Do you log in right at new day? Why?

[JCP]

As you all know by now, the server load gets really heavy when the village clock strikes midnight. That's when everyone seems to want to visit the village.

Instead of hard or soft coding a way around that, maybe we can find a more behavioral answer. But we need to know why that behavior happens if we want to understand it.

So, do you try to visit as soon as the village clock rolls over? Why?

I can anticipate a few answers, but don't want to put up a poll since we don't know all of them.


1. Time of Day - for US EST at least, new days happen on the lunch hour (only free time at work/school) and midnight (have to get in a new day before going to sleep).

2. You're addicted - You must play the game ASAP or suffer through withdrawal systems. Which means the subliminal messages (send us money) are working.

3. Social calendar - You like the people around at that time, and the village is a busy, chatty place. Of course, you're all chatting about the lag and it takes forever.

4. Roll over - You try to log in at the end of one day, complete your turns, and stick around for the clock to change so you can get another day in as well.

5. PVP refresh - you want to get your attacks in on whoever's sleeping in the inn before someone else does.
We're just trying to figure out a way to better manage the server load without being too strict about it. We actually don't like being strict - we want everyone to have fun and enjoy themselves.

So try to think about why you visit us when you do and let us know.

Something to think about: Why not let all those others log in before you, gain lots of experience by fighting forest creatures and PVP and then quit? After an hour you can swoop in and fight in a faster forest and then attack their sleeping characters that have just filled up on experience.

[FanboyElric]

If I'm on central server at those times, its one or the other and sometimes a combination of (1) and (4)... On the other hand, I don't always log into my Central server account when I see a lot of people online because I want to avoid the lag you're talking about in your post....

[Terron]

Lunch Time, dont have the chance to do it at night when I get home (Anyanka needs her turns too).

[Voratus]

Its one of the things I do when I get to work in the morning, and if it takes me too long to get in my turns, then I may wind up being on during that time (though I try to avoid it, because I'd rather wait and play later than deal with that amount of server slowdown).
If I am on at that time, its not because its "new day", its because its a convenient time for me at work to waste some time.

[Sneakabout]

In the UK the new day be at 5.30 - just around when I usually get home...

[Pirotess]

JCP
>So, do you try to visit as soon as the village
>clock rolls over? Why?

No. I avoid that time especially for two reasons: The lag is really annoying and I won't die if I wait, and it's really annoying to be killed because you get start getting SQL errors while you're playing because too many users are connected, and you get dumped out into the fields after 10 minutes.

I've actually stopped playing on Central because of how slow it is. Even with twice as many forest fights on dragoncat I'm able to play my game day in much less time because I'm not waiting 5 to ten seconds between each 'f.' Average 7 seconds...ten rounds to a battle...ten forest fights...almost 12 minutes of waiting per game day on Central, and that's just wait time from battles. If I don't chat, I can easily play a full game day in that much time on dragoncat.

>4. Roll over - You try to log in at the end of one day,
>complete your turns, and stick around for the clock to
>change so you can get another day in as well.

Yes...I do this sometimes. It's easier to find twenty - thirty minutes to play once a day than fifteen minutes twice a day.

>We actually don't like being strict

So you probably wouldn't be interested in either of the two obvious solutions:

1) Refresh turns periodically throughout the day
2) Stagger user refresh times

Lady Pirotess

[Sneakabout]

That could be interesting... have the New Day times staggered by DK....

[hardhat]

So you probably wouldn't be interested in either of the two obvious solutions:

1) Refresh turns periodically throughout the day
2) Stagger user refresh times
They'd probably rather take the third obvious solution:

3) Use the money they get from the "subliminal messages" and buy a bigger, better, faster server.

[Karissa]

So you probably wouldn't be interested in either of the two obvious solutions:

1) Refresh turns periodically throughout the day
2) Stagger user refresh times
They'd probably rather take the third obvious solution:

3) Use the money they get from the "subliminal messages" and buy a bigger, better, faster server.

We have used the money to get a bigger, better, faster server, and Ekim/Talesin does check said server daily, or whenever he is asked to do so. (I asked yesterday when it was slow.)

The server was running fine...the problem seemed to come in from the European/American connexion....

