A Note On Oceania

[Cal_Mythic]

As you’re aware, we’ve been making plans to upgrade hardware over the last few months, which included needing to move servers out of our Australia facility.

I alluded to the fact in the end of December producer’s update that we were in Japan to take a look at how to better connect that hemisphere, but Australia has been increasingly tricky. We ran some investigations but did not expect pings to be as bad as they are.

We will keep investigating solving the problem of Oceania and its location and pingtimes.

I would request players try, as a test, to connect to other servers in your region and let us know how you’re doing.

- C

 

[Isaac OC]

The shard list shows latency to Oceania is 173ms, from what's usually 50-60ms for people outside Sydney (Victoria/Brisbane/Darwin/New Zealand) and 20-30ms for those play from Sydney.

Oceania: 177ms
Sakura: 445ms
Mugen: 440ms
Hokuto: 437ms
Formosa: 370ms
Izumo: 471ms
Mizuho: 423ms
Yamato: 437ms
Asuka: 455ms
Arirang: 432ms
Balhae: 458ms
Origin: 189ms
Pacific: 185ms
Sonoma: 188ms
Lake Austin: 186ms
Baja: 188ms
Napa Valley: 187ms
Chesapeake: 241ms
Catskills: 242ms
Siege Perilous: 237ms
Legends: 240ms
Atlantic: 239ms
Lake Superior: 238ms
Great Lakes: 240ms
Europa: 313ms
Drachenfels: 321ms
TC1: 243ms

I would request players try, as a test, to connect to other servers in your region and let us know how you’re doing.

Cal, there are no other servers in our region.

It seems the server is now somewhere in Los Angeles, how to check this? use netstat -an in command prompt and look for port 5001, and i got these 3 numbers: 65.216.123.26, 65.216.123.27 and 65.216.123.28 (you may get connected to a different number as I assume there are more than one physical hardwares)

C:\Users\Isaac>tracert 65.216.123.28

Tracing route to 65.216.123.28 over a maximum of 30 hops

1 10 ms 10 ms 11 ms 10.59.0.1
2 23 ms 11 ms 12 ms bla2-ge13-1-1.gw.optusnet.com.au [198.142.192.14
5]
3 38 ms 9 ms 11 ms bla5-ge13-0.gw.optusnet.com.au [211.29.125.249]

4 169 ms 170 ms 168 ms 203.208.191.153
5 170 ms 167 ms 171 ms xe-10-0-0.edge5.LosAngeles1.Level3.net [4.59.48.
57]
6 170 ms 173 ms 169 ms ae-2-70.edge1.LosAngeles9.Level3.net [4.69.144.7
4]
7 172 ms 171 ms 169 ms 4.68.62.170
8 170 ms 171 ms 169 ms 0.ge-2-1-0.XL4.LAX15.ALTER.NET [152.63.115.93]
9 189 ms 180 ms 179 ms 0.so-2-0-0.XL2.LAX2.ALTER.NET [152.63.115.238]
10 189 ms 178 ms 179 ms so-0-0-0.ur2.lax11.web.wcom.net [208.222.8.26]
11 179 ms 181 ms 179 ms 208.254.48.30
12 183 ms 187 ms 179 ms 65.245.224.33

Look at the latency, 179ms !! Exactly what you all currently see at the shard list. Did someone take the server for a holiday trip?

Is Oceania population too low so it doesn't warrant a local shard anymore? It's a pity that we have been trying to get old players back, conducting our own events, even trying very hard to persuade World of Warcraft players to come back and play. Hey, imbuing is so nice, you can make your own suit? wow!! so nice, but by the way, you are currently lagging now, because you should return like... few months ago.

I really hope my finding is totally wrong, can someone confirm?

===

What is the distance in kilometres between Sydney and Los Angeles?
The distance between Sydney NSW, Australia and Los Angeles, California, United States is 23,346km or 14,507miles.

What is the distance between Perth, Western Australia and Sydney, NSW?
The distance from Perth to Sydney is 3301 km, or 2051 miles

What is the distance between Sydney, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand?
The distance between Sydney, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand is 2218km or 1378 miles.

 

[Deneya]

As you’re aware, we’ve been making plans to upgrade hardware over the last few months, which included needing to move servers out of our Australia facility.

I alluded to the fact in the end of December producer’s update that we were in Japan to take a look at how to better connect that hemisphere, but Australia has been increasingly tricky. We ran some investigations but did not expect pings to be as bad as they are.

We will keep investigating solving the problem of Oceania and its location and pingtimes.

I would request players try, as a test, to connect to other servers in your region and let us know how you’re doing.

- C

I just want to know what upgrade hardware actually means? Can you be more specific about what is being upgraded?

Can you be more specific about why Australia has been so tricky? Why does the server have to move - what were the issues with that?

It still comes down to the server was moved (at least you have confirmed that) but there was still no communication with the customers involved.

I'm not sure why you want us to test playing on other shards and let you know how we are doing. That doesn't seem to bode well for the future of allowing Australian and New Zealand players having the same sort of ping that say, the US have on their local servers.

