XBox live friends List

Been trying all night to get to the friends on line list,

All I get is

An unknown error has occurred. Please try your request again at a later
time.

sucks a bit this Live thing doesn't it

Jud

"LT" <LT@here.com> wrote in message
news:ymjOb.5834$YV1.658@newsfep4-winn.server.ntli.net...
> Been trying all night to get to the friends on line list,
>
> All I get is
>
> An unknown error has occurred. Please try your request again at a later
> time.
>
> sucks a bit this Live thing doesn't it
>
> Jud
>
>

Noticed a few creaking things lately to be fair.

The most annoying being in Top Spin with statistics disappearing without
trace. Who knows whether a win or loss gets added to your record. I doubt
it. Yet another reason to be disappointed with Top Spin, a game that shows
alarming deficiencies on Live the more you play it namely Optimatch doesn't
work. It's rubbish. Ask for a player around your ranking and invariably
you will be put with someone in the top 100 when you are ranked around
20,000. Well done Optimatch. Well done Microsoft. Well done Power And
Magic (developers). They were clearly all down the pub when they should
have been putting in more hours getting the things that matter right rather
than just cashing in on something that is not what it should be.

No wonder they are offloading the game for 12.99 (UK) at Woolworths. Most
flawed games get dumped at this price.

Cheers

Andy B

"ff" <andy@carrotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ujU9Ube3DHA.540@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>
> Noticed a few creaking things lately to be fair.
>
> The most annoying being in Top Spin with statistics disappearing without
> trace. Who knows whether a win or loss gets added to your record. I
doubt
> it. Yet another reason to be disappointed with Top Spin, a game that
shows
> alarming deficiencies on Live the more you play it namely Optimatch
doesn't
> work. It's rubbish. Ask for a player around your ranking and invariably
> you will be put with someone in the top 100 when you are ranked around
> 20,000. Well done Optimatch. Well done Microsoft. Well done Power And
> Magic (developers). They were clearly all down the pub when they should
> have been putting in more hours getting the things that matter right
rather
> than just cashing in on something that is not what it should be.

I believe the stats problem isn't a Top Spin issue but is related to
problems introduced by a third-party game accessing the same stats servers
that the XSN titles are dependent on:

http://forums.xbox.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=5914768

"We have identified the two root causes of why rounds are not posting to XSN
and why Live Stats are getting messed up.

"The issues we are facing began surfacing heavily the day after Christmas.
Another title (not published by Microsoft and one I will not name) that is
super popular and Live enabled has a issue with how they handle leaderboard
records. Their issue causes a huge hit on the stats record servers on Live.
Each access of their leaderboard is the equivalent of 20+ normal titles
accessing their leaderboards. While the data center worked very well and
bulked up for the post-Christmas rush their capacity was based on projected
games out their. This one game blew all that out the window.

"The second issue is a code bug in our networking library and since the
networking libraries are shared amongst the XSN titles it is in Links and
other XSN titles as well. This bug only surfaced when the above conditions
with the Live Stats Servers happens. This is why C3DPO was able to make it
happen on his side when using ICS and flooding his network connection before
Links tried to post stats. He was simulating an environment where the games
could not reach the Live Servers and the records would get reset, so on next
successful connection the record would get overwritten as zero's.

"The other title causing the big drain has been contacted and I expect they
will be making a fix so they don't cause so much traffic. "

BTW, the title he's diplomatically refusing to mention is Rainbow Six 3.

"Will Calhoun" <whats@mattayou.com> wrote in message
newsRw148j3DHA.1052@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>
> "ff" <andy@carrotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:ujU9Ube3DHA.540@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> >
> > Noticed a few creaking things lately to be fair.
> >
> > The most annoying being in Top Spin with statistics disappearing without
> > trace. Who knows whether a win or loss gets added to your record. I
> doubt
> > it. Yet another reason to be disappointed with Top Spin, a game that
> shows
> > alarming deficiencies on Live the more you play it namely Optimatch
> doesn't
> > work. It's rubbish. Ask for a player around your ranking and
invariably
> > you will be put with someone in the top 100 when you are ranked around
> > 20,000. Well done Optimatch. Well done Microsoft. Well done Power And
> > Magic (developers). They were clearly all down the pub when they should
> > have been putting in more hours getting the things that matter right
> rather
> > than just cashing in on something that is not what it should be.
>
> I believe the stats problem isn't a Top Spin issue but is related to
> problems introduced by a third-party game accessing the same stats servers
> that the XSN titles are dependent on:
>
> http://forums.xbox.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=5914768
>
> "We have identified the two root causes of why rounds are not posting to
XSN
> and why Live Stats are getting messed up.
>
> "The issues we are facing began surfacing heavily the day after Christmas.
> Another title (not published by Microsoft and one I will not name) that is
> super popular and Live enabled has a issue with how they handle
leaderboard
> records. Their issue causes a huge hit on the stats record servers on
Live.
> Each access of their leaderboard is the equivalent of 20+ normal titles
> accessing their leaderboards. While the data center worked very well and
> bulked up for the post-Christmas rush their capacity was based on
projected
> games out their. This one game blew all that out the window.
>
> "The second issue is a code bug in our networking library and since the
> networking libraries are shared amongst the XSN titles it is in Links and
> other XSN titles as well. This bug only surfaced when the above conditions
> with the Live Stats Servers happens. This is why C3DPO was able to make it
> happen on his side when using ICS and flooding his network connection
before
> Links tried to post stats. He was simulating an environment where the
games
> could not reach the Live Servers and the records would get reset, so on
next
> successful connection the record would get overwritten as zero's.
>
> "The other title causing the big drain has been contacted and I expect
they
> will be making a fix so they don't cause so much traffic. "
>
> BTW, the title he's diplomatically refusing to mention is Rainbow Six 3.
>
>

Given that R63 and PGR2 are the most played Live I think, that would be a
given. Interesting to note, I would say that R63 is one of those games
where stats are not really that important to many players. It's just great
fun to play.

