DDoS two hours after the patch goes live is ridiculous

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Originally Posted by Gaiinahat

I.T. professional here. I don't care what they say. It is NOT due to DDOS attacks. It is their shitty servers. It's even causing the forums to lag.

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I disagree it's definitely ddos because with a VPN you don't get booted. You lag but you do not DC.

I was in M10N today and 5/8 DC'd the three who didn't weren't from NA but playing on aether through a VPN.

anotha one!

This happens to Omega every few months or so.

At this point, it’s starting to feel like we are being punished for something…

I feel like SE is about to realise just how important the NA player base is when they lose a lot of it

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Originally Posted by Hanzz96

I disagree it's definitely ddos because with a VPN you don't get booted. You lag but you do not DC.

I was in M10N today and 5/8 DC'd the three who didn't weren't from NA but playing on aether through a VPN.

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Do you have a VPN you recommend?

VPN/Tunnelers seems to help because there's a particular server in the NTT hops that is responsible.
If you somehow skip that one in routing, you might not get disconnected.

The NTT hops are ridiculous by the way. By default I get *FIVE* ntt hops, this inefficiency probably ads a ton of ping to the game regardless of ddos.

Which VPNs do people find to work and routing through where?

ProtonVPN routing through Arizona has worked for me sometimes but the previous DDoS that was happening a few months ago, ProtonVPN didn't work for me on that one, because the DDoS seemed more directly on the server itself as far as I could tell.

Also, I reached a point where ProtonVPN was causing disconnects and I think it's probably because SE started to filter datacenter IPs like VPNs to fight off the attacks.

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Originally Posted by NorthernLadMSP

Do you have a VPN you recommend?

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Exitlag. I swear by it and while I've had lag I don't get booted from the server

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Originally Posted by Hyperia

At this point, it’s starting to feel like we are being punished for something…

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One dumb as hell crackpot theory I've seen somebody float around is that they're trying to encourage people to transfer off the more bloated NA data servers by making the wait to get back in unbearable.

Admittedly, attempts to get back into Aether and Crystal have queues in the thousands, Primal has it in the hundreds, but Dynamis sometimes only gets as high as the 80s.

Dynamis players can quickly log back in, but there's still not enough people to make anything pop/most of them were just standing in their houses anyway. While Aether/Primal/Crystal queues are as fast as ever, but every time people get kicked out it can take several minutes to get back in (and in batches, so other party members may take longer to return).

Same person also swears that Dynamis drops out less often than the other three (with Aether and Crystal dropping out the most), but I don't know and doubt that it's true, and it doesn't change the fact that even IF Dynamis is somehow a safer harbor, it's still going down and something like this isn't going to make people suddenly start flooding into Dynamis even if its just travelers, or how it would be completely insane if Square-Enix was sabotaging their own DCs somehow because they're no longer asking, they're TELLING people to disperse.

Personally I've been traveling to Primal this whole time to get things done, so I can't personally vouch if Dynamis is going down less often, but the claim that it takes longer to get back into Aether and Crystal sounds accurate enough because they do have the highest concentration of local players and the most visitors trying to get through the doors. It's also possible that Square-Enix's own anti-transfer/traveler mechanism during "congestion" may also be having an impact because of how it tries to throttle and even block connections, and if it doesn't prioritize residents over travelers, then it becomes a free-for-all on who makes it back in first.

I do find myself curious if the DDoS have happened more or less in the past depending on the number of worlds that are labeled as congested during that time, or if these DDoS even STARTED around the same time they began blocking worlds from time to time. As far as I know Square-Enix has always rotated worlds as being congested for the sake of preventing new character creation/transfers, but it's only been in the last year that they started more directly doing things to the data centers to prevent actual connections (the Dawntrail lockdown for Dynamis, the anti-traveler blocks for Aether).

