The game servers must not like these in-game events very much.
You may recall that during Maximum Attack G, the last "major" event on the US/EU PSU servers, PC/PS2 players were hit with Error 65, a billing problem that prevented people from logging into the game.
The latest numerical error to hit the PC/PS2 servers is Error 53, which occurs when players attempt to access their rooms. The error message attributes the problem to "high network volume" and even forces some players to shut down their games from the Windows Task Manager (on PC).
The game is still playable, but this latest issue could turn into a major nuisance since everyone obviously uses their rooms to store weapons, armor, and other important equipment. Sega has not yet acknowledged the problem on the official forums, though there is a thread available there for players to rant.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Shred the Darkness Begins
Shred the Darkness, the next major in-game event, is now live. The event site that had opened earlier this week is now available in its entirety.
In addition to the usual kill count and milestone kill information, the site is already showing the first four community rewards. This takes us up through the first 20 million kills:
As mentioned previously, Shred the Darkness will run for five weeks, ending on May 22. More missions are expected to be added as the event progresses.
In addition to the usual kill count and milestone kill information, the site is already showing the first four community rewards. This takes us up through the first 20 million kills:
- 5,000,000 kills: Two weeks of 3* luck
- 10,000,000 kills: "Sonic Disc" room item
- 15,000,000 kills: Half price clothes/parts for two weeks
- 20,000,000 kills: Free makeovers for two weeks
As mentioned previously, Shred the Darkness will run for five weeks, ending on May 22. More missions are expected to be added as the event progresses.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
I Swear I've Posted This Before
I was browsing the discussion forums of a certain PSU fansite when I came across a thread asking players if they liked the game or not.
In the first post, the thread creator had this to say about the players in general:
I feel like what I'm about to write has already been written before, but just for the hell of it, here goes nothing.
Most players do not dislike PSU. Most players are simply frustrated with Sega/Sonic Team's handling of the game -- and they have a right to be frustrated.
Sure, the game is fun to play, but even fun games can get boring after awhile. Sega promised players regular content updates to keep the game fresh and interesting, but they haven't always lived up to those promises. They have not always managed this game in the best way possible, and fans have every right to let them know.
It's true that real fans of PSU should compliment Sega when they do things right. But real fans also have an obligation to let Sega know when they are unhappy with the state of the game, or of its management, or of anything else that is wrong. We do that right here on this blog. I don't mind giving Sega credit where credit is due, but I'm also not afraid to speak out against the stupid things they do.
To say that the fans should be kissing Sega's ass all the time is outright ridiculous (and wrong). If the players like all aspects of the game all the time, Sega has no motivation (or desire) to improve on the game's faults. Complaints from the Japanese players played an integral role in the vast improvement of Ambition of the Illuminus over the original V1 PSU. What kind of game would we have gotten if the players had just kept quiet? Chances are it probably would have been much different than what we have now.
Complaining is just a part of human nature. The vast majority of players complain because they want to help improve the game we play. True fandom is not simply about quietly accepting the faults. It's about enjoying the game and speaking out when something isn't right. Positive feedback is important, but without criticism, the game has nowhere to go but down.
In the first post, the thread creator had this to say about the players in general:
...do you even LIKE this game? If all you do is complain, then why are you here? Why play a game you dislike and why post on a board to CONSTANTLY deride Sonic Team?
I feel like what I'm about to write has already been written before, but just for the hell of it, here goes nothing.
Most players do not dislike PSU. Most players are simply frustrated with Sega/Sonic Team's handling of the game -- and they have a right to be frustrated.
Sure, the game is fun to play, but even fun games can get boring after awhile. Sega promised players regular content updates to keep the game fresh and interesting, but they haven't always lived up to those promises. They have not always managed this game in the best way possible, and fans have every right to let them know.
It's true that real fans of PSU should compliment Sega when they do things right. But real fans also have an obligation to let Sega know when they are unhappy with the state of the game, or of its management, or of anything else that is wrong. We do that right here on this blog. I don't mind giving Sega credit where credit is due, but I'm also not afraid to speak out against the stupid things they do.
To say that the fans should be kissing Sega's ass all the time is outright ridiculous (and wrong). If the players like all aspects of the game all the time, Sega has no motivation (or desire) to improve on the game's faults. Complaints from the Japanese players played an integral role in the vast improvement of Ambition of the Illuminus over the original V1 PSU. What kind of game would we have gotten if the players had just kept quiet? Chances are it probably would have been much different than what we have now.
Complaining is just a part of human nature. The vast majority of players complain because they want to help improve the game we play. True fandom is not simply about quietly accepting the faults. It's about enjoying the game and speaking out when something isn't right. Positive feedback is important, but without criticism, the game has nowhere to go but down.
Monday, April 13, 2009
STD Website Activated
The start of Shred the Darkness is still four days away, but the event Web site is available now.
As noted in this thread over on the official forums, Sega of Japan has already put up the event site for the public to see. Only a brief summary of the event is available at the moment, complete with localized names of the missions we'll be seeing after Shred the Darkness hits servers on Friday. Links to the kill counter and milestone kill pages are currently grayed out, and probably won't be available until the event begins.
Shred the Darkness will run for five weeks, ending on Friday, May 22.
