Your mastery of Refresh has increased.

darkfallpreorder

It only took me ~ 6 hours and 19 minutes of refreshing.  Okay, so I went afk twice to eat meals and played some Warhammer Online on the test server to check out the Choppa but I was refreshing every time it timed out.  If you’re not aware of why I had to spend so much time, apparently the interest in Darkfall has surpassed all of Aventurine’s expectations.  As a result their web server has been crippled all day right after the link to pre-order was leaked.

Here’s what Tasos from Aventurine had to say:

“The Pre-Order structure is being hammered beyond any possible expectation. There’s an impossible number of connections per second even now. We are seeing 20 times the traffic estimated. Our web servers are able to handle quite a bit of load, even so, they are currently taxed to their limits. This wasn’t anything we could have reasonably anticipated.”

Understandable.  I don’t think anyone can truly be upset over something like this – although I’m amazed at how many people actually are…

Taking a step back and really thinking about it, which is worse? “We don’t have enough interest in our game” or “We have too much interest”?  We’ve seen what happens in both situations and how it can drastically affect a game.  The latter is far easier to remedy.  It’s actually an awesome problem to have in the grand scheme of things.  The only thing that bothered me today was this thought of them running out of pre-orders looming over my head.  I could wait a few days or a week and not really feel bothered if that’s how long it took them to get things up and running.  The idea of people getting their pre-orders though and possibly missing launch is what kept me going.

  • Great title. With determination like that, you might be able to tolerate the Magic Skill grind.

    As for the “too much interest” problem, I really hope Adventurine doesn’t get hasty and buy a bunch of servers. A very, very large portion of the pre-orders will be from those who aren’t truly interested in what the game has to offer, or will be unwilling to deal with growing pains. They better stick to their “release copies slowly like it’s a Wii” stategy.

  • Is the Preorder available? I cant find any info on it. The darkfall forums and website are saying there isnt anything offical out there yet. Am I missing something?

  • Chance it “was” supposed to be a Beta Tester only thing. But as Keen mentioned it got leaked and the servers couldn’t take it. I think out of 10-12 of us on Vent tonight trying to get done only 4 of us actually got the pre-order finished.

    If i’m not mistaken the URL is on the forums. And the “open” pre-order should be available soon. One would hope at least.

  • it’s a total cluster$$$$ at the moment. 2am and I thought traffic might die down a bit with the americanos in bed… but nope. still sucks.

  • Seems they expected next to nobody to order their crap. 😉

    Sorry, this is a very baaaad excuse for technical troubles. I still do not get it why you feel so strongly for this game, I am still not convinced in ANY way that it will even deliver a fraction of what you actually expect from it, Keen. :/

  • “Too much interest” is indeed a good thing if we can take the studio PR rep at their word that this is too many interested players and not too little server capacity.

    That said, my response to the limited quantity of pre-orders is kind of the opposite of everyone else’s. These days, companies will lie through their teeth to get you to buy a game, no matter how buggy, or how badly the servers are straining to cope with the current players. If a company is actually willing to say “We can’t handle more players right now?” I’m prepared to say “Thanks for the warning, let me know when you guys figure out what to do about that.”

  • *starts rigging up a pokemon tune*
    Refresh Master!!

    As a PvE-tard ill stick with WoW :p, the entire lose all your gear upon death is really ruining it for me. Aswell as the teribad visuals I saw on a youtube (9vs20 vid) vid. Despite the argument that its early level.. even Warhammer is more fun to watch at lvl 1.

  • Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find a fair number of pre-order keys on eBay starting this weekend. 😛

    And no, I didn’t go through with my maniacal scheme to pre-order 10 copies and jack ’em up on eBay. I couldn’t be bothered… just like I couldn’t be bothered when the PS3 came out and I gave up thousands of dollars due to laziness. 😛

  • Um… the PS3 was selling below face shortly after launch, so people who mass ordered those got screwed. Mass pre-order of the Wii, now that was a good call.

    Each day raises my anticipation for launch, just to witness the massive river of tears as the tourists realize what FFA PvP means. I do hope they keep the total number of players online down, and not try what Mythic did. Accommodating tourists just to leave the core base on empty servers is not a great move.

