EQ2 Website down???

PrincessAriel · #1 04-23-2011, 01:54 PM

Is the eq2 website down? I have it set as my home page and I keep getting website is unavailable.

Therendil · #2 04-23-2011, 02:29 PM

All the SOE support and commerce sites have been down since yesterday for "emergency maintenance." SOE isn't talking much about the problem. I read a story in Tom's Hardware that PlayStation Network was the first to go down, and that SOE has not ruled out an outside attack.

As of now, EQ2 is running okay, although there are spotty issues with login.

That's as much as I know. SOE does post updates on their Facebook page.

-= Therendil =-

tknarr · #3 04-23-2011, 02:45 PM

What I've heard is that the problem's over in SCEA, the group responsible for the PlayStation, PSN and the like. Probably it's some platform-related service that doesn't impact the games directly but's needed for the websites.

**lordebon** · #4 04-23-2011, 06:03 PM

Yeah, the websites like EQ2Players and whatnot are all done by another group at SOE. The game servers work fine since they're separate, but it looks like the websites are done by the same systems as playstation network so they're still down from that.

The some of the backend authorization and account websites for EQ2 are also separate and still work, although it's a bit trickier to get to them since the main website is still down.

The forums were also down but came back up relatively quickly.

Velxunyrr · #5 04-23-2011, 06:47 PM

I'm surprised no one has commented ANYWHERE about why the website is down. Anonymous DDOSed Sony a couple of days ago over the legal dispute with Geohot. It's funny how SOE is playing it off as "emergency maintenance" and aren't commenting further. It seems most of their sites are back up except for EQ2, but only a few days ago ALL of Sony's sites were down due to the attack. Way to step up and keep us informed, SOE.

**lordebon** · #6 04-23-2011, 10:24 PM

People have been commenting all over the internet about it. Anon says it wasn't theme and it very well may not have been... Amazon had a major failure at one of their data centers. It seems like a strange coincidence that PSN and other SOE stuff would go down at the same time like magic. Obviously SOE uses Amazon in some critical way for some of their systems (or barring, that, at least uses the same data center).

Therendil · #7 04-25-2011, 04:23 PM

Anonymous has flatly denied that they have attacked PSN. SOE has acknowledged "external intrusion" and claims that PSN is still down because they are working to strengthen it before bringing it back up.

That doesn't directly explain why the SOE commerce and related sites are down. SOE's network is huge and closely linked, so it is possible that severe issues with PSN might cause problems with other Station sites.

-= Therendil =-

PrincessAriel · #8 05-02-2011, 08:05 AM

Hey is the entire soe site down? I keep getting a wierd message on the internet and when I launch the eq2 it goes no further then launch pad with SOE in the center of it.

**lordebon** · #9 05-02-2011, 09:29 AM

Their websites are redirecting to maintenance.station.sony.com which has this message:

Quote:

Dear valued SOE Customers,

We have had to take the SOE service down temporarily. In the course of our investigation into the intrusion into our systems we have discovered an issue that warrants enough concern for us to take the service down effective immediately. We will provide an update later today (Monday).

That's all that's out there officially now.

Mawclaw · #10 05-02-2011, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PrincessAriel

Hey is the entire soe site down? I keep getting a wierd message on the internet and when I launch the eq2 it goes no further then launch pad with SOE in the center of it.

Same here....

But I just read the post after yours so...yikes. Who knows when we'll be able to log in then.

PrincessAriel · #11 05-02-2011, 10:15 AM

Some kind of word on length of time would be really nice. Two hours, four hours, a week just some kind of info would be nice.

Therendil · #12 05-02-2011, 12:53 PM

There won't be any predictions of downtime because they almost certainly don't know what they're dealing with yet. I'm going to assume that their investigation found a vulnerability that would let SOE overall be hacked the way PSN was. They are going to be very sure of themselves before saying anything.

This may explain intermittent login/connection/patch issues I've been having for two days now.

-= Therendil =-

**lordebon** · #13 05-02-2011, 01:57 PM

Yeah, given the severity of what happened to PSN if they find any evidence of the same thing going on in these systems I would not expect to see them up anytime soon. This is potentially days or more depending how how bad the security issue is.

They're already going to be facing some kind of class-action suit over the PSN breach (I've already heard anecdotal evidence of a significant # of folks having fradulent use of their credit cards recently), the last thing they want is to play things loose and be seen as not taking all appropriate measures for security.

I already put a fraud alert on my credit over this and it's probably a smart idea for anyone else that uses PSN or (even now) any SOE product to do so. It doesn't cost anything, all you have to do is fill out a form on any one of the three major credit agencies.

jnewton · #14 05-03-2011, 12:16 PM

I see that Sony has posted a bit more information. I'd suspect that EQ2 will be down for the better part, if not, all of this week.

I wonder how many people will drift away from EQ2 if it is down for any length of time.

Redards,
John

EQAditu · #15 05-03-2011, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordebon

{...}
I already put a fraud alert on my credit over this and it's probably a smart idea for anyone else that uses PSN or (even now) any SOE product to do so. It doesn't cost anything, all you have to do is fill out a form on any one of the three major credit agencies.

Pretty good idea.

**lordebon** · #16 05-03-2011, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jnewton

I see that Sony has posted a bit more information. I'd suspect that EQ2 will be down for the better part, if not, all of this week.

I wonder how many people will drift away from EQ2 if it is down for any length of time.