You know what? I'm repeating that which he said to me, and probably not doing it all properly and omitting something important...so...

Instead of making a fool of myself, I'll go get Talesin and make him explain it all...

[Angul]

I get on around the new day because I'm at school and have absolutely nothing to do. And because my parents at home present some problems when I want to play. I also get on around the new day because yes I like to talk to the people who are on at the time.

[Sktim]

Blah.. Lag I hate it and will do (almost) anything to avoid it. I get on between 4 and 6 o'clock village time. But even these times are becoming crowded. If the server has more than 40 people on it, it is slow for me. I would rather sleep through the day than put up with the lag.
Just my 2 gold.

[FanboyElric]

As an addition to my earlier comments:

Recently the only slow time I've seen is right before a roll over too.... so thats contributed more and more to when I play in the past 2 weeks....

[Karissa]

JCP

>We actually don't like being strict

So you probably wouldn't be interested in either of the two obvious solutions:

1) Refresh turns periodically throughout the day
2) Stagger user refresh times

Lady Pirotess

Well, as JCP said, we don't like being strict. Evil, yes, but not strict. We try to have fun, even with the rules...and having the whole crowd in the Square *is* fun, even with the lag. We have our Day Crew and our Night Crew, and a few sleep-deprived folk who are part of both.

So, aye, we have considered more staggered New Day times set by various methods, but its something we'd rather hoped to avoid if at all possible. Granted, it could make for some interesting new community, but it could wind up causing a huge headache because just like noone's ever totally happy with New Day as it is, I can personally guartunee noone'd be happy no matter how we reset staggered times.

Its some sort of rule of running this I think - the more people you try to please, the more people are displeased with you... Not quite sure why that works, but it seems to have held true thusfar.

However, I disgress. Staggering times would perhaps avoid the lag demon, get people together at different times, and make everything go a bit faster. It would also, however, make untold numbers complain for the next millenia about 'their time is wrong', change the community interaction as it currently stands, and make errors pertaining to New Day harder to deal with, due to having several of them occuring a day.

So basically the pros of staggered times are enough to merit it some consideration, but the cons are enough to make even the most stout-hearted among the staff quail a bit.

Any other suggestions?

[Sneakabout]

This may sound completely wrong by any form of coding standards, but if you were to allow people to set their own New Days, that could solve some of the problem....

i.e. Have a button which they can press labelled New Day somewhere, say, in the Square which gives them a New Day when they press it twice a day. Then alter the New Day script so that it only works once a day, and just resets the New Day button so that you can get two New Days..

This would drastically change the feel of the game though, and i myself would be unsure about implementing it.

However, part of the problem is that certain times are just better for most people so they'll log in at those times anyway and hence slow down the server anyway :(

[Pirotess]

Karissa:
>Any other suggestions?

...none that are practical. You could of course upgrade hardware, distribute the workload over multiple servers, or start deleting users you don't like, but none of those are likely to be well received either. :)

>So basically the pros of staggered times are enough to merit
>it some consideration, but the cons are enough to make even
>the most stout-hearted among the staff quail a bit.

Fair enough. You listed a few cons. What if some of them could be made to go away?

>Staggering times would
>also, however, make untold numbers complain for the
>next millenia about 'their time is wrong', change the
>community interaction as it currently stands,

Implemented in the right way, it should be relatively easy to keep most everyone happy. A lot of people really won't care when the day refreshes. Me, for instance. There needn't be a perfect redistribution for the server load to decrease. Even if only 10% of the user base is moved... that would probably be helpful. So how about only redistribute some people, while leaving others unchanged?

Let's say somebody creates the code to check a users current refresh time, and if it is not optimal, move it to someplace less populated. Then...

1) Simply allow anyone who wants to to opt out and keep their current time. Some sort of one-time yes/no logon event.

2) Perform no automated redistribution, but create a new building in the village in which users may move their refresh time AHEAD by any number of hours. There are probably a goodly number of people for whom it would be convenient to have a different refresh time, and would do it to make their own lives easier, reducing lag for everyone else in the process.

3) Redistribute only for new characters, and allow 'grandfather clause' users to peter out over time.

With 1 and 2 you could also provide some sort of minor incentive for those who were willing to move. Some gold, a few forest fights, etc.

