Major Issue: Server Update May 11 renders 100% of inventory missing from database

[Arwen Serpente]

Thanks for that.. since I posted more than 15 minutes before the grid status was updated with any message about the outage, and it happened directly after I was logged off for a restart and logged back into a grey world and no inventory. I tried to file a support ticket before coming to the forums, but there is no available option to notify LL of this kind of issue that I could find.

 

[Void Singer]

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Carole Franizzi wrote:

 On the grid status page there was

no mention of inventories appearing empty

- none of the multiple times i checked it. But don't let that stop you fawning over LL's WONDERFUL customer service and comminications skills....

---

 

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Grid Status Said:

[postED 7:13AM PDT May 11, 2011]

We are

currently

experiencing issues with

some of

our central services

, which

may cause issues with

L$ purchases,

inventory

, teleporting, login failures, and region availability. Please refrain from L$ transactions or rezzing no-copy items until this issue is resolved. Our network team is working on this issue, and expects to have it resolved soon. Please watch this blog for further information.

---

so I take it your complaint isn't that it wasn't mentioned, but that your specific problem was not explicitly shown, or perhaps that the warning  did not come fast enough? rather than a lack of "a simple, short communication from your company informing us that you're aware of the service being malfunctioning and reassuring us that it's being looked",... do I have that correct?

and since you didn't see your specific issue, I'm sure you reported it via a ticket or live help... right? so that they could post it?

 

::is not known for fawning over anything (least of all LL's resident communications), but is occasionally a known for being a faun::

[Carole Franizzi]

 

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Void Singer wrote:

---

Carole Franizzi wrote:

 On the grid status page there was

no mention of inventories appearing empty

- none of the multiple times i checked it. But don't let that stop you fawning over LL's WONDERFUL customer service and comminications skills....

---

 

---

Grid Status Said:

[postED 7:13AM PDT May 11, 2011]

We are

currently

experiencing issues with

some of

our central services

, which

may cause issues with

L$ purchases,

inventory

, teleporting, login failures, and region availability. Please refrain from L$ transactions or rezzing no-copy items until this issue is resolved. Our network team is working on this issue, and expects to have it resolved soon. Please watch this blog for further information.

---

so I take it your complaint isn't that it wasn't mentioned, but that your specific problem was not explicitly shown, or perhaps that the warning  did not come fast enough? rather than a lack of "

a simple, short communication from your company informing us that you're aware of the service being malfunctioning and reassuring us that it's being looked

",... do I have that correct?

and since you didn't see your specific issue, I'm sure you reported it via a ticket or live help... right? so that they could post it?

 

::is not known for fawning over anything (least of all LL's resident communications), but is occasionally a known for being a faun::

---

 

All I saw for the duration the issue affected my accounts was simply the notification of a server restart. Full stop. I'm aware you think I have reading difficulties, but I can assure you that if they'd been such information when I personally (and a whole load of other people) started having "issues" (totally or partially empty inventories) I wouldn't have wasted time scurrying in here, don't you think? Why scurry in here and not to make a report? Well, since LL has the fame of not being super-fast in dealing with issues and our fellow residents are often endlessly and infinitely wise and well-informed about the ins and outs of SL, for me, in my growing unease over whether or not I'd lost a couple of thousand quids worth of goodies, my priority was to solve the problem at the earliest.

What eventually solved the problem for me was the advice launched by a fellow resident who, in a group chat, reassured the panicking SLers (growing by the minute, I hasten to add) and suggested the remedy.

Last thought on the subject - why is it not possible for LL to launch grid-wide emergency communications in such cases - including one warning people not to make purchaes or rez non-copy items?

[Acheron Gloom]

I wouldn't consider myself a blind fan of LL, nor am I naive with regards to their faults, I just simply realize their efforts and notice that their work can make a positive difference, too. Oskar's comment was simply saying that by letting your emotions get in the way of things you're not really helping yourself or LL to find the problem. A better method would be to simply send a ticket, post on the forum if you find it necessary even though it probably won't be the first thing seen, and/or send an online Linden the information.

Unless you like to think that as a business LL is purposely trying to make their players leave, which I can assure you isn't how a business works, we can assume that they do want to improve SL. As players we should also try to aid LL in improving Second Life and make our own endeavors in doing so. The opposite of trying to aid in improvement, as an example, would be to bash LL at every turn without a rational even given for your complaint. 

