My Take On The Maze Event

[robinb]

Here are some of my thoughts on this weekend's event. I have been trying to play a maze for about 4 hours. I know that many of you have been trying for much longer.

(1) I am now an expert on "crashing" . It appears that (for me at least) there is a 45 minute "life" for my character. I log into VMK and I have 45 minutes before I get booted from the game. This may be a limit on weekend play, since I don't experience it when I plan on the weekday mornings. In computer-talk, your VMK session has a 45 expiration time. When your time limit is up, you are toast. No matter what you are doing.

(2) If the CL staffing the gate allows people in every 12 seconds a person in a 200 person line will make it to the front of the line in 40 minutes. They will be booted in just 5 minutes into the maze (see 1). That's the *best case* scenario. Worst case is that the poor CL takes a potty break, has something to eat or gets booted him/herself. All of that will slow the queue down. Meanwhile, people in the queue will be booted while waiting (see 1).

(3) The queue for the maze is currently a "steady state". The number of people entering the queue is roughly the same as the number of people exiting the queue at a given time. There is a maximum number of people who can be in line for a 45 minute time period. That appears to be about 180-200 depending on the maze. This means that lengthening the session (or "life") of your character from 45 minutes to longer may not help with getting into and through the mazes. It may just bloat the line because more people will be stuck in the line and not be booted until the new session expiration time.

(4) I think it is a waste of time kvetching about the designers, the VMK staff or the CLs who have put a lot of time and effort into the mazes. IMO, it is not their fault that the mazes are wildly popular. I have never seen a room with a line of over 200 people! That's just insane. I firmly believe that the VMK staff had no idea there would be lines like that! I think they are all doing the best that they can.

I do hope that the VMK staff and designers think of solutions to the problems exhibited this weekend. Perhaps a combination of extended sessions and multiple mazes. Maybe a "gate keeper" type of quick random game (ala falling chairs). Only a winner can go through the teleporter into the front door of the maze. Many random games could feed into a single or multiple mazes.

Gotta go ... I'm at the top of the queue again!

 

[x13igDudex12]

I agree.. the mazes are awesome its just that the servers cant take on 3000+ players at a time.. blame like gateway or something

 

[robinb]

I agree.. the mazes are awesome its just that the servers cant take on 3000+ players at a time.. blame like gateway or something

Well, maybe it's the servers and gateway. But the game seemed to run OK with 3500+ people in it (like last night). The session timeout is probably directly linked to the number of people in VMK at a given time. Too many people on for too long probably cause server problems. So, maybe there is a link between the "crashes" and the server/gateway since the "crashes" didn't appear to be ramdom at all!

I still think the main cause was the popularity of the game. All 3500+ people wanted to play it at once!

I still think a combination of a waiting room system where multiple waiting rooms feed into one maze would help. People could be selected at random to go into the maze. I also think they shoud limit the number of people in line to about 125. That would insure that the people who get in line as person 125 right after logging in can actually finish the maze in thier 45 on-line minutes.

 

[HollyJoy]

This event seems to be lumped along with the other vmk events as a big disappointment. Don't know why, but every time there is a new event, I seem to think, "Maybe this one will be better". I am always let down! lol I am not one who likes to wait, and VMK has longer lines than the real WDW! Not good for me. I'm a sucker though, and keep trying to play. One of my mules was able to finish a maze on Saturday, couldn't tell you which one though.. ended up near the imprisoned pirates in the end room. While I was waiting there in the finished area "trapped" with no escape, I lost connection. Had to come back to that room to beg for my prize. Did get it though.. a Master Gracey pin. Both my girls waited in line for about an hour to get into mazes (of course i had them do other things while waiting), only to lose connection once they got into the first room. That's what ticked me off. I can handle the disappointment, but they were devestated! Come on VMK, get it right.

 

[x13igDudex12]

i heard that if you were inactive for a amount of time you were kicked...
Just put a simple game like Pong© Disney Style, on the loading page to keep us active

 

[LegoTEddy2]

I remember when there was only 300 people on at a time. Now there are 300 ppltrying to get into one room.

 

[robinb]

i heard that if you were inactive for a amount of time you were kicked...
Just put a simple game like Pong© Disney Style, on the loading page to keep us active

Oh sure, I'm sure there is something that disconnects you for inactivity. But usually on those kind of things once you are active again, the timer is reset. I didn't try to get into line until Sunday, so I don't know what happened on Friday and Saturday. I know for a fact that my session would time out at exactly 45 minutes, even if I was active and moving around. I would start the game and get right into the queue. I would usually make it into the first couple of rooms (and once I made it through the maze) before I was disconnected. In my case, I don't think essentially "pinging" the server to keep the connection active would have done any good.