  • I was able to get my pre-order, but my F5 key fell off of my keyboard. This event actually reminds me of the Blizzcon ticket fiasco. I guess that Aventurine underestimate the site traffic just like Blizzard did with their online store last year.

  • Nice heads up. Lucky for me I stay up all night so I just now pre ordered mine successfully. I must say that initial sign up page looked pretty sketchy lol but beyond that it shaped up decently.

  • Hmm… is the pre-order page not on the main site ?

    Am I the only one having difficulty finding it ?

  • @Jaspr: Check here for info on it. I purposely not posting the link here because the number of readers and aggregates and RSS feeds for my blog would make the URL far too visible. Making people take the extra step and go to the forums cuts about 99.9% visibility. Reason being, I have friends who still can’t get their pre-orders because it’s being hammered and I don’t want to contribute to that.

    @Syncaine: I’m expecting a torrential downpour of tears. I just hope they stick around long enough so that I can kill them and take their stuff. 😉

  • @Syncaine: Very true! Although it’s a shame that by limiting the number of places availabile many genuine players won’t be able to get a spot because so many ‘tourists’ will have hogged them already.

    They might be better off just locking server capacity but letting more people get the game, that way true players will be able to play it once the ‘tourists’ return to their normal MMOs. Although I’m sure thats probably against the law or something 🙂

  • Im still stuck at the credit card verification…. lame. Someone please tell me thats allllmost the last step.

  • Almost Bluefile2. Once you get your credit card info into your profile it’s on to the CVV verification to place your order. After that you’re done.

  • As someone who has been following DFO for almost 2 yeras, I am VERY excited to hear that you’ve been able to pre order a copy. I’ve been burned by so many games that I’m reluctant to shell out money any more, and its hard to find a reviewer that really does give all games a fair shake. You guys are fair (even if I don’t always agree with you), and I can’t wait to hear some perceptions on DFO!

  • Oh, and my primary concern for DFO has never centered on gameplay or anything….its been ceneterd on Adventurines ability to build a server infrasturctur that can really support what they claim to be delivering. Crashing their pre orders isn’t really feeding my confidence. 🙁

  • Well everyone remembers how HORRIBLE WoW was when it went live because of the number of folks that signed up. I do like the fact that they “Seem” prepared in that regard in not over extending themselves.

    I’m on the fence also, and look forward to the coverage.

    My biggest concern with the game thus far is comments from my brother and their friends who were Asheron’s Call junkies. They seem to agree that this game will really favor those that log the most time in it. Meaning with no “Tiers” to separate the skilled those with less time to play may have their main job be “Meat” to the others.

    I have NO problem with a game like this, it’s just hard when you get older and you realize that your game status has changed from “Hard-core” to “Casual”. ahahahhaha.

  • I wish I had more time to play, I would probably love this game from the way it sounds.

    I enjoyed the time sink that EQ was, so that wouldn’t bother me. I just don’t have the time to sink anymore.

  • I still don’t agree with the WoW tourists that syncaine keeps talking about, lets just call them MMO tourists. I think Keen is a great example always hoping from MMO to MMO hoping that next one is “the one”. Oh well have a fun month in Darkfall I can’t wait to hear what MMO you are hoping for next.

  • @Bubbaquimby: I wasn’t aware that ‘playing’ every MMO meant “hopping”. I played The Realm for 2+ years, EQ for 2+ years, DAOC for ~2 years, SWG for 1.5-2 years, and WoW for 2 years. Since I’ve been blogging (beginning of 07) the MMORPG industry has seen a very clear pattern that few can disagree with – they’re just not worth playing/investing in like they once were. You can finish a MMORPG, such as LOTRO, in 6 months and do everything. You can play WAR for 2 months and do it all. What keeps you playing? WoW’s treadmill keeps people going, but not everyone can chase that carrot forever before they get tired.

    Your attempt at coming across as clever failed and has only made you look ignorant. I hope you don’t make that mistake again.

  • ummmm i cant even logg onto the credit card thing to “attempt” to sign up. Anyone else having that prob? Im trying vainly to fan Bubba’s nerdrage by becoming an epic MMO tourist.

