At shortly after 9, the servers for the SF MMO WildStar went live as planned. Everything seemed to be running smoothly. On Twitter, the American Community Manager had previously posted lively pics from the headquarters.
At 9 AM our time, at midnight Carbine-time, the devs toasted with champagne. The servers were online. What could possibly go wrong? A lot. Apparently even a DDOS attack. Read it yourself in our live ticker for the head start of WildStar.
Live Ticker for the Head Start
9:00 AM: It’s finally starting, but the login servers are hopelessly overloaded. It had been obvious in the past few days that this would happen: It is an extremely polished and well-thought-out MMORPG. But why is Wildstar praised everywhere? Yes, almost everyone who hasn’t yet wants to see for themselves. With the live ticker for the head start, we will keep you updated!
9:10 AM: The cleaning lady should not be to blame, as the German CM assures us: “We have feedback from the server room in Frankfurt: The cleaning lady swears she did not trip over the cables!”
9:20 AM: Community Manager Jan Sterl suggests on Twitter that over 300,000 people are trying to log into the game right now.
9:23 AM: The login servers are still down, we will let you know as soon as there is news!
9:38 AM: WildStar is under attack!
Our problems with the #WildStar login servers persist. Unfortunately, everything points to an additional DDOS attack. — WildStar DE (@WildStar_DE) May 31, 2014
10:00 AM: The latest Twitter message: “The first players have managed to log in – please be patient a little longer.”
10:08 AM: Things seem to be moving, at least now you can enter the queue! Fortunately, you only have to wait 27 hours, yay! But it seems just to be a glitch.
10:10 AM: This reminds me a little of the launch of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn! Square Enix had never anticipated such a massive influx, could it be similar here at NCSoft and Carbine?
10:12 AM: Community Manager Jan Sterl has shared something with us on Twitter again: “If you made it through the login and don’t see any realms: We are working on that too!”
10:14 AM: Wow, I can now log into Ikthia after restarting the client. And now I’m creating a character! You too?
10:23 AM: “The problems with the WildStar login servers should have calmed down. Please try again!” Roger that, we will!
10:30 AM: “We are aware that certain features, such as the account inventory, are not working for all players yet and are working on it.”
10:42 AM: “Please check if you are truly on a DE realm! By default, you end up on an EN realm! #WildStar” Yes, this has happened to quite a few people who wondered why English is the new German.
10:56 AM: In the official WildStar forum, there is a thread, listing the currently known issues.
We are currently working on the following issues:
- Some players cannot find the surprise bags in the account inventory / are unable to create more than 3 characters / cannot write in chat / cannot use reserved names, etc.
- Old: We are currently working on a problem with account permissions.
- New: This issue should be resolved. However, we are still reviewing reports about problems with the account inventory.
- Some players receive the message that no valid account was found.
- Please check the account management under transaction history to see if an active EU pre-order code (or pre-sale) is displayed there. If not, you will need to activate this code.
- After activation, it may take a few hours until you can log into the game. We must unfortunately ask for your patience.
- Occasionally, timeout messages appear indicating that the login servers are not reachable.
- This issue should only occur very rarely now. Please try again in this case.
- Partially, no realms can be selected.
- Old: We continue to investigate problems with the responsible server, but you should still be getting the opportunity intermittently. Please try again a few minutes later if you cannot select a realm.
- New: The problem should no longer exist.
11:11 AM: Haven’t pre-ordered WildStar yet? You can still do so. You get early access and exclusive bonus items like a rocket house or a storage chest. Either you order it via the official site or through a partner, which of course includes Amazon.
11:36 AM: Although some are already diligently playing, this does not apply to everyone, especially those stuck in the server list. They promise improvement: “The WildStar realm list is currently having problems. We are restarting the responsible service now.” In the meantime, take a look at the core features of WildStar:
12:50 PM: Everything has been running smoothly at the Mein MMO editorial team for quite a while. How about you?
15:07 PM: Can’t use your reserved name? Here’s the response from Carbine: “Reserved names cannot be used at times. We are investigating the error, but unfortunately, we cannot provide information at the moment on when the error will be resolved.”
18:00 PM: We just received the message that a hotfix has been applied for the auth and login servers. The account inventory should also function better now, but it still doesn’t unlock the Bag of Awesomeness. Additionally, a new English PvP server has just launched: Zhur. Many expected that the only English PvP server in the EU would burst at the seams – since all the players are flocking there from countries that don’t have a server in their language… and that seems to have happened.
18:40 PM: Regarding the partially faulty name reservation, there has now been an update: “If you changed your email address after the name reservation, you cannot use the reserved names. Unfortunately, we currently have no solution for this issue.” Otherwise, it seems to be working again.
Next day, June 1.
2:00 AM: A hotfix patch has been applied that resolves some critical issues. Here are the patch notes:
- Fixed an occasional crash resulting from right clicking to report spam.
- Fixed a bug where players who had purchased the game were being placed into the “guest” realm queue.
- Fixed an exploit that was allowing some users to bypass the server queue.
- Fixed issue causing character create screen to be blank after the queue popped.
- The Bag of Awesomeness can now be rebound via the Account Services UI if the player character no longer has the bag in inventory.
- Fixed a server crash related to pathing.
- Added more cheat detection.
2:45 AM: Mein MMO wishes everyone a good night and a hopefully smooth head start experience. Most players are actually reporting a successful MMORPG launch. Although there are some occasional technical difficulties and performance issues, this seems relatively normal for such a day. The game itself is in very good shape.
14:26 PM: Have you already read our 15 tips for starting or the forecast?
17:00 PM: The first players have reached level 50. The Worldfirst titles go to the duo Flim and Pattison, who achieved this success on the European server Hazak. Now the two will probably sleep first. When will the first Americans come?
17:15 PM: The developer Carbine has managed the initial problems well.
And another new day, June 2.
10:30 AM: The influx is greater than expected, as the number of servers had to be increased again. Contagnion (EU-EN-PvP) and Archon (EU-EN-PvE) are extending the European camp. German PvE players are advised to start on Kazor and Toria. Additionally, there is downtime from 11 AM to 1 PM our time; a hotfix is being applied.
WildStar, official release on June 3.
08:30 AM: The main problem at the moment is that players are unevenly distributed. On some servers, there is a queue of several hours, while others still have plenty of space. Many have previously agreed on a server with their guild or want to play where their Twitch heroes are playing, and this is now leading to problems.
09:15 AM: WildStar has just been officially released! The servers are back online. A new server is also joining, as player demand continues. This time it’s even a German realm: “We have just opened Deadstar as the new DE-PvP realm for WildStar. Please choose this if you’re looking for a new PvP realm.”
You can watch the launch trailer here:
9:35 AM: Carbine needs to take the servers down to address issues: “All WildStar realms are temporarily unavailable again to check issues with crashes and connection interruptions.”