 

[Gallica]

I am based in Perth, Western Australia.

Looking at the latency column when choosing which shard to play on :

Oceania gives between 234 ms and 249 ms
The only shard that is lower is Sakura with 218 ms to 226 ms
All other shards are even slower

Everything is painfully slow.....please do something to fix it as soon as you can!

 

[Venus_AUPK]

So Has the Oceania Server been moved to the US?

is this just temporary while you fix the "Hardware" in Australia?

Or is it time to close 3 UO accounts as you can not play UO competitively on a ping over 80 (i only play for Pvp)

 

[Amathist]

I am grateful that you guys are trying to fix it....however as the server is now its unplayable. I have guild members that are basically at quiting point as they can not to connect to any server without lag being an issue.

Is there any positive news I can tell them? Is there any chance the sever will be moved again and our lag will improve or should we all just pack our bags and give up and move on to something else?

Bottom line is there is no point paying for a game we can not play.

 

[Dean478]

There are really no other servers to try. But to put it in perspective playing on Oceania is like playing on Pacific. Run, pause, run, pause, etc. Reminds me of when I first started playing when on dial up.

I don't understand what has changed though. Why is it suddenly not working? Why has the server moved?

If the move is temporary then no problem, but if we've had Oceania snatched from us, I'm out. We lost our Warhammer servers and for that as an Elder beta tester and Collector's Edition player I immediately unsubscribed and I'll do the same with UO after nearly 11 years on Oceania.

 

[oceaniabowman]

As you’re aware, we’ve been making plans to upgrade hardware over the last few months, which included needing to move servers out of our Australia facility.

No, I cant say I was made aware of this. But Ive been happily playing along, paying for the 6 accounts that our household has between us. Then one day the game turned bad!

I alluded to the fact in the end of December producer’s update that we were in Japan to take a look at how to better connect that hemisphere, but Australia has been increasingly tricky. We ran some investigations but did not expect pings to be as bad as they are.

This allusion was made after the shard became unplayable in Australia but before it was moved?

We will keep investigating solving the problem of Oceania and its location and pingtimes.

I would request players try, as a test, to connect to other servers in your region and let us know how you’re doing.

There are no other servers in our region, Oceania was it. It still gives me the best ping of all shards but 183ms with flashes of lag makes PvP impossible and PvM difficult. Heck, even crafting is frustrating waiting for chests to open and the game to catch up.

So you want to know how we're doing? Not very well at all thanks.

Might be a good idea to rename the shard though, because it hasnt got anything to do with the Oceania region anymore. Some might consider that to be misleading.... could call it Los Angeliana instead?

 

[Rudyom]

My ISP is Internode and I am in South Australia. I just did a series of pings to oceania.owo.com today, Sunday 16 January 2011.

My ping is consistently 52-53 ms.

 

[oceaniabowman]

My ISP is Internode and I am in South Australia. I just did a series of pings to oceania.owo.com today, Sunday 16 January 2011.

My ping is consistently 52-53 ms.

That resolves to 159.153.189.8 which is the servers old home in the Equinix telehousing centre in Sydney mate. Sorry but your pinging the wrong place.

Edit: Just means they havent updated their DNS records yet.

 

[Bomordan]

I live in the US, so the lag my Aussie friends are experiencing has not been my problem. My problem is that all my friends can't play with me! Please, we are a valid shard with players who have been trying to actively promote us. This needs fixed or the game isn't fun any more! Sure I have options to move to a different shard, but this is where my friends are and I like it on Oceania! Why can't I stay?

 

[Gallica]

Geez...we have been completely dudded! Screwed!

I have 5 accounts and playing is impossible now. I remember the days before Oceania was made and how frustrating playing was, the only thing that kept me going was the fact that a local server was being sorted, we all waited with anticipation that things would get better. Now you just take all that away without so much as an explanation, you won't even give us hope that things will get better.

AND what is even more upsetting is that the likes of Cal_Mythic apparently couldnt give a damn about us.

Cal_Mythic is a very accomplished BULL**** artist!

Why don't you just kick us and throw sand in our faces!

 

[PoCove]

This is what I posted on the Uhall thread.............

I live on the west coast of Canada //// I have always played on Oceania .. I love the friends and people there ... I have 2 accounts and own a shop in Luna .. I have recently activated another acc and was going to create a museum near luna .. I hope to still and very much want to ... If the server was moved I wonder if they are in fact working on it ...Hope so .. Maybe EA will keep us informed ?????????

 

[Isaac OC]

I'm sure there would be a good end to this problem. The server may need to be worked on close to the home base for the upgrade purpose. It may cost a lot more to get someone to come to Sydney, unpack all the components for 5-10 servers which may take the whole week (airplane ticket, 5-7 days of accommodation, and additional 2-3 days to make sure hardware is stable). Yes, i can accept that reason, as long as the server is back to Australia, at the end of the day.

Am I being super optimistic? I have no choice, rather than accepting the server has gone for good. I hope there is something we can work together, higher premium to play in the shard? get more Oceania based subscriptions? (some of us may end up following Gallica's 5-accounts per player?)

