything about it at the moment. Maybe I would change my view of the situation IF THEY UPDATED US ON THE PROGRESS OF GETTING THE SERVERS BACK ONLINE, but it doesn't seem that they care enough about doing that, but they sure as hell care about banning us from these forums in any way they can.

Congratulations SE, whe you started open forums for your members, you opened up a can or worms for yourself. Now you get to hear the complaints and gripes from all the peole who have played this game for years that are sick of the way SE does some things. I bet I get banned for saying that. Lord knows they will ban people left and right and destroy their already shrinking player base (especially after this) rather then actually address and take care of the problem.

THIS is the point i'm trying to make. I hope everyone gets it now, and no one is confused.

Just calm down. If the "SE employees" don't have anyone to rule over, then they'll get bored of violating The Constitution of The Interweb on their own forum. Then they'll drive down the Information Superhighway and turn the servers back on so that they can go back to their real job of shoveling FFXI's into the intertubes and down to your IP address so you can play the game.

[RAIST]

Oh, and by the way...SE employs over 1800 people. I serously doubt that all 1800 of them are monitoring this forum.

Everything needed to actively support this game takes a SERIOUS power draw. SE announced they were debating how to respond, and ultimately decided on complying with requests to conserve power. They JUST got to the point where they are able to level off the supply vs demand for power over ther for roughly 22 hours out of the day with the implementation of the rolling blackout scheme.

I would hazard a guess that SE just doesn't feel confident to turn everything back on and risk having issues due to recurring brownouts/blackouts for not only their equipment and data integrity, but also for the stability of internet communication in the region that are also affected by power grid issues.

As mentioned before. Hosting/monitoring this forum could be done anywhere outside of Japan. But, the GAME itself (as of the last time it was up) IS run out of JAPAN, and until the situation improves or they manage to host it elswhere they likely will have a need to keep it down for fear of suffering catastrohpic losses themselves. I understand that the majority of you here have never had to recover a massive critical database from dirty shutdown due to hardware failures. I have...and can be a long, drawn out process that can have spotty results at times. ISINTEG and such are nice tools, but they are not without their faults. Nothing beats a real-time fail-over solution, but the scope of this project is just too large to allow such a backup off-site in another region. It would have to be dopne locally, or we would be paying a heck of a lot more than $13 USD a month (which, by the way is being waved for the next billing cycle, in case you forgot).

/endrant

Raist

Edit: Oh, and by the way... it took them roughly 12 hours jsut to move the POL server recently. So yes, it would take a long time to move all this data. It took like 14 hours just to replicate and test failover support for an exchange server's data from SC to NC on a project I worked on a while back...and it was only roughly 20 GB. We are talking about TERABYTES here.

Raist

[Dale]

a minor amount of education and common sense, as well as compassion for ones fellow man would have prevented the invention of this thread

And let me guess Nattack, you have all these qualities don't you. It just sucks we can't all be as educated, smart, and compassionate as you :)

[Nattack]

holy addiction, americans get so flustered when they cant waste their weekends on the game!

[Selzak]

And let me guess Nattack, you have all these qualities don't you. It just sucks we can't all be as educated, smart, and compassionate as you :)
Well he seems to have enough common sense not to assume that the moderators of this form have the capability, resources, or authority to create a new FFXI server or make national decisions for Japan

[Dale]

Oh, and by the way...SE employs over 1800 people. I serously doubt that all 1800 of them are monitoring this forum.

Everything needed to actively support this game takes a SERIOUS power draw. SE announced they were debating how to respond, and ultimately decided on complying with requests to conserve power. They JUST got to the point where they are able to level off the supply vs demand for power over ther for roughly 22 hours out of the day with the implementation of the rolling blackout scheme.

I would hazard a guess that SE just doesn't feel confident to turn everything back on and risk having issues due to recurring brownouts/blackouts for not only their equipment and data integrity, but also for the stability of internet communication in the region that are also affected by power grid issues.

As mentioned before. Hosting/monitoring this forum could be done anywhere outside of Japan. But, the GAME itself (as of the last time it was up) IS run out of JAPAN, and until the situation improves or they manage to host it elswhere they likely will have a need to keep it down for fear of suffering catastrohpic losses themselves. I understand that the majority of you here have never had to recover a massive critical database from dirty shutdown due to hardware failures. I have...and can be a long, drawn out process that can have spotty results at times. ISINTEG and such are nice tools, but they are not without their faults. Nothing beats a real-time fail-over solution, but the scope of this project is just too large to allow such a backup off-site in another region. It would have to be dopne locally, or we would be paying a heck of a lot more than $13 USD a month (which, by the way is being waved for the next billing cycle, in case you forgot).

/endrant

Raist

Raist

Raist

Lol, you need to relax Raist. You sound like a good guy - but you are totally off the reservation on this one. I understand what you are saying, but the point being made is of a much larger one.

If such an intense effort is being made to regulate these forums, it would be nice to see at least maybe a fraction of this same kind of effort being made to keep their customers updated to the current situation about the servers. That's all we are asking for. Let's see some emails letting me know how the servers are doing instead of emails threatening to bann me cause i wasn't mother teresa on a forum lol

[Dale]

Well he seems to have enough common sense not to assume that the moderators of this form have the capability, resources, or authority to create a new FFXI server or make national decisions for Japan

yes Selzak and i cleary said i expected the moderators of this forum to create a new FFXI server and make national descisions for Japan.

Oh wait...no i didn't

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Can we have an update on the situation.Bad.





This addition text is to fullfill the minimum character requirment.

[Nattack]

And let me guess Nattack, you have all these qualities don't you. It just sucks we can't all be as educated, smart, and compassionate as you :)

it sucks that you cant be educated period \('-'*) but i digress, its simple logic here, we dont need an american server. 8 years ago im sure nobody thought, gosh, japan is such a poor location for a server. there might be an apocalyptic earthquake someday.

[hiko]

Yes i'm sure the people who head up these forums have no clue about anything...in fact they probably dont' even work for square, are based on Mars, and have no contact what so ever with planet earth. So who are we to dare ask them for an update about this game. We are so stupid for thinking they may know something we don't.

I totally agree, and we are being so unreasonable!

they will restart server when japan governement say it's ok(it's not even SE decision)!


If such an intense effort is being made to regulate these forums, it would be nice to see at least maybe a fraction of this same kind of effort being made to keep their customers updated to the current situation about the servers. That's all we are asking for. Let's see some emails letting me know how the servers are doing instead of emails threatening to bann me cause i wasn't mother teresa on a forum lol
the server are ok (they were always) they are still shut down

[Selzak]

yes Selzak and i cleary said i expected the moderators of this forum to create a new FFXI server and make national descisions for Japan.

Oh wait...no i didn't
I was referring mostly to you and the princess (lol, internet) you seem to be white-knighting, but what makes you think that the moderators of this forum are going to have more info about the power shortage in Japan than CNN? SE (much less some random forum moderator) doesn't know anything more than what the government is announcing at this point.


Yes i'm sure the people who head up these forums have no clue about anything...in fact they probably dont' even work for square, are based on Mars, and have no contact what so ever with planet earth. So who are we to dare ask them for an update about this game. We are so stupid for thinking they may know something we don't.

I totally agree, and we are being so unreasonable!
Hey, I didn't say the moderators were Martians! I don't get what you're trying to say!

[Haglaz]

If ya were to look at the japanese, french, or german sections of these forums; ya don't see them gripping about the down time.

[Dale]

it sucks that you cant be educated period \('-'*) but i digress, its simple logic here, we dont need an american server. 8 years ago im sure nobody thought, gosh, japan is such a poor location for a server. there might be an apocalyptic earthquake someday.

Yeah i know Nattack, just sucks so bad we can't all be as smart as you :)

Since someone brought up the socratic method while ago it brings this quote to mind, "Admitting once's ignorance is the first step to wisdom" :)

[Vivik]

If ya were to look at the japanese, french, or german sections of these forums; ya don't see them gripping about the down time.

What forums are you reading?

