NOTICE: NWN Authentication Server Down

[Legacy_UrkOfGreyhawk]

               A LOT. I logged into gamespy tonight and I was shocked by the small number of active servers. There are still a few. I saw maybe 40 people on role play servers tonight. But without server authentication anyone can log on as anyone. It's a griefer's paradise.

Maybe that's on purpose. Maybe one of the reasons EA is dragging their heels is that they're hoping to get Gamespy to drop the service by driving down the traffic. That's very much the way they operate.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par UrkOfGreyhawk, 31 juillet 2011 - 09:28 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Keviant]

               There are player worlds up at the moment. A lot of us forced a workaround but as UrkOfGreyhawk said, it's a real pain to handle the ****s that go around.

Right now, we need people to stay and keep this up. Spread this topic and do whatever you can to get more supporters.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Keviant, 31 juillet 2011 - 11:38 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Sethan_1]

               The authentication servers being down has caused a big drop in players, for multiple reasons.  The ability of griefers to log on to anyone's account unless the server has local authentication methods in place is one.  Not all servers have coders capable of writing local authentication.

Another is that people got used to not being able to play on a lot of servers when the master server was down, since a lot of servers used to not have local authentication methods set up, and required master server authentication.  So, as soon as they realized the master server was down, they would go do something else.  As the down time went on for weeks, a lot of those stopped trying.

A lot of folks new to the game don't realize you can still play online with the master server down, too.  They just hit cancel knowing it won't connect, or exit out after the error comes up.

All in all, I figure we've lost maybe half the players NWN had when this started.  If we can get either the Bioware master server back up, or a community-created one that serves the same function, that loss may not be permanent.  Unfortunately, for the latter to work well for uninformed players, it would require Bioware to temporarily re-point DNS at a community-created solution until the master server is repaired - and given they aren't responding on the issue at all, that seems unlikely.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Elhanan]

               Ahhh! The sweet smell of speculation! Knew it was coming from somewhere around here; should have guessed it would be accompanied by the typical rants and ravings of those few 'all knowing' folks that frequent complaint counters everywhere. Maybe when they make it up to the front of the line they will find a clue....
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tremayne7]

               CoPap, a group of PW servers, is still alive and well and thanks to the efforts of our World Teams/Staffs. Only reason my favorite one isn't up at the moment is the ISP for our server is out of commission.

So yeah, we'll still be around even if the Master Server isn't. '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_PlasmaJohn]

               

... they're working on it! ...

I call shenanigans.  Calls to customer service tell people to contact Atari.  Bioware has never just gone silent before.  We know they're monitoring the forums since administration is still happening.

... EA's hoping GameSpy drops NWN support ...

EA only cares when it costs them money.

... my grandmother could do it ...

Given a competent programmer with documentation and an existing key management backend (eg. Origin), two weeks tops. (developed, tested, deployed).

... it would require Bioware to temporarily re-point DNS ...

Nothing a little hosts file magic can't solve.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Gregor Wyrmbane]

                My point was this: The master server being down/gone is a minor inconvenience for people who want to continue playing a 10 year old game in multi-player environments. So you have to wait an extra 10 seconds to log on, and then you may have to type a password when you get there... bid deal. That doesn't warrant all the anger and frustration being vented here.

Griefers typically haunt servers with high player counts, and those servers typically have staff on board who can implement a script or two to take care of the issue. Any current loss in PW's being accessible is most likely temporary, and not "permanent".

Bioware/EA/Atari doesn't owe the NWN community a thing. Businesses are in business to make money. They made all the money off NWN they're going to. The flip side of that coin is, we don't owe them anything, and we don't need them for us to keep playing this game. The fact that they still offer us a forum to continue talking about this 10 year old game is a nice benefit. Be appreciative of that fact.

It aint like any of us were best buds with Bioware/EA/Atari, and used to hang out at the local watering hole and sip brewskies with them. All this talk about "loyalty" issues is just a cover up for being ticked off about the minor inconvenience mentioned above. They have corporations to run, and NWN doesn't contribute to their bottom line any longer. In this economy, if they ever get around to doing anything about the master server and/or the old forums I'll be amazed and impressed. 

Meantime, I'll continue playing this game with or without their support.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Elhanan]

               

Sethan_1 wrote...

I've been in IT since before there were PCs. There are few principles that have held true for me, for as long as I've been doing this.

1. Before you can fix the problem, you need to know what you are fixing.

OK - Bioware got hacked. The first part of dealing with that is determining how. Once that is known, it can be addressed based on the method, constraints on what has to continue working, and available resources to work on the problem.  Part of the time since the server was taken offline may well have been consumed in figuring out how they were hacked.

2. Nothing is as easy as it seems.

Anyone skilled in a technical field has heard someone not familiar with the particulars of a specific issue say "Its simple to fix. All you have to do is..." ...followed by a simple plan that may or may not work, and even if it will work is either impractical or far more difficult to implement than it sounds. This can be compounded when the person doing the work may not be an expert in the field, but rather someone pressed into service who knows just enough to get a handle on the work needing done and they are dealing with legacy code or hardware.