The game play is good, eg: housing, tradings, pvp, pvm and some of us have been playing it for 10+ years, I'm sure the numbers have picked up ever since the long anticipated Stygian Abyss expansion was introduced. Give us more in-game events, I'm sure the numbers will go up. Consider that Oceania shard is actually serving the 5th continent, including people who play from Hongkong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. There is a reason why Apple consider to deploy iPhone/iPad on the second-release band after the US release, people are more adaptive to technology and have a good level of disposable income (so i heard). In other words, Australia is a good market, if it's marketted correctly.

Also, considering there is no advertisement being done in local game shop, it is pretty good to see new members derived from word of mouth, which only can do so much. EB games are giving away money back guarantee on World of Warcraft if you don't like it, no question asked, that's enough to create a pulling effect, which is a type of promotion that EA/Mythic only can do, not us, regular players.

 

[Deneya]

In other words, Australia is a good market, if it's marketted correctly.

Also, considering there is no advertisement being done in local game shop, it is pretty good to see new members derived from word of mouth, which only can do so much. EB games are giving away money back guarantee on World of Warcraft if you don't like it, no question asked, that's enough to create a pulling effect, which is a type of promotion that EA/Mythic only can do, not us, regular players.

I think that pretty much sums it up. There is currently ZERO marketting for UO in Australia at the moment, and yes, it is a good market. You're right when we say we promote it via word of mouth to friends etc.

The other interesting thing I find is, most of us have played for years. A lot of us have children. What games do you think those children will gravitate towards when they play? What game do you think those children will promote to their friends purely base on the fact their parent/s play it? That is a whole upcoming completely untapped market.

I think there is a great disservice to UO, and the Oceanian player by lack of marketing and advertising. If we end up closing our accounts, that generational market is no longer going to exist either.

 

[siyeng0]

...what reason could you possibly have to move the Oceania server? I'd heard that it was in Parramatta - essentially the only place in the country that is neither on fire nor underwater right now.

For God's sake, don't move it to another country. Australia already has some of the worst internet in the developed world. Unless you live in the centre of a city - which most of our players statistically do not - getting a connection strong enough to play in America or even Japan is expensive, difficult and unreliable at the best of times.

EA has made some very questionable decisions. Cutting an entire country out of the equation would be one of the worst.

Edit: Oh. Looks like they've already moved it. Christ, EA.

 

[Amathist]

its just not good enough, fix the problem or pull the plug but stop the continued dance around the bush.

 

[Fink]

It's the end of Oceania.

Consider there aren't any "technical issues" causing the problem that don't also exist for every other shard. It's obviously a cost-cutting exercise. Nothing about hosting a shard has gone up in physical requirement, no equipment needs expanding or such. The only thing that has changed is, with the rising AUD vs USD, staffing and connecting a local server is costing them more.

There aren't enough accounts to pay for the local hosting anymore, so it's going offshore where nobody can access it properly. This means as an Australian/NZ server it no longer exists. Oceania has been "x-sharded" to America. Even if some individuals, such as myself, aren't adversely affected by the lag, the Oceania playerbase as a whole will be ruined. Such a shame.

I'm glad I no longer pay for either of our accounts. I closed mine and the one that's still open has free game time on it.

 

[Lord Frodo]

I'm sure there would be a good end to this problem. The server may need to be worked on close to the home base for the upgrade purpose.

Here is the problem with your thinking. EA's home base is just south of San Fran., Ca. They also moved all the West coast servers down near LA, Ca with Oceania. All the old West Coast servers are in Redwood City and you can still ping them for some reason. If EA wants to work on the new servers then why would they move them to LA and not keep them in Redwood City so they can work on them? Is EA outsourcing the servers for UO and Oceania and the West coast were the first to go? God I hope not.

 

[MoonBeam(TBD)]

I play on Oceania, have for year and this week alone has been great. No lag no more run run run run PAUSE>..................run run run run PAUSE................
my ping has always been over 200. And i run fine now. Just logged in and my ping is 67 YAYA awesome.

 

[Amathist]

I play on Oceania, have for year and this week alone has been great. No lag no more run run run run PAUSE>..................run run run run PAUSE................
my ping has always been over 200. And i run fine now. Just logged in and my ping is 67 YAYA awesome.

Fantastic for you Moonbeam, honestly it must be awesome after all these years. But Hun your not actually in the Oceania area and can possibly get the same ping or better on other shards.

As far as I am concerned the thought EA are applying to Oceania at the moment is pathetic. They keep jerking us around with the lag issues and now they up root our server actually causing the lag issue for most of the player base.

They launch an in game event during the holiday season when most players are busy, add to that the fact that Oceanians mostly couldn't play because of the lag and needless to say that even despite the efforts of some who persevered through the lag....there was just no chance of us actually beating back the bane, thus making the event pointless and city after city fell.

EA just do not seem to care about the shard at all, its truly a sad state of affairs.

 

[Paradox_]

Obviously Oceania does not pull in enough revenue for them TOO care. You may be upset, thats business. They aren't running a charity.