Edit: Here ya go. Right from the JP forums.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/1907-%E3%82%B5%E3%83%BC%E3%83%90%E3%83%BC%E5%81%9C%E6%AD%A2%E3%81%AE%E5%BB%B6%E6%9C%9F%E3%82%92

[Starr]

Yeah i know Nattack, just sucks so bad we can't all be as smart as you :)

Since someone brought up the socratic method while ago it brings this quote to mind, "Admitting once's ignorance is the first step to wisdom" :)
Nattack is a cool guy

[viion]

I wanted to post more, but Gadanae posted everything i was thinking, FFS.

[hiko]

If ya were to look at, french, or german sections of these forums; ya don't see them gripping about the down time.

If ya were to look at french, or german sections of these forums; ya don't see anything

[Dale]

I was referring mostly to you and the princess (lol, internet) you seem to be white-knighting, but what makes you think that the moderators of this forum are going to have more info about the power shortage in Japan than CNN? SE (much less some random forum moderator) doesn't know anything more than what the government is announcing at this point.



Hey, I didn't say the moderators were Martians! I don't get what you're trying to say!

I"m not white-knighting anyone, just pointing out the posts i enjoy reading :)

And the fact they work for Square Enix I would assume means they would be privy to information about the company's plans i myself would not be. Perhaps this is an unreasonable assumption, but i don't think so :)

[Dale]

Nattack is a cool guy

Apparantly he is very well-educated, smart, and compassionate also :)

But all that aside, i'm sure he's not so smart as to not benefit from a genius like Socrates, so maybe he should take that quote to heart

[Selzak]

I"m not white-knighting anyone, just pointing out the posts i enjoy reading :)

And the fact they work for Square Enix I would assume means they would be privy to information about the company's plans i myself would not be. Perhaps this is an unreasonable assumption, but i don't think so :)
It's an unreasonable assumption when the company's plans may consist of:

1) The servers are down until Japan's power situation settles down.
2) The servers are going to be copied to laptops with alien batteries to sustain them during the rolling blackouts.

...and they are forum moderators.


The original argument made was that they were spending too much time moderating (doing their job) when they should be helping to get the game back up quicker (not their job) or updating us on the power situation in Japan and calling company CEO's to ask them "are we there yet daddy?"(not their job). One is certainly less ridiculous than the other, but both deserved to be called out.

[Starr]

Apparantly he is very well-educated, smart, and compassionate also :)

But all that aside, i'm sure he's not so smart as to not benefit from a genius like Socrates, so maybe he should take that quote to heart
You are a terrible person

[Nattack]

what does socrates have to do with having common sense, if he was so bright he would have geniused himself out of the death penalty

[Cenz]

I kinda gather that everyone has their Opinion on what posts are posted, some ppl are out to bash on those that just want the servers up, some are out to bash on people just to bash on people lol, I know for a fact that everyone on this forum cant wait for the servers to be back up and running, i am one of those people trust me. Everyone is looking for more information, i would love to wake up and see japan back to what it was...... but i know it will be awhile, SE says a week..... outstanding. But seeing the pictures and hearing the news i honestly can say if the servers are down for a week right on, if they are down for a month, well right on also.

The OP asked a simple question, has anyone heard any info or and update on what is going on. I can say no i have not heard anything other than Japan is a mess right now. Im not here to say ppl that want to get back and play the game we all love are wrong, im also not here to say that ppl dont care. im here saying that our friends need our thoughts and support and with all this bickering about whos right and whos wrong just aggrivates us more.

Patience my friends, FFXI will be there when things get sorted out. SE said they need to conserve power so watch the news, CNN NBC ABC or whatever you get and when its time we all will know it.

Finally someone that made sense of the BS ... i watch everything i can to see whats going on in JP i only come here to see if there was any new updates and im so tired of reading people bitching at people... granted some people said some messed up stuff... and maybe they should be punished but leave that for karma.... would be great if people stuck to posts that were relevant and if a person is speaking misinformed ... inform them politely and move on ;p

[Dale]

what does socrates have to do with having common sense, if he was so bright he would have geniused himself out of the death penalty

Well Nattack why am i not surprised you think you're smarter than socrates too :)

[Dale]

You are a terrible person

Now that hurts my feelings Starr...that you think i'm a terrible person ; ;

[Selzak]

It is a well-known fact that philosophers have absolutely no common sense. You can't have a deep, stimulating, three day debate over whether or not a table exists and have common sense too.

That's what happens when you google quotes though.


I'm just being mean now, my point(s) have been clearly made. Peace.

[Starr]

I'm gonna take a back seat here and watch Dale become a king

[Dale]

It's an unreasonable assumption when the company's plans may consist of:

1) The servers are down until Japan's power situation settles down.
2) The servers are going to be copied to laptops with alien batteries to sustain them during the rolling blackouts.

.

Well we can just agree to disagree. I think during times like this they should make an extra effort to try and keep their customers informed, especially if they are finding the time to fuss about my forum postings :)

[Nattack]

Well Nattack why am i not surprised you think you're smarter than socrates too :)

wat. well by scale of what we know now, and what we knew then, yes.

[Dale]

It is a well-known fact that philosophers have absolutely no common sense. You can't have a deep, stimulating, three day debate over whether or not a table exists and have common sense too.

That's what happens when you google quotes though.


I'm just being mean now, my point(s) have been clearly made. Peace.

The trick is to get other people to say your points have clearly been made. Anyone can toot their own whistle lol

[Gadanae]

Nice to see that some of the ramblings from people have dispersed.

Now back to the basics of this forum post. All we want to know is the progress being made to bringing the servers back up and as paying customers, some of us feel we have a right to know.

Now... SE..... are you going to tell us what you are doing to resolve the downtime? Or continue to listen to us complain about no info here on this forum.... over and over, and over.

There's a simple answer, break your silence and let us know what's going on so we can stop complaining. Makes me wonder if SE really even cares to read these forums at all.

[Nattack]

there was actually a note yesterday. on the main page.

[Randwolf]

The trick is to get other people to say your points have clearly been made. Anyone can toot their own whistle lol
Really? I never could do that.

[Gadanae]

there was actually a note yesterday. on the main page.

Think that was about the version update wasn't it? Which if it was, has absolutely nothing to do with the server downtime, which is the purpose of this thread.

[Nattack]

no sir, it was a letter from the producer i believe. on ffxiv,

[Gadanae]

no sir, it was a letter from the producer i believe. on ffxiv,

Thank you for calling me "sir". Respectful and I like that. It's nice that you put that in here, but that note only speaks of the current situation of their employees in Japan and the updates planned for FFXIV. Again, that has nothing to do with the developers of FFXI and the downtime for that game. But, people will find that if they want to know about the situation of SE in general, that letter is a great read so thank you for sharing it.

Again, SE needs to give us information on the progress towards getting FFXI servers back up. Where are you SE?

[RAIST]

they are probly just getting to work atm... the time difference always messes with my head.

Japan was hoping to get power to the waterpumps sometime on Friday. Hopefully they can make some progress to that end and start to turn the situation around so we can get some official predictions by Monday.

Hang in there guys. It's not like we're having to wait what...2 years to port it to another region.

Raist

[Silvermane]

It would be very good to know what they are doing even if they cant give use any kinda of timeframe, I mean what is the long term plan? wait for power to return to normality which will mosty likely mean it will be weeks rather than the days indicated by the announcement. Or are they actually copying the game data and moving it to another location like somewhere in the US or Europe?, just watch em move it all to LA.

On another note I find it interesting that the producer of FFXIV has made a statement (the free MMO) and there is no FFXI statement (the one which until this diaster, was the only one making any cash it was bring in £1.2M as a ball park figure per month)

I reiterate it isnt the fact that their has been a diaster which is annoying people it the lack of information on SE's long term plans with reguard to the server status

[RAIST]

If I had to hazard a guess... they are holding out hope that things will turn around and they will get the go ahead from TEPCO and the Government to "turn the lights back on" again. The fact that they are able to stay just ahead of the power demand thorughout most of the day now with the rolling blackouts is encouraging I guess. Means that once they effectively get more power to the grid, things can start to pickup again. Just how long that takes and how much the situation improves...we'll just have to see.

