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Jun-20-2006 10:44

Over the past six months, we've been struggling to maintain a decent level of Sleuth server performance, despite increasing numbers of simultaneous players.

This is a great problem to have! It means there are lots of new people trying out Sleuth, but it's a bit of a losing battle logistically. There has been some success making software changes to improve things, but those gains are quickly eclipsed as traffic continues to increase. There is only so much the current hardware can handle.

New server machines will be purchased in the next couple of months. This will help, but if Sleuth continues to grow, it won't be long before capacity is reached on the new machines as well, and things will slow down again.

This situation is unfair for paying subscribers, who cannot enjoy the game at peak hours due to the lag of the servers. So, in the interest of fairness there will be a rule change that will limit when unsubscribed players will be able to access the game.

Starting later this week, detectives who are unsubscribed and older than 7 days, will not be allowed to login if there are already 60 or more detectives online.

You will not be allowed to login to the game if all three of the following conditions are true:

1) There are already 60 or more detectives logged in
2) Your detective is not currently subscribed
3) Your detective is older than 7 days

Sleuth has always been as welcoming as possible to non-subscribed players. We also recognize that in some countries, the monthly subscription price is not affordable to everyone, but this rule change is necessary for the well-being of the game. Paying subscribers deserve to have access to a game that is playable, accessible and fun.

Thanks,
The Sleuth Team

Jun-21-2006 15:43

Yeah, maybe it could say:

"There are currently 67 detectives logged on. Non-subscribers can only log in when there are 60 or less detectives logged in."

That way they know if it is a tiny amount or a big amount of people.



*applauds Dreonil for great idea*

Jun-22-2006 04:34

Last day I try to track down how it looks like with number of people that are logged on. Well, it doesn't look good for players as me.
Almost the whole time there was more then 60 players. I found only once the number of 55. Usually more then 80 players. But I found, that the server slow down only when there were more then 100 players logged on.
Maybe the limit 60 can be increased, or increased later. I wanted to track it more days, but I'm afraid, I will not be able to log next time, therefore I'm writing this now.

Jun-22-2006 06:19

Although I have ethernet internet, it is usually slow for me when there are 65 or more players. So slow, that although I am subscribed, I only do cases for hunts, and thats it. So I am very glad that this will help with traffic. I only hope that it will work:)

Jun-22-2006 06:27

Sorry for disturbing again, but I found a question, that looks important in my opinion.
There is no option how to subscribe when you are not logged on (I did not found one). Well, when someone (e.g. me) decide to subscribe his/her existing skilled detective, but he/she is not able to log on because of limit, there is no chance how to do it.
I only want to topic this to not forget this situation after implementing limit.

Jun-22-2006 09:11

Dreonil, when an unsubscribed user is blocked from logging in during a high load time, they will be givne an opportunity to subscribe. Thanks for pointing that out.

Jun-22-2006 12:25

Dreonil is right, usually there are more than 60 and what's more the lag starts when there are more than 100...as he requested I say too, could you please increase the limit?
Best regards,
STG

Jun-22-2006 16:12

I'm sure that the new servers Ben is planning on won't come cheap. Hopefully having the limit at 60 will encourage more people to subscribe....*goes and re-subscribes*

Jun-23-2006 22:41

I know this probably will be of no use to this discussion due to the fact that I log on mainly anywhere from 6:00pm to somewhere around 4:00am pacific time to do most of my playing. And I'm guessing that this is not peak time. However, I am logging on with an EXTREMELY slow connection 26.4 kps dial-up and I have never once had even the slightest problem with lag.

Jun-24-2006 18:29

OK, the new rule is in effect. We'll see how things go with the limit at 60. We'll re-evaluate what the correct limit should be in a week or so.

Jun-25-2006 19:39

I have to admit that the slowness of the site was a major factor in letting my subscription lapse, but now that I'm back in action, I'm glad for the new rule, because I've seen a VAST improvement....so, I'll be subscribing tomorrow!