[Data Center USA] Ping increased. Report your changes here.

[Saito_S]

Okay.

I can see both sides of the issue when it comes to EU players on NA servers. Yes, it was technically their decision to stay, rather than move to the EU data center (once it existed). This is true. But is it so hard to understand why? If you had friends on a server you've been on for a year or two... would YOU leave? Probably not. And now they're faced with having to leave after all, or deal with greatly increased latency. Yeah, it sucks. Perhaps there's nothing to be done about it, but it sucks, and I don't think it's fair to tell them to shut up or stop talking about it because nothing can be done, etc. It's probably true that nothing CAN be done, they're not going to move the servers again just to solve this issue. But that doesn't mean people stuck in this position don't get to express their frustration.

It's a weird issue, overall, since while EU players on NA servers now have it worse, as do South American players apparently, players in Australia and elsewhere in the Pacific now have it better. I'm sympathetic to the former and happy for the latter, I guess? And as for EU (and SA) players on the NA servers, I don't have a solution. It sucks. That's it. There is some validity to the idea that the primary concern for SE, when deciding what to do with the NA data center, is NA players, not EU players. But that doesn't change the fact that this situation sucks. I'm not sure what I'd do if I had to choose between staying where my friends are, and getting away from significantly increased ping that was suddenly dropped on my head. So yeah.

THAT SAID

US East Coast people. I'll be honest: I have a bit of a bone to pick with those of you making a huge stink about this. Your new ping is not NEARLY as bad as what a player in, say, Germany would now have to deal with. Some of you (SOME of you; that part is important!) are acting like the sky is falling and SE killed your reason to play, and going out about nigh unplayable ping... But here is the thing.

Boston to Sacramento: about 2600 miles.
San Francisco to Montreal: about 2500 miles.

It's been flipped. Now, do I think this is GOOD? Honestly, no - even though it's good for ME, being in the SF Bay Area (and a couple friends of mine who also live here and play), obviously, but in the larger sense: no it's not good. For a number of reasons, something that was more centrally located would have been better all around. It's clear that geographic location - and the consequences of that location - were not much of a factor in deciding where to go with this move.

But "near unplayable?" Come on now. That's just silly. You are now almost the EXACT SAME distance from the NA data center as WE were BEFORE the move. Whatever impact pure distance has on latency, that impact isn't new. It isn't extraordinary and it isn't crippling. It's the same as it's always been. The only thing that changed is which region is affected by it. Unless you're going to try and convince me that the entire west coast of continental North America was incapable of playing this game at a high level until May 17, 2017, then it's just not that bad. We got along fine for years, and so will you.

I'm not saying it isn't okay to be disappointed. As I said, I think a more central location would have been the better choice. But let's keep some perspective here.