Close

Results 1 to 5 of 5
  1. #1
    Lead Developer / Designer Gondorian's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    England (GMT+0)
    Posts
    24,080
    Tournaments Joined
    1000
    Tournaments Won
    999
    Blog Entries
    1

    Our Response to Issue with Cancel button while waiting (race condition)

    I know this will get some backlash, but the Cancel button too often leads to people stuck in a waiting non-game due to a Race Condition (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_condition) between client and server, so we're going to take it out of v3.60 and only bring it back when it works correctly.

    Ideally, I could have taken time to understand the problem and fix it for v3.60, but I don't think I can nail this long-standing thing in time to have LLP2 come out on time as well. In terms of what it would take to fix, we are talking about risky client and server change to tackle a problem not fully understood. A rush job could lead to more bugs and we want to limit the chance of new regressions (i.e. errors and crashes and bugs not present in v3.52) happening in v3.60, since we want v3.60 to be the best ever Shadow Era experience for our players, making use of the long-awaited Lost Lands Part Two!

    In the mean time, until I take the button away, I strongly recommend don't hit Cancel while Waiting for Opponent in v3.52, unless you wish to risk the Race Condition happening (which leads to you being told the game already started and you get stuck in it for 5 minutes or so and then a loss being recorded for you for that game). This Race Condition bug has been there a long time and was hidden for a while by taking away Cancel, but then we brought back Cancel due to popular demand and maybe forgot it had gone to hide a bug rather to stop people from getting out of the queue. For new or old players, the Cancel button Race Condition is bad and confusing experience. We need to prevent that and then do proper a fix in a future version.


    Frequently Asked Questions

    Q: What if we get tired of waiting?
    A1: If you mean you want to go do something that isn't Shadow Era, and don't mind risking losing Rating and having a loss in your Best Score 50-match score window, then hit Cancel and risk it since the 5-minute inconvenience of not being able to play a game won't matter to you anyway.
    A2: If you mean you want to stop waiting, then start waiting again, then just keep waiting since we have changed the pairing algorithm now anyway such that dropping out of queue and getting back in will serve no benefit (and actually mean someone might get in queue before you).

  2. #2
    DP Visionary Demnchi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    North Carolina, USA (GMT -4)
    Posts
    5,842
    Tournaments Joined
    8
    Tournaments Won
    1
    So, what would happen if I closed the app because I wanted to stop searching? Is that identical to the cancel button if I haven't found a game yet?
    Was the Leader of Acolytes of A1

    A1's Dimensional Eyes in the Sky
    A1 Alliance: Evolution in Theory
    PFG3 Leader

    Was Shadow Era Community Manager

    Sota, The Switch Axe Monster Hunter

    "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."
    "Humans fight to secure peace as they envision it. The trouble is, everyone's vision is different." - Ringabel

  3. #3
    Chat Mod Ross013's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Wales, UK (GMT +1)
    Posts
    695
    Tournaments Joined
    0
    Tournaments Won
    0
    What if you accidentally queue up while on the multiplayer screen? It's hard to present an example but sometimes I look for games to watch and accidentally tap the battle button, or a momentary lapse of judgement during setting up a custom match and end up hitting the battle button thinking it's the create game button (I know the answer will probably be 'don't be a dumbass!' Haha but it does happen)

    Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk
    Ross014 - Intrepid Learner of Secrets
    Warrior of the Blue Pheonix
    Greatness, Reborn

  4. #4
    Senior Member jacelkos's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    France (GMT+1)
    Posts
    171
    Tournaments Joined
    0
    Tournaments Won
    0
    Quote Originally Posted by Gondorian View Post
    I know this will get some backlash, but the Cancel button too often leads to people stuck in a waiting non-game due to a Race Condition (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_condition) between client and server, so we're going to take it out of v3.60 and only bring it back when it works correctly.

    Ideally, I could have taken time to understand the problem and fix it for v3.60, but I don't think I can nail this long-standing thing in time to have LLP2 come out on time as well. In terms of what it would take to fix, we are talking about risky client and server change to tackle a problem not fully understood. A rush job could lead to more bugs and we want to limit the chance of new regressions (i.e. errors and crashes and bugs not present in v3.52) happening in v3.60, since we want v3.60 to be the best ever Shadow Era experience for our players, making use of the long-awaited Lost Lands Part Two!

    In the mean time, until I take the button away, I strongly recommend don't hit Cancel while Waiting for Opponent in v3.52, unless you wish to risk the Race Condition happening (which leads to you being told the game already started and you get stuck in it for 5 minutes or so and then a loss being recorded for you for that game). This Race Condition bug has been there a long time and was hidden for a while by taking away Cancel, but then we brought back Cancel due to popular demand and maybe forgot it had gone to hide a bug rather to stop people from getting out of the queue. For new or old players, the Cancel button Race Condition is bad and confusing experience. We need to prevent that and then do proper a fix in a future version.


    Frequently Asked Questions

    Q: What if we get tired of waiting?
    A1: If you mean you want to go do something that isn't Shadow Era, and don't mind risking losing Rating and having a loss in your Best Score 50-match score window, then hit Cancel and risk it since the 5-minute inconvenience of not being able to play a game won't matter to you anyway.
    A2: If you mean you want to stop waiting, then start waiting again, then just keep waiting since we have changed the pairing algorithm now anyway such that dropping out of queue and getting back in will serve no benefit (and actually mean someone might get in queue before you).
    Could we get back the ability to offer draw to ourselves then?
    That was a nice workaround when the cancel button was taken off.
    Unless it suffers from the same race condition.
    Member of Supreme Legion

    We are legion, For we are many
    IGN: SL Jacelkos

  5. #5
    Lead Developer / Designer Gondorian's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    England (GMT+0)
    Posts
    24,080
    Tournaments Joined
    1000
    Tournaments Won
    999
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by Demnchi View Post
    So, what would happen if I closed the app because I wanted to stop searching? Is that identical to the cancel button if I haven't found a game yet?
    Quote Originally Posted by jacelkos View Post
    Could we get back the ability to offer draw to ourselves then?
    That was a nice workaround when the cancel button was taken off.
    Unless it suffers from the same race condition.
    I'll need look into these two and get back to you. Just wanted to give a heads-up of the situation as best we can and what we are planning to do.


    Quote Originally Posted by Ross013 View Post
    What if you accidentally queue up while on the multiplayer screen? It's hard to present an example but sometimes I look for games to watch and accidentally tap the battle button, or a momentary lapse of judgement during setting up a custom match and end up hitting the battle button thinking it's the create game button (I know the answer will probably be 'don't be a dumbass!' Haha but it does happen)
    Currently there are a lot of situations where you can be paired immediately now, due to improved pairing algorithm, so accidentally hitting Battle can get you straight into a match that's waiting for an opponent. Be more careful! You could just as easily close the app by accident. (Accidentally closing browser tab used to be the classic one when Unity supported playing in browser.)

    But I agree there are times you could safely Cancel and get out due to a mistaken Battle press if the Cancel button worked correctly, so we will bring the button back when it acts as expected!

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •