New (forced) 64 bit servers a monumental let down...

magnus2882

Well-known member
Let me preface this by saying that i'm very much in favor of SSG dusting off this 20 year old game and trying to somewhat modernize it - BUT, I think making a 64 bit server and forcing players to migrate to them is a strange and unwanted move.

Why you might ask?

Well let's come at this from a technical aspect.

Will the 64 bit servers improve graphics? No.
Will the 64 bit servers fix the giant lag monster that has been plaguing this game for nearly two decades? NO.
Will the 64 bit servers address the plethora of bugs that have gone ignored for many many years (i.e. the ladder bug). Most definitely NO!.

and now comes time to point out the ONE upgrade that the company refuses to do that would actually improve gameplay, member retention, and attract new players:

UPGRADE THE UI!

Here, almost 20 years later, players are forced to use lower resolutions to be able to SEE icons on their hotbars. Every try running this game @ 4k? You'd need a magnifying glass to read the text or see the icons. The game actually looks decent for a 20 year old game if you run it at 4k, just is not functional.

maybe time/money/resources could've been better spent on fixing the game's UI instead of making a 64 bit version that people won't even notice because most people are running the client at 1920 or 1280 resolution!

/end rant
 

EvanBanning

Well-known member
Its a pragmatic one. Game is dying. By cloaking the move in "a 64 bit migration" it allows them to hide what this really is: server merges to consolidate the dwindling population.

You'll notice they're also being cagey about the next xpac. They are going to push forward with unpopular choices and then wonder why they can't keep the lights on.
 

Lori

Well-known member
It's splitting Orien up and that sucks.
The community will be split between US and EU.
I don't want to play on a pure EU server.
The people suck. I'm speaking from experience 28 years of MMORPG experience.
US people are more collegial and also US servers are more international.
Of course that rule doesn't fit all, but EU servers are usually closed, walled off gardens and you're not part of the gang, ever.
US people are more talkative and social, EU you could die, no one would give a ****.

BUT, US servers are too far away from Europe, which means bad latency, 200+ms is not a fun game experience.

So now I have to decide, and what if I don't want to, all my chars and the guild and amenities get deleted?
No ******* way. Prepare for multiple lawsuits if that's the case.
There has to be a fallback option.
What about people who didn't play this game in a longer while and will return in a year or three?
Same happened with Rift, they simply closed the server without notifying anyone.
All the money spent, all the time and effort spent over the years, gone.
Do you believe anyone who had their stuff deleted will ever spend a single cent or even a nanosecond with any of this company's services?

@OP lag will be better, because it's better hardware which can handle more resources used.
Cormyr has shown that.

I think I'll move to Cormyr, simply because population already exists and I have chars there already and if I wasn't kicked from Death Smile for inactivity also a guild.

This do or die ******** needs to go, the worst possible choice to do things.
 

Elminster

Sage of Shadowdale
Its a pragmatic one. Game is dying. By cloaking the move in "a 64 bit migration" it allows them to hide what this really is: server merges to consolidate the dwindling population.

You'll notice they're also being cagey about the next xpac. They are going to push forward with unpopular choices and then wonder why they can't keep the lights on.
Then why have servers in Europe? I mean that MUST be expensive to have servers in two different continents much less countries.

I'm going to see what they do with the next xpac (Lamordia) before I make any judgements about the game dying or not. If Lamordia is a bunch of rehashed art assets (basically Barovia with a little "cup swapping/where's the ball?" kinda gimmick) then yeah, maybe they're running out of funds. Note the last TRUE expansion with unique assets, environments, and races was IoD.
 

Chacka

Well-known member
I think that sometimes it is necessary and even beneficial to "force" people in the right direction. Switching to 64-bit software seems like the right step, as it clearly improves server performance, which reduces lag. Additionally, reducing the number of servers is also healthy for the DDO community. Therefore, I personally praise SSG for having the courage to take this necessary step.