 

[Paradox_]

and maybe try freeshards, we play on some from the USA and dont lag at all.

 

[Isaac OC]

Perhaps it all comes down to hosting cost, let's help Cal to decide whether it is still cost effective to keep Oceania off-shore in Australia, or keep it in Los Angeles.

Maybe Equinix wasnt really helping their 12-years customer when there was a lag issue on their switch/network card on servers gone berserk and charging $180/hr just to take a look. After all, they are an international public-ly listed company, it costs an arm and a leg for a collocation hosting and Verizon Game Hosting package looks so good and it fits the budget.

Here are some facts about Australian gaming.

The two biggest ISP in Australia are Telstra (also known as Bigpond) and Optus, followed by some minors such as Internode, TPG and iinet.

Whirlpool is a technology forum that's been around since I can spell in-ter-net, and they have a list of game server providers that's worth looking at.
http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/australian_game_server_providers

Telstra/Bigpond is partnering with Game Arena and even offering free metering (doesn't count towards your download) if you play in Game Arena servers. It offers some five-stars game servers such as: Battlefield and Call of Duty

Perhaps there is a licensing agreement can be forged between Mythic and Game Arena in terms of licensing their game for private shards, so the option is there to gain revenue.

Having Oceania hosted in Game Arena will also give Ultima Online an exposure to Telstra/Bigpond large customer base (the biggest ISP in Australia).

Considering even World of Warcraft doesn't have a local server in Australia, Ultima Online can once again, take over the reign of MMORPG in Australia, if there is a proper advertisement in place, like $2 DVD that World of Warcraft sells at game shops (even Electronic Boutiques, David Jones and Harvey Normans sells them, at the counter! Can hardly miss anything displayed at the counter, it attracts new customers as they purchase things).

Take the chance now, and get some share of that $1billion Australian gamers spending every year. (as per Australian Gaming Market Grew by 47.8% in 2008 - DS News | MMGN Australia)

Ultima Online was the first MMORPG ever created, I was a teen when i bought my first T2A box in 1999, now my 5 years old is having fun playing polymorph spells to be a demon or a gorilla. The game is still good, lots of World of Warcraft players return to play Ultima Online for its uniqueness to PVP/RVR concept, in-game house decoration, NPC vendoring, close tight community, wide-range skills from crafting, fishing, monster-bashing or just simply being a chef. It is now in good hands of Mythic Entertainment, creator of DaoC and Warhammer Online. Even warhammer online can be found in Electronic Boutique, why can't we find a $2 DVD for Ultima Online.

Could it be our wish this easter? Please bring our server back, we love Ultima Online.

 

[Cal_Mythic]

We are not done. The H/W upgrades were exactly that. We were on old Dell 1850 Chassis and moved to BLADE servers with more memory and CPUs.

While we did need to move the shards, we had no idea that it would have this level of impact.

We are honestly looking into getting some resolution where you can receive reasonable ping times, and capacity to play the game. (And by that it means day before we made the moves and each day since.)

I have noticed that you have more than a few supporters, and other players from other servers have come to play on the shard. I understand this does not help the situation, but we are in daily discussions on how to recover from the relocation.

 

[Cal_Mythic]

Perhaps it all comes down to hosting cost, let's help Cal to decide whether it is still cost effective to keep Oceania off-shore in Australia, or keep it in Los Angeles.

Maybe Equinix wasnt really helping their 12-years customer when there was a lag issue on their switch/network card on servers gone berserk and charging $180/hr just to take a look. After all, they are an international public-ly listed company, it costs an arm and a leg for a collocation hosting and Verizon Game Hosting package looks so good and it fits the budget.

Here are some facts about Australian gaming.

The two biggest ISP in Australia are Telstra (also known as Bigpond) and Optus, followed by some minors such as Internode, TPG and iinet.

Whirlpool is a technology forum that's been around since I can spell in-ter-net, and they have a list of game server providers that's worth looking at.
http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/australian_game_server_providers

Telstra/Bigpond is partnering with Game Arena and even offering free metering (doesn't count towards your download) if you play in Game Arena servers. It offers some five-stars game servers such as: Battlefield and Call of Duty

Perhaps there is a licensing agreement can be forged between Mythic and Game Arena in terms of licensing their game for private shards, so the option is there to gain revenue.

Having Oceania hosted in Game Arena will also give Ultima Online an exposure to Telstra/Bigpond large customer base (the biggest ISP in Australia).

Considering even World of Warcraft doesn't have a local server in Australia, Ultima Online can once again, take over the reign of MMORPG in Australia, if there is a proper advertisement in place, like $2 DVD that World of Warcraft sells at game shops (even Electronic Boutiques, David Jones and Harvey Normans sells them, at the counter! Can hardly miss anything displayed at the counter, it attracts new customers as they purchase things).