3. Mission creep will kill you.

It is very easy when setting out to fix problem A, to decide to fix problem B 'while I am in there anyway,' which can quickly lead to having to fix problems C through F. This is a killer, and could easily happen if, for instance, Bioware decided to fix the CD-Key authentication method.

4. Murphy was an optimist.

Regardless of one's intent to fix only problem A, life often has other plans. A is fixed and the fix breaks B. You fix B, but C and D break on their own while you do it even though they had nothing to do with your fix. You look up a week later while working on problem Q, trying to figure out how you got there.

5. Volunteering for ungrateful people isn't very rewarding.

If you've ever gone out of your way to help someone who did nothing but complain about how you were helping them, you've been here. Next time they need help, you find you have something better to do instead. In this case, sure we paid for NWN - but the game is 9 years old and its hard to argue we haven't gotten our money's worth. Bioware isn't making any significant money off this game anymore (if any at all), and though it can be argued that they reap a significant amount of goodwill and time in the spotlight by their continued support for it, reading some of the posts on these forums, that can be hard to see sometimes. (Trust us, Bioware, the goodwill is there and counts.) Any time spent on fixing this issue is taking away from time spent on current projects that actually make tangible dollars, unless it is done in someone's free time. That drops their continued support into the realm of volunteering to help... and it can be hard to muster up interest in doing so for people who are being asses about it.

6. Communication is king.

Any time there is a situation that negatively impacts a customer, the one thing that most contributes to customer satisfaction with the eventual resolution of the issue is communication. The best tech company I've worked for has a policy that from the time an alert fires, the engineer working it has 15 minutes to contact the customer regarding the issue. That takes precedence even over fixing the issue. Once initial contact is made, the customer must be contacted and updated daily until the issue is resolved. The constant contact keeps the customer informed so they don't have to speculate about what is really happening. I'm not suggesting daily updates here from Bioware, but once every week or two would keep the mob from passing out torches and pitchforks. Being honest is OK - i.e., "We're doing 100 hour weeks on ME3, and I've only been able to spend a few minutes working on this."

6. Lack of Communication sends a message.

Silence when there is a known issue can be interpreted in many different ways. Communication allows management of that message - but sometimes failure to communicate can be a message in itself. It could mean the Bioware folks are really busy and haven't got time to update us. It could mean they're constantly at the "almost have it fixed" point and don't want to update us until it is back online. It could mean that they don't want to update us because they don't think we'll like the news, and they're hoping we will go away without the reputation hit they will take otherwise. It could mean they have been ordered by EA to do nothing and stop communicating on it. It could mean something else entirely. We don't know - and some people are going to assume the message is whatever they want (or fear) it is, and operate on that basis.

----------

Here's hoping the reality comes in on the positive side of things, and things are brought back up soon.

This and MrZork: pure win!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_WebShaman]

               

Gregor Wyrmbane wrote...

 My point was this: The master server being down/gone is a minor inconvenience for people who want to continue playing a 10 year old game in multi-player environments. So you have to wait an extra 10 seconds to log on, and then you may have to type a password when you get there... bid deal. That doesn't warrant all the anger and frustration being vented here.

Griefers typically haunt servers with high player counts, and those servers typically have staff on board who can implement a script or two to take care of the issue. Any current loss in PW's being accessible is most likely temporary, and not "permanent".

Bioware/EA/Atari doesn't owe the NWN community a thing. Businesses are in business to make money. They made all the money off NWN they're going to. The flip side of that coin is, we don't owe them anything, and we don't need them for us to keep playing this game. The fact that they still offer us a forum to continue talking about this 10 year old game is a nice benefit. Be appreciative of that fact.

It aint like any of us were best buds with Bioware/EA/Atari, and used to hang out at the local watering hole and sip brewskies with them. All this talk about "loyalty" issues is just a cover up for being ticked off about the minor inconvenience mentioned above. They have corporations to run, and NWN doesn't contribute to their bottom line any longer. In this economy, if they ever get around to doing anything about the master server and/or the old forums I'll be amazed and impressed. 

Meantime, I'll continue playing this game with or without their support.

This is just plain wrong.

Not wrong because it makes sense, in a business fashion - surely not. 

Wrong because Bioware established an incredibly high standard of quality in how they used to deal with their customer base.

And we are part of that base.  How many of you have other, newer Bioware products?

I myself have both DA and DA2. 

The treatment (or lack thereof) is definitely affecting my opinion of the company Bioware.  We were ASSURED that being assimulated by EA would not affect the Bioware that we all loved and knew.

Well, apparently the naysayers back then were right.  It pains me to say this, it is like a white-hot knife twisting in my guts.

