Spent my lunch hour trying to do the FFXI update. Failed.
Spent the last four hours sitting here, just clicking 'retry'. I'm not even halfway done. I can understand the servers being slammed, but I cannot understand this system.
Non-players: For an update like this, there are three steps. A small download, a "file check" system to see if you've partially updated already, then the main download.
First you need to get the initial download. Click the button to attempt it. Wait while it tries. In 30 seconds to a minute or two it will fail (or perhaps succeed). Assuming it fails, you must be at the PC, see the fail (thus have the window forward), and click the button to try again.
Assuming you are able to start that first download, and assuming it completes (95% of the time you will not succeed at these two things), then you have to wait through the file checking. Five minutes or so, unable to be skipped. On the plus side, it can't fail.
So once you've had the rare successful getting of the first download, plus waiting the five minutes for a check, it tries to start the main download. You are more likely to fail on this download than the first one, and way way way (almost certain) to fail it before it finishes.
And if you fail on that third download, you start at the very beginning again.
Now imagine doing this for HOURS. I have been doing it for four hours straight now (plus an hour earlier). Others have been doing it 12 hours. And I'm still not even halfway done.
As if this wasn't bad enough, yesterday was a 16 hour downtime for server upgrades.
Sigh. This week sucks so hard.
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But look! I'm so bored, I have an offer for people! For tonight only (or until the update actually finishes), if you leave a comment I'll draw something for you! It'll be done with a mouse in MS Paint so it won't be very good, but it'll be something! It might be from your LJ interests or you could suggest something (which I may or may not use!).
To start this off (and show you the quality of the "art" you'll be getting), here's a sample:
Things besides FFXI that suck! (If you squint hard and use your imagination, there is a small potentially NWS image... just a stick figure.)
So get cracking! I'm bored!
Edit: Looks like the update is nearly done! Thank god for east coast people going to bed at midnight! No more art!