Take the chance now, and get some share of that $1billion Australian gamers spending every year. (as per Australian Gaming Market Grew by 47.8% in 2008 - DS News | MMGN Australia)

Ultima Online was the first MMORPG ever created, I was a teen when i bought my first T2A box in 1999, now my 5 years old is having fun playing polymorph spells to be a demon or a gorilla. The game is still good, lots of World of Warcraft players return to play Ultima Online for its uniqueness to PVP/RVR concept, in-game house decoration, NPC vendoring, close tight community, wide-range skills from crafting, fishing, monster-bashing or just simply being a chef. It is now in good hands of Mythic Entertainment, creator of DaoC and Warhammer Online. Even warhammer online can be found in Electronic Boutique, why can't we find a $2 DVD for Ultima Online.

Could it be our wish this easter? Please bring our server back, we love Ultima Online.

No need for a wishlist for Easter ... and we're already on it. Dealing with this as well as other servers beyond Oceania. But it is of our top three priorities including mid-term publishes, and sorting out delivery for pub 70.

Thank you so much for being civil to everyone in this thread. I do honestly appreciate it.

Also, you mention a few things in this thread that have been mentioned more than in passing, many of them came up during our Town Hall.

In any case, we have much to do between now and then.

Yes today is a holiday here in the States, but I've been watching the threads and want you to know it's not left my mind.

- C

 

[Dean478]

but we are in daily discussions on how to recover from the relocation.

So in other words you're not moving Oceania back to Australia, effectively killing UO for us, and this is a clever way of admitting that?

Can you just come clean and say "Oceania is gone from Australia for good".

I don't understand how the ping can be improved after moving the server to the States. Unless a team of scuba divers is going to replace the connection between Oceania and the US...

 

[Amathist]

thank you for a response Cal...The fact it is being worked on is something we all want to hear.

I do not care personally if the server is located in Australia or Oceania area just so long as it is playable for that player base as it was intended and had always been.

Can we get an ETA on how much longer you think we will have to suffer through this?

 

[Gallica]

I would like to say thanks for your response too Cal. The biggest problem has been the lack of information we have been receiving.

I am feeling much less frustrated now that I know you ARE actually trying to resolve the problem ..... all I really want is a ping that is playable, how you do that is not important, but please find a way soon!

 

[satchmo cat]

It seams that this is a case of cost cutting by the uo penny pinchers dont they realise that its our money they are spending , If this is so then they should have moved the servers to new zealand where the U,S dollar is worth more this may have solved both problems ,

Personaly i have a lot of $ invested in my 4 accounts and time as well if i cant play a reasonable game from here in new zealand then there isnt much point i will have to conside sell up and finding another game to play , if everone feels the same it is only uo who is going to miss out.

This could also mean the demise of the 8 th biggest guild in the game and the biggest on this schard!!!!!

SO COME ON U,O FIX THE PROBLEMS AND DONT LEAVE US HANGING

 

[Voodoo990]

While we did need to move the shards, we had no idea that it would have this level of impact.

You, seriously an IT "gaming" professional with a staff of IT professionals, didn't have any idea that moving a server from Australia to the US wouldn't have a significant impact on the players from Australia?? Seriously??

As for the rest of the comment it sounds like more PR and really it sounds like your buying time to let this blow over. It also sounds like you have no plans on moving the server back which is the only fix and you know that.

 

[Winterfell]

Well I hope this is not the end of Oceania as we know it, as a 10 yr Vet it would be a shame to have it end this way. Lag has always been a problem from time to time and in the past I have had some good experiences with the UO staff help to sort out problems with server routings. Cal I hope everyone there is having a good hard think about the decisions being made. Oceania is Oceania not another State of the US. If Aussie isn't cost effective, what about New Zealand as a server location? The cash exchange rates are better for the US dollar, and internet access is pretty good and improving all the time. I know some hard choices have to be made but this one could ring the death nell for us if things stay as they currently are.

 

[Silver]

As Someone who started playing Ultima Online once the oceania server started and was arround when the petition to make the oceania shard a reality was after signitures it is upsetting to consider that i will now have to consider closing down my accounts (which are all currently still active while i am looking at Lotro ) . There is no way i am coming back to play oceania at dial up speeds on broadband, looking at the current list i am faster to sakura than i am to my supposed local server. IF ea intend not to put the server physically back in Australia i will be closing all my accounts. Something that i previously had no intentions of doing even if i stayed with Lord of the Rings online

 

[oceaniabowman]

Hi All

When the all the lag, packet loss and frustration started some time before christmas (or half a lifetime ago it feels) I looked at the connection list of my router and determined that my partner Moons computer was connected to 159.153.189.13, which even at the time of writing this post traces to Equinix in Botany, Sydney. I noted considerable packet loss from the Equinix gateway onwards and considered this to be a contributer if not the cause of the problems we had at the time.

Performing the same test now shows the enchanting Moonflower now connecting to 65.216.123.27 and a trace to that address ends up well and truly in the US.

To summarize the server has indeed been relocated from Australia to the United States. Brothers and sisters Mythic has forsaken us, they have bestowed on us their faithful followers who have broadband pings of no less than 188ms. Our country cousins who may only have dialup internet must be enduring pings of no less than 350ms.

