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[stryke]

This is one of the things you don't want to happen when you launch a new IP.

This just reeks of incompetency.

 

[FleetFeet]

I'd imagine there's some segregation between servers. The psn servers, the servers you download from, are not the servers that you play driveclub on. The psn servers, id imagine, are capable of handling the psn subscribers and their downloading month in and month out. I.e, there shouldn't be a problem with letting people download and play offline. The issue probably revolves more around the fact that they want to ease the driveclub servers back online slowly, not having those that downloaded psn versions jumping online with the paid copy players all at once.

I would imagine that's how it works... it seems like they want people to experience the connected aspects of the game, not just single player tho. Which for some might be enough, but from what I've gathered this game is catered to connecting with your friends and creating/accepting challenges along the way.

Now I figured after the ps+ update something was up and it had to do with the servers (since the game was having problems connecting since the launch at midnight), and I understood how that is not really unexpected in these types of situations.

So I'm not happy how this has gone down, but I understand that there are people who actually went out and bought the game, and I think they at the very least deserve to be taken care of first, so I can wait, but the way they handled this with silence was what I was disappointed in, because it didn't help matters in the least bit and it was a proper misstep that should/could of easily been avoided... also at the same time I'm ashamed for some of the people online who've gone berserk over the plus edition, some people just need to calm down and show some patience.

 

[.J.]

Oh God. Is this the prevailing takeaway from all this? i agree that this server issue is bullshit and annoying as hell, but there's nothing underhanded going on. Come on.

Nothing underhanded except for the switcheroo on the promise of a full game for PS+ subscribers.

I didn't even want the game. I just think that's poor form.

 

[Nizz]

So I'm not happy how this has gone down, but I understand that there are people who actually went out and bought the game, and I think they at the very least deserve to be taken care of first, so I can wait, but the way they handled this with silence was what I was disappointed in, because it didn't help matters in the least bit and it was a proper misstep that should/could of easily been avoided... also at the same time I'm ashamed for some of the people online who've gone berserk over the plus edition, some people just need to calm down and show some patience.

Agree with everything said here. I was really excited to download the PS+ edition of the game to try it out since I don't play racing games much, if at all. It's disappointing how things have turned out for everyone looking forward to the plus edition but I have to be patient.

The game will eventually come, well the full game is already out of course. But hopefully the plus one will release soon and I can try it out. Who knows, I may like it so much I'll pick up the full game. But since I don't play a lot of racers I want to be sure I enjoy it.

 

[Ingueferroque]

:lol

So they give you a $50 upgrade for free because they delayed what is effectively a limited demo.

I would care more about all this if the game didn't look absolutely underwhelming. The Giant Bomb quick look pretty much drained the last bit of excitement I had about this game.

Did you take Jeffs verdict of Destiny to heart as well?

 

[Matt]

Nothing underhanded except for the switcheroo on the promise of a full game for PS+ subscribers.

I didn't even want the game. I just think that's poor form.

?

They always said that PS+ subscribers would get a paired down version of the game.

 

[breakfuss]

?

They always said that PS+ subscribers would get a paired down version of the game.

Hmmmm, they did? I don't recall them saying that when they first announced it. Not that I mind.

 

[CambriaRising]

Hmmmm, they did? I don't recall them saying that when they first announced it. Not that I mind.

It was always called the "PS+ Edition" and it was pretty clear that it wouldn't be the full game based on that.

 

[bananafactory]

Hmmmm, they did? I don't recall them saying that when they first announced it. Not that I mind.

Yeah, they just weren't clear on exactly how stripped down it would be. But people love to rewrite history to tailor their own perspective.

 

[Octacamo]

now i really dont know what to expect

earlier was having high hopes......... now its all gone to shit.. was thinking to upgrade it to full version once i tried the ps+ edition... now i might be downloading the game... not going to upgrade it for sure...

 

[23qwerty]

now i really dont know what to expect

earlier was having high hopes......... now its all gone to shit.. was thinking to upgrade it to full version once i tried the ps+ edition... now i might be downloading the game... not going to upgrade it for sure...

Still an incredible game whether you have immediate access to the PS+ Edition or not

 

[bananafactory]

now i really dont know what to expect

earlier was having high hopes......... now its all gone to shit.. was thinking to upgrade it to full version once i tried the ps+ edition... now i might be downloading the game... not going to upgrade it for sure...

