Script daily reboot of servers at lowest load level to flush the AFK'ers & free slots

[Sorakeith]

As a temporary solution, /signed.

[valetarkus]

This is actually a really good solution to the problem! SE please consider!

[Skilllz]

Agreed. Bump

[Indovi]

Actually they don't even have to do a server restart each day. It can be scripted in to automatically disconnect people who go into AFK status and stay there for 15 minutes. I've seen it in multiple games and it's still around in some. In others the server load was stabilized and the script removed. SE does have a queue in place. Only problem is most of us get the 1017 error before we get thrown into the queue. I've only personally seen the queue message three times. I highly doubt that SE does anything like this. They are starting to strike me as a company that doesn't listen to us because of course their devs are more experienced and know all that there is to know about things like this.

[gamegal71]

Not sure that a scheduled restart would work. If people knew what time it was going to happen, afkers might just log in again right after the restart. For something like this to work, it would need to be random with players getting an ingame message of "servers are going down in x minutes." I understand that the problem started due to SE not being prepared, but I don't think people need to make the problem worse. Yes, they may have dealt with 1017 for hours before being able to log in but others are dealing with the same issue, and because there are people staying logged in all day, it expands the problem to times when server load should be less populated and creates false data for SE to work with since 1. servers seem fuller than they should be at certain times of day; 2. the log in system is not showing an accurate curve of when people would typically be logging in; and 3. even if the system is improving it wouldn't be noticeable because there are people afk even during active parts of the day. Yesterday being Saturday, I was surprised at the number of people I saw just sitting around afk as Saturday seems like it would be prime play time.
When it comes to being afk, I can understand doing it for an hour or two as "stepping away from the computer" ends up taking longer than someone expected, I can even understand occasionally getting distracted and forgetting to log off, but these are people who are refusing to ever log off.

[Raist]

Actually they don't even have to do a server restart each day. It can be scripted in to automatically disconnect people who go into AFK status and stay there for 15 minutes. I've seen it in multiple games and it's still around in some. In others the server load was stabilized and the script removed. SE does have a queue in place. Only problem is most of us get the 1017 error before we get thrown into the queue. I've only personally seen the queue message three times. I highly doubt that SE does anything like this. They are starting to strike me as a company that doesn't listen to us because of course their devs are more experienced and know all that there is to know about things like this.

yes, but that requires more complicated coding, specific to the game.

This is a feature available at the OS level, and resides outside of the game environment.

For instance, in Windows, it's a command that can be run from the command line, can be put in a shortcut, or a .BAT file. That last option can be easily run from Scheduled Tasks on a set schedule. And it doesn't even have to be done locally... because of Terminal Services/Remote Desktop, I can remotely bounce my daughter's laptop at will.

All from a simple command line interface, shortcut, or .BAT file.

This is all it takes on a shortcut to restart my Win8 machine (and I can use it to get the screen for the option to reboot from CD):

%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /c shutdown /f /r /o /t 0 /d P:0:0

By changing the flags at the end, you can control different aspects of the shutdown, like a countdown delay, whether it forces programs to close or waits for them.

I put that on a shortcut on my desktop, and I don't have to right-click restart, or pull up the charms menu... hell, I don't even have to click the freaking thing---I can bind keyboard short cut combination to call it from the keyboard.

You can write a script that closes tasks and shuts down services (there are specific commands for killing tasks and stopping services, establishing/killing mapped resources...all kinds of goodies that can easily be scripted by a NOVICE), and then calls for shutdown. Or, if they prefer, they could manage task/service shutdowns in separate scripts, scheduling them to run x minutes apart if they want to be able to adjust the timing more easily.

EVERY OS I've worked on in the last 10-15 years has this capability built in to them. And it is usually very simple to use, so it only take a few minutes to setup once you figure out just how you want to use it.

[Raist]

Not sure that a scheduled restart would work. If people knew what time it was going to happen, afkers might just log in again right after the restart. For something like this to work, it would need to be random with players getting an ingame message of "servers are going down in x minutes." I understand that the problem started due to SE not being prepared, but I don't think people need to make the problem worse. Yes, they may have dealt with 1017 for hours before being able to log in but others are dealing with the same issue, and because there are people staying logged in all day, it expands the problem to times when server load should be less populated and creates false data for SE to work with since 1. servers seem fuller than they should be at certain times of day; 2. the log in system is not showing an accurate curve of when people would typically be logging in; and 3. even if the system is improving it wouldn't be noticeable because there are people afk even during active parts of the day. Yesterday being Saturday, I was surprised at the number of people I saw just sitting around afk as Saturday seems like it would be prime play time.
When it comes to being afk, I can understand doing it for an hour or two as "stepping away from the computer" ends up taking longer than someone expected, I can even understand occasionally getting distracted and forgetting to log off, but these are people who are refusing to ever log off.

For that matter, they could do it as they are coming in to peak time if they feel that would have a more profound impact. It shouldn't take too long for the servers to reboot, and yes... if we all know when it is happening, players can adjust to the schedule.

You inadvertently have supported the purpose of the restart---it is to force the AFK'ers back into the same queue as the rest of us.

[Artorias_the_Abysswalker]

While I get where this idea is coming from, it is not in any way a viable solution... not even a temporary one. The time right after a reboot would lead to massive amounts of people trying to log in simultaneously, probably on a scale much larger than what's happening now.

That problem could be fixed by having a different reboot time for each server, but i think the best solution would be the auto-kick one...
ofcourse 15 minutes is way too short, as I often find myself checking several instances in DF and then watching YT vids or anime, with the right side of the game visible.
My waiting times vary between 20-40 minutes generally (as a DPS with all languages checked), so an auto-kick at 1 hour AFK would be best.

[Windstrider]

Or they could "get off their ass" and send waves of Dev teams in to manually remove people who are afk. Happens all the time in WoW--where they listen to their customers complaints. Yeah--real low blow, huh?--I went there.

[Zeila]

Seeing as they won't add a simple AFK Timeout for their game what gives you the impression they would even fathom to incorporate an idea like this?