Lost Ark launches with traditional MMO queue times
Lost Ark’s European Community is getting the industry’s usual MMO launch. It’s a genre tradition that lines for log-in are long. However, Smilegate has updated their website to say they have more servers available for European players.
The Amazon-published MMORPG broke the Steam record for concurrent player counts. It reached 1.3 million players over the weekend. The Steam reviews for the game were rated Overwhelmingly positive when I wrote this, perhaps 24 hours ago. However, PC Gamer noticed that that rating has dropped to Mixed. We can quickly find out why by looking through Steam reviews, Reddit, Twitter, etc. Europeans can’t play. One thread shared mid-afternoon statistics showing some servers with up to 24,000 people waiting for Zinnervale.
Multiple servers can be used in this way. My own North American experience shows that things are okay. Smilegate claims there is a solution for European players. The developer and Amazon Games stated in a blog that they are “working as fast as possible to establish an entirely new region server in Europe.” However, there is no precise timing, but the developer clarified that this new region does not allow for cross-region play. The developer also warned that you should not redeem your Founder’s Pack rewards if you are moving and haven’t committed to your characters there.
Although I have a little bit of Deja Vu, I have been there before. I cried for hours last December at my desk, hoping and praying that Final Fantasy XIV would allow me to play Endwalker. Naoki Yoshida, director and producer of Final Fantasy XIV was very open about the team’s difficulties in keeping up. He explained how the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic and the shortage of semiconductors affected the game’s server infrastructure. Although I understood the concept and had no ill will towards the team, I was still trying to find Y’shtola.
It also happened to New World, which is another Amazon-published title. If the world’s largest, most evil mega-cooperation can’t (won’t), then I think it will. We should expect more of this from our mega-cooperations. This is not a new concept. I am trying to recall the “perfect” MMO launches, but I can’t find one. FFXIV’s Shadowbringers, Heavensward expansions were seamless primarily, but Stormblood, and A Realm Reborn both sucked.
This is all to say that we need to stop scheduling our time for unstable multiplayer game launches. Or, at the very least, schedule that time with a Plan B that’s both fun and valuable. I’m among those who have thought it was wise to vacation during one of these, and I’ve paid for every instance of refusing to do the whole go-outside-touch-grass thing. You can be made, but please don’t yell at poor developers. You can also come to play or FFXIV. Just don’t pick me as my data center; I won’t be able to do it again.