Of course hearing that does solve one issue I have with Top Spin. It
doesn't of course address the awful Opti-match feature in the game.

Thanks

Andy B

"Will Calhoun" <whats@mattayou.com> wrote in message
newsRw148j3DHA.1052@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> "The issues we are facing began surfacing heavily the day after Christmas.
> Another title (not published by Microsoft and one I will not name) that is
> super popular and Live enabled has a issue with how they handle
leaderboard
> records. Their issue causes a huge hit on the stats record servers on
Live.
> Each access of their leaderboard is the equivalent of 20+ normal titles
> accessing their leaderboards. While the data center worked very well and
> bulked up for the post-Christmas rush their capacity was based on
projected
> games out their. This one game blew all that out the window.


Nice. So even if the game in question fixes the bug, as soon as 20 new
titles ship/ no of users explodes, there is no guarantee that TS stats would
work.
Currently, I am ok with this as I have just started and hoping that things
will fall in place soon and then we might experience an environment where
stats and rankings reflect your true skill.

So if this happens again 6 months down the line, it will suck big time.

Can't M$ work with xsn to have some servers dedicated to their games so that
they have to bother only about their problems like buggy network library.
Comeon guys.. I am using TopSpin in my Xbox Vs Ps2 debates with my friends..
don't let me down.

"Last Samurai" <susenets1@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:u1v99wp3DHA.2056@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>
> "Will Calhoun" <whats@mattayou.com> wrote in message
> newsRw148j3DHA.1052@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> > "The issues we are facing began surfacing heavily the day after
Christmas.
> > Another title (not published by Microsoft and one I will not name) that
is
> > super popular and Live enabled has a issue with how they handle
> leaderboard
> > records. Their issue causes a huge hit on the stats record servers on
> Live.
> > Each access of their leaderboard is the equivalent of 20+ normal titles
> > accessing their leaderboards. While the data center worked very well and
> > bulked up for the post-Christmas rush their capacity was based on
> projected
> > games out their. This one game blew all that out the window.
>
>
> Nice. So even if the game in question fixes the bug, as soon as 20 new
> titles ship/ no of users explodes, there is no guarantee that TS stats
would
> work.
> Currently, I am ok with this as I have just started and hoping that things
> will fall in place soon and then we might experience an environment where
> stats and rankings reflect your true skill.
>
> So if this happens again 6 months down the line, it will suck big time.

Honestly I don't think there's much danger of Live getting that volume of
traffic any time soon. They had half a million users about a year ago and
are still hoping to break a million by the end of June. So they're probably
in the 700-800 thousand range now. At worst (or best, depending on how you
look at it) they might have twice as much traffic in a year and three times
in a couple (even that is assuming Halo2 brings in a ridiculous number of
subscriptions.) They won't come anywhere near 5x the present traffic level
in this generation, let alone 20.

"Will Calhoun" <whats@mattayou.com> wrote in message
news7jPQoq3DHA.2556@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>
> "Last Samurai" <susenets1@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:u1v99wp3DHA.2056@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> >
> > "Will Calhoun" <whats@mattayou.com> wrote in message
> > newsRw148j3DHA.1052@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> > > "The issues we are facing began surfacing heavily the day after
> Christmas.
> > > Another title (not published by Microsoft and one I will not name)
that
> is
> > > super popular and Live enabled has a issue with how they handle
> > leaderboard
> > > records. Their issue causes a huge hit on the stats record servers on
> > Live.
> > > Each access of their leaderboard is the equivalent of 20+ normal
titles
> > > accessing their leaderboards. While the data center worked very well
and
> > > bulked up for the post-Christmas rush their capacity was based on
> > projected
> > > games out their. This one game blew all that out the window.
> >
> >
> > Nice. So even if the game in question fixes the bug, as soon as 20 new
> > titles ship/ no of users explodes, there is no guarantee that TS stats
> would
> > work.
> > Currently, I am ok with this as I have just started and hoping that
things
> > will fall in place soon and then we might experience an environment
where
> > stats and rankings reflect your true skill.
> >
> > So if this happens again 6 months down the line, it will suck big time.
>
> Honestly I don't think there's much danger of Live getting that volume of
> traffic any time soon. They had half a million users about a year ago and
> are still hoping to break a million by the end of June. So they're
probably
> in the 700-800 thousand range now. At worst (or best, depending on how you
> look at it) they might have twice as much traffic in a year and three
times
> in a couple (even that is assuming Halo2 brings in a ridiculous number of
> subscriptions.) They won't come anywhere near 5x the present traffic level
> in this generation, let alone 20.

I wasn't talking about 20x the times of current traffic. I thought the OPost
suggested that the game in question behaves as if there are 20 times the
actual no of users *of that particular game*. If all the live players play
that game almost all the time, then yes, taking care of this game would take
care of the issue for a considerable time.
Else, the barrier may be broken by the advent of 15 odd popular new titles
coupled with increase in the number of subscribers.

Also, what is the guarantee that some other game from some other publisher
will not recreate this one month from now? They need to upgrade the servers
soon and think of a plan B also. You cannot let one game affect others like
this.