    Keen – Unless you insulted his industry by say…. offering advice on how to make them fries extra crispy, I think he’s outta line with his comment on your reporting.

  • Keen, I think that bubbaquimby makes a good point. You really need to stop hopping from game to game and just settle on one. As a matter of fact, I think you should change the title of your blog to “Keen and Graev’s One Game Blog”. I mean, lets be honest, does anyone really need to play more than one game in their life time?

  • I really don’t know what to think about this game. I keep having UO flashbacks when I watch the footage, and thats a good thing.

    My main problem is what was mentioned before. Do I really have that kind of time anymore?

    I’ll keep checking around to see how it goes…

    so tempting to go back to the roots 🙂

  • @Dismantled: That’s what it will come down to for a lot of people. Time is going to be an issue. It’s going to be less about jumping in and doing stuff and more about committing yourself to the experience. This hasn’t been required of players since 2004.

  • anyone know WTF is going on with preorder stuff??? did they just yank the site down? I cant get in at all…

  • From what I’m hearing on Vent from the guildies, Aventurine has taken it down until tomorrow. Hopefully it’ll be better after that.

  • ok, well thnx for the update. Ill foget about it until tomorrow. Then maybe I can start uploading the game at 5/kb per second???

  • Call me ignorant fine whatever. I don’t mind that you play more than one game, it’s fine and good it’s even healthy. However I get sick of the “this game is the one” atmosphere and maybe I shouldn’t have used you because apparently that rubbed you the wrong away. But there are many people that do go from one MMO to the next thinking that it will recapture the glory of UO, EQ, FF, yes even WoW that was their first MMO. I guess it’s more my problem with Syncaine’s intense chip on his shoulder about WoW and that he continues to call it WoW tourists when really they are just MMO tourists. It’s a fine line but an important one even if the majority might be ex-WoW players.

  • @bubbaquimby

    I have not been able to find where Keen says that ‘this is the game’. I have seen where he has repeatedly stated that ‘this is not the game for you’. Your comments simply do not hold water.

  • I was definitely the wrong person to use as an example. I’ve given up on “the one”. I now know that I will play games when they come out and get as much enjoyment as I can and then move on when the fun stops. Whether or not someone will eventually make a game that holds my attention from conception until phase-out remains to be seen. I have a few rules that I govern myself by though:

    1. I make sure that the game at least sounds fun to me before I get interested.
    2. I adopt early. I will always try the game it’s new.
    3. I play until the game stops being fun, then I quit.

    As I already pointed out, this has ranged from 2+ years to 2 months (actually, to less than that but I don’t consider a mmorpg “played” until it’s reached 2 months or so).

    I agree with you that “MMO Tourists” exist. However, they never existed until 2004. WoW brought about the MMO Tourist, so calling them “WoW Tourists” is applicable even if not all encompassing.

  • You could copy and paste every developers feedback of their MMO game day launch and every one of their replies would be pretty much the exact same thing. “We had no idea.” I mean come on, whatever you think your traffic will be, at least triple it for good measure and have backup measures to add on more bandwidth and account servers as needed. This isn’t rocket science, as non-gaming companies have been doing this successfully for years.

    If anything, this only proves one point. Game developers have an extremely bad habit of not learning from the mistakes of others and from the best practices of businesses outside of the gaming industry. Communities like Gamasutra and the IGDA are slowing changing this with postmortems and outside business speakers but it seems to be going at a snails pace. Part of the problem may be because of the ego of game developer. Sure there is nothing wrong with thinking you can design a game better than a previous team but at the very least learn from their mistakes. In effect, don’t think these problems MIGHT happen, know they WILL happen.

  • @tourist comments

    What kind of tourist sits up for hours hitting refresh? None. Maybe some will leave the game after its release but possibly its due to them not liking it *gasp*

  • So much for my works T1 and my home 8mbps down rates. Anyone else only getting like 5kbps on the client torrent?

  • There are “MMO tourists”, true, but for Darkfall it will be..

    “OMG, that guy at the Mason / Dixon line aimed a shotgun at me, run as fast as you can and leave this place immediately”

    Yea, you kinda know when you have driven to the bad side of town…Darkfall is exactly like that.