Flipping that particular switch on and off all the time may be borking something and causing general instability, because the DDoS always coincides with new patches, and what happens every patch? World congestion status changes, and that DOES literally impact who can and can not access a world/log-in priority. It may not be intentional like I said, but Square-Enix may in fact be DDoS themselves somehow with how they set it up.

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Originally Posted by Aidorouge

Same person also swears that Dynamis drops out less often than the other three

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I spent time on Dynamis a while back and there were DDoS then as well, got disconnected just the same.

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the claim that it takes longer to get back into Aether and Crystal sounds accurate enough

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It's a simple consequence of the higher population. If 2,000 people get disconnected due to the DDoS, then 2,000 people will try to get in. They will be processed 1 at a time, and as a result, you will see a queue like 1,800.

It's more of an indication of how many people it affected, than anything else. If the queue is only 30 or 200, then not many were booted by the DDoS (or you got into the queue really quickly).

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the DDoS always coincides with new patches

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Not in my experience. The DDoS have happened in patch lulls plenty of the time. They were even happening for many weeks after the Deep Dungeon released. I think many people don't notice the DDoS in patch lulls because either they aren't playing, or they aren't doing any content where it significantly affects them.

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Square-Enix may in fact be DDoS themselves somehow with how they set it up.

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Other regions aren't getting this though, and they have worlds set to Congested. I do think they are genuinely being DDoS'd, but that doesn't mean the disconnects are a result of the DDoS.

So let me explain. There is a DDoS, right? Now, who decides whether you get disconnected as a result of that?

The answer is partially the server. The server, when overwhelmed with traffic, most likely drops connections (including player connections) when it is overwhelmed in order to prevent a server crash. Think of it as a defense mechanism, like an immune system.

The answer is partially the client. The client seems oversensitive and the tiniest lag spike usually disconnects you. Your best bet is to stand still, because the more you move and do attacks, the more packets you are sending to the server, and this seems to alert the client that there is some lag and instantly disconnects you.

So what I'm saying is the client could be built to be more risilient to lag and not just kick us to the main menu so quick. Potentially, there could be improvements for the server to better distinguish and filter non-player traffic.

AND AGAIN.

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Originally Posted by Gaiinahat

I.T. professional here. I don't care what they say. It is NOT due to DDOS attacks. It is their shitty servers. It's even causing the forums to lag.

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Could you explain in more detail how you know this for a fact? And please don't take this as some kinda 'gotcha' moment I legitimately want to know your reasoning.

NA server DDoSing is occurring every 9 hours or less, this is making a game that we pay for actually unplayable.

Can yall just fix it already (the "Well actually" indivdual who wants to talk about "HoW ThEy CaNt," shut) https://gyazo.com/aff8ee31bf28c2b54ea65a4bb9c6e990

Maybe we should be putting in tickets for compensation for disruptions. Though we know we wont get anything, maybe enough tickets will help them act on this.

There's one of two avenues:

Either it's a legal issue.

Or it's a server collapse issue.

People on Reddit are saying that those who are using a VPN or are on PS5 are having less disconnects. It appears to be disproportionally hitting PC users.

https://i.imgur.com/sbsuqJE.png

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Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

I spent time on Dynamis a while back and there were DDoS then as well, got disconnected just the same.
It's a simple consequence of the higher population. If 2,000 people get disconnected due to the DDoS, then 2,000 people will try to get in. They will be processed 1 at a time, and as a result, you will see a queue like 1,800.

It's more of an indication of how many people it affected, than anything else. If the queue is only 30 or 200, then not many were booted by the DDoS (or you got into the queue really quickly).
Not in my experience. The DDoS have happened in patch lulls plenty of the time. They were even happening for many weeks after the Deep Dungeon released. I think many people don't notice the DDoS in patch lulls because either they aren't playing, or they aren't doing any content where it significantly affects them.
Other regions aren't getting this though, and they have worlds set to Congested. I do think they are genuinely being DDoS'd, but that doesn't mean the disconnects are a result of the DDoS.