Good people at Mythic/EA, if Equinix cannot fullfill your needs consider AAPT as an alternative that is affordable, reliable and provides good clean bandwidth.

But please, please dont leave us dedicated players, many with multiple accounts and dozens of charactors that we have trained and developed standing high and dry with a server we can no longer play on.

Oceaniabowman
(Bowman, Nostromo, the dreaded Indy and others)

This is a post of mine from another thread, can I take an opportunity to draw the attention to-

Good people at Mythic/EA, if Equinix cannot fullfill your needs consider AAPT as an alternative that is affordable, reliable and provides good clean bandwidth.

Seriously, moving the server to a Sydney AAPT centre will satisfy us all! Quality of service leaves the other for dead, their support is intelligent and helpfull and the bandwidth cost is at the right end of the scale for such a quality service. Thats first hand experience as I used to manage an ISP that used AAPT wholesale services.

I wont boast about picking the problem with the Equinix equipment weeks ago, sadly I regret that having picked the problem I realised there was no one I could tell that would listen.....

 

[oceaniabowman]

Seems like its only the Americans left on Oceania, I hear tales of our finest PvP players being creamed more by lag than the skill of their US adversaries...

This is most definetely the beginning of the end.

 

[Black Spirit]

I'm giving UO one month to re-locate the server back to Australia.

After that I am going to trash can all my server birth items, my super rare and rare items and trash can everything else and then delete all my chars, so I dont have anymore links to UO.( Billions worth of items all gone). ( 4 accounts worth of Chars and items.).

I'm Proud to be an Aussie but i'll be dammed if I will play on usless ping and latencey that i would have to play on an American or Japaneese shard.

The best shard that we have as an option with the lowest pings are all Japanese CAL.
Even the Japanese pings are unplayable.

Nothing in the US is reasonanble.( Even worse Ping's and latencey).

Super unhappy.

Thx for killing UO in Australia.

 

[James_Mythic]

Hey folks,

We're interested in what ping rates you are seeing between Australia and the Japanese shards in their current location.

If you can, check out a couple of the servers available and post your ping-rates here. Please note we're not at all considering replacing Oceania with a Japanese shard but want to understand if the facility located in Japan allow for a better connection than the US facility.

Here's a list of shards for your convenience:
Izumo
Sakura
Asuka
Yamato
Formosa

Thanks all, the info you provide can help us to continue to improve the situation.

Best,

 

[oceaniabowman]

Izumo
Optus Wireless 492ms
Primus DSL 272ms

Sakura
Optus Wireless 484ms
Primus DSL 281ms

Asuka
Optus Wireless 576ms
Primus DSL 296ms

Yumato
Optus Wireless 560ms
Primus DSL 296ms

Formosa
Optus Wireless 438ms
Primus DSL 301ms

We use an Optus 3g wireless connection as a back up if there is an issue with our primus ADSL2 connection so here is the pings from both. When telstra removed their onramp 2 residential ISDN product the wireless was supposed to replace it. Unfortunately many are in areas when there simply are no mobile phone towers and their choice is limited to dialup. Usually running at 33k speeds.

I have tried to play on the Japanese shards before and apart from high pings and occasional packet loss the biggest problem is-

私は日本語を話すことができない

 

[Silver]

Sakura 140 ms
mugen 156 ms
wakoku 156 ms
hokuto 156 ms
Formosa 187 ms

My Isp is iinet but this isnt going to solve the problem you are all looking at other mmorpgs in the states where all servers are clustered together and thinking we can do this, the problem with that is all those games never had a dedicated aussie server and you did. Now that we are use to low pings and response times there is no way the majority of oceania players are going to stand for ping times as they are. There is no way that short of the server coming back to Aust that this will be resolved.

 

[Voodoo990]

There is no way that short of the server coming back to Aust that this will be resolved.

That's right, the last response by EA is a joke, I wouldn't even dignify it with a ping list.

There is one response needed here, either they are going to put the server back in the Geo Area Aus, NZ even Singapore might work, or they're not. If they are, when? If they're not please let people know so they can close their accounts, you owe them at least the truth. Everything else is just PR blah blah blah leading to a statement a month or two down the road.... "we tried our best, we tried everything, but there is nothing we can do, sorry".

 

[Dean478]

-They remove the server without any warning.
-After moving the server they still can't admit it directly.
-They ask US to give them information on the pings and claim they can find some magical resolution that avoids the need for local servers in the first place (if this was possible we wouldn't have regional servers in any game).


Sorry but that's it for me. I've no love for this game as of now. 11 years of experience is going to be banked away and never seen again.

 

[kelmo]

I have empathy OZ. I do understand... The devs are speaking with you, though. Work with them here. Let's see where this goes. I really believe they want you folks playing...

 

[oceaniabowman]

I have empathy OZ. I do understand... The devs are speaking with you, though. Work with them here. Let's see where this goes. I really believe they want you folks playing...

I agree entirely. I mean Im sure they get it, consumers vote with their feet and if we cant play we wont pay. So lets stop venting our anger, work with them and let them draw the obvious conclusion that the server has to come back to Sydney.

