View source for UO:2000-07-07: Staged Housing Update, July 7th

=Staged Housing Update, July 7th=
''Posted: Jul 7 2000 5:35PM CST (GMT -06:00)''

We would like to thank everyone who participated in the Catskills load-balancing test on Thursday, July 6th. Your enthusiastic turnout allowed us to gain significant information about server load issues and we are very pleased with the outcome of the test. There were 3,356 houses placed on the Trammel facet during this test, and the shard logged over 13,000 players participating in the test. 

During the course of the evening, we tested several load mechanisms, and we feel that these mechanisms worked essentially as planned. While some questions were raised about the player relocation process and "telestorming", this mechanism did work as designed - we may not, however, have explained the process properly. 

In the event that a subserver becomes too crowded, we will relocate characters based on a series of criteria. If this does not have the desired effect, we will begin randomly moving players from the subserver. So, if a subserver reaches critical population it will:
# Check for characters who currently co-own houses. These characters will be removed from the subserver.
# Check the subserver population. If it is still too high, then…
# Check for characters that do not have house deeds at top level in their backpacks. These characters will be removed from the subserver.
# Check the subserver population. If it is still too high, then…
# Check for characters with house deeds, but not the correct house deeds for the current phase. These characters will be removed from the subserver.
# Check the subserver population. If it is still too high, then…
# Check for characters who currently own houses. These characters will be removed from the subserver.
# Check the subserver population. If it is still too high, then…
# Begin randomly removing characters from the subserver, regardless of whether they may validly place a house in this stage.

Depending on the server load, it is possible that a subserver may progress through these stages extremely quickly. When this process relocates a character, the character will be unable to recall or gate for a period of 10 minutes. 

We have also added another mechanism to check character backpacks as they log in to the shard. If a character logs in and does not have a deed appropriate to the current phase, they will have 10 minutes to acquire the deed, or they will be logged out of the game for a period of two hours. If you are disconnected from the game in this manner, you will be unable to return to the game until the two-hour period is ended. Additionally, attempting to re-enter the game before the two-hour period has ended will cause your timer to be reset to two hours. 

Additionally, we encountered an issue during the Catskills test that caused characters to be erroneously removed from the game while in the process of placing a house. This issue has been fixed. 

To test the fine-tuning of these mechanisms completed as a result of the Catskills test, we will be opening a Lake Superior Test Shard on Saturday, July 8th, and urge everyone to stop by and participate in a staged house placement test. The Lake Superior House Test will progress on the following schedule on Saturday, July 8th:
: 12:00PM (noon) CDT - Phase One (castles only on Trammel) 
: 12:30PM CDT - Phase Two (large houses and castles only on Trammel) 
: 1:30PM CDT - Phase Three (open housing, both facets)
The shard will be taken internal at some point following Phase Three and will be backed up.

As we did for the Catskills test, we will be randomly selecting 50 players from among those who placed houses during the test. These players will receive a reward of a Llama statue to be placed on the shard of their choice. To be eligible for the random drawing, you must place a house during the Lake Superior House Test period on Saturday, July 8th. 

We will be announcing a new staged house placement schedule for all shards on Monday, July 10th. Specific dates and times are not yet available, but in order to expedite the placement process we will be opening housing phases on weeknights. Additionally, we will be opening housing phases on a "one per night, per region" schedule to ensure that no two shards in a single UO shard region (such as "East Coast" or "Japan") have housing phases opening on the same night.



References:
* http://web.archive.org/web/20010517153822/http://www.moongates.com/uj.exe?arch9