And btw...WTF are those 60MW generators from GE? Still haven't seen any more news on them....

Raist

[Kailea_Nagisa]

Nice to see that some of the ramblings from people have dispersed.

Now back to the basics of this forum post. All we want to know is the progress being made to bringing the servers back up and as paying customers, some of us feel we have a right to know.

Now... SE..... are you going to tell us what you are doing to resolve the downtime? Or continue to listen to us complain about no info here on this forum.... over and over, and over.

There's a simple answer, break your silence and let us know what's going on so we can stop complaining. Makes me wonder if SE really even cares to read these forums at all.

The GMs here are your average employees, they don't know a damn thing, and do not have any way to get a hold of anyone in the higher tier management.

Moving servers are a much greater endeavor then you think, there is alot involved to just set them up, let alone hook them up, and even move them safely.

What do you want to hear? the same thing over and over? SE said "at least a week" how hard is this to understand in English? its has not been a week yet, so no new info.

You also keep saying SE needs to do the responsible thing..... well guess what they are, they are being responsible thing by not charging us for April, and keeping the servers off till things are a bit more stable.

[Gadanae]

It would be very good to know what they are doing even if they cant give use any kinda of timeframe, I mean what is the long term plan? wait for power to return to normality which will mosty likely mean it will be weeks rather than the days indicated by the announcement. Or are they actually copying the game data and moving it to another location like somewhere in the US or Europe?, just watch em move it all to LA.

On another note I find it interesting that the producer of FFXIV has made a statement (the free MMO) and there is no FFXI statement (the one which until this diaster, was the only one making any cash it was bring in £1.2M as a ball park figure per month)

I reiterate it isnt the fact that their has been a diaster which is annoying people it the lack of information on SE's long term plans with reguard to the server status

Thank you, thank you, thank you, another soul that understands exactly what my points are. And worded very well too! To all the trollers, please listen to this man and then go troll on another forum.

Totally not interested in hearing how we are terrible people because we want a business to be responsible for it's services and gives us a timeframe of the downtime rather then just stabs in the dark. SO TROLL SOMEWHERE ELSE.

[Neisan_Quetz]

I don't think that word means what you think what it means, they brought up a valid argument.

They're still evaluating the situation so just wait until you hear word until you can pass judgment on the progress they're making, a lot of things happen behind the scenes you just don't know about.

[RAIST]

not trolling.. jsut saying... that this is the problem with what you are asking:


we want a business to be responsible for it's services and gives us a timeframe of the downtime rather then just stabs in the dark.

Apparently the situation is not stable enough for them to give any definitive response like you want. Anything they give at this point in time would likely be just that.. another stab in the dark.

They gave you a time frame. Think of it like this...we are going bai bai. |See you Soon!| 1 |week|.

Raist

[Gadanae]

I don't think that word means what you think what it means, they brought up a valid argument.

They're still evaluating the situation so just wait until you hear word until you can pass judgment on the progress they're making, a lot of things happen behind the scenes you just don't know about.

I will admit, you're right. I'm not there to see exactly what's going on, I have no clue of what they are struggling with and what steps they have taken to get the servers back on. THAT'S WHY THIS THREAD WAS CREATED. This thread is a request to SE to break their silence and tell us what they are struggling with, what plans have they made, what's the deal.

What is it with the Japanese culture and keeping everything so hush hush and downplayed? How hard is it to tell us what's truly up? They are not only doing it here with this game but the government of Japan has been downplaying the nuclear crisis over there to the point that Americans are not listening to the Japanese warnings, they are listening to our American warnings and getting out of the country.

The point I'm trying to make is this: Why be so dam secretive? Just tell us what's up!

[Gadanae]

not trolling.. jsut saying... that this is the problem with what you are asking:



Apparently the situation is not stable enough for them to give any definitive response like you want. Anything they give at this point in time would likely be just that.. another stab in the dark.

They gave you a time frame. Think of it like this...we are going bai bai. |See you Soon!| 1 |week|.

Raist

Raist you never cease to make me lol. I truly value your opinion and I love the bai bai thing. Only question I got is this.... .ummm the quote from Neisan is not the right quote in your post.... how'd that happen?

[Neika]

I would rather see them use that time to get things figured out and up and running instead of taking time out to give updates every few hours.

[Kailea_Nagisa]

yeah I love how someone who is thinking rationally and sensibly, is trolling, I love the internet.

[RAIST]

Pride, CYA routine, management restructuring within the company... who knows. They are always slow to put information out there. But they did give a time frame for us to expect anything to happen. They didn't say up to one week. They specifically said AT LEAST ONE WEEK.

How about giving them that one week before you start demanding more info. If I say it will take one week for your part to arrive before I can fix your car, and I'll call you when it gets here. Don't start hounding me for details on it 3 days later. My response will be, when the part gets here, I can tell you more. But as far as I know it will be 1 week till the part arrives. I'll call you when it gets here. Don't get your feathers ruffled when the response is the same when the status is the same.

Raist

[RAIST]

Raist you never cease to make me lol. I truly value your opinion and I love the bai bai thing. Only question I got is this.... .ummm the quote from Neisan is not the right quote in your post.... how'd that happen?

stupid sticky keys or something... this POS laptop is chocking on 3 twitter streams and a live video veed in the background.

Raist

[Kailea_Nagisa]

Can we get some sort of update on the situation and estimated time for reinstatement of the servers. I check everyday and almost every couple hours to the information section, and still not a single thing since march 13th. Kind of annoying. Would like to at least know whats going on, before its a last minute thing thats like, OH HAI GUISE, WE WONT BRING SERVERS UP TILL NEXT WEEK, AND WE COULDA TOLD U THIS EARLIER BUT WE DIDNT FEEL LIKE IT.

Idk, im just sick of hoping for some information on servers coming up, or at least something that says, oh hey, we are fine, the servers will be up on sunday, or they wont be up sunday. something plz, im tired of not knowing a thing.


this is the OP, bold text it what to really look at, this right here shows that he never cared to even wait the week SE gave originally, thus making the thread pointless to begin with. The OP was not asking a simple question, he was being impatient like many others here, it has not even been a week, and that is what "at least a week" means

[jeffanddane]

They should just have multi servers like a read in another post . . .Like many other mmos have. I am sorry for what happened in japan and i am glad they did what they did by taking the servers down. But in a business mans stand point wouldn't servers in other locations be better ? I mean they wouldn't lose money like they will in april if they had a server in USA, Europe and any other country they cater to.

[Gadanae]

I would rather see them use that time to get things figured out and up and running instead of taking time out to give updates every few hours.

Ok, where in this did you see me request updates every few hours? IT"S BEEN FOUR DAYS. A smidgen of info would be nice at this moment. A miniscule drop. Something to tie people over. NOT updates every few hours, that's just ridiculous. But please don't tell me that the producers of FFXI cannot make time to write a simple note on the plans and progress of getting the servers back up and running. After all, the producer of FFXIV did.

I don't know about you guys, but I have this sneaking feeling that we'll all be waiting with anticipation for SUN/MON to arrive, and the servers will be up, and SE will at THAT point tell us SORRY, TRY AGAIN!. And then another week, and then another, and then another with no word. It's just what I have come to expect from this company after doing business with it for many years. And it's a bad way to do business and they need to break that trend now and give us updates, at the very least every 2 days or so would be nice.

[Gadanae]

this is the OP, bold text it what to really look at, this right here shows that he never cared to even wait the week SE gave originally, thus making the thread pointless to begin with. The OP was not asking a simple question, he was being impatient like many others here, it has not even been a week, and that is what "at least a week" means

[Removed by Moderator according to the FINAL FANTASY XI FORUM Guidelines (http://support.na.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=20&la=1).] He's asking for more info to be provided to us now, not wait a week to tell us that we are going to wait another week. He wants an update on the progress. That's what those that support this thread are asking for.

[Removed by Moderator according to the FINAL FANTASY XI FORUM Guidelines (http://support.na.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=20&la=1).]

[Sama]

Use your brain! They have power outage everyday for 3-4 hours.

