Servers are Down

[Abraxai]

While it is a shame the servers went down, I must applaud Square-Enix for their humanitarian side.. Must be cutting quite drastically into their Profits to shut down a game like FFXI.. They're basically sacrificing a month's income for the good of Japan. (An easy 8 figure sum). Kudos to SE.. Good move! God bless you all struggling through this messed up situation! x

[ArkhamNative]

I fully support SE's actions to temporarily shut down their datacenters. I'd tell them please take as long as you need to do what's best.

I urge those who are complaining or questioning to take a moment to try to get a sense of perspective on the immensity of this disaster. Over 20% of the nation's electricity generation was lost. The remaining needs to be prioritized for rescue and recovery efforts, including heat for the shelters for the hundreds of thousands whose homes and even whole towns were completely destroyed. If you can't comprehend the horrible loss and destruction, maybe start with current estimates that the entire country seems to have shifted 8-12 feet from where it had been.

I also suggest that we look into donating at least some portion of our PlayOnline/FFXI monthly fee to a disaster relief organization providing supplies and assistance to Japan in this time of dire need.

[Elkwood]

The fact that anyone is complaining during a crisis is beyond compare here... I am at a loss for words, I have never been disgusted with the NA community totally up until reading these posts this AM.

[Akumu]

The fact that anyone is complaining during a crisis is beyond compare here... I am at a loss for words, I have never been disgusted with the NA community totally up until reading these posts this AM.

Honestly its not just the NA community on these forums but most(if not all) native english speakers. Sadly though you probably are right...My NA people can be let down. Which goes to say why most countries hate us...THOSE DAMN AMERICANS!

[Mauitime]

Honestly its not just the NA community on these forums but most(if not all) native english speakers. Sadly though you probably are right...My NA people can be let down. Which goes to say why most countries hate us...THOSE DAMN AMERICANS!

Agreed. We Americans are despised by many other nations, but it is the few that make bad comments that represent the many that don't.

[Sheeoni]

The fact that anyone is complaining during a crisis is beyond compare here... I am at a loss for words, I have never been disgusted with the NA community totally up until reading these posts this AM.

^^^THIS

To those bothering to stir the pot with "They should have backup servers" ..May whatever higher power you believe in have mercy on you in your time of need regardless of your lack of compassion or understanding. Who can even bring something like this up at such a horrible time? I felt stupid logging into my sever yesterday to craft, understanding full well that so many people are without even basic life necessities.
Here some people are, trying to justify their greed by saying that SE isn't running a successful business model. Anyone with two brain cells should be able to understand that resources are needed elsewhere. Take this time to breathe.. appreciate your life, and that you are still here to even post on the internet.

My prayers and thoughts are with the Japanese people. I hope that you can forgive the ignorant.

[Elkwood]

^^^THIS

To those bothering to stir the pot with "They should have backup servers" ..May whatever higher power you believe in have mercy on you in your time of need regardless of your lack of compassion or understanding. Who can even bring something like this up at such a horrible time? I felt stupid logging into my sever yesterday to craft, understanding full well that so many people are without even basic life necessities.
Here some people are, trying to justify their greed by saying that SE isn't running a successful business model. Anyone with two brain cells should be able to understand that resources are needed elsewhere. Take this time to breathe.. appreciate your life, and that you are still here to even post on the internet.

My prayers and thoughts are with the Japanese people. I hope that you can forgive the ignorant.

Honestly I was surprised after the event the servers stayed up as long as they did. Hell after yesterday I started reading up on the progress of Diablo 3, turned around installed Diablo 2 (Which blows to get working on Windows 7 BTW) started playing that to pass the time. There is plenty to do outside of a world which we don't pay for atmo. Am i worried about how many will not return after said downtime, yes I am, but it is a game and sadly people seem to think that something is owed to them by SE.

As far as contingencies to keep the game up, yes SE is a 2 billion dollar company, that is the profit they made last year outside of what the FF series brings in. However the cost / benifit analysis on this one as a buisness man, I would also not have had another set of servers setup in a different country. 100k a month, for the 1x in 10 years your servers go offline for a week due to a national catastrophe get real people. SE would have wasted 84 million dollars over the last 8 years on FFXI for the 1 week in 2011 they had to shut servers down. Lets see 84 million over 1 week to shut the NA community up, or 2.4 million for this months refunds that they should be issuing, not a hard decision here for a business.

These figures are based on 40k Datacenter rates, and 60k for 3x OC3 lines for bandwidth = 100k a month in server costs not including staff Hardware and training costs.

[origamikitsune]

To put it in perspective, for a customer base of 300,000 people using dial-up, it is about 3million USD PER MONTH just to provide enough bandwidth for them to connect. That's on a 56k modem. Scale that to the bandwidth required by a broadband MMO, and you have your answer.

[AnaviAnael]

Hopefully the voices of the people who are coming together wanting to help donate to relief organizations will be heard over the people whining about not playing a game for a week.

[Nayt]

Best wishes for all affected.

I'll just spend this week at the gym, and then go visit my family, hurray!

I've been without my personal computer for a month, I can make do a few days longer.

(btw, I'm reading more complaining posts by people who are upset on players who are annoyed that they can't play, than those of the latter mentioned cathegory..)