Of course, I still believe that DDO has the potential to become much bigger and better with a new game engine, account-based progression, and many other improvements. But that doesn't mean I’m not happy with the game as it currently is.
 

Archest

Well-known member
as well I get to combine my toons on Argonnessen and Orien to one server and bring along all the crap they have. will have to check with guilds to see where they go .
1 thing more independent guild member haven't done a lot of the meet me online Saturday at 9 am est to raid , more of sending join invites and helping new players with high level guild buffs.
so my concern is will the guilds I'm in be available to me after the transfer kind of worry.
 

Pano

Well-known member
I don't care about resolution, but please let me resize the windows with feat selections, auctions, shops, rewards list... It is not fun seeing 5 items simultainiously and having to use the absolutly miniscule scroll bar.
 

Xaerxiessia

Lost in Translation
A server merge was asked since long ago. We get that with 64bit binary and no bottleneck on memory management (& on updated hardware ?). What 's wrong with that ?

Splitting all the servers between other data centers on the Pacific coast and the Netherlands is more questionable.
May be far better location for those living around the Pacific.

I would have preferred that they kept one server on the Atlantic coast.
But, would such a choice have affected the one in the EU, thus making it to become Waylooser2.0 ? Possibly yes.
 

Elminster

Sage of Shadowdale
Not really. Servers are virtualized, everything can be worked on remotely. Probably hosting at a colocation in denmark where server space costs pennies.
Could be, I admit I'm not familiar with server pricing.

If I was truly cynical I guess one can make the argument that this server migration is a consolidation/money-saving maneuver by the company.

Once again, see the quality of Lamordia before making a judgement on whether or not the game is heading for the exit.
 

magnus2882

Well-known member
I don't care about resolution, but please let me resize the windows with feat selections, auctions, shops, rewards list... It is not fun seeing 5 items simultainiously and having to use the absolutly miniscule scroll bar.
that will never happen because they don't want to pay artists to redo thousands of icons to display on an upscaled UI
 

Pano

Well-known member
that will never happen because they don't want to pay artists to redo thousands of icons to display on an upscaled UI
... yes...
I said I dont care about the resolutions. Resizing windows by draging their bottom right corner does not require an artist.
 

mikarddo

Well-known member
OP - I disagree.

I am having very high hopes that the 64 bit servers bring more people to play with and less lag. Those are the 2 most important things to me.
The much improved ping as an european is a nice bonus.

But to each his own.
 

Lagin

Well-known member
Let me preface this by saying that i'm very much in favor of SSG dusting off this 20 year old game and trying to somewhat modernize it - BUT, I think making a 64 bit server and forcing players to migrate to them is a strange and unwanted move.

Why you might ask?

Well let's come at this from a technical aspect.

Will the 64 bit servers improve graphics? No.
Will the 64 bit servers fix the giant lag monster that has been plaguing this game for nearly two decades? YES
Will the 64 bit servers address the plethora of bugs that have gone ignored for many many years (i.e. the ladder bug). Most definitely NO!.

and now comes time to point out the ONE upgrade that the company refuses to do that would actually improve gameplay, member retention, and attract new players:

UPGRADE THE UI!

Here, almost 20 years later, players are forced to use lower resolutions to be able to SEE icons on their hotbars. Every try running this game @ 4k? You'd need a magnifying glass to read the text or see the icons. The game actually looks decent for a 20 year old game if you run it at 4k, just is not functional.

maybe time/money/resources could've been better spent on fixing the game's UI instead of making a 64 bit version that people won't even notice because most people are running the client at 1920 or 1280 resolution!

/end rant
Ah the forum doom strikes again.
 

Jasparius

Well-known member
Do people still get lag on Cormyr? I know it was bad in the beginning.

I have only got a toon up to level 27 but my experience is there is way less lag.

Of course, we dont have toons with 200 lives TRing so we dont yet know how well 64bit handles that.
 
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