Update

[Dubanka]

Sat. Afternoon was most recent update.


March 19 2011

Hello everyone!

A quick update for today just to keep all of you informed:

For the most part, lag has been taken care of. We are still experiencing lag at peak hours, but we've made huge improvements over this past week.

We are focusing on a few things right now:

Server optimizations to further reduce lag and increase overall performance.
Client / DirectX optimizations to increase client performance for both loading and frame rate.
Fixing critical bugs.

The art team is primarily working on preparing expansion territories.

When these critical issues are under control, I will post a longer update about what features and improvements we'll be working on for the near future.

Enjoy!



I would like and update on the framerate situation, as it is making the game completely unplayable for several of my guildies, lag is of course a constant annoyance - the game still is not consistently smooth to do anything involving any degree of twitch reaction with any level of consistency, and the loading entities issue is horribly annoying.

I know my clients like daily updates when dealing with trouble spots, or high exposure items...as the consumer here, i'd jsut like a quick update on what you've done for me today :D since yesterday is old news.

[Dzarren]

Any communication would be appreciated, game is still badly playabel in GMT primetime ( the time i can play )
So it has been silent for a while now and no improvement on performance, i am getting worried ?
latest update they didnt communicat anything, rollback also no communication.

[jumpshot]

they're either in Jamaica, the hospital from sleep deprivation, or working on it.

[Armand]

Hard to keep momentum going when you're starving us of information Mr Dev.

Please throw us a bone.

[Dade512]

He told us in his last update, just over two days ago, what they are working on. If they have nothing ready to go all he can do is reiterate what was written there. We know they're working, what they are working on and that he will update us when he has something to report. So why act like they are keeping us in the dark?

[Sirius]

Generally, "I'll get back to you when I'm done" is not seen as an acceptable form of "progress report".

[caldrin]

When its a major issue like this its a good idea to keep your community updated with every..

Even just a "hey all still worknig on the issues here we hope to have somthing to push to the servers pretty soon"

Instead we get nothing but a game that we can hardly play because of fps and lag issues.

Please talk to us devs

[KeithStone]

When its a major issue like this its a good idea to keep your community updated with every..

Even just a "hey all still worknig on the issues here we hope to have somthing to push to the servers pretty soon"

Instead we get nothing but a game that we can hardly play because of fps and lag issues.

Please talk to us devs

The devs post more than once a week, that's more than I can say about any dev team that I've ever seen

[Dade512]

You make it sound like everyone is having major issues, I don't think that's true. That said, I'm not trying to downplay the need to fix the issues that are there. I know I'm have no fps issues and when I do get lag anymore it's seldom more than a second delay. I'm sure when the issues aren't common to everyone it makes it more difficult to fix.

[Sirius]

Most other dev teams have games that work @ their stated system requirements.

[Dade512]

Hahaha...oh yeah??? CoD: Black OPS? That only took 4mo to fix.

Let me add on a less sarcastic note, the game works. It works well, like I said, on my rig. Because you're having issues doesn't mean it's not working.

[orious13]

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if it works fine-ish for most people. My rig is way under most of the people here and I don't have any graphics lag.

I think a response a week is acceptable, but I also think we have all the information we need. "Things aren't working and we're fixing them... we'll get back to you when it's fixed with a crap ton of more upcoming fixes that we have planned". They haven't posted anything because it's not done. That's enough for me. Being impatient is only going to hurt yourself.

[Sirius]

Let me add on a less sarcastic note, the game works. It works well, like I said, on my rig. Because you're having issues doesn't mean it's not working.

Actually, if there's a whole class of computers that meet and exceed the stated system requirements, but will not run Xsyon, that does mean it's not working.


...but I also think we have all the information we need. "Things aren't working and we're fixing them... we'll get back to you when it's fixed with a crap ton of more upcoming fixes that we have planned". They haven't posted anything because it's not done. That's enough for me. Being impatient is only going to hurt yourself.

Actually a timeframe would be quite helpful to players who wish to plan their play time, and it is probably well within the devs' ability, even if it is something like "We have been unable to identify the source of extremely poor graphics performance on systems that previously worked fine, and it may take several weeks or more to come up with a working fix."

[Dubanka]

without getting into the semantics dance with regard to some of the issue/non-issue points above...

as a project manager, when i'm in a tricky spot, or murphy is showing up and all is not going according to plan, it's always best to communicate early and often with the client...it is their money after all. Everyone usually tends to get less pissed about shit happening, when at least they were in the know as to what was going on.