Complaints themselves are fine, its just a matter of going about them in the right way.

 

Also:

http://status.secondlifegrid.net/

[postED 7:13AM PDT May 11, 2011] We are currently experiencing issues with some of our central services, which may cause issues with L$ purchases, inventory, teleporting, login failures, and region availability. Please refrain from L$ transactions or rezzing no-copy items until this issue is resolved.  Our network team is working on this issue, and expects to have it resolved soon. Please watch this blog for further information.

See: 7:13 AM PDT

And if you need more clarification, that is seven minutes BEFORE you posted to this thread for the first time. As for an in-world system, I could support that.

[Void Singer]

 

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Carole Franizzi wrote:

 All I saw for the duration the issue affected my accounts was simply the notification of a server restart. Full stop. [...]

---

 

the server restart message was actually posted a few minutes after the relevent one, but since there was a similar message about rollbaks for Magnum, it's understandable that you missed it... my point wasn't to be snide, but to say that what you had asked for did actually happen.... so I was trying to define why it didn't meet your criteria... ie, not specific enough or not fast enough (to which I'll add what now seems obvious, Not visible Enough, which is unfortunately something that's been brought up in the past... critical issues should be highlighted on the status page, and I think they were for a bit, but don't seem to be any more)

 

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Carole Franizzi wrote:

Last thought on the subject - why is it not possible for LL to launch grid-wide emergency communications in such cases - including one warning people not to make purchaes or rez non-copy items?

---

Dunno... once upon a time they used to issue an alert to all logged in residents for certain things.... and the exact same idea came up shortly before the big layoff, and several of us were pushing for it to be reinstated, along with a MotD replacement for critical issues like this where taking normal actions could result in content or money losses.

 

[Kuda Oh]

Game Companies do have a tendency to destroy thier own creations, wether via bad updates or poor customer service if not releasing a very flawed product ie: Final Fantasy Online 14 (might have the number wrong so don't qoute me). Even if you do pay a subscription, you shouldn't expect to be treated better and a timely fashion than non-subscribers. Seems to be the general thing now-a-days with game companies, Sony being a big example as to bad updates and poor support. 

Just saying.....

 

[Void Singer]

heh, don't get me started on Sony's "let jab our customers in the eye" policy decisions... they're as bad as Disney's licensing department

[Kuda Oh]

Off topic, Sony forums are heavily moderated; can't mention other consoles while XBox doesn't care. Can't even have anti-Sony/PS3 signatures lol.

[Void Singer]

garbage track cd's that crash computers, dvd's that install rootkits, removing backwards compatibility at the last minute to boost legacy sales, disabling features for early adopters effective halving the value of their console while breaking existing features, taking down the network but not mentioning for days that you did so because someone stole all your users information.... I take it back... they make Disney's rabid legal department look sane

[Kuda Oh]

Yep with my phat ps3 blu ray drive would always go out not to mention I lost the ability to use other OS, so basically the modified something I bought into something I didn't. IMO that is over stepping bounds and saying I did not legally own that PS3.Either way devalued it. But if consumer's can not unite totally to send a message where it hurts (companies pocket books) that kind of behaviour will continue. Same goes for alot of other things like gas. Did you know they only pay around 8 cents a gallon in Argentina while in Saudi they pay under a dollar probably around 65 cents per gallon. Don't qoute me on exact prices, as I don't remember where I read that recently

It used to be the customer is right (until proven wrong), now it's customer is wrong. nothing at fault on our side. Treating me bad as a customer only loses my buisness. I will not deal with Sony anymore or thier products (Bravia is one of thier brand lines I believe).

[Void Singer]

I still have money on my account there, and used to spend 10-20$ a month on RB2 tracks alone. now a I have an overpriced linux box with a bluray player that will eventually be locked out, can't use any new games, stolen user info that I can't negate, yeah... see what you started?