As noted in this thread over on the official forums, Sega of Japan has already put up the event site for the public to see. Only a brief summary of the event is available at the moment, complete with localized names of the missions we'll be seeing after Shred the Darkness hits servers on Friday. Links to the kill counter and milestone kill pages are currently grayed out, and probably won't be available until the event begins.
Shred the Darkness will run for five weeks, ending on Friday, May 22.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Shred the Darkness Announced
Sega of America GM RubyEclipse has announced the start date for US/EU PSU's next major event, Shred the Darkness.
According to this post over on the official forums, the event will begin after next Friday's maintenance period. This story-driven event will feature a variety of dark-themed missions. The new event should also bring a variety of weapons and other equipment that have not been released to this point.
Not much information was provided about this event. RubyEclipse did mention that there will be progress-based rewards, so we'll probably be seeing an event Web site rolled out over the next week or so. I would also expect that Sega plans to increase the level cap to 160 (the current cap of 150 has been around for months) but there was no mention of such an increase in the announcement.
In any case, this should be good news for the game. It'll probably bring past subscribers back for a few weeks, anyway.
According to this post over on the official forums, the event will begin after next Friday's maintenance period. This story-driven event will feature a variety of dark-themed missions. The new event should also bring a variety of weapons and other equipment that have not been released to this point.
Not much information was provided about this event. RubyEclipse did mention that there will be progress-based rewards, so we'll probably be seeing an event Web site rolled out over the next week or so. I would also expect that Sega plans to increase the level cap to 160 (the current cap of 150 has been around for months) but there was no mention of such an increase in the announcement.
In any case, this should be good news for the game. It'll probably bring past subscribers back for a few weeks, anyway.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Servers Up; Game Still Unplayable (Updated)
As mentioned in the previous blog post, PSU game servers are suffering from the aftermath of a fiber optic cable cut in San Jose, CA that occurred early this morning.
Servers were down until about 5:00 PM EDT. Access to the game has been restored, but the game servers are now experiencing extremely high latency issues. This means that attempts to log into or play the game will likely be processed very slowly, so the game will probably be difficult to play even if your Internet connection is working properly.
Obviously, this can't be blamed on Sega. AT&T hasn't really fixed the problem yet; they're currently just rerouting traffic around the cut line. This puts more stress on the entire system, which means that Sega's normally reliable ISP is probably having some trouble handling the user load with reduced bandwidth.
I'm sure some stupid players will still try to pin this on Sega, though. For those people, I'd like to offer a suggestion: try doing something else for awhile. Go outside, do something else on your computer, play another game, etc. This is not the end of the world.
The lag and intermittent outages will probably continue for the next few hours, or at least until AT&T gets the cut lines back up and running again. Just be patient!
UPDATE: Players have reported that the lag has stopped, though connections to the patch and game servers are still being dropped periodically. Poor network conditions will probably persist for at least one more day as Internet traffic in the incident area continues to be rerouted.
Servers were down until about 5:00 PM EDT. Access to the game has been restored, but the game servers are now experiencing extremely high latency issues. This means that attempts to log into or play the game will likely be processed very slowly, so the game will probably be difficult to play even if your Internet connection is working properly.
Obviously, this can't be blamed on Sega. AT&T hasn't really fixed the problem yet; they're currently just rerouting traffic around the cut line. This puts more stress on the entire system, which means that Sega's normally reliable ISP is probably having some trouble handling the user load with reduced bandwidth.
I'm sure some stupid players will still try to pin this on Sega, though. For those people, I'd like to offer a suggestion: try doing something else for awhile. Go outside, do something else on your computer, play another game, etc. This is not the end of the world.
The lag and intermittent outages will probably continue for the next few hours, or at least until AT&T gets the cut lines back up and running again. Just be patient!
UPDATE: Players have reported that the lag has stopped, though connections to the patch and game servers are still being dropped periodically. Poor network conditions will probably persist for at least one more day as Internet traffic in the incident area continues to be rerouted.
PSU Problems Thanks To Cable Cut (Updated)
A fiber optic cable cut in San Jose is causing some problems for PSU players this afternoon.
For several hours this morning and afternoon, some of Sega of America's Web sites and services were down, apparently as a result of the severed cable. Access to most of these sites appears to have been restored as of about 2:30 PM EDT.
However, all US/EU PSU authentication and game servers are still down due to a hardware issue. It's not clear whether or not this problem is related to the cable issue.
AT&T, the owner of the fiber optic cable, says that it is actively working to restore service to phone and Internet users in the area. San Jose police are investigating the incident as a possible case of vandalism due to the location of the cables.
UPDATE: Access to the game servers has been restored.
For several hours this morning and afternoon, some of Sega of America's Web sites and services were down, apparently as a result of the severed cable. Access to most of these sites appears to have been restored as of about 2:30 PM EDT.
However, all US/EU PSU authentication and game servers are still down due to a hardware issue. It's not clear whether or not this problem is related to the cable issue.
AT&T, the owner of the fiber optic cable, says that it is actively working to restore service to phone and Internet users in the area. San Jose police are investigating the incident as a possible case of vandalism due to the location of the cables.
UPDATE: Access to the game servers has been restored.
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