Final Fantasy XI Then...

[vwilsonuk]

It looks like the game is unavailable at present. (...) Sadly, I can't seem to get the game to load, it puts up a network error message (POL 1160) while checking the game version.

Weird. All I can think is that those who had difficulty last night and today are on the ISP that has been the source of the latest DoS attacks. I've not had any difficulty getting on at all the last 24 hours and POL says the servers are all up.

[Darwock]

That ISP excuse that Squeenix put up seemed laughable to me, they were just fobbing us off. I mean this is affecting people all over the world so how can they blame the ISPs? They also never change the POL server status from 'up' no matter how heavily they are being hit - a quick check of the live vana'diel link is far more reliable - if you see a single lonely tarutaru running through Bastok markets you know you may as well give up.

[C']

Certainly I?ve noticed the troubles of the most recent attacks. Started yesterday morning when I couldn?t check my auctions before work. Even when I got home last night it was still about an hour before I could get online. I thought S-E had resolved the issue (especially on everyone else seemed to filter online on roughly the same time, or so it seemed) but it does still seem to be ongoing.

As for the ISP issue, well I?m not overly knowledgeable when it comes to the machinations of global networks but is it not possible that different ISPs will take different routes to get the S-E servers, and it is specific points on these specific routes that are causing the bottlenecks (and this is where the DDoS attacks have been targeted)?

I?m on NTL by the way if it helps.

I?m half considering indefinitely postponing any Promyvions until the servers get to a state where they are close to being stable. It seems unfair to have people managing their game time towards a Promyvion run only to not have that run go ahead as lanned because individuals are struggling to log on. Not to the mention the inherent danger there is in having a disconnect occur midway to the spire.

[vwilsonuk]

That ISP excuse that Squeenix put up seemed laughable to me, they were just fobbing us off. I mean this is affecting people all over the world so how can they blame the ISPs?

Seems quite plausible if they've had to ban network traffic from a certain set of IP addresses that are used by a given ISP as a proxy. Most dialup and even some broadband access uses dynamically allocated IP addresses from the ISP's pool so they would have to block a range rather than individual addresses. If you happen to share the same ISP (AOL for example) or if your ISP shares a backbone with a troubled upstream ISP you might be subject to additional security measures/access denied.

This is what Square say they've had to do, and the best course of action for frustrated individuals is to send a note to their ISP. If the ISP gets enough notes, they'll spend more time preventing abuse and putting in better tracking systems to reconcile network activity to individuals. If Square are lying, they'll have the ISP to deal with.

You're right that the server status display isn't always up to date. Am on Demon here if that's useful. UK2.net offer a freely accessible dialup service on local rate, might be worth seeing if you can get in on that (beware it will kick you from time to time).

[Vanicent]

I don't want to be overly pessimistic, but I wouldn't get your hopes up Van. When a DDoS attack coincides with maintenance it's usually bad news, and this particular DDoS attack seems to have been going on for around two days now.

Don't worry, I'm not getting my hopes up. In fact, Shadow Hearts or Final Fantasy Tactics Advance are looking very tempting right now.

[Darwock]

Thing is, after half an hour of attempts last night I did actually get onto PlayOnline - the errors were coming while doing the version check of FFXI, so blocked IP addresses being the culprit doesn't add up. Not to mention that (due to my reluctance to start over and risk losing my POL connection) I didn't reboot my modem or my PS2 for the several hours it took to finally get a connection to the game itself, so my IP address didn't change during that time. I'm also NTL.

[Tsingtao]

Double Postage

[Tsingtao]

All seems to ring true to me, I see very little of these problems as a BT Broadband user. I rarely DC and rarely am unable to log in unless it's got everyone. The specific ISP issues wouldn't suprise me to much, it would be dependant on where your provider has it's main web pipe. For example my connectivity at a UK company was taken out by the 9/11 attacks as out main web back bone was hosted in the states. Amazing as it sounds the trafic was crossing the transatlantic pipe before barfing out into the world.