Bottom line, when you communicate with your customer base they tend to give you a little more slack...unfortunately the perception that goes with silence is not typically one of 'they're working their ass off'...perception of silence + no (visible) activity = they must think everything is fine and are taking a nap.

[redrazor]

I agree. At all times communication is the best avenue. Xsyon has been quite communicative during the process of developing this game. Just because the game launched and they're working their asses off doesnt mean that policy should change in any way. Im even ok with something like "Update: Too tired to work, will sleep for 16 hours straight then get back to solving bug X regarding feature Z. Have a nice day".

Of course this would span a wide array of trolling and complaints and refund begging but after the "snow complaint", I think the Devs know what to expect from this community, so....keep us informed, please.

[Dade512]

without getting into the semantics dance with regard to some of the issue/non-issue points above...

as a project manager, when i'm in a tricky spot, or murphy is showing up and all is not going according to plan, it's always best to communicate early and often with the client...it is their money after all. Everyone usually tends to get less pissed about shit happening, when at least they were in the know as to what was going on.

Bottom line, when you communicate with your customer base they tend to give you a little more slack...unfortunately the perception that goes with silence is not typically one of 'they're working their ass off'...perception of silence + no (visible) activity = they must think everything is fine and are taking a nap.

I get your point, and if I hired someone to make something for me I would expect daily updates. Frankly tho, 2 - 4 updates per week from a game company is fairly well impressive. The fact it's been 2 days and people act like they've packed up, moved to Thailand and are at this moment snorting blow offa hooker's ass is kinda jumping the gun.

[orious13]

I get your point, and if I hired someone to make something for me I would expect daily updates. Frankly tho, 2 - 4 updates per week from a game company is fairly well impressive. The fact it's been 2 days and people act like they've packed up, moved to Thailand and are at this moment snorting blow offa hooker's ass is kinda jumping the gun.

Yeah... i feel this way. I would definitely want constant updates if I hired people, but for this game they give plenty of updates... I'd probably be curious after about a week.

[Haladmer]

Also keep in mind, this is a small team, normally on projects like Dubanka is talking about, the project manager does not tend to be a major contributor,(gross over-simplification, almost criminally so, follows) they are simply process monitoring, and raise flags when risks are identified or the timeline is going to be/is impacted.

I agree, as customers we are all stake holders, we have paid for a product and will be paying for an ongoing service, but I believe that given the size of the team and the resources available, I would prefer a quick update saying "we're working on it" in place of a major contributor being out in order to present detail into everything they are supposed to be working on.

On that note, there are much larger companies with larger teams that have provided, and continue to provide, less information on a less frequent basis, while from a PM stance, I think communication could improve by bringing in a dedicated PM, as a game company making an MMO, I wish other publishers would take note on how well this one communicates with their client base!

[ocoma]

My system is the bare minimum of what is listed as system requirements and I do not have framerate issues. Some of you may want to recheck you hardware/drivers/ect and maybe lower a graphic setting or two if your having problems.

[Xx1327]

they give plenty of updates
any complaint whatsoever about the topic is just plain stupid
post a bug report and you'll be notified of the fix...&c when it happens. If there is no update they're busy, if they post news then they're about to update the game or tell about an extended period in which they will then upload one.

[caldrin]

My system is the bare minimum of what is listed as system requirements and I do not have framerate issues. Some of you may want to recheck you hardware/drivers/ect and maybe lower a graphic setting or two if your having problems.

Then i believe you are n the minority.. mot people are having issues.

[JCatano]

My system is the bare minimum of what is listed as system requirements and I do not have framerate issues. Some of you may want to recheck you hardware/drivers/ect and maybe lower a graphic setting or two if your having problems.

Many people are having issues and Jordi knows about it, obviously. That's why he said this:

"Client / DirectX optimizations to increase client performance for both loading and frame rate." - Jordi

Before that last update, nobody complained of framerate issues. After it, many did. Zone 856 runs fine for me. 740 and the immediate zones around it are piss poor frame-wise since the patch, though.

[jumpshot]

740 and the immediate zones around it are piss poor frame-wise since the patch, though.

My clan shoulda stuck to it's original spot :(


HEY GUYS I heard there's an update happing RIGHT NOW!! Are you PUMPED!?

[Dzarren]

Sure seems someone at notorious read this post.
2 update posts on 1 day, i am so glad they inform us.
Always love it when taken seriously.