All you need to know is online; if they got the power back up and stable I'm sure SE will turn the servers back on.

[RAIST]

They should just have multi servers like a read in another post . . .Like many other mmos have. I am sorry for what happened in japan and i am glad they did what they did by taking the servers down. But in a business mans stand point wouldn't servers in other locations be better ? I mean they wouldn't lose money like they will in april if they had a server in USA, Europe and any other country they cater to.

because the game could not function properly that way for just $13 USD a month. The bandwidth to synchronize all that data to support the game worlds for players across all regions, pay the additional ISP fees, dealing with differing regional laws, hiring the additional staff.. the overhead would shoot through the roof. That's just the obvious reasons.

To effectively do what you are asking, the game's player base would need to be striclty divided by region (NA only play with NA, and their would be JP only servers, the two regions couldn't play together--think Blizzard's Diabolo series) in order to manage it more effectively. For whatever reason, SE was determined to keep each game world open to all regions, and for logistically and financially, I'm sure it looked a heck of a lot better to house them all in one location. The choice for that location (Japan versus other nations) is open to another debate...but sure they had their reasons for that as well.

It is what it is. Would have never been an issue if not for the first disaster I am aware of that could/would have affected uptime in roughly a decade. Another disaster (fire, tornado, hurricane) could have had the same end effect elsewhere. Sometimes things just happen that are beyond our control.

Raist

[Gadanae]

They should just have multi servers like a read in another post . . .Like many other mmos have. I am sorry for what happened in japan and i am glad they did what they did by taking the servers down. But in a business mans stand point wouldn't servers in other locations be better ? I mean they wouldn't lose money like they will in april if they had a server in USA, Europe and any other country they cater to.

A valid point, and good business sense. SE should take a hint from these posts and when they have recovered from this disaster, take steps to do just what is mentioned here so this does not happen again. Personally if I ran a business and had to eat the profit loss of a month's revenue just because I wasn't prepared for something like this, I would make dam sure that if it could slightly even happen again I would be ready the next time it does.

[Neika]

Exactly, its been 4 days, they said at least a week. Wait a couple more days and I'm sure you will get your update. If theres no new news by then i'm sure alot more ppl will be getting upset about it and voicing their feelings about it.

[Gadanae]

because the game could not function properly that way for just $13 USD a month. The bandwidth to synchronize all that data to support the game worlds for players across all regions, pay the additional ISP fees, dealing with differing regional laws, hiring the additional staff.. the overhead would shoot through the roof. That's just the obvious reasons.

To effectively do what you are asking, the game's player base would need to be striclty divided by region (NA only play with NA, and their would be JP only servers, the two regions couldn't play together--think Blizzard's Diabolo series) in order to manage it more effectively. For whatever reason, SE was determined to keep each game world open to all regions, and for logistically and financially, I'm sure it looked a heck of a lot better to house them all in one location. The choice for that location (Japan versus other nations) is open to another debate...but sure they had their reasons for that as well.

It is what it is. Would have never been an issue if not for the first disaster I am aware of that could/would have affected uptime in roughly a decade. Another disaster (fire, tornado, hurricane) could have had the same end effect elsewhere. Sometimes things just happen that are beyond our control.

Raist

You're a smart man Raist, so I have a question for you. Let's say that SE had other servers, at the ready, in another area of the world, whatever area that may be. How hard would it be, in the event of a stoppage to the game, to copy the information from the servers in Japan, to the back up servers at X location, and then turn the switch back on. So that the game as we know it wouldn't change, JP's, NA's, EU players all still play in the same servers.

That's what i'm looking at anyways. I believe you're right having dedicated servers for each region that plays this game would be extreme overhead. But a back-up plan that i'm suggesting would be feasible, would it not?

[RAIST]

I check everyday and almost every couple hours to the information section, and still not a single thing since march 13th.


You may be reading what he said but you're still not getting it. He's asking for more info to be provided to us now, not wait a week to tell us that we are going to wait another week. He wants an update on the progress.

He said he was checking it every couple hours. I get he wonts update on the progress. Here's a thought... maybe there is not progress to report? After all, that is what SE stated... if there was new information available, it would be posted here.

No news, safe to assume... no progress (or at least none worth mentioning).

Raist

[RAIST]

You're a smart man Raist, so I have a question for you. Let's say that SE had other servers, at the ready, in another area of the world, whatever area that may be. How hard would it be, in the event of a stoppage to the game, to copy the information from the servers in Japan, to the back up servers at X location, and then turn the switch back on. So that the game as we know it wouldn't change, JP's, NA's, EU players all still play in the same servers.

That's what i'm looking at anyways. I believe you're right having dedicated servers for each region that plays this game would be extreme overhead. But a back-up plan that i'm suggesting would be feasible, would it not?

This has been brought up repeatedly in other threads as well...should just start looking for them and linking them... it's getting frustrating beyond all measure to keep repeating it...

They just moved the POL server. JUST PLAYONLINE. And it took just over 12 hours.

Expand that out to the lobby servers, 25 game worlds... god knows how many other servers. This was done in-house too--ie, across their internal network. Now, if you have to move that data offsite via an online transfer--wait.. power outages, not a good idea. So, it has to be done by physical medium, than transported. So, they have to put it all on a SAN and ship that device over there, or put it all on Tapes, or Blu-Ray media... something, then ship it and restore it.

Without knowing the exact amount of data involved, it's hard to quantify. But I can tell you this...it pretty much takes me all afternoon to ghost my 1TB system disk to disk, than burn that to Blu-Ray and verify integrity of that backup.

Raist

Edit: oh yeah, and once you get that site up and running, have all the 4 local DNS servers, and Acive Directory replication set up for the messaging system... then you have to propogate the DNS records, which could take up to 72 hours to spread out world wide, depending on how often the records are pushed out.

This could be the initiall "at least a week" time frame they stipulated. They could very well be relocating, who knows. That would actually make some sense...until they have the servers restored so they can test them and go ahead with posting DNS changes... they really can't predict any kind of success/fail, much less a time frame just yet.

[Gadanae]

He said he was checking it every couple hours. I get he wonts update on the progress. Here's a thought... maybe there is not progress to report? After all, that is what SE stated... if there was new information available, it would be posted here.

No news, safe to assume... no progress (or at least none worth mentioning).

Raist

No news is not a good thing from a business perspective. Now I know this is a GAME. But let's take a service like oh.... phone service for example. Someone hits a pole and knocks out 7 city blocks of phone service. Now I don't know about your area, but in my area if I call the phone company and ask what's going on, they tell me what happened, when it will be back on, and that crews are out there doing the repairs as we speak. And 95% of the time, the time they give me when service will be restored, it is. That's because they are responsible people. and they understand that there are other phone service providers out there and you can take your money there just as easy as you brought it to them. They are "accountable". SE has never been known for it's "accountability" and that needs to change.

Now, before someone goes off on here and says "phone service is a necessity and a game is not" let me beat you to the punch. It's still a business. We pay for a service we expect to recieve without major downtime. And i'm sorry, but giving us a message that says "at least a week" is too dam vague. Bring this into focus SE. Tell us what you are doing to get the service we pay you for back up and running and give us a timeline we can rely on, not "at least a week".

These kinds of things are what kills businesses. SE is already struggling to make a dollar on their MMO's. FFXIV is a flunk, has so many glitches with it they have had to make it free to play while they work it out, and now FFXI is down. I fear that if the downtime for FFXI continues past a week, or more, then alot of your customers will be taking their money elsewhere, to an MMO that doesn't have a difficulty staying active during things like this. And a loss of players right now not only affects SE's bottom line, but in a negative way affects all the players.

People can argue with me all they want, but my thinking will not change, there is absolutely no reason why SE cannot give us an update at least every 2 days about the steps being taken to restore a service that we pay for.

[Laraul]

I'm sure some of the developers have missing or lost loved ones...[Removed by Moderator according to the FINAL FANTASY XI FORUM Guidelines (http://support.na.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=20&la=1).]

[RAIST]

agreed, and supported.. but there is one gotcha. how long have Telco's been effecting the same types of repairs and already have an educated idea of how long a type of repair whould take? how many times has SE experienced this?