So let me explain. There is a DDoS, right? Now, who decides whether you get disconnected as a result of that?

The answer is partially the server. The server, when overwhelmed with traffic, most likely drops connections (including player connections) when it is overwhelmed in order to prevent a server crash. Think of it as a defense mechanism, like an immune system.

The answer is partially the client. The client seems oversensitive and the tiniest lag spike usually disconnects you. Your best bet is to stand still, because the more you move and do attacks, the more packets you are sending to the server, and this seems to alert the client that there is some lag and instantly disconnects you.

So what I'm saying is the client could be built to be more risilient to lag and not just kick us to the main menu so quick. Potentially, there could be improvements for the server to better distinguish and filter non-player traffic.

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Curious....is anyone in Arizona getting hit by these?

I know atleast 3 diff people in AZ in different locations that do NOT get the DC...like ever.

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Originally Posted by Ayan_Calvesse

Curious....is anyone in Arizona getting hit by these?

I know atleast 3 diff people in AZ in different locations that do NOT get the DC...like ever.

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In the past, I have indeed routed a VPN through Arizona and successfully avoided DDoS.

I routed it through Arizona because I looked at the main wires that go through america to the server in California. It's immediately obvious that there is a wire going right through the middle of the country and that this is the default route, so the obvious alternatives are:

- Above, potentially even trying to route through Canada if needed, but this might end up connecting to NTT still at some point.

- Below, through Arizona. Because by forcing the traffic to that location, it now has to take a route diagonally up which avoids NTT.

- Nobody would try this, but you could try routing the complete opposite way (to Japan/Australia) and travel through the sea, but your ping would probably be like 1,200 ms!

The DDoS a few months ago, Arizona didn't work, but maybe it does now. I haven't tried for a while.

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Originally Posted by Hyperia

People on Reddit are saying that those who are using a VPN or are on PS5 are having less disconnects. It appears to be disproportionally hitting PC users.

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I've seen the opposite happen in real time before. Back in Oct/Nov waves I would constantly get kicked while on PSN while my friends on PC in the same party would stay connected. It's consistent with the node attack theory. Likely this time it didn't take out PSN connections.

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Originally Posted by Ayan_Calvesse

Curious....is anyone in Arizona getting hit by these?

I know atleast 3 diff people in AZ in different locations that do NOT get the DC...like ever.

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As someone in AZ, I can confirm that while I have witnessed many people get thrown, I have never been one of the ones to disconnect. I have suspected I am connected through some node that isn't getting hit like everyone else but being on the ps5 I have no way to trace my route.

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Originally Posted by switchhitter

As someone in AZ, I can confirm that while I have witnessed many people get thrown, I have never been one of the ones to disconnect. I have suspected I am connected through some node that isn't getting hit like everyone else but being on the ps5 I have no way to trace my route.

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Aye it seems like the AZ route appears to avoid the problematic node. I just got 4 more confirmations since the last one...I wonder if there will be a DC at 10pm EST (in 43 mins from this post)

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Originally Posted by Ayan_Calvesse

Aye it seems like the AZ route appears to avoid the problematic node. I just got 4 more confirmations since the last one...I wonder if there will be a DC at 10pm EST (in 43 mins from this post)

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Arizona here as well, I've lagged a ton at worst but haven't been disconnected.

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Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

I spent time on Dynamis a while back and there were DDoS then as well, got disconnected just the same.

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Aye, which is why I didn't much stock in that claim because there's no reason NA data centers would be effected differently during a DDoS, especially if they're all in the same place.
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It's a simple consequence of the higher population. If 2,000 people get disconnected due to the DDoS, then 2,000 people will try to get in. They will be processed 1 at a time, and as a result, you will see a queue like 1,800.