 

[Dean478]

The devs are speaking with you, though. Work with them here.

Did they work with us?

They could have shown some integrity and HONESTY before doing this. A simple:

"Hey Oceania, due to internal policies/financial reasons/hamster allocations/etc the Oceania server will no longer be located in Australia/Oceania. However before we make the change we are investigating several optins:
-Moving the server to the western coast of the States
-Moving it further into Asia (specifically Japan) to remain in the same timezone or closer connection
-Consider local gaming ISPs such as Telstra, Optus or Internode.

The move is scheduled to take place sometime around X. In the meantime we'll gether lots of feedback regarding the issue and investigate the possibility of free server change tokens for those who choose to move to other shards instead.

Thank you"



Something like that would have been far more appropriate. Instead we received the most ominous message from the Lead Producer AFTER THE FACT, which seemed to confirm the move without actually denying it either. Now they ask us to provide latency values like it's really going to matter? It won't be fixed until it's back where it was BEFORE it was intentionally broken.

 

[Gallica]

Sakura 220
Mugen 249
Wakoku 265
Hokuto 281
Formosa 268
Oceania as it now is 241
Oceania before the move 55

As you can see Oceania as it now is still the best option for me apart from Sakura which is only a teensy weensy bit better.

All are too slow to play.

 

[Deneya]

Perhaps it all comes down to hosting cost, let's help Cal to decide whether it is still cost effective to keep Oceania off-shore in Australia, or keep it in Los Angeles.

Maybe Equinix wasnt really helping their 12-years customer when there was a lag issue on their switch/network card on servers gone berserk and charging $180/hr just to take a look. After all, they are an international public-ly listed company, it costs an arm and a leg for a collocation hosting and Verizon Game Hosting package looks so good and it fits the budget.

Here are some facts about Australian gaming.

The two biggest ISP in Australia are Telstra (also known as Bigpond) and Optus, followed by some minors such as Internode, TPG and iinet.

Whirlpool is a technology forum that's been around since I can spell in-ter-net, and they have a list of game server providers that's worth looking at.
http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/australian_game_server_providers

Telstra/Bigpond is partnering with Game Arena and even offering free metering (doesn't count towards your download) if you play in Game Arena servers. It offers some five-stars game servers such as: Battlefield and Call of Duty

Perhaps there is a licensing agreement can be forged between Mythic and Game Arena in terms of licensing their game for private shards, so the option is there to gain revenue.

Having Oceania hosted in Game Arena will also give Ultima Online an exposure to Telstra/Bigpond large customer base (the biggest ISP in Australia).

Considering even World of Warcraft doesn't have a local server in Australia, Ultima Online can once again, take over the reign of MMORPG in Australia, if there is a proper advertisement in place, like $2 DVD that World of Warcraft sells at game shops (even Electronic Boutiques, David Jones and Harvey Normans sells them, at the counter! Can hardly miss anything displayed at the counter, it attracts new customers as they purchase things).

Take the chance now, and get some share of that $1billion Australian gamers spending every year. (as per Australian Gaming Market Grew by 47.8% in 2008 - DS News | MMGN Australia)

Ultima Online was the first MMORPG ever created, I was a teen when i bought my first T2A box in 1999, now my 5 years old is having fun playing polymorph spells to be a demon or a gorilla. The game is still good, lots of World of Warcraft players return to play Ultima Online for its uniqueness to PVP/RVR concept, in-game house decoration, NPC vendoring, close tight community, wide-range skills from crafting, fishing, monster-bashing or just simply being a chef. It is now in good hands of Mythic Entertainment, creator of DaoC and Warhammer Online. Even warhammer online can be found in Electronic Boutique, why can't we find a $2 DVD for Ultima Online.

Could it be our wish this easter? Please bring our server back, we love Ultima Online.

Issac, thank you for such a well thought out response. You took our whinging and whining to the next level and provided realistic options.

However,

Hey folks,

We're interested in what ping rates you are seeing between Australia and the Japanese shards in their current location.

If you can, check out a couple of the servers available and post your ping-rates here. Please note we're not at all considering replacing Oceania with a Japanese shard but want to understand if the facility located in Japan allow for a better connection than the US facility.

Here's a list of shards for your convenience:
Izumo
Sakura
Asuka
Yamato
Formosa

Thanks all, the info you provide can help us to continue to improve the situation.

Best,

We have already established the ping times to Japan are not that much better, so I am not sure why you are asking us to keep posting this information.

I still feel Cal and James you are missing the point. The point is communication. We want an honest answer of where this is heading. We want to know what action is actually being taken and if relocation of the server back to Australia is even on the table. If not, I believe we have a right to know so we can make an informed decision. You can see that none of us want to leave the game we have invested so much of ourselves in - but I don't want to continue to prolong the inevitable.

As players, we cannot be more honest than we have been. Some players have provided very valid suggestions. Will anyone consider these at all?

As a side question. if I have just recently renewed subscription on all of my accounts for 6 months and due to a situation that has occurred without notification and beyond my control (yes, you're moving our local server) and I cancel my subscriptions, will you honour a refund of my unplayed time?