I'm no network buff but I would guess a large number of ISPs share hosting and major pipes. I know for example that where I'm sat right now that the web pipe is shared by many services.

[Vanicent]

{Hmm.}

I just managed to log in, and everything seemed to be working again.

I didn't stick around to try and level RNG though, as the maintenance starts very soon, and I figured I had slim to no chance of getting a party invite, or any exp in that time.

I'm currently in Port Jeuno, so if the maintenance DOES end on time I'll be ready to start Promyvion if it goes ahead. If not, well, there's Shadow Hearts to be finished, as I think I'm near the end of it now.

[vwilsonuk]

Thing is, after half an hour of attempts last night I did actually get onto PlayOnline - the errors were coming while doing the version check of FFXI, so blocked IP addresses being the culprit doesn't add up. Not to mention that (due to my reluctance to start over and risk losing my POL connection) I didn't reboot my modem or my PS2 for the several hours it took to finally get a connection to the game itself, so my IP address didn't change during that time. I'm also NTL.

It depends on the nature of the DoS and the fix for it; if the DoS involves multiple repeated logins, the login access for users in the suspect IP range might be throttled, and you may experience the DoS that the attackers are aiming for. The rest of us may be allowed on without throttling, which prevents the DoS from hitting the majority of users on the service. AH/search function performance does seem to be quite significantly impacted by how busy the server is irrespective of the DoS attack. It would be interesting to know where these functions are hosted, as I heard an ugly rumour that each world is actually spread across all servers, with each server hosting an area like Valkurm Dunes for all servers. If that's the case and AH/search is hosted on the same box or uses the same resource (db?) a logins, that would easily explain how a login DoS could affect ah/search. Alternatively the AH/search degredation could be a separate or additional DoS altogether. It could be that characters being used for AH/search DoS are kicked off the server and immediately re-attempt login, creating a login DoS.

The possibilities are complex. As a FFXI gamer I find the continued disruption frustrating and must question the intellect and emotional wellbeing of anyone who thinks the DoS is a good idea. As an IT professional currently working in support Square do have a degree of sympathy, and I am intruiged by the problem with which they have been confronted.

[Vanicent]

What's the difference between GMT and PDT?

I can't remember if it's -7 hours, or -8 hours

Thanks.

EDIT: PDT time applies to California, doesn't it? If so, the difference is -8 hours, so the maintenance will start at 1800, and end at 2000 for us.

[Tsingtao]

Yup the service is out 18:00 - 20:00 tonight, good luck for a nice and clean promyvion run tonight. Holla and Mea are different ball games to Dem but both are easily handled with a well co-ordinated group with plenty of physcho and hystero anima on hand.

N.B. Easily may be something of an over statement!

[Darwock]

More NPC exploits last night - his communication seems to be getting a lot more useful. I've had him set to talk about his weapon skills since the 2nd or 3rd session - it started out that he would announce his readiness but he wouldn't actually use his WS until some random point down the line, which was still impossible to predict and no guarantee I would have enough TP to follow him. What I noticed last night was that he would always say "attention, weapon skill ready!" when I was at around 80% TP - and he would use it the instant I went over 100%! I definitely confirmed that he was waiting for me to reach 100%, cos I started using spells to delay swings of my scythe and he still held on to it until I was ready. I reckon this is probably the result of that last session where I managed to fluke loads of SCs... he must get better at it the more chains you do.

Also spotted a bit of a text bug when Luto referred to my Galka as a 'she' lol. I know they're technically supposed to be androgenous but..!

[vwilsonuk]

Also spotted a bit of a text bug when Luto referred to my Galka as a 'she' lol. I know they're technically supposed to be androgenous but..!

Maybe Luto knows your Galka better than you do.

[mikewl]

I had quite a good time last night, duo Bst party in Crawlers Nest, took awhile to adjust to the strategy but found it alot more fun.

Managed to get level 45.