Redards,
John

Eh... if they're willing to quit because it's down for a week they must not have been that in to it to start. I'd rather have the game down for a bit longer and have them get their database secure (or at least more secure) than have it running and leave my data out there for more people to steal.

shadowthorn · #17 05-03-2011, 08:59 PM

This could totally be a boon. Every ADHD kiddie gank-a-lot and tight-margin gold farmer will drift of to flashier pastures, leaving the remaining twenty percent of the user base to play in peace.

EQAditu · #18 05-04-2011, 08:38 AM

It's not like EQ2 is as bad as I heard WoW is. We don't need fewer subscriptions powering EQ2's development.

jnewton · #19 05-04-2011, 09:50 AM

I pretty much agree with the thoughts regarding the low life types that takes some of the fun out of our game. However, I do worry about the the profitability of EQ/EQ2. If Sony isn't making money, then our game goes away. It is all bottom line driven.

As for the security of our data, yeah. please get that right. I can wait.

**lordebon** · #20 05-04-2011, 09:56 AM

Everything I've heard (unofficially mind you, since they don't release this stuff) is that EQ2 is actually one of their better performing MMOs. Seeing the stuff on the marketplace and people buying it up left and right supports that idea pretty well. Figure every armor set etc. someone buys is $3 to $15 so on average a hefty chunk of a month's subscription. And whereas the main game team is needed to keep making content for that $15/mo they only need 1 or 2 artist-types to keep pumping out the SC stuff.

The fact they're willing to approve new hardware for the US servers is another good indication that EQ2 is making them good money. If they were planning to do away with it anytime in the moderate future they probably wouldn't be willing to put out that kind of capital.

tknarr · #21 05-04-2011, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EQAditu

It's not like EQ2 is as bad as I heard WoW is. We don't need fewer subscriptions powering EQ2's development.

I think in some cases they do. When a $15/month subscription's costing you $60/month in CS rep time alone, not even starting to count bad will among other subscribers, it's not too hard to justify saying that yes there are some customers whose business we just don't want to have.

Analogy: a clothing boutique at the mall faced with the guy in the dirty clothes who hasn't bathed in weeks and is swilling from a bottle of cheap booze and trying to grope every female customer in the place. Sure he's technically a customer, and he may even be buying enough to legitimately claim to be a customer, but he's not buying enough to anywhere near make up for the lost business of all the customers he's chased away.

Jogic · #22 05-05-2011, 05:39 PM

Everquest isn't going anywhere, i have seen a couple peoples concerns for SOE giving up on EQ, truth be told.... they wouldn't be investing in the talents of 3 online security companies if they felt this was a sinking ship. Unfortunately due to downtime and the recent release of Rift as well as several other long running successful and popular MMORPG's they will obviously lose some people in the mix. I just hope they aren't the people i enjoy spending my free time with in game. Personally i do respect a company whose willing to protect its consumers by taking the game down until such a time it is safe. I can't imagine how much money they are losing for every hour they have their servers down. In addition to that, we all know that they will reward us for our patience and loyalty. It might be something as simple as a bonus xp period or whatever, but they will try to make amends. I have even heard that they are planning to offer a free month to each and every customer affected. I don't know if anyone here could imagine what that means... Imagine your boss at your work saying "hey, we are going to not charge anything for our products for the next month" Truth is most companies even in the green wouldn't be able to survive a month with no income.
In light of everything, SOE has made a very loyal customer of me through this process and I look forward to seeing you all in game when this horrible cyber attack is resolved.
On an off note, I have been getting a lot of strange calls on my cell phone from 4 digit numbers instead of full 10 digit phone numbers. I don't know if this is related at all but i have been ignoring them as they come in and if anyone else is recieving these then they could quite possibly be suspect.

I do have one negative thing to say about the situation. I do wish that SOE was more forthcoming with updates, their canned response has been up for serveral days with no real changes. I don't know if anyone agrees with me on this but i think a daily update even a vague non-committal type would make me feel like they are progressing on this. So if anyone at SOE reads this forum..... Thank you for everything you are doing to protect us and the integrity of the world we spend so much time enjoying, but please please please give us some updates that you are there working diligently and not all out hitting the waves on the most recent swells.

Jogic Puffalumpadumpdump,
Paladin knight of Oasis

***Dolby*** · #23 05-05-2011, 06:27 PM

I think SOE has to be very careful what they release out and from the top people at Sony they've probably told every one in the company to keep quite or be fired & sued. Sony is looking at billion dollar class action lawsuits from multiple countries. What they say can be used against them so I'm sure anything they release to the public simple as it may be has to go through some type of approval.

jnewton · #24 05-05-2011, 07:59 PM

While I voiced some concerns, I have no plans on going anywhere else. I took a look at Rift and decided it was not my cup of tea. I watched my grand daughter play WoW and was discussed by the way other players acted. I didn't parenthetically like the graphics either. I've been with EQ2 since shortly after it came out and I'll ride out this storm with them as well.

While I know that they have to be extremely careful of what they release, it would be nice to get something other than the canned response.

On a lighter note, should we start a pool on when the servers will come back up? At least it'll help pass the time. I'm getting tired of playing Mah Jong.

John

Jogic · #25 05-05-2011, 08:51 PM

Well it isn't as if I am hoping they say the details of what is going on with the investigation. It would be nice to get updates as far as potential down times or maybe even provide some "real life" quests that can be done and submitted for in-game rewards when the shut-down is over.

Wouldn't even be bad if they put up a non-secure website that can't be logged into with gaming information, storylines, possibly even a SC catalog for viewing only so that people can spend time dreaming of their next armor set of sparlking new weapon. I mean any of that would be a confidence booster to players.