Nothing wrong with setting your expectations low, I think you'll be blown away. I've seen very few people on here disappointed in the game once they've actually tried it.

 

[Octacamo]

Still an incredible game whether you have immediate access to the PS+ Edition or not

Nothing wrong with setting your expectations low, I think you'll be blown away. I've seen very few people on here disappointed in the game once they've actually tried it.

That will only happen once it gets live that is.... and i really don't see that happen sooner...

 

[Solaire of Astora]

I've seen very few people on here disappointed in the game once they've actually tried it.

With all due respect, that doesn't really mean a lot. Hell, the gaf impressions for watchdogs around launch made me break my "no aaa ubisoft game" rule. Try asking about watchdogs on gaf now and it's a lot less positive than it was back then.

Definitely interested in getting my hands on dc ps+ edition. If I like it enough, I'll buy the upgrade, but I'm more interested in project cars.

 

[Prototype]

It's pretty laughable to me that the game is having issues now, what's going to happen when every single person who owns a playstation 4 is able to download the game?

I haven't been able to get online a single time.

My bet is that when the ps+ version goes live it's going to crash again right away.

@bannanafactory,
The game isn't anything special. The server issues aren't helping that. In fact it's exposing the extreme lack of content and modes.

 

[notoccupanther]

Servers still down? Jeebus...in these days of virtualisation I'm a bit surprised that a few extra servers cannot be 'spun up' as they say, from EC2 or somesuch to spread the load for the initial influx. UK and Ireland come online today too, which may not help things...so it's prob best not to expect anything till next week imo....poor Evo.

 

[DrTrouserPlank]

My problem with this isn't that the demo has been delayed (because I have already pre-ordered the upgrade) but more that there are server problems in the first place. This has happened before with other games like Twisted Metal and generally it's not a five minute job to fix it. In fact my experience is that it usually takes several weeks to fix, by which point the community is usually stone dead. It doesn't help that DC has released into one of the most congested release windows of the year and may be forgotten all the more quickly by a lot of people.

 

[mrklaw]

Servers still down? Jeebus...in these days of virtualisation I'm a bit surprised that a few extra servers cannot be 'spun up' as they say, from EC2 or somesuch to spread the load for the initial influx. UK and Ireland come online today too, which may not help things...so it's prob best not to expect anything till next week imo....poor Evo.

Tomorrow, but I get your point


For the game to have saturated the servers just with people that bought the game, when Evo must have been anticipating way more than that number because of the PS+ version, just makes me think something is broken, rather than 'just' being a capacity issue. They surely can't have miscalculated things that badly?

 

[d9b]

...
This has happened before with other games like Twisted Metal and generally it's not a five minute job to fix it. In fact my experience is that it usually takes several weeks to fix, by which point the community is usually stone dead. It doesn't help that DC has released into one of the most congested release windows of the year and may be forgotten all the more quickly by a lot of people.

This is a very good point.
Feel sorry for Evo but I have to say after watching Giant Bomb thing last night and with everything that's going on... meh, I'm loosing fate. Hope they'll be able to fix this mess soon and I wish them good luck, looks like they'll need it.

 

[notoccupanther]

Tomorrow, but I get your point


For the game to have saturated the servers just with people that bought the game, when Evo must have been anticipating way more than that number because of the PS+ version, just makes me think something is broken, rather than 'just' being a capacity issue. They surely can't have miscalculated things that badly?

(Pedants corner alert) ... Well .. tonight @ 0:00 (I checked the timer before I left this morning for work - Ireland here

Small scale comparison but having been at the cold face when a mail system goes down for 200+ users, and the pressure your under, I really feel for the Evo guys presently. Take your time and get it right dudes ..

And a quick word for Sony Heads ... learn from this before GTA V goes online. U think this is an influx .... ?

 

[Goomba64]

so the online is now on a Take Turn system LOL

We're just as frustrated as you about the server performance issues right now. We want you to be racing with clubs and having fun playing challenges, not checking facebook updates from us to see if the servers are updated yet.

We'll have more info for you later today (Thursday) so please bear with us while we work through this.

In case you don't already know, the servers are up and running but they are hitting their performance limits, so they won't accept new connections until one of the current online players frees up their space (allowing another to join in their place, which happens automatically and player selection is random).

