Launch day able to login? Pre-launch?

[Prepared]

I've not seen any posts regarding this and thought this would be something many are wondering about. At least I am wondering about it.

What's the likely chance the second the game servers are available at pre-launch (3 days before release) we'll be able to login?

I pose this question for a discussion given that another popular game released just a few weeks ago had massive issues for hours and didn't really get it completely sorted out for a few days. That game of course was Diablo 3. I was there for a few hours trying to login and repeatedly couldn't do it. At first it appeared to be an issue with too many players attempting to log in at once. But it turned out to be multiple issues that didn't have to do with volume.

With so many pre-purchases and so many with a need to play the moment the Guild Wars 2 servers are available, how smooth will go the login and create your first character? Will location from Bellevue, Washington and speed of your Internet connection be a factor in having a smooth login on the three days before launch? With so many trying to connect and login, will there be some sort of priority as to who gets in first? Does anyone know if there is some formula that determines if there is some priority queue or a method that determines who gets the login and who doesn't?

[Delias]

So far the GW2 servers have never been too full to log in during a beta weekend, which is already more than D3 can say.

[Fencers]

I think D3 had quite a bit more people than GW2 beta. Kinda saying, in 1 week Blizzard toppled the sales of most PC games.

[Delias]

I think D3 had quite a bit more people than GW2 beta. Kinda saying, in 1 week Blizzard toppled the sales of most PC games.

I think Blizzard also EXPECTED more people for D3 than the GW2 beta however, so probably should have been prepared for it.

[Fencers]

I think the login woes were precisely because Blizz didn't expect D3 to dwarf the lifetime sales of many PC games.

[Squirrelbanes]

I think the login woes were precisely because Blizz didn't expect D3 to dwarf the lifetime sales of many PC games.

I think it's because they're cheapskates.
They probably had a fair idea of the demand. But didn't want to commit to expenditure in one big go before launch and waste money on over capacity.

/shakes fist at business decisions for gaming companies.

[Fencers]

4.7-4.9 million in 24 hours was the estimate I saw on the business wire. 6.3-6.5 million by the end of the week.

Think I am gonna go out on a limb and say few [if any] games see that much demand in as short a time.

[Eggowaffles]

4.7-4.9 million in 24 hours was the estimate i saw on the business wire. 6.3-6.5 million by the end of the week.

Think i am gonna go out on a limb and say few [if any] games see that much demand in as short a time.

quit being rational

[Glytch]

4.7-4.9 million in 24 hours was the estimate I saw on the business wire. 6.3-6.5 million by the end of the week.

Think I am gonna go out on a limb and say few [if any] games see that much demand in as short a time.

conspiracy theories are far more interesting

[DrakeWurrum]

So far the GW2 servers have never been too full to log in during a beta weekend, which is already more than D3 can say.

But it turned out to be multiple issues that didn't have to do with volume.

So um... yeah, not sure how the discussion went that way...

From what we've seen, ANet is surprisingly prepared to handle issues like this. We'll have to wait and see if they're prepared on the actual launch day, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they can dispel the myth that freshly launched games "must" have launch-day blues.

[Chireru93]

I think there will be problems come launch day, yes. But that's only because any game like this will have them really. However, I have a feeling that the problems will be minimal, and even if the servers crash due to volume they'll quickly get a fix for that. They are building quite a bit of hype for it being the "next-gen mmo", so they know, I'm sure, that if they dissapoint like D3 did it'll remain a scar for the rest of the time the company remains operational, just like how I think the D3 thing will remain a kind of scar for as long as Blizzard stays operational.

[Deleted]

I think the login woes were precisely because Blizz didn't expect D3 to dwarf the lifetime sales of many PC games.

That excuse was appropriate at WoW launch. There is no excuse for them to not be prepared for this success though, especially considering how easy it is now days to get proper hosting platform up and running. The thing is, that it wasn't just "it was hard to login", in some regions the game was just unplayable for few days. Blizzard is getting sloppy :/.

As for GW2, I think Anet have proven with last stress test that they take those issues seriously, my server had even bigger population than at BWE1 and there were no problems what so ever during login. I was very impressed.

[Delias]

So um... yeah, not sure how the discussion went that way...

Can't make a joking remark about a game you enjoy without people assuming you're game bashing.

[Fencers]

Can't make a joking remark about a game you enjoy without people assuming you're game bashing.

Didn't read it as game bashing, ftr. Merely pointing out Diablo 3 is one of the biggest PC releases... like ever. It's not even a month old yet.

Dat Blizzard.

[Delias]

And I am simply pointing out that Blizzard should have expected it. It's not like they're blind to the hype around the game. Datblizzard. ^^

[Edge-]

And I am simply pointing out that this thread should probably get back on topic if it is going to remain open.

Wait, what?

[jvbastel]

not that it really says a lot, but during the 5 or so years I actively played GW1, I only saw the servers down for 2 times. Once was a rollback due to a bug in the NPC vendor system (buying sup absorp and sup vigor runes for 100g FTW ), and I don't remember what the other one was.

GW1 servers have always been very stable, so I assume they know what they're doing

During the first BWE, the were some issues, so we'll see how it is this weekend.

[Deleted]

And I am simply pointing out that this thread should probably get back on topic if it is going to remain open.

Wait, what?

^ This... All my bits are belong to you!

But on-topic... Yes you can login.
Its not going to be as overpopulated as Diablo.. Dont worry

[terrahero]

4.7-4.9 million in 24 hours was the estimate I saw on the business wire. 6.3-6.5 million by the end of the week.

Think I am gonna go out on a limb and say few [if any] games see that much demand in as short a time.

In this day and age its absolute bull to say they couldnt have been prepared for this, they knew how many played the beta, how many preordered and whatnot. They have whole marketing divisions for this kind of stuff. They couldve, and shouldve, been prepared.

Funny enough, the government officials in Korea seem to think so too, and they are looking into filling a big fine for Blizzard for their launchday disaster. And i completely support it, its become all to common for launch titles to be riddled with bugs, and crappy online support. Time to turn the tide, and what better way then by making them pay everything a titles it launched with a ton of (gamebreaking) bugs and issues.

And this goes for Arenanet aswell. Who look to take their role in this serious enough. So one might expect to be able to play on launchday.

[Deleted]

In this day and age its absolute bull to say they couldnt have been prepared for this, they knew how many played the beta, how many preordered and whatnot. They have whole marketing divisions for this kind of stuff. They couldve, and shouldve, been prepared.

Funny enough, the government officials in Korea seem to think so too, and they are looking into filling a big fine for Blizzard for their launchday disaster. And i completely support it, its become all to common for launch titles to be riddled with bugs, and crappy online support. Time to turn the tide, and what better why then by making them pay everything a titles it launched with a ton of (gamebreaking) bugs and issues.

And this goes for Arenanet aswell. Who look to take their role in this serious enough.

And yet when games start consolidating servers because the launch rush has died down and some servers are left as ghost towns gamers can't log into the Internet fast enough to proclaim said game as dead and buried on arrival. It's a funny old world.
On topic I think with tweaking (already done maybe) the overflow system in GW2 will make most of these problems redundant as while it may not be their ideal environment players will actually be able to play the game in some capacity. A lot of the problems with D3 was players password spamming the login servers.