You know the saying...your back up plan is no good until you've tested it. As much as I hate to admit it....it is not a common practice for companies to actually fully test their recovery plans. I get the impression this is their first test. And we are the guinnea pigs (sp?).

Raist

[Gadanae]

This has been brought up repeatedly in other threads as well...should just start looking for them and linking them... it's getting frustrating beyond all measure to keep repeating it...

They just moved the POL server. JUST PLAYONLINE. And it took just over 12 hours.

Expand that out to the lobby servers, 25 game worlds... god knows how many other servers. This was done in-house too--ie, across their internal network. Now, if you have to move that data offsite via an online transfer--wait.. power outages, not a good idea. So, it has to be done by physical medium, than transported. So, they have to put it all on a SAN and ship that device over there, or put it all on Tapes, or Blu-Ray media... something, then ship it and restore it.

Without knowing the exact amount of data involved, it's hard to quantify. But I can tell you this...it pretty much takes me all afternoon to ghost my 1TB system disk to disk, than burn that to Blu-Ray and verify integrity of that backup.

Raist

Edit: oh yeah, and once you get that site up and running, have all the 4 local DNS servers, and Acive Directory replication set up for the messaging system... then you have to propogate the DNS records, which could take up to 72 hours to spread out world wide, depending on how often the records are pushed out.

This could be the initiall "at least a week" time frame they stipulated. They could very well be relocating, who knows. That would actually make some sense...until they have the servers restored so they can test them and go ahead with posting DNS changes... they really can't predict any kind of success/fail, much less a time frame just yet.

/clap. A very informed and informative response, thank you. Clearly by what you have mentioned here, just the act of "copying" the servers to another set of servers in another location would also be a rather large time sink.

Speculating, that "could" be what SE is doing. But how do we know? I'll tell you why we don't know and it's because SE IS NOT UPDATING US WITH THE PROGRESS OF GETTING THE SERVERS BACK UP. If this is indeed what they are doing I certainly wouldn't expect such a technical jargon-filled response such as yours, but how hard would it be to say "hey, we're moving the entire operation to a back up, it will take blah blah blah time and you should expect your service back on and blah blah blah date.". Not the vagueness of "at least a week".

Again, i'll fall back to it, SE NEEDS TO UPDATE US ON WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO GET THE SERVERS BACK UP. PAYING CUSTOMERS WANT TO KNOW AND WE HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW BECAUSE WE PAY YOU MONEY.

Rule 1 in business: The customer is always right.
Rule 2 in business: If the customer is ever wrong, refer back to Rule 1.

I'm your customer SE, now kindly tell us what you are doing to get our service back on in a prompt manner. And God-forbid if you tell us that you haven't done jack-@#$@ the past 4 days......

[Gadanae]

I'm sure some of the developers have missing or lost loved ones... [Removed by Moderator according to the FINAL FANTASY XI FORUM Guidelines.]

Thank you troll, I have fed you to the Moderator Lions.

[RAIST]

/clap. A very informed and informative response, thank you. Clearly by what you have mentioned here, just the act of "copying" the servers to another set of servers in another location would also be a rather large time sink.

Speculating, that "could" be what SE is doing. But how do we know? I'll tell you why we don't know and it's because SE IS NOT UPDATING US WITH THE PROGRESS OF GETTING THE SERVERS BACK UP. If this is indeed what they are doing I certainly wouldn't expect such a technical jargon-filled response such as yours, but how hard would it be to say "hey, we're moving the entire operation to a back up, it will take blah blah blah time and you should expect your service back on and blah blah blah date.". Not the vagueness of "at least a week".

Again, i'll fall back to it, SE NEEDS TO UPDATE US ON WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO GET THE SERVERS BACK UP. PAYING CUSTOMERS WANT TO KNOW AND WE HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW BECAUSE WE PAY YOU MONEY.

Rule 1 in business: The customer is always right.
Rule 2 in business: If the customer is ever wrong, refer back to Rule 1.

I'm your customer SE, now kindly tell us what you are doing to get our service back on in a prompt manner. And God-forbid if you tell us that you haven't done jack-@#$@ the past 4 days......

MEEEE... TEEEE... ORRRRR!

I'll be on the banks with all the INT/MAB gear I can equip....

Raist

[Gadanae]

agreed, and supported.. but there is one gotcha. how long have Telco's been effecting the same types of repairs and already have an educated idea of how long a type of repair whould take? how many times has SE experienced this?

You know the saying...your back up plan is no good until you've tested it. As much as I hate to admit it....it is not a common practice for companies to actually fully test their recovery plans. I get the impression this is their first test. And we are the guinnea pigs (sp?).

Raist

LOL, Raist I don't know how well I sit with being a "guinea pig". It never works out so well for them.....

[RAIST]

hehe.. ikr. Backups is my pet peeve.. and it's driving me nuts just thinking that they may have slocked off in that department.

nuts... we rolled to anew page... go back one.

Raist

[Gadanae]

MEEEE... TEEEE... ORRRRR!

I'll be on the banks with all the INT/MAB gear I can equip....

Raist

/applaud. Major lolage.

[Crocker]

Tepco Update for ya its been a week now and all they have done is sprayed water at it.
They are now trying to hook up external generators to get the plants internal devices working like the pumps.
So at this rate the game will be down awhile longer. My estimated guess another 1-3 weeks, unless SE has other plans to get it up faster.

[windrider]

Back-up servers in California/Europe (Do you need it?) (Can I have it?) I love Japan and wish nothing more than for this disaster to not have happened, but for a company to not have an emergency back-up plan when something like this happens is kinda strange. They already lost over 70% profit this quarter on FFXIV being a failure and having to make it free. Now with both games shutdown for an unknown amount of time who knows what the outcome is going to be if there is little profit margin. If there were back-up servers everything could keep on rolling like it was with little to no service interruption and still have monthly fees and etc. coming in. It would also allow the people in Japan affected by this disaster to concentrate on there situations and not have to juggle to much with company issues by having it fall on the teams in EU and NA.

I agree with this, kinda weird how a successful company like SE with platform based games and online games didnt have a backup plan or additional servers outside Japan. They knew how unstable the envoirment with quakes etc was around the area, with all the additional funds the government used to make buildings safer from quakes and flooding. And yet they didnt invest any money in setting up alternate back-up servers in a more stable EU country like french, germany or UK, countries that dont suffer the effects of quakes/flooding on the magnitude that Japan does (dont even think of sticking them in America) waste of time/effort with their unpredictianl weather patterns like tornados oh and yes quakes there as well.

[windrider]

Tepco Update for ya its been a week now and all they have done is sprayed water at it.
They are now trying to hook up external generators to get the plants internal devices working like the pumps.
So at this rate the game will be down awhile longer. My estimated guess another 1-3 weeks, unless SE has other plans to get it up faster.

Wow only 1-3 weeks, i think you are forgetting about general population damage, try more like 1-2 months

[Eligia]

I've learned from this thread that there is a country named French.

[Runespider]

Suprised this hasn't been posted officially here already.


Below is an update regarding the temporary suspension of the FINAL FANTASY XIV, FINAL FANTASY XI, and PlayOnline services.

Originally, we announced that the services will be temporarily suspended for about a week starting on Mar. 13, 2011 10:00 (GMT). However, due to ongoing issues with the lack of energy, we have decided to extend the suspension until Mar. 22, 2011 (JST). We will re-evaluate the situation on Mar. 22, 2011 (JST) and provide everyone with another update regarding this matter.

We deeply apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and thank you for your continued understanding of this unusual situation.

[Date & Time]
From Mar. 13, 2011 10:00 (GMT)

[Affected Service]
- FINAL FANTASY XIV
- FINAL FANTASY XI
- PlayOnline

* The following services, normally accessible from the official PlayOnline homepage (http://www.playonline.com/), will be unavailable during this time.