If and when you get online, you should not have any connectivity issues during the remainder of your session. When you finish and disconnect, you'll free up a space for someone else. This is obviously not ideal, especially given that there are a lot of players waiting to connect, but that's how it's working right now.

The whole team here at Evolution Studios have got their shoulders to the wheel working hard to improve this situation: developing updates and upgrades to the servers - and testing these updates around the clock so that we can get them live. We hope you can enjoy the game offline while we work to improve the server performance and get you connected - and we're sorry that you're having to wait to play the game online as we intended for it to be played.
https://m.facebook.com/driveclubofficial/posts/707655152652181

 

[J 0 E]

I don't expect the game to sell a million copies to justify the "traffic" claim.

 

[d9b]

(Pedants corner alert) ... Well .. tonight @ 0:00 (I checked the timer before I left this morning for work - Ireland here

Small scale comparison but having been at the cold face when a mail system goes down for 200+ users, and the pressure your under, I really feel for the Evo guys presently. Take your time and get it right dudes ..

And a quick word for Sony Heads ... learn from this before GTA V goes online. U think this is an influx .... ?

Ireland here too. Don't see Plus edition making appearance tonight at all. Was looking forward big time, but it is what it is.
Any more info from Evo since?

 

[mrklaw]

Ireland here too. Don't see Plus edition making appearance tonight at all. Was looking forward big time, but it is what it is.
Any more info from Evo since?

I can't see them releasing the plus version until the UK has launched and they can see whether they can support bought copies of the game first. I'd guess next week now.

 

[drotahorror]

Evolution hasn't progressed far enough to make smart decisions

Pretty dumb decision if you ask me. First impressions are always the most important. Why put out a half functional product that a lot of people are on the fence about already?

I bought the game, but I'm not even playing it til the servers are fine. Lotta people mad cuz they don't get their free PS+ edition of this game. I paid and I'm not even that pissed. More annoyed than anything.

 

[NullPointer]

 

[Slowdive]

David Scammell ‏@VG_Dave 2m
I asked Sony if it could confirm whether DriveClub PS Plus Edition will arrive in time for UK launch tomorrow. Didn't get a straight answer.

@VG_Dave · 4m
Here's the reply:

 

[PBY]

Embarrassing.

 

[GrizzleBoy]

"We are giving priority to paying customers, so if you want try the demo, you need to wait, sorry. Or you can buy the full game now!"

1.Release reviews the day of release
2.release demo days after release
3.?????
4.Profit

 

[Mengetsu]

This is such a mess. I've been laughing since Tuesday at this whole scenario and it's quite sad. A year delay and the game comes out the gate with broken online and the Plus version that was talked about ain't out as well. I wanted to play the plus version but lost interest when I found out weather is being patched in at a later date. So hopefully when this is all settled it will be out and I can "Demo" my raining stages and be happy.

 

[SolsticeZero]

This is exactly why more games need these public (or close to it) alphas for server stress testing

 

[jet1911]

It's still not out? What the fuck Sony?

 

[wickfut]

This is "just" the free cut down version which is delayed, they aren't going to delay my digital purchase version which supposedly unlocks at midnight tonight?

 

[Kerned]

This is "just" the free cut down version which is delayed, they aren't going to delay my digital purchase version which supposedly unlocks at midnight tonight?

Correct.

 

[d9b]

It's still not out? What the fuck Sony?

I don't think we'll see Plus edition this week (although I secretly hope we will).

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Nothing underhanded except for the switcheroo on the promise of a full game for PS+ subscribers.

I didn't even want the game. I just think that's poor form.

I could be wrong, but I don't think that they ever promised the "full game". I thought they'd always referred to it as "DriveClub PS+ Edition".

 

[DoctorZ]

If the servers are so stressed that they cannot release the PS+ edition than why is the full digital version available for sale still? Physical copies, can't really help that, but the digital version could surely be used to throttle the amount of people hammering the servers. I can go buy it for a cool $49.99 right now and get playing, even though I planned to play the PS+ version first to see if I even like it.

Whether it was intentionally underhanded or just a fuck up, it comes off as extremely shady and just plain mean to your customers.

"Sorry the free version that was promised cannot be released, we can't handle the server stress from any more people trying to access the game servers. But here, you can buy the full version for $49.99."

