European servers

[Shioban]

"I don't care about all of this, why can't they just open more servers over here!"

People are fickle, people change games.

The 'new' world servers for FFXIV are almost empty compared to a lot of the Legacy Servers (With exception for some such as Ultros, Gilgamesh etc.)

To invest hundreds of thousands in a datacentre that may turn out to be a waste of money when people jump shit is an investment nightmare.

Retaining players is difficult for an MMO especially as it ages, ARR is now only a year old but even then to invest in more servers where there's currently a need for some to be merged already would simply signal to the developers as well as the publisher themselves "Lol no, it's clear there's no need for it".

Maintaining the server is not the big issue for them, that cost is negligible at best.
Purchasing and Installing and Preparing them is, this initial cost could be a HUGE duck and loss in profits that could have been used better elsewhere.

They simply will not invest the time or money into it, unless its absolutely necessary, which currently it's not.

Yes they can, by making the route much shorter. As in not having to go through a freaking ocean.

Is costly for them? Shouldn't we expect a much better service from a subscription MMO?

Is it costly for them?
The initial cost and the maintenance of a data-centre of the same quality as the one you're currently using in Canada is extremley expensive to set-up, prepare and also maintain.
The cost for a good quality infrastructure capable of delivery an average 0.3 response for an average 1000-5000 connections at once per world is always going to be high, sub-par hardware isn't going to be purchased therefore increase the cost to hundreds of thousands of dollars to set-up initially and then maintain.

Should we expect more from a subscription MMO?
In some ways yes, but in many many other ways no, this is a business and large costs albeit to satisfy customer demand sometimes just cannot be met.

Does the ocean part matter?
No, as we've already proven that's not the issue here, there's clearly an issue between specific players connections taking routes that either hit a bad node, or somewhere with heavy congestion or instability causing the jump or delay. If the entirety of EU/AU players were unable to play the game, THEN cause for an EU datacentre would be considered.

For the most part the problem can be fixed either be contacting your ISP and explaining the situation and demanding to speak to someone with the technical expertise to diagnose the issue by providing them with your Worlds IP address; http://www.arrstatus.com/


I completely understand the enmity towards this subject.
It it VERY frustrating when you're playing any online game and it doesn't work optimally, but people all to easily point their finger at the developer and say "It's not working for me, therefore it's your job to fix it and my connection!

Networks are complex, Square Enix cannot compensate for every eventually for hundreds of thousands of players with thousands of different network combinations, routes and overall circumstances.

It's frustrating but a little maturity goes a long way.



Can I fix it though?

Maybe! Try doing what I said above;

For the most part the problem can be fixed either be contacting your ISP and explaining the situation and demanding to speak to someone with the technical expertise to diagnose the issue by providing them with your Worlds IP address; http://www.arrstatus.com/

I must insist that if you do this BULLY them into allowing you to talk to someone who actually knows how to help you with this issue.





You can also try these services to re-route the traffic if you're unable to do-so yourself;

http://www.battleping.com/

http://www.wtfast.com/

Which a fair number of FFXIV users in an area with high internet traffic and or suffer from a 'bad-hop' between You > Server > You, and for the most part see a significant improvement.


There are always solutions, people just prefer to complain and demand unreasonable demands instead of trying them first.


=====================================================================================

phenomenally isn't a number.

If you'd actually read over my post you would see that I elaborated on this.

Don't be so quick to jump the gun.

[Toranja]

If you knew the initial cost and the maintenance of a data-centre of the same quality as the one you're currently using then you'd understand what I said that.
The cost is phenomenally expensive for a good quality infrastructure capable of delivery an average 0.3 response for an average 1000-5000 connections at once per world.

phenomenally isn't a number.

[Aegis]

If the entirety of EU/AU players were unable to play the game, THEN cause for an EU datacentre would be considered.

I don't disagree with much of your post, but that's a pretty high frickin bar. If the entirety of a continent are unable to play the game then a datacentre could be considered?

The connections have improved significantly since pre 2.1. I don't know if it was that connection in NY fixing their equipment/line or what, but endgame stuff was more or less unplayable back then. I got my MNK relic by moving out of plumes before the cast bar even appeared. If I wasn't moving when it appeared, I got hit. End of story. That's unplayable. And while the argument may be that it wasn't SE's problem it was the level 3 line in NY, it's a connection we wouldn't have had to go through if it were in the EU.

Fewer connections is a) lower ping in its own right and b) fewer opportunities for something to go wrong.

Europe has more than double the population of North America and better infrastructure in a lot of these countries. I find it hard to believe they couldn't rent the equipment in a server farm in the Netherlands, for example. Eliminating the majority of the setup costs.