In response to recent increased lag / timeouts

[Support]

After numerous reports (and personal experience) of significantly increased lag and connection timeouts, we are upgrading our server-side software and optimizing our settings in an effort to reduce lag.
While improvements to the code are a continuous effort, we are also stepping up this activity.

Our priority the past weeks has been the prevention of actual downtime (server 'down' as opposed to connection timeouts), in cooperation with the hosting company. This has somewhat succeeded, but appears to have aggravated lags to a point where connections might time out.


To clarify a few things:
Actual downtime is also downtime for us, we cannot access the server - so no chance of *immediate* PPT or early-warning.
Actual downtime 'ends' very abruptly; when the hosting company acts, everything comes back online for everyone without a chance for intervention on our side. We are creating a protocol to handle any such events in the future.

Connection timeouts & lag are nuisances we aim to resolve ASAP.
Please bear with us while we work to remedy this.


Key point of this message:
We take your reports seriously and work on a solution for the recently increased troubles.

[Ace1102]

This is great news!
As a returning player I can tell you it'll make a big difference, I nearly kept walking after the login page yesterday...
Speaking of, are you including the streaming background of the login page in your list?

Looks just the same if the stars are static

THANKS ADMIN

[Support]

We will have a look at what is happening there. The starfield is pure CSS though, it should not have a load drag. It is rather likely your loading of the page coincided with a lag spike, but we will make sure just in case. Thanks for reporting it.
Edit: Got conclusive feedback regarding the overhead on older browsers. Disabled the animated starfield for browsers that do not support CSS3.


Due to the back-end upgrades and some incompatibility, several glitches may be noticeable.
For now, the following have been reported and fixed (as of *now*):
- Weapon sale vs scrap (Thanks Clockwork)
- Alliance invitation / membership process (Thanks Harchester/Tribulation)
- Planet renaming (Thanks Clockwork)
- Ranking relation status (Thanks Harchester)
- Broker/Spy/... amounts (Thanks .. all of you)
- ..

Please keep reporting them as you see them.

[overlord elz]

Not sure if this has been reported, house alignment merging with the alliance assigned name:

[Support]

Thanks. This was not related, but it is fixed nonetheless.

Not sure if this has been reported, house alignment merging with the alliance assigned name:

[Ras al Ghul]

Using the gatewars.com/login_plain.php will not allow q login. It did before but now get a refurrer error.

[Support]

On it.

Using the gatewars.com/login_plain.php will not allow q login. It did before but now get a refurrer error.

Fixed.

[~nyx~]

so will there be a quick method to alert admin to down time? Seeing forum is dependent on same server as game and FB and twitter on admin not being afk?

[Game Over]

My random naq generator no longer works. Check it out.

[Support]

For my good friend, the great Lord, Katsumoto.

My random naq generator no longer works. Check it out.

Twitter and Facebook alert me when people post (Twitter faster than Facebook). If I am able to go online from my desktop I do so. Alternatively you could try Skype, but if I'm afk, well..You mentioned adding people who can take care of things like this. The access that would require and subsequent security risk is disproportionate to the benefits in my view. Besides, these are a-systemic calamitous circumstances. It is good to be prepared for disaster, but it is better to optimize for normal operation.

so will there be a quick method to alert admin to down time? Seeing forum is dependent on same server as game and FB and twitter on admin not being afk?