DDos

[Calteru]

I got disconnected during a cutscene. I am unable to login on my character.
I can login in another character I just created.

Please enlighten me: How is this not SE's fault?

In order to enlighten you, you must first enlighten yourself. Become familiar with how a DDoS attack works and you'll understand this isn't SE's fault and they've done what they can on their end - and appear to be continuing to adapt.

But until you educate yourself on the concept of a DDoS, any further engagement would simply be wasted. Good luck.

[K3KW4RCHILD]

This DDOS thing is most definitely not resolved, or your problems go well beyond DDOS attacks... I will assume I am still suffering from crippling lag and d/c because of the server move. I will assume you are still incapable of resolving these issues with several of my friends who thought playing together was sweet! I hate WoW and that’s all they want to play now because of this problem. DDOS? Really maybe??

[TensaiSogetsu]

In order to enlighten you, you must first enlighten yourself. Become familiar with how a DDoS attack works and you'll understand this isn't SE's fault and they've done what they can on their end - and appear to be continuing to adapt.

But until you educate yourself on the concept of a DDoS, any further engagement would simply be wasted. Good luck.

This is what we call logic, Please use it before running your mouths.

[Karah_Bond]

Yeah.. this is still going on, easily worse than ever for me. Made it through my roulettes today but dc'ed 8 times. I probably haven't dc'ed that much since 2.0 launch before all this started. Time to take a break and go *shudders*... outside...

Good luck SE and your ISP. Need mah crack!

[hynaku]

SE sure can do something they can go with another server company other than one they with now since they can't handle any ddos attacks. Tells me there security sucks and hackers could get players information. I can play other online games with no problems so maybe they should look into what server providers they use. How game is now its very hard to finish anything when not everyone gets to play a lot hours each day. How you suppose to be able to gear up for next big patch if can't even run a dungeon or raid without being disconnected.

[CadetteMevois]

SE sure can do something they can go with another server company other than one they with now since they can't handle any ddos attacks. Tells me there security sucks and hackers could get players information. I can play other online games with no problems so maybe they should look into what server providers they use. How game is now its very hard to finish anything when not everyone gets to play a lot hours each day. How you suppose to be able to gear up for next big patch if can't even run a dungeon or raid without being disconnected.

Here's the thing about DDoS attacks: they are not predictable, which makes them harder to handle, on top of which shy of totally shutting out traffic they're not going to be 100% avoidable.

As for server security, that is the responsibility of Square Enix, who while not being responsible for the DDoS itself, have not been breached as a result (in no small part because that's not how a DDoS works).

Beyond that, changing network providers in a data center environment is a far more time consuming venture than, for example, calling up Spectrum to change providers at your home because AT&T isn't fast enough. New lines have to be run through the center and connections have to be established at the upstream provider's node; work that not only takes considerable time, but does not even begin to guarantee avoiding another such event later.

Unless of course you mean hardware providers, in which case they have no part in this whatsoever beyond their gear being that which is being adjusted to weather these attacks to the extent they're best able.

[KalinOrthos]

DDoS attacks aren't hacks, it's very important to understand that fundamental fact first. It is essentially "Baby Terrorist's First Cyber Attack". And while there are ways to mitigate the problem, it is often something that really can't be handled server- or client-side.

To understand what a DDoS attack is, it's best to use a real life analogy. Say we're in a factory making parts for different cars. In this case, you have a machine that is packing a part in a box and is constantly fed parts at a regular pace. Sometimes there will be slight surges but there are conveyer belts and limiting funnels that keep the machine working at a regular pace. The factory is the entirety of the internet. The part fabricators are basically users like you and me. The machine, in this case, is the Square Enix FFXIV servers, the boxes being shipped out are server-to-client interactions, and the parts being are packets of data. When things get congested the belts and funnels will back up the line but will for the most part keep the machine working on pace. This would take the form of login queues for us.

Now lets say that a disgruntled employee has just been fired, but knows how to reroute parts from the entire factory to this one machine. Said employee, in a spiteful rage, decides to do so. The managers and staff manage to stop the sudden surge of parts on this one line but now the machine is horribly backed up and filled with parts that are either not meant for this line or are junk. Employees now need to sift through the parts to find what is supposed to be on this line, which could mean the machine is turned off while things get fixed. The work on this one line has ground to a halt because there is just too many parts for this machine to sift through, package, and ship.

This is essentially what is happening. Script kiddies essentially caused infected and dummy computers to send ping after ping after ping in a massive flood of information to a server, and the server has no way to figure out what's good and what's not simply because there's way, way, WAY too much of it. ISPs can shut down these attacks somewhat quickly as sources often just ping unendingly, making them easy to pick out, but ultimately, once the attack starts it can be devastating, as we have seen.