>and make errors pertaining to New Day harder to deal with,
>due to having several of them occuring a day.

Obviously the above solutions would only make this more complicated, not less, but at least it would be only one problem, not three.

Out of curiosity...I've not looked at the new day code. Does it check to see if the day needs to be incremented when a user logs on / visits the village, or is it a time based check that runs for everybody all at once?

Also...which is more important: making people here and now happy, or making the code ready for 'official' release? Whether or not you actually want to implement it on Central...some sort of refresh staggering really should be an option for fresh installs anyway.

Lady Pirotess

[LadyPhoenix]

I wish I COULD move my "new day" time. I like to do all of my turns back to back (both days) but the current new day time isn't convenient for me. (I'm usually elbow deep in work at that time.) I'd probably play more if my new day was 2 or 3 hours later.

[Pwyll]

I generally log in when I get to work and stay on for my entire workday, playing my turns, rp-ing and chatting between work tasks. I can do this because I'm a web developer and basically get to be on the Internet all day. Lately I've been bailing out when the lag gets too harsh - usually right after the New Day. I'd like to be able to continue to play at the times I do because I like the people that I interact with at my accustomed times, and we have ongoing rp stuff happening.

I know Talesin has been trying everything he can to improve performance. Unfortunately, setting up threaded Apache servers is outside my skill set, as is php. If the game ever switches to Java, give me a call! :wink:

If people are open to outside help, I can check with our network and e-commerce guys and see if they have any advice. I work for a VERY large company, so someone around here probably knows something.

[mysticii]

i usually log on the start of every new day, if not the end of the first day so i can play another day staright afterwards :)

by the way, i love lotgd so much i directly inject it into my blood stream...yeh let the good times roll :twisted:

argggh lag going to dieeeeeee..........

[Atlas]

I didn't actually check page two but heres an idea.

A new game day starts on the time the player registered. So if someone signed up for their account at 2:13pm, their next game day would be 2:13am, and then again at 2:13pm.

[Ithilden]

My answer has to be #2. I am SO addicted. I would play ALL of the time, but I have to go to class and work, and my computer at home isn't hooked to the internet, plus I already sleep. :D

And YES!, If I had a way to permentaly attach a Internet accessable laptop to myself so I could play the game where-ever I go then I WOULD. :P

[Feyn]

I log in at noon eastern time (new day on the development server where I play), get as much xp as I can, kill whomever I can, then log out and watch the day periodically to kill as many people as I can.

For me, logging on at noon is to ensure Im the highest level possible for when people log in and out over the ensuing 6 hours. The higher my/their level, the more xp the PKs are worth.

The pre-noon login time is "when I get into the office" and the 6pm new day login time is because we only have a ~15ish minute window to login before the server shuts down.

[LordWolfen]

No.
I login near end of day, so I can play two days with one login.

[GOLD]

afraid so.. seriously addicted, unable to make the 1st reset due to the server to time location

[BoarVolk]

I play the second i wake up, and the second the newday rolls over. I cant go a second with out it, knowing i can have it.

[Howman2004]

my cpu is down at home, and i have only at work to do it..i work 3-12, so for the mosty part, i barely get any plays at midnight...i jsut try and get a few fights in, then play mainly @ 3pm when i start...i found one board that when i start @ 3, a new game starts at like 6 or 7...that works for me quite well

[Sholva]

I usually log on two hours after new day (9:00 and 21:00 GMT +2)
First thing I do when I open my computer at school (Am I addicted?) and last thing I do before going to sleep at home (should I seek professional help?) Weekends are whole different story my friends. Friends and/or king alcohol mess up my daily routines (I really should get a real life) :D

[Salem]

Well,

Personally I'ld say 1, but since the refreshes here (GMT +1) are at 6pm and 6am, I tend to log in whenever I get the chance before 6pm, and once it turns 6 pm I login again, it happens I just do a roll-over, but that depends on my mood, mayb I wake up in the morning and spend the first gameday allready :p

So better say 1 and 4, tho not always.

Greetz,

Salem

[Vode Andreas]

I'm at GMT+9:30 and the new day is around 1:30... recently I've been doing the rollover (thanks to school holidays)
I've been logging in about midday and staying on till the end of the following day... works well for me