- Friend List Plus
- FINAL FANTASY XI Linkshell Community Beta Version
- PlayOnline Friend List Application
- Community Site Link Registration: Owner Menu

* Additionally, the following types of support will also be temporarily unavailable:
- PlayOnline Password Recovery
- PlayOnline Account Cancellation
- All activities requiring the confirmation of personal information

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnews/news20547.shtml

[Kailea_Nagisa]

Rule 1 in business: The customer is always right.
Rule 2 in business: If the customer is ever wrong, refer back to Rule 1.


This way of thinking is going out the door as of late, and can never be applied to MMORPGs, sorry the customer is not always right.


You keep wanting an update, and "fall back to" "we need to know what is going on" well I fall back to this.... SE said "at least a week" could people give them that for gods sake?

Ok there is your update now look......
-------------------------------
However, due to ongoing issues with the lack of energy, we have decided to extend the suspension until Mar. 22, 2011 (JST). We will re-evaluate the situation on Mar. 22, 2011 (JST) and provide everyone with another update regarding this matter.
------------------------------

They will give us more info on the 22nd no need to start up on SUN about not getting new info.

[NightDagger]

Well from the response that POL just released it is pretty clear that SE is not moving their servers. They would not be saying anything about the rolling blackouts affecting them if they were moving he servers. They are just waiting & hoping that they will have the power fully restored & can start running their company again.

Now on another note they DO have power for 4-5 hours each day. IF they wanted to move the servers they could utilize this time to send the current data to a remote location & get the servers running from there. This would take some time but if they were able to run for 4 hours twice a day doing this, they could effectively get the system up & running in just over a week. this is just a thought not anything factual but I do know it could work.

[Randwolf]

Now on another note they DO have power for 45 hours each day. IF they wanted to move the servers they could utilize this time to send the current data to a remote location & get the servers running from there. This would take some time but if they were able to run for 4 hours twice a day doing this, they could effectively get the system up & running in just over a week. this is just a thought not anything factual but I do know it could work.
I believe the Japanese are probably some of the most technologically capable people in the world. However, I'm going to have to question the belief that they can squeeze 45 hours out of a day.

[Xeth]

I believe the Japanese are probably some of the most technologically capable people in the world. However, I'm going to have to question the belief that they can squeeze 45 hours out of a day.

I saw that too, but was waiting on the person to correct it, or, someone else to point it out. I lol'd :P

[Chiibi]

"we have decided to extend the suspension until Mar. 22, 2011 (JST)" xD i got a nice giggle at this... so the servers might be back on my birthday... xD

[NightDagger]

I believe the Japanese are probably some of the most technologically capable people in the world. However, I'm going to have to question the belief that they can squeeze 45 hours out of a day.

No i swear they are good man. It has to do with the way the earth rotates and the fact that they just keep changing time zones every 3-4 hours, which allows them to actually go back 3 hours & effectively creating a 45 hour day.

WOW can't believe I just said all that O.o Thanks for the error check I fixed it LOL

(English is my second language. Stupidity is my first)

[Silvermane]

"we have decided to extend the suspension until Mar. 22, 2011 (JST)" xD i got a nice giggle at this... so the servers might be back on my birthday... xD

would be a nice birthday present!

[Silvermane]

Originally Posted by NightDagger
on another note they DO have power for 45 hours each dayI do think those of us not in an especially pedantic mood did think you meant either 4.5 or 4 to 5, but I can see the humor in the observation

[Xeth]

I do think those of us not in an especially pedantic mood did think you meant either 4.5 or 4 to 5, but I can see the humor in the observation

Yeah, I figured 4 to 5 or "4-5" but just giggled anyway.

[NightDagger]

Yeah i got a chuckle out of it. 24 hour day is long enough, 45 hour day would just suck. Could you really imagine to wake up on Monday & go to work, come home shower/eat/spend time with family, then go to sleep for 8 hours just to wake up & it STILL being Monday O.o I would go insane.

[Kailea_Nagisa]

moving data in in this kind of situation is very dangerous, and is why SE is not doing it.

I would rather the data stay where it is, then risk it lost trying to move it. I am not sure where people are getting htat the servers or it's data is so easy to move.

[Highfive]

No news is not a good thing from a business perspective. Now I know this is a GAME. But let's take a service like oh.... phone service for example. Someone hits a pole and knocks out 7 city blocks of phone service. Now I don't know about your area, but in my area if I call the phone company and ask what's going on, they tell me what happened, when it will be back on, and that crews are out there doing the repairs as we speak. And 95% of the time, the time they give me when service will be restored, it is. That's because they are responsible people. and they understand that there are other phone service providers out there and you can take your money there just as easy as you brought it to them. They are "accountable". SE has never been known for it's "accountability" and that needs to change.

People can argue with me all they want, but my thinking will not change, there is absolutely no reason why SE cannot give us an update at least every 2 days about the steps being taken to restore a service that we pay for.


You're comparing "Someone hits a pole and knocks out 7 city blocks of phone service.", to the biggest earthquake Japan has had in over 1000 years, followed by a terrible tsunami. Nice.

Now let's say "The biggest earthquake Japan has had in over 1000 years takes thousands of people's lives and power to many parts of the country". You call the phone company and go "What happened? When will service be restored?". Do you HONESTLY think they would have any clue at all? It's only been a few days, I'm sure they haven't even accounted for all of the deaths and areas without power yet.

If the electric companies had told SE when power would be restored and stable, I'm sure SE would let us know. Seriously, what is with this mentality that this has anything to do with SE? They HAVE NO CLUE when the servers will be coming back up. And i'm sure the power companies aren't too sure yet either.

[Selzak]

You're comparing "Someone hits a pole and knocks out 7 city blocks of phone service.", to the biggest earthquake Japan has had in over 1000 years, followed by a terrible tsunami. Nice.

Now let's say "The biggest earthquake Japan has had in over 1000 years takes thousands of people's lives and power to many parts of the country". You call the phone company and go "What happened? When will service be restored?". Do you HONESTLY think they would have any clue at all? It's only been a few days, I'm sure they haven't even accounted for all of the deaths and areas without power yet.

If the electric companies had told SE when power would be restored and stable, I'm sure SE would let us know. Seriously, what is with this mentality that this has anything to do with SE? They HAVE NO CLUE when the servers will be coming back up. And i'm sure the power companies aren't too sure yet either.
Just leave him be man, there's no point.

Some people simply do not think.


People can argue with me all they want, but my thinking will not change

[Randwolf]

No i swear they are good man. It has to do with the way the earth rotates and the fact that they just keep changing time zones every 3-4 hours, which allows them to actually go back 3 hours & effectively creating a 45 hour day.

WOW can't believe I just said all that O.o Thanks for the error check I fixed it LOL

(English is my second language. Stupidity is my first)
I know you didn't mean 45 hours. I just saw it and couldn't resist.

Most the posts in this forum are so painfully, deadly serious as though the outcome will affect your allotment of air. I was getting fired up at first, like a lot of others. Now I just chuckle when I see the 6th thread on the same topic.

[NightDagger]

I know you didn't mean 45 hours. I just saw it and couldn't resist.

Most the posts in this forum are so painfully, deadly serious as though the outcome will affect your allotment of air. I was getting fired up at first, like a lot of others. Now I just chuckle when I see the 6th thread on the same topic.

I too did the same. i would get all defensive about a subject but after repeating myself 6 times I gave up. Now just sit back, read posts, laugh at most of them & only try to comment on something I know about of just to Say "hey good idea, maybe this would also work"

Take care Guys I am off for the day. See you again tomorrow morning LOL

[Camate]

Hey everyone,

Most of you may have read the follow-up on PlayOnline news regarding the servers. (for those of you that haven’t here is a link: http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnews/news20547.shtml)

First of all I just wanted to say from myself and on behalf of the rest of the Community Team, thank you so much for being patient and understanding in these tragic times. We’re really impressed and moved by how strongly you all support Japan and your efforts to donate.

With the servers being down, many of you are wondering what’s going on with Vana’diel time and your plants, traverser stones, besieged, etc. Pretty much, just think of this as really long server maintenance, which means that unfortunately your plants will be withered, but the number of traverser stones Joachim sets aside for you will have increased, and besiege will pick up where it was left off.

We will give you updates on the situation and again thank you very much for your kind words and compassion.