It's more of an indication of how many people it affected, than anything else. If the queue is only 30 or 200, then not many were booted by the DDoS (or you got into the queue really quickly)

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I think the point is that the more populated data centers are being hurt more by the number of people trying to get back in all at once, and while that could be mitigated in part by people choosing to log into Primal or Dynamis instead, it doesn't change that all NA go down at once anyway.
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Not in my experience. The DDoS have happened in patch lulls plenty of the time. They were even happening for many weeks after the Deep Dungeon released. I think many people don't notice the DDoS in patch lulls because either they aren't playing, or they aren't doing any content where it significantly affects them.

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It's more that whatever damage was caused during the patch just continues to run through even during the lulls, and it's reached a point of being almost-constant now regardless of how many people are affected. For that matter, people have been dropped even super-late in the night/early morning, so if this a targeted attack, they're not just choosing the busiest hours to do it, there's something consistently setting the servers off 24/7 at certain intervals, whereas you'd think a DDoS would want to do the most damage at the worst times for greatest effect.
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Other regions aren't getting this though, and they have worlds set to Congested. I do think they are genuinely being DDoS'd, but that doesn't mean the disconnects are a result of the DDoS.

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But have other regions utilized temporary data center lockdowns to keep people from traveling as NA has done? Even with Materia, as near as I can tell, was built from the ground up to prevent people from traveling out but allowing everyone else in, and the reason they don't do that with EVERY data center is because it would require re-building them. Likewise Shadow for EU was always supposed to be a temporary existence.

The toggle for making worlds congested to prevent new characters/transfers may be different from whatever toggle Square-Enix pushes to enable/disable data center hoping between NA worlds.

Do any EU or JP data centers/worlds get locked up as tightly as Aether and Balmung in the NA during peak hours, or are they always available for traveling?

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Originally Posted by Aidorouge

Do any EU or JP data centers/worlds get locked up as tightly as Aether and Balmung in the NA during peak hours, or are they always available for traveling?

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I don't know, but I do know that:

JP had the issue of everyone going to Mana to raid.

EU had the issue of everyone going to Light to raid.

And the natural result of all that is those data centers having more congested worlds to try and push the populations to the other ones.

You know what time it is gamers :D DDOS OCLOCK!

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Originally Posted by Aidorouge

Do any EU or JP data centers/worlds get locked up as tightly as Aether and Balmung in the NA during peak hours, or are they always available for traveling?

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Well, zero servers on Light are closed. Only 3 servers on Mana are closed.
Opposed to the entire Crystal and Aether Datacenters being closed.

So is NA more congested? Yes. We do have the most players.

It's happening again. This is like, Endwalker launch queues. (I guess the game's not dead!)

I've heard that PS5 is less affected because that client has a longer timeout before it gives up. I think I might agree, because it does feel short. I notice the lag, and I'm out in less than 10 seconds. If were 30-60 seconds, I would be super dead, the party would wipe, but that's fine. Because it would still avoid the queue. That makes it much less of an inconvenience. Not to mention, getting dropped during a craft! A longer timeout would solve that too.

I'm so close to saying f it, losing my house and just quitting.

Everything's a problem. Game doesn't innovate, Housing holds you hostage, and when I do wanna play or roleplay with friends no one can stay connected due to what? Bad server infrastructure because they refuse to spend real money on it?

I just want to see SE do more to server infrastructure for NA. It's been confirmed NA gets DDOSed way more than EU or JP. Why is that? There's got to be some good reasons for that, I suspect part of it is aging infrastructure. And it certainly wouldn't hurt at this point along with considering other options like not losing mats when you craft if you unexpectedly get logged out.

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Originally Posted by Catastrophe573

I've heard that PS5 is less affected because that client has a longer timeout before it gives up. I think I might agree, because it does feel short. I notice the lag, and I'm out in less than 10 seconds. If were 30-60 seconds, I would be super dead, the party would wipe, but that's fine. Because it would still avoid the queue. That makes it much less of an inconvenience. Not to mention, getting dropped during a craft! A longer timeout would solve that too.

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The timeout definitely has something to do with it. If the timeout is working differently on PS5, then maybe the OS that playstation uses actually has better timeout settings that override whatever SE is setting.