 

[Mario007]

I could be wrong, but I don't think that they ever promised the "full game". I thought they'd always referred to it as "DriveClub PS+ Edition".

Of course they online promised only PS+ Edition. Not sure why people still think they promised the full game.

 

[Graphics Horse]

I could be wrong, but I don't think that they ever promised the "full game". I thought they'd always referred to it as "DriveClub PS+ Edition".

Correct, was called that at the 2013 e3 conference.

 

[The Omega Man]

This reminds me of Starhawk's launch back in the early PS3 days, that game was clusterfuck for weeks, daily and then weekly patches did nothing to fix the server, it took them a long time to iron out all the server issues and once it got fixed oh what a nice game it was.

 

[Manmademan]

If the servers are so stressed that they cannot release the PS+ edition than why is the full digital version available for sale still? Physical copies, can't really help that, but the digital version could surely be used to throttle the amount of people hammering the servers. I can go buy it for a cool $49.99 right now and get playing, even though I planned to play the PS+ version first to see if I even like it.

Whether it was intentionally underhanded or just a fuck up, it comes off as extremely shady and just plain mean to your customers.

"Sorry the free version that was promised cannot be released, we can't handle the server stress from any more people trying to access the game servers. But here, you can buy the full version for $49.99."

Volume. There will be astronomically more people jumping in for free than there are people plunking down $50.

Leaving the digital version up over these couple of days might mean tens of thousands of people. And you can't stop physical sales either.

The free version? Easily several million, all hitting the server at the exact same time.

This isn't really rocket science.

 

[Vince DiCola]

Good thing that they are now charging for online gaming so that such issues can no longer occur.

Ice cold!

 

[GHG]

Why has everything got to be a conspiracy?

The online servers aren't even up for people who have bought the game.

Answer that.

 

[jackissocool]

I feel really bad for Evolution. Bad launches kill multiplayer games permanently. Look at Motorstorm Apocalypse - that went horribly for them due to issues beyond their control (the actual apocalypse in Japan). Same thing with SOCOM Confrontation (PSN hack on launch day for a month) and Twisted Metal (server fuck ups). Also Starhawk, like mentioned above. I'm seriously worried for the studio now. Those games all died horrible deaths that they didn't deserve and those franchises are dead now. I know that this is their fault unlike with Apocalypse, but it sucks to see this happen. I suspect Sony will close them soon and that makes me really upset.

That said, this is fucking ridiculous. Fix your damn game. I don't know if I should be mad at Sony or Evolution for this but this is totally unacceptable.

 

[Graphics Horse]

Why has everything got to be a conspiracy?

The online servers aren't even up for people who have bought the game.

Answer that.

Most people realise that, but perhaps we should be asking why the game wasn't delayed* if they knew not to launch the PS+ version at the same time.

*yeah I know, I mean delayed again!

 

[Loakum]

Glad I clicked on this thread to learn the servers are back up. Now I can finally take the game out it's wrapper and play it.

 

[Suzzopher]

Yoshida is there today isn't he? I wonder how that visit is going.

 

[oti]

What if Microsoft payed Evolution to screw up the launch? Have they denied it? I don't think so! #followthemoney

 

[IAmRandom31]

Why has everything got to be a conspiracy?

The online servers aren't even up for people who have bought the game.

Answer that.

Because reality is just too simple. People have to make up stuff to make it seem more dramatic. We live in a world that just loves Drama.

Evolution Releases Full DriveClub Game
DriveClub overloads the servers and crashes the network
Free PS+ Edition is soon to be uploaded onto PSN ( 5:00pmCST or so ), possibly bringing in hundreds of thousands of more downloads and people jumping in
Evolution decides this will only worsen the situation so they pull the idea to release the PS+ version until they bring in my servers and stabilize the network

Now they are working to fix the issue.

We still have the UK launch to go too, so don't expect the PS+ version anytime soon.

 

[drotahorror]

Nothing underhanded except for the switcheroo on the promise of a full game for PS+ subscribers.

I didn't even want the game. I just think that's poor form.

Driveclub PlayStation Plus Edition gives you an exciting selection of cars across all 5 classes, beautiful locations and exciting race tracks featured that you can play in all game modes, but does not include all Driveclub content unless you upgrade.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/08/20/driveclub-pre-order-bonuses-revealed/

August 2013

It's amazing how uninformed people are.