 

[oceaniabowman]

As a side question. if I have just recently renewed subscription on all of my accounts for 6 months and due to a situation that has occurred without notification and beyond my control (yes, you're moving our local server) and I cancel my subscriptions, will you honour a refund of my unplayed time?

If you are still within your current billing period for the credit card (assuming thats how you pay) you are within your rights to dispute the transaction based on the fact that you have paid in advance for a product that has been made intentionally unusable.

 

[Bryson]

Although the ping is painful, what I am seeing is American players coming to our shard with better ping and taking advantage of our situation. Enemies are now united in defending our shard better then EA games can give us an invasion that we have a choice in playing.

I for one, am going nowhere. I have a guild that depends on me and the talk about leaving the shard...meh... I'm not giving up without a fight and will implore all Oceania regulars to do the same.

This is how we make our stand! Give them the bird whilst showing EA games our Aussie fighting spirit!

 

[Isaac OC]

You are all heroes of Oceania, and i thank you all for that. Some are angered when your 11/6/3-years obsession, passion and addiction is on the brink of being taken away from you.

The reality is painful and we have been privileged enough to have our local shard for 11 years. The rough estimate of running a remote hosting location is about $3000 per month. If the game is as big as World of Warcraft, are we even going to have this conversation?

The fact that we werent being communicated properly with the shard move somehow tells me that this upgrade was a cost cutting exercise, with calculated risk to minimising lost. The term of Blade servers are simply compacting 6 bulky servers into a tiny enclosure of 2-3RU, a further cost saving in rental space.

We are currently playing tug-of-war, which whatever outcomes mean somebody lose, it could be less players or less staffing on Mythics.

The coffee shop in Australia is closing down people, and you all have to move to the nearest coffee shop, which is about 23,100k to east continent or another closer one, 16,100k to the north continent. Or you can just stop simply buying coffee and drink healthy tap water instead.

They are not serving the same kind of coffee, the barrista looks different, the scenery looks different and you may not like it, the travel distance may be unbearable for some people (those who dont use telstra based network ISPs, eg: optus customers)

Ultima Online is offering probably the same fun game as World of Warcraft, given time, the shop will be full. Unfortunately the door and windows are closed due to lack of marketting. People come only if someone invited outsiders in by opening the door for them, or call your relatives to come and tell about how good it is.

It all comes back to future decision of the UO team, are you still interested in making a profitable business in Australia? Keep the shard local and do marketting. If there is simply no money to spend, minimise the lost by picking Japan location as 60% will probably stay on, and the other 40% move elsewhere. US location is simply too laggy, last night, we had a 5 laggy people vs 1 US player, and still lost in PVP. We even invite all laggy enemies to join in, just to know whether it was even possible? The answer is no, well we did end up having a good fun, of dying, and talk about how ridicilous the lag is. It did bring the community closer, but we were all sad deep inside, knowing the fun of playing is now over.

 

[Clog|Mordain]

You are all heroes of Oceania, and i thank you all for that. Some are angered when your 11/6/3-years obsession, passion and addiction is on the brink of being taken away from you.

The reality is painful and we have been privileged enough to have our local shard for 11 years. The rough estimate of running a remote hosting location is about $3000 per month. If the game is as big as World of Warcraft, are we even going to have this conversation?

The fact that we werent being communicated properly with the shard move somehow tells me that this upgrade was a cost cutting exercise, with calculated risk to minimising lost. The term of Blade servers are simply compacting 6 bulky servers into a tiny enclosure of 2-3RU, a further cost saving in rental space.

We are currently playing tug-of-war, which whatever outcomes mean somebody lose, it could be less players or less staffing on Mythics.

The coffee shop in Australia is closing down people, and you all have to move to the nearest coffee shop, which is about 23,100k to east continent or another closer one, 16,100k to the north continent. Or you can just stop simply buying coffee and drink healthy tap water instead.

They are not serving the same kind of coffee, the barrista looks different, the scenery looks different and you may not like it, the travel distance may be unbearable for some people (those who dont use telstra based network ISPs, eg: optus customers)

Ultima Online is offering probably the same fun game as World of Warcraft, given time, the shop will be full. Unfortunately the door and windows are closed due to lack of marketting. People come only if someone invited outsiders in by opening the door for them, or call your relatives to come and tell about how good it is.

It all comes back to future decision of the UO team, are you still interested in making a profitable business in Australia? Keep the shard local and do marketting. If there is simply no money to spend, minimise the lost by picking Japan location as 60% will probably stay on, and the other 40% move elsewhere. US location is simply too laggy, last night, we had a 5 laggy people vs 1 US player, and still lost in PVP. We even invite all laggy enemies to join in, just to know whether it was even possible? The answer is no, well we did end up having a good fun, of dying, and talk about how ridicilous the lag is. It did bring the community closer, but we were all sad deep inside, knowing the fun of playing is now over.

Fight on foot. The lag isnt anywhere near as bad. i took down someone this morning, and made the other run off never to be seen. Fight on foot with dexxer chars. force them to xfer back