[Chiibi]

would be a nice birthday present!

depends... i cant remember if ive got my ranger leveled past 30 yet...

[Caesaris]

go outside... take up a sport...

Pick up an instrument, learn a skill.

Go somewhere and meet someone (opposite sex is a +)
-----------
We all want updates so we can play FFXI, but keep in mind that what the Japanese are going through is more than waiting for a video game to come back online. They are trying to piece their lives back together and save their homeland.

[Kimara]

Hey everyone,

Most of you may have read the follow-up on PlayOnline news regarding the servers. (for those of you that haven’t here is a link: http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnews/news20547.shtml)

First of all I just wanted to say from myself and on behalf of the rest of the Community Team, thank you so much for being patient and understanding in these tragic times. We’re really impressed and moved by how strongly you all support Japan and your efforts to donate.

With the servers being down, many of you are wondering what’s going on with Vana’diel time and your plants, traverser stones, besieged, etc. Pretty much, just think of this as really long server maintenance, which means that unfortunately your plants will be withered, but the number of traverser stones Joachim sets aside for you will have increased, and besiege will pick up where it was left off.

We will give you updates on the situation and again thank you very much for your kind words and compassion.

Thanks for letting us know ^^

[breau]

Lol, you need to relax Raist. You sound like a good guy - but you are totally off the reservation on this one. I understand what you are saying, but the point being made is of a much larger one.

If such an intense effort is being made to regulate these forums, it would be nice to see at least maybe a fraction of this same kind of effort being made to keep their customers updated to the current situation about the servers. That's all we are asking for. Let's see some emails letting me know how the servers are doing instead of emails threatening to bann me cause i wasn't mother teresa on a forum lol

don´t tell raist to relax, he is the one updating us all with news about situation in japan, its simple: follow the news and you´ll see when japan has an intact energy (sorry, bad english but i´m german), than se will be up immediately, till than wait . dot.
breau, alexander/bastok

[Sama]

COME ON just let them deal with the reactors first OK?

[Randwolf]

Hey everyone,

Most of you may have read the follow-up on PlayOnline news regarding the servers. (for those of you that haven’t here is a link: http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnews/news20547.shtml)

First of all I just wanted to say from myself and on behalf of the rest of the Community Team, thank you so much for being patient and understanding in these tragic times. We’re really impressed and moved by how strongly you all support Japan and your efforts to donate.

With the servers being down, many of you are wondering what’s going on with Vana’diel time and your plants, traverser stones, besieged, etc. Pretty much, just think of this as really long server maintenance, which means that unfortunately your plants will be withered, but the number of traverser stones Joachim sets aside for you will have increased, and besiege will pick up where it was left off.

We will give you updates on the situation and again thank you very much for your kind words and compassion.

Good to know. Mog Tablets will be up also. And, all those apps, like the Mithra Clock, will still function.


Bad news - There will be a lot of angry, run-away choco's out in the fields.

[Starcade]

With the servers being down, many of you are wondering what’s going on with Vana’diel time and your plants, traverser stones, besieged, etc. Pretty much, just think of this as really long server maintenance, which means that unfortunately your plants will be withered, but the number of traverser stones Joachim sets aside for you will have increased, and besiege will pick up where it was left off.



A gazillion stones for everybody!! And they thought Abyssea was crammed before.

Think: If this thing goes six weeks, even for those who had zero stones at the time of the suspension, those people could, with all applicable abyssites, have 126 stones.

[Starcade]

/clap. A very informed and informative response, thank you. Clearly by what you have mentioned here, just the act of "copying" the servers to another set of servers in another location would also be a rather large time sink.

Speculating, that "could" be what SE is doing. But how do we know? I'll tell you why we don't know and it's because SE IS NOT UPDATING US WITH THE PROGRESS OF GETTING THE SERVERS BACK UP.


BECAUSE THEY CAN'T!!!

Dear God, are people this idiotic???

We don't know right now if half the country of Japan (including Tokyo, I might add) is going to end up effectively glowing green with radiation. The Japanese are consistently getting lied to or tap-danced around, and may I say it does not appear as if they are pleased.

We've got three dead reactors with very live fuel rods exposed to the air, as of the last report I read.

And you're worried about what Square-Enix can do to get the servers back up? You (and many more like you in the last six days) are so insensitive that it is worth it to be inflammatory.

[Ruvion]

Had a feeling this would happen since I've been following the struggle of trying to cool the reactors. Wonder what they're really doing since they won't be able to keep pumping water for the next month. Also wonder what they're doing with all that now radioactive sea water too. SE, since you gave us one free month for a week of downtime, does this mean we are going to get another free month? I've seen people being nice and supportive about the situation in Japan, but seriously how long are these understanding people going to remain, well, understanding. SE has an obligation to support the situation in Japan but also has an obligation to keep it's customers happy. Without any customers there will be no ffxi/ffxiv and are people really willing to wait a month+ or so for a game to come back online. I know they just announced it being down for another week, but seriously, does anyone foresee these problems being fixed that fast? I really think it's going to be at least 1 month before they can focus on trying to restore life to normal in NE Japan. By then it will be mid/late spring and time to start family vacations and enjoying outdoor weather and activities. People that were once consumed by this game will relearn what RL offers and not be as willing to come back, or just find another game to play. Just my 2 cents.

[Ter]

For all those speculating about SE dropping the ball by not having a recovery plan in place I would like to add some clarification. The logistics of replicating data on a realtime system internationally are unbelievably complex. Even if the infrastructure of the country could support the traffic the financial cost of securing guarenteed international bandwidth and redundent routing would be financially prohibitive. The fees paid by FFXI subscribers would not even scratch the surface of these costs and that is why this sort of solution is only really available to high level financial infrastructure. Even if FFXI subscribers paid 10 times as much as they do now this solution would be out of reach.

Even for the biggest companies spending 100s of millions of dollars on their disaster recovery plans would be brought down by a national infrastructure outage. Some disasters are just to widespread to be able to manage effectively. This situation is out of SEs hands and will not be resolved until there is consistant power supply both to the servers and the infrastructure connecting them to the internet.

For those hoping that the data may be moved to a secondary server house in another country I would say it is unlikely. Although there are 24 worlds each of these is made up of many physical servers precisely configured together to form a game environment. I would not be surprised if they were running over 200 physical servers in total (amount really varies depending on the specification of the hardware). Setting up a mirror of this environment is a job that takes weeks at best, even if you can source the hardware quickly. Deploying the software, configuring it and testing the result takes even longer. Migrating the data across on top of this and you have a process that takes a long time. Even if SE did choose to do this they would be facing more downtime when things returned to normal as they would want to move the operation back again, easy physical access is essential when you have so much hardware to maintain.

The japanese people have a lot of serious issues to deal with right now but rest assured one of the top priorities will be getting power distribution back to normal as it is directly damaging the economy. In the meantime we should reflect on how easy the world can be spun into chaos and appreaciate how lucky and priviledged our lives usually are.

Wishing the Japanese populous a speedy and dignified recovery.

[Tummie]

Here we go again. Someone who is crying that those of us complaining that SE isn't more of a responsible company that we are "heartless", "uncompassionate", "addicts", yada yada yada.

I've said time and time again that I feel for the people of Japan and that is genuine. However, i'm not a sympathist by nature. The world has had major disasters everywhere. Life goes on. Business goes on. In fact it should. By grinding everything to a halt (like SE has done in a way by shutting the servers down) it only makes things worse.

I am going to stop you right there and comment. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) asked businesses to conserve energy in the crisis. They were conducting rolling blackouts throughout Japan and as many have stated, it is the winter there and it's very cold. Many homes don't have power so SE as a business are following what TEPCO had asked. I am not saying that SE requires a tremendous amount of energy to run their operations, but if it came down to not running the servers so that the extra power that isn't being used can be used by people of need such as families who need power, then it's a no brainier on what to do.



