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FFXI Problems Fixed / Looking to Future

Posted by Zonk on from the chocobo-feeding-and-care dept.

An Anonymous Reader alerted us to the fact that the FFXI connectivity issue reported earlier has been resolved. They finally acknowledged the issue and changed the ports used to collect and send data. Meanwhile, with the recent introduction of the game into Europe and the release of a new expansion, gamesindustry.biz sat down for an interview with FFXI producer Hiromichi Tanaka.

20 comments

  1. Thank you by VGMSupreme · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And this is what I like. When companies admit to having a problem and working towards a solution that benefits thier customers. Too bad we do not see this as often as we should.

    --
    The Galatic Freedom Force marches on! Defend!
    1. Re:Thank you by MMaestro · · Score: 1

      Actually, if you looked back on the previous news report, it notes that both SquareEnix and Optimum Online denied being the source of the problem and tried to push it onto the other. If anything, it was the consumers threatening to mass quit the game (which would be devastating for a pay-to-play game) which forced them to fix the problem.

    2. Re:Thank you by _xeno_ · · Score: 1
      The fun thing is:
      1. The outage was first noticed September 27th.
      2. The problems were mostly resolved October 1st.
      Some more facts:
      1. Square-Enix admitted there was a problem October 1st.
      2. Square-Enix announced the problems were resolved October 4th
      In other words, Square-Enix didn't mention anything was wrong while there was a problem, and didn't announce that it was resolved until four days after people had been able to get back online.

      They've been better with the recent batch of random server outages, they actually annouced there was a problem some four hours after people first got disconnected from the game.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
  2. acknowledgement? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    what the heck? somone kidnap the soe ceo?
    Unheard of for them to actually support their product and admit anything.

    1. Re:acknowledgement? by Zoshnell · · Score: 1

      I believe this is Square-Enix's outing, not Sony's.

      --
      "Do you suppose that's why God lives in the Heavens? Because he lives in fear of His creations?" - Steve Buscemi
    2. Re:acknowledgement? by Zoshnell · · Score: 1

      In a sense it does, as I haven't heard of the horrid customer service horror stories of horror from Squeenix, but to be fair, I haven't really looked, whereas you hear about Sony's award* winning customer service everywhere.


      *Hey, Suicide and and Worst Customer Service Ever! Awards are still awards dammit!
      This joke stolen blatantly from PC Accelerator(RIP)

      --
      "Do you suppose that's why God lives in the Heavens? Because he lives in fear of His creations?" - Steve Buscemi
  3. cancelled accounts? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So they acknowledge and fix this but do you still have to buy a new box set if you want to play again after leaving your account inactive for 3 or more months?

    1. Re:cancelled accounts? by sdhankin · · Score: 2, Informative

      No, you only have to buy a new box if you cancelled your free, no-monthly-fee, PlayOnline ID. If you cancelled your Content ID (the thing you pay $12.95/month for), you can buy a new one any time.

      Some advice: SE doesn't pro-rate your Content ID purchase, so whether you buy it Oct 1st or Oct 31st, you'll still pay $12.95 for October. The cost-conscious will reactivate now, or wait until November 1st.

    2. Re:cancelled accounts? by gamgee5273 · · Score: 1

      The fellow above is right - the POL ID is free and doesn't get cancelled. You can cancel the Content ID, which is needed to play FFXI or TetraMaster, and that stays in the system for three months after cancelation.

    3. Re:cancelled accounts? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They pro-rated it when I started it, for the end of the month in which the free trial stopped...

  4. They changed the ports used? by mr.capaneus · · Score: 1

    It seems kind of dumb to me that they had to change the ports being used just because some ass-backwards isp was blocking them.

    1. Re:They changed the ports used? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      This information got removed from my post, but - the reason the port was being blocked was because it was port 25, SMTP.

    2. Re:They changed the ports used? by falcon5768 · · Score: 1

      YOUR AN IDIOT they didnt change any ports why dont you call SE and Optimum Online before you make falce accusations

      --

      "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

    3. Re:They changed the ports used? by Detritus · · Score: 1
      YOUR AN IDIOT

      I'm impressed. We're having a special today, would you like to shoot your other foot?

      --
      Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
    4. Re:They changed the ports used? by falcon5768 · · Score: 1

      I already did, I spelt false wrong :p

      --

      "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

  5. GRRR Idiot by falcon5768 · · Score: 0
    they didnt change ANY ports... infact it wasnt EITHER of their faults.

    It was infact a issue with a bad router between the two which was why some people could get on, and why they couldnt find the problem.

    get the facts before you post something

    --

    "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

  6. connectivity is the 0.01% problem by joe094287523459087 · · Score: 1

    there's almost 500k NA players (500K JP players) and if you ask them, i think connectivity would not register as a problem at all, except for a few people using one specific ISP

  7. connectivity is the 0.01% problem by joe094287523459087 · · Score: 1

    there's almost 500k NA players (there's 500k JP players) and no one i know (having played for a year) has a problem with the connectivity. that only affected a few people using one isp.

    the MAIN problem that any serious NA FFXI player will tell you about is the latency problem. most of the endgame is camping for 3 hours in a room mashing a macro button as fast as you can (or using a bot *cough*) to win a "claim" on a monster by being the first to attack it. whoever claims it first gets the loot it drops (some monsters drop stuff worth millions of gil, real-world US$ value up to $1000 for something like nidhogg, serket, or king behemoth).

    the problem is that all 30 servers (and apparently the 2 new servers they are adding tomorrow) are all in japan. this means the JP players have roughly 1/10 to 1/2 full second to claim a monster before the NA players. often for NA players it spawns with a purple name (meaning it's already claimed - unclaimed monsters have a yellow name). on my server, midgardsormr, the #1 NA guild (or "linkshell") has basically quit the game over this issue.

    2nd to that there are balance problems (compare galka to taru, bastok to windurst, dragoon to whm), endgame content problems (zilart missions are about it), and economy problems (chinese players playing as employment, farming the same important items 24/7 non-stop and manipulating the economy).

    personally i live with the problems and they don't affect me as much as other players but i thought if the /. community was gonna discuss FFXI, the minor problem about the ports should be put in the context of all the other stuff ppl are complaining about every day. personally i still like the game a lot :) (75bard, 60summoner, 40white mage, etc)

  8. SE are abunch of idiots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They are still having trouble with connectivity to this day. And are introducing two new servers to cut down on the lag. I was disconnected along with almost the whole server while doing BCNM 40 Giddeus and they wouldn't refund my items. -_-