I just cannot believe that Bioware would treat their loyal customers like this.  I will say this - it will definitely affect my future purchases.

The Bioware that I knew is dead.

While it is true that we can still continue to enjoy NWN, much like those can continue to enjoy (and we can, as well) Balder's Gate, etc, it is telling in the way, shape and form that we are being treated, that NWN is now truly in our hands, the hands of the NWN Community.

We have never been so alone.

Chris, I am personally disappointed in you.  Through the years, we have had our ups and downs, we two.  But you were ALWAYS present, and you always did what you held to be right.  And just when we needed you to be like that the most...you have gone AWOL.

A simple update like you used to do in the past...man, is that too much to ask now?  A simple "we are working on it, be patient", that is too much?  Just a word, to let us know that you are still there?  That someone is still there?  A 5 second blurb. 

I really do not know what else to say here.  I never, EVER thought I would get treated with the cold shoulder by the company Bioware.  You were once better than this.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_UrkOfGreyhawk]

               Wow. I've been one of Webshamen's "naysayers" for quite a while. I would have expected to be glad to hear this from such a long standing and well respected member. I'm not. At all. In fact it makes me profoundly sad.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Elhanan]

               Guess I am still on the 'Release It When It Is Ready' wagon; would much rather wait for a stable server than one that will require constant work later.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_WebShaman]

               Oh, I agree Elhanan, but even you cannot say that you are not dismayed with the total lack of communication here, right?  I mean, just a short nod "hmm-hmmm, we are working on it.  Stay tuned" every so often would do, wouldn't it?

Or do you find the present treatment to be representative of how Bioware normally treats the NWN Community?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tremayne7]

               The problem is not so much Bioware, but EA. EA has lousy customer service. Or at least the EA of late.

I hate to say this, but I dread what is going to happen with the new Star Wars MMO. WoW is top dog because let's face it, they LISTEN to their customer base. EA wants to topple WoW as the top MMO, then by the gods they need to get off their corporate fat arses and listen to us, the customers.

I don't know if any of you remember around last Christmas or so (was it two years ago?) when the Master Server when down then. Bioware was right on it giving us updates in the forum and hussling to get it back up.

EA, please show us some respect and let us know what is going on. Something, an update, whatever. And please for the maker's sake, listen to your customers.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Tremayne7, 01 août 2011 - 12:38 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Gregor Wyrmbane]

               

WebShaman wrote...

Gregor Wyrmbane wrote...

 My point was this: The master server being down/gone is a minor inconvenience for people who want to continue playing a 10 year old game in multi-player environments. So you have to wait an extra 10 seconds to log on, and then you may have to type a password when you get there... bid deal. That doesn't warrant all the anger and frustration being vented here.

Griefers typically haunt servers with high player counts, and those servers typically have staff on board who can implement a script or two to take care of the issue. Any current loss in PW's being accessible is most likely temporary, and not "permanent".

Bioware/EA/Atari doesn't owe the NWN community a thing. Businesses are in business to make money. They made all the money off NWN they're going to. The flip side of that coin is, we don't owe them anything, and we don't need them for us to keep playing this game. The fact that they still offer us a forum to continue talking about this 10 year old game is a nice benefit. Be appreciative of that fact.

It aint like any of us were best buds with Bioware/EA/Atari, and used to hang out at the local watering hole and sip brewskies with them. All this talk about "loyalty" issues is just a cover up for being ticked off about the minor inconvenience mentioned above. They have corporations to run, and NWN doesn't contribute to their bottom line any longer. In this economy, if they ever get around to doing anything about the master server and/or the old forums I'll be amazed and impressed. 

Meantime, I'll continue playing this game with or without their support.

This is just plain wrong.

Not wrong because it makes sense, in a business fashion - surely not. 

Wrong because Bioware established an incredibly high standard of quality in how they used to deal with their customer base.

The Bioware that I knew is dead.

No, WS, it's not wrong, it's dead nuts right on the money... every sentence of it.

If you think any part of my post isn't the truth, then go ahead and dispute it with logic, not emotion.

You're right about one thing. Bioware is dead.

EA is not Bioware, and they don't owe the NWN community a thing. No matter how many other Bioware games some of the NWN community have bought.

How many NWN owners can honestly say they didn't get more than their moneys worth out of this game? And they can still play it whenever they like. 
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Elhanan]

               

WebShaman wrote...

Oh, I agree Elhanan, but even you cannot say that you are not dismayed with the total lack of communication here, right? I mean, just a short nod "hmm-hmmm, we are working on it. Stay tuned" every so often would do, wouldn't it?

Or do you find the present treatment to be representative of how Bioware normally treats the NWN Community?

Being Techless, ignorance is indeed bliss! 

And we all remember the last time when the Community thought it best knew how Bioware should do their job; same subject, too. Me? I have continued to play NWN1 by waiting a tad longer for the Server warning to appear; rest is the same. No dismay; no anxiety; no regrets.