Problem with PBEM server

[xriz]

I tried to load up my PBEM game this morning and found PC was hanging after trying to load up the multiplayer, have to kill it in the task manager. Single player games load up fine.

Is the PBEM server down?

[VPaulus]

Today, I've been having problems in accessing to Slitherine's forum. So probably the problems are related.
There will be an upgrade in the end of August to avoid this kind of situations.
Please be patient.

[jb5256]

I am having the same problem.  I do not think it would be reasonable for and I my opponent to have to wait until the end of August to be able to continue our game online.  Is anyone at Matrix or Slitherine working to fix this problem now? 

[VPaulus]

tm.asp?m=2880776

[Erik Rutins]

There's nothing I'm aware of that should hang your PC. The PBEM server is under a lot of stress at the moment though.

If you see upload errors, just retry. An Error 23 means the upload did complete.

If you get a login error, just retry, you will get in eventually.

We are addressing this in two ways. First, we are upgrading the PBEM server to a much better system. That's schedule for later in August. Second, a new public beta will be out next week for WITE that does a better job of managing the errors.

There's no reason to stop playing though. I have a PBEM game ongoing and we've been playing through the occasional error messages and login problems.

Regards,

- Erik

[tomar]

I am having similar problems... This is affecting not only Panzer Corp but also battlefield academy and field of glory.

A few days ago I noticed that it was taking more and more time to upload games... For the last 3 days, there have been issues on and off (for example the game list periodically coming up empty, games not uploading, error messages etc...)

[ccsdc83]

Not working here either. Single player time I suppose.

[elmo3]

Same here this morning.  It says Initializing Multiplayer... but never gives me the login screen.  I have to kill the game from the Task Manager to get out of it.

[El Condoro]

+1 (but I've only tried once today)

[jomni]

Servers seem to be dead.

[Erik Rutins]

Everything should be working again now, apologies for the inconvenience!

[jb5256]

Thank you for responding but I just tried to access the game again online and I am still having the same problem. To be clear, I am not receiving any error messages, I can get as far as the "turn/weather/victory conditions" screen and that's it. I can only hit "esc" and close out in the menu. I submitted a trouble ticket yesterday and the update states something to the effect that I will be receiving assistance from the developer. Have to be honest, I would not have purchased this game had I known this kind of problem would come up and not be quickly resolved.

Just curious, why is it that the game was designed so that online play could only be executed via servers at Slitherine or Matrix?

[jomni]

ORIGINAL: jb5256
Just curious, why is it that the game was designed so that online play could only be executed via servers at Slitherine or Matrix?

This scheme is common in console gaming.
As for the game, the servers keep the save game so that the players cannot touch it.

[PipFromSlitherine]

The key reason is convenience. The system allows players to create and play games without needing to try and individually find opponents, arrange games, etc. It's been a huge success, with vastly more people playing online than has ever been the case with older PBEM systems. It does put more on us to ensure the infrastructure is solid though, and we apologise for this period of flakiness. The server move should solve this, as well as make it simpler for us to bring on more horsepower as needed in future. We also suffered a strange DoS-type incident yesterday which caused additional issues to an already sweating server.

Thanks for your patience.

Cheers

Pip

[jb5256]

Well, now I am confused. I still cannot open the game and I my opponent started earlier, but now I can download and play a different game/scenario that my opponent started. We have only completed the first turn of the new game, but it seems to be working. Why can I play the more recent game, but not the older one?

Also, my trouble ticket I submitted has been closed as "resolved" but the solution is that "most likely" the problem will be fixed when I install version 1.01 of the game. I was not given any information as to when this 1.01 version will be available and (just in case) I checked for updates and my game message was that I already had the most recent version of the game. So, does the response I received mean that I am going to continue to have this problem until version 1.01 is released? Is anyone else still experiencing a problem with online gaming?

[PipFromSlitherine]

If you can play another game fine, then the issue is going to be in that single game which is problematic. I know that there was a MP bug which got fixed, and will be part of the upcoming patch, and it may be that it has been determined that that bug was the cause of your problem, and the patch will allow that game to continue.

Cheers

Pip

[elmo3]

Is the server down?  A friend of mine issued a challenge for me (passworded) but when I go to the server it says there are no challenges available.

[ccsdc83]

I think it is down everything is blank and challenges aren't doing anything either if you issue them. I believe they said an upgrade was in the works though so maybe it's in the process.

[VPaulus]

quote:

ORIGINAL:  SeanD

Slitherine's Server Traffic Tripled Over Last Quarter
......
As a result of this change, the Slitherine servers will be closed for maintenance and upgrades on the 24th August at 8am CET, for 5 hours till 1pm CET making the PBEM++ multiplayer system and all other web services unavailable during that time.

[elmo3]

Thanks.