The best thing to do in the face of peril is stand, be strong, don't let the situation beat you, you beat it. It's what drives mankind. If we all threw up our hands and quit things the moment things went sour, then we wouldn't survive. My compassion for the situation of our servers being down has lasted until now. It has changed because SE CAN take steps to bring us back online, and has not. And it also angers some of the population of this game that steps could have been taken BEFORE THIS TRAGEDY EVEN HAPPENED that would have ensured that a game WE PAY for stayed online.

To be honest, I get what you are saying, but we don't know what was going on at SE headquarters. It could have been that they assessed the situation and looked at their backup generators to see if it was feasible to run off of those, but probably felt it wasn't worth the risk should they go without power for long periods of time during the rolling blackouts, and the generators ran out of power. A lot of people would be more pissed off if they kept the game up and all of a sudden without warning the servers ran out of power and everyone R0'd in the middle of something important, and then not knowing when the servers come back up. Things that come to mind are entering dynamis and then having the servers run out of power just as you start. Sure they could do a roll back, but then that makes any progress made non-existent.




Getting really tired of people saying that people that feel the same way I do are told that we are inhuman, callous, hopeless FFXI addicts. I love the game sure but in this off-time I have been doing many things outside of the game, things that I have been doing EVEN BEFORE the game was down. FFXI is not my life, but it's a part of it, I miss it, and i'm angered that it's down when it doesn't have to be. If that makes me a bad person in your eyes, so be it. I'm not on this earth to please you.

Again, it doesn't have to be down, but it's down at the request of TEPCO. Everyone has been raising their voices over having SE relocate the servers to the US, which isn't a very cost effective solution. This whole thing could last a whole 10 days and it wouldn't make sense for them to move their servers to the US, and then move them back.

Also I never said you were a bad person, you just misinterpreted the fact that I said some people act as if FFXI is a drug and they cannot fathom what is going on in Japan and want FFXi to online without really thinking about what is more important to SE.

[Chronofantasy]

Hey everyone,

Most of you may have read the follow-up on PlayOnline news regarding the servers. (for those of you that haven’t here is a link: http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnews/news20547.shtml)

First of all I just wanted to say from myself and on behalf of the rest of the Community Team, thank you so much for being patient and understanding in these tragic times. We’re really impressed and moved by how strongly you all support Japan and your efforts to donate.

With the servers being down, many of you are wondering what’s going on with Vana’diel time and your plants, traverser stones, besieged, etc. Pretty much, just think of this as really long server maintenance, which means that unfortunately your plants will be withered, but the number of traverser stones Joachim sets aside for you will have increased, and besiege will pick up where it was left off.

We will give you updates on the situation and again thank you very much for your kind words and compassion.

March 22nd... lol that's the day Dissidia 2 comes out in North America. Well at least they're only extending it for a few days for now. Maybe the game actually will come back quicker than we thought rather than in one month.

Also, people still plant? Is planting still profitable/worth it?

[Tummie]

For all those speculating about SE dropping the ball by not having a recovery plan in place I would like to add some clarification. The logistics of replicating data on a realtime system internationally are unbelievably complex. Even if the infrastructure of the country could support the traffic the financial cost of securing guarenteed international bandwidth and redundent routing would be financially prohibitive. The fees paid by FFXI subscribers would not even scratch the surface of these costs and that is why this sort of solution is only really available to high level financial infrastructure. Even if FFXI subscribers paid 10 times as much as they do now this solution would be out of reach.

Even for the biggest companies spending 100s of millions of dollars on their disaster recovery plans would be brought down by a national infrastructure outage. Some disasters are just to widespread to be able to manage effectively. This situation is out of SEs hands and will not be resolved until there is consistant power supply both to the servers and the infrastructure connecting them to the internet.

For those hoping that the data may be moved to a secondary server house in another country I would say it is unlikely. Although there are 24 worlds each of these is made up of many physical servers precisely configured together to form a game environment. I would not be surprised if they were running over 200 physical servers in total (amount really varies depending on the specification of the hardware). Setting up a mirror of this environment is a job that takes weeks at best, even if you can source the hardware quickly. Deploying the software, configuring it and testing the result takes even longer. Migrating the data across on top of this and you have a process that takes a long time. Even if SE did choose to do this they would be facing more downtime when things returned to normal as they would want to move the operation back again, easy physical access is essential when you have so much hardware to maintain.

The japanese people have a lot of serious issues to deal with right now but rest assured one of the top priorities will be getting power distribution back to normal as it is directly damaging the economy. In the meantime we should reflect on how easy the world can be spun into chaos and appreaciate how lucky and priviledged our lives usually are.

Wishing the Japanese populous a speedy and dignified recovery.

This ^ and I thank you for explaining exactly what I was going to. Moving the servers isn't as simple as moving a workstation from one to another. THey'd have to re-configure hardware, test, make sure they have enough bandwidth to support their application, all of which takes a lot of time. Moving a data center (Which SE has done in the past) takes half a day, but we are talking about SE replicating a full environment and data.

[Ter]

No problem Tummie. This is what I do for a living so I can appreciate how difficult the situation is. I thought a more realistic and accurate appraisal might help some of the people here understand the scale of the problem.

[AJ_Anyia]

For all those speculating about SE dropping the ball by not having a recovery plan in place I would like to add some clarification. The logistics of replicating data on a realtime system internationally are unbelievably complex. Even if the infrastructure of the country could support the traffic the financial cost of securing guarenteed international bandwidth and redundent routing would be financially prohibitive. The fees paid by FFXI subscribers would not even scratch the surface of these costs and that is why this sort of solution is only really available to high level financial infrastructure. Even if FFXI subscribers paid 10 times as much as they do now this solution would be out of reach.

Even for the biggest companies spending 100s of millions of dollars on their disaster recovery plans would be brought down by a national infrastructure outage. Some disasters are just to widespread to be able to manage effectively. This situation is out of SEs hands and will not be resolved until there is consistant power supply both to the servers and the infrastructure connecting them to the internet.

For those hoping that the data may be moved to a secondary server house in another country I would say it is unlikely. Although there are 24 worlds each of these is made up of many physical servers precisely configured together to form a game environment. I would not be surprised if they were running over 200 physical servers in total (amount really varies depending on the specification of the hardware). Setting up a mirror of this environment is a job that takes weeks at best, even if you can source the hardware quickly. Deploying the software, configuring it and testing the result takes even longer. Migrating the data across on top of this and you have a process that takes a long time. Even if SE did choose to do this they would be facing more downtime when things returned to normal as they would want to move the operation back again, easy physical access is essential when you have so much hardware to maintain.

The japanese people have a lot of serious issues to deal with right now but rest assured one of the top priorities will be getting power distribution back to normal as it is directly damaging the economy. In the meantime we should reflect on how easy the world can be spun into chaos and appreaciate how lucky and priviledged our lives usually are.

Wishing the Japanese populous a speedy and dignified recovery.

Yeah, what he said. lol

[Jrtaz]

Hey everyone,

Most of you may have read the follow-up on PlayOnline news regarding the servers. (for those of you that haven’t here is a link: http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnews/news20547.shtml)

First of all I just wanted to say from myself and on behalf of the rest of the Community Team, thank you so much for being patient and understanding in these tragic times. We’re really impressed and moved by how strongly you all support Japan and your efforts to donate.

With the servers being down, many of you are wondering what’s going on with Vana’diel time and your plants, traverser stones, besieged, etc. Pretty much, just think of this as really long server maintenance, which means that unfortunately your plants will be withered, but the number of traverser stones Joachim sets aside for you will have increased, and besiege will pick up where it was left off.

We will give you updates on the situation and again thank you very much for your kind words and compassion.

Sweet its great to hear, i always thought, it freeze everything inside thanks for the update SE

[Silvermane]

I think everyone understands and agrees with your analysis of the complex nature of any kind of relocation project. However I also think people are suprised, maybe even disappointed that SE had no contingency plan in place other than turning off the servers to preserve game data.

We also know that they do have game data backup and recovery systems in place, so why not have a "shadow" server network where the backup data was backed up again. Then all that would be required would be the activation of this network.

I reiterate its the lack of foresight which I think conserns people espically when you consider the fact that Japan is not stranger to such events and other than the cost benefits of centralisation why have this equipment in Japan at all?