So Dungeons and Dragons Online’s Cormyr server launch yesterday did not exactly go to plan. Readers will recall that Standing Stone Games launched the new server, the game’s first-ever 64-bit server, yesterday for VIP players, but it almost immediately capsized, such that SSG took it offline multiple times yesterday afternoon. It was down all night. Our own local reporter on the ground confirmed that while it was up, Cormyr was a laggy mess – “slide show bad” and “slammed with incoming people.”
“We have temporarily paused access to Cormyr while we resolve an issue discovered upon the launch of the server today,” SSG’s Cordovan wrote last night. “We are working on a new build that will resolve this issue, and will have more information about the timing of Cormyr’s return as soon as we can. We do not expect Cormyr to be available tonight.”
Player speculation last night was all over the map, with many gamers wondering whether the spike of thousands of VIPs all opening 18 years of new-character rewards at the same time may have crippled the server. At least one player claimed that character transfers may have been unwittingly enabled. (Cormyr was meant to be a fresh-start world.) However, SSG’s Severlin gave more details on Discord about the real issue.
“The new translation to 64 bit has made our code that distributes players go awry and limit where it puts them. That leaves us with lots of resources, but everyone is jammed onto a small space leaving the rest of the server empty. The maddening thing is that the tools we use in white glove to make sure all the servers are available actually circumvents this. And the code allows just enough instance to accomodate our Cormyr test we ran without issue. So we are looking at it now, but it looks like it will require a new build and verification.”
Severlin also said he doesn’t know whether there will be a rollback, acknowledged a brutal player comment about messy DDO launches (“Harsh but in this instance we deserve it,” he says), and reassured players that any points or items purchased while the server was up will be restored. Hang in there, DDO friendos.