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Originally Posted by Andanie

[...]Housing holds you hostage[...]

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Ain't SE's fault if you cannot let go of your house - You knew what you got yourself into the moment you were looking for one.

They pay real money to keep a house they bought with fake money that they likely don’t use. Or want. So that it looks pretty in a empty neighborhood?
Just let it go. It's not worth the commitment if you just pop into your place to stop the auto-demo and nothing else.

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Originally Posted by Arrius

Ain't SE's fault if you cannot let go of your house - You knew what you got yourself into the moment you were looking for one.

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Nah, come on. "You will lose your in-game item if you do not continue to play" is a well-known game design dark pattern to keep players hooked. Artificial scarcity, sunk cost, social clout/resource. It hits 3 of the big 4 categories (monetary, psychological, social). Of course people don't want to lose their cool things they spent both real money (sub) and time (in the form of gil/lottery) to obtain. There's a reason housing is one of the worst RMT offenders.

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Originally Posted by Arrius

Ain't SE's fault if you cannot let go of your house - You knew what you got yourself into the moment you were looking for one.

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Oh my god this stupid argument again.

I rp in my house all the time. It's what keeps me using it. But people take breaks, they do other things, life happens.

And even if I didn't, it's a stupid system. It's absolutely SE's fault for making a system where only a select amount of people can participate, and the ones who can feel hellbent on holding it because it's so hard to get again. It's insane in 2025 that you still have people arguing the system is fine. And we can't pretend it's not a solvable problem.

We have instanced housing in Islands. We have other games examples. Both LoTR and WoW both older games than XIV by far have housing neighborhoods that simply spin up whenever they're full. Which isn't even the point of my post.

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Originally Posted by KihyiFelhede

Nah, come on. "You will lose your in-game item if you do not continue to play" is a well-known game design dark pattern to keep players hooked. Artificial scarcity, sunk cost, social clout/resource. It hits 3 of the big 4 categories (monetary, psychological, social). Of course people don't want to lose their cool things they spent both real money (sub) and time (in the form of gil/lottery) to obtain. There's a reason housing is one of the worst RMT offenders.

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If the only big thing that keeps you from stepping away from the game is the house that you, at best, afk in and/or to starve off the demo timer ... then it is a You issue.

Grab a apartment room instead, since that one sticks around even when you were gone for months.

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Originally Posted by Andanie

Oh my god this stupid argument again.

I rp in my house all the time. It's what keeps me using it. But people take breaks, they do other things, life happens.

And even if I didn't, it's a stupid system. It's absolutely SE's fault for making a system where only a select amount of people can participate, and the ones who can feel hellbent on holding it because it's so hard to get again. It's insane in 2025 that you still have people arguing the system is fine. And we can't pretend it's not a solvable problem.

We have instanced housing in Islands. We have other games examples. Both LoTR and WoW both older games than XIV by far have housing neighborhoods that simply spin up whenever they're full. Which isn't even the point of my post.

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If it's not worth it then stop paying for it. It's that easy.

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Originally Posted by Andanie

And even if I didn't, it's a stupid system. It's absolutely SE's fault for making a system where only a select amount of people can participate, and the ones who can feel hellbent on holding it because it's so hard to get again. It's insane in 2025 that you still have people arguing the system is fine. And we can't pretend it's not a solvable problem.

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At the given time, it is the system SE has in place for housing. And even IF they announce today to have plans changing it, it would be at the very earliest point until the next expansion to see any progress.
So until then, you would be still stuck to the current one. The one you accepted to deal with the moment you decided to get a house.

Is it great? No.
Could it better? Absolutely it can.

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Originally Posted by hydralus

If it's not worth it then stop paying for it. It's that easy.

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I'm about at that point, but not fully. WHich is what my first post said. But it doesn't mean that housing system isn't predatory and bad and it doesn't have to be like that. Why is that so hard?