I hope they get burned properly between the arguments they're using in the geohot suit, and the opposite arguments they're using in the class action against them. I think it's time the field had a new player

[Czari Zenovka]

 

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Stevie Nikita wrote:

Your inventory is not 'gone' ~ you are ok, the asset servers are not connecting properly, LL is working on the issue but for now you will not be able to carry prims you were not wearing prior to the loss of connection with your specific asset server. If you tp away from the last point of contact you will lose any prim you wearing until you tp back to that area. This is very temporary, annoying but not tragic.

---

Unfortunately, in my case, an entire folder of clothes (at least 247 items) are gone.  Even worse, it is the clothing I wear 99% of the time.  I have done everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) to try to restore the inventory that I already knew from 4 years on SL, everything in the Wiki, loaded v2 because I was told that viewer deals with inventory a bit differently, deleted cache in preferences and manually multiple times, submitted a ticket and talked to Live Chat.

According to Live Chat, the lost items could not be seen in my inventory by her at all.  She said it is a technical issue and to file a ticket (which I'd already done with no reply at that time) and "hoped" they would be able to restore my inventory.

When I did receive a response from my ticket, I was told to do a clean install of SL, which included first uninstalling *all* viewers on my PC.  I followed the instructions meticulously - no restored inventory.  Reported this back to the LL employee who had issued these instructions and received the typical canned response to go to the Wiki re: lost inventory and do everything listed, which I had already done AND noted in my original ticket.  I was also told if that didn't work to answer a list of questions included - which I had ALSO already done.  Do these employees even READ a ticket before replying or do they not want to say "Your inventory is gone due to some technical glitch on our part" and keep suggesting things that have already been done?

I replied to that ticket that I HAD already done everything in the Wiki, even prior to filing a ticket, AND the questions listed were also already answered and gave the location on my case file where they could be found.  Have not heard anything since that.

The frustrating thing is, I had backups of all these items in a box, but the box was in the same folder that was zapped so it is gone too.  A few years ago, due to reading about regular inventory losses, I kept copies of my favorite items archived in world.  One day, during a period that the physics engine was being updated or something similar, items began disappearing from my house, including the archived inventory boxes.  At that time when I spoke to LL, I was told that since the items were stored in world, there was nothing they could do (I live on Mainland so I could not request a sim rollback from an Estate Manager) but if it had been in my inventory, they could have recovered it.  ARGGGGGGGHHHH!!!  Ok, now items were lost from inventory and I'm still getting the run around.

[Czari Zenovka]

 

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Wayne Static wrote:

Ol Joe musta spilled his morning coffee on the server again...pathetic

When im seeing all my work "missing"...yea i get upset....since no one ever has straight answers until AFTER the problem is fixed we are left to do nothing but speculate. 

 

Be more informative sooner and you probably wont have your CUSTOMERS complaining. 

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...or leaving.

[Czari Zenovka]

 

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Oskar Linden wrote:

Void Singer is right. This issue was unrelated to this mornings update to the simulator code. The centrals services that do all the region coordinating and communicating to things like the asset servers started failing. 

 

I appreciate everyone's passion for Second Life and I know how much this place means to you. When it comes to reporting issues like this raw emotion doesn't help us. I don't need to know how much L$ your inventory is worth. Telling me how upset you are won't help us diagnose the issues. What really helps is a calm description of the steps you have done to reproduce an issue with specific information about where the bugs are occurring. This means going to Help -> About Second Life and including server and viewer versions in your report.

 

__Oskar

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Oskar, I agree with you here; however, at least speaking for me, residents get a bit frustrated when they do contact Live Chat and/or submit a ticket and get the runaround.  In my case, after discovering that I lost an entire folder of clothing (approximately 247 items), I first tried all the Wiki suggestions to retrieve lost inventory.  I then submitted a ticket that was extremely detailed.  When I later found a list of questions to answer that would help LL help me more effectively, I answered and added them to my case ticket.  I had not received a response from my ticket at that point.  A few days later I contacted Live Chat.  The representative was friendly and helpful, looked into my inventory and did not see any of my lost items.  I was advised to file a ticket (which I had).  Shortly thereafter I received the first response to my ticket instructing me to first do a clean install of SL, pointing me to a website with instructions on how to do this.  I was very happy to see this advice instead of the rote "Go to the Wiki" that is usually the first response I have had on any ticket filed in the past 4 years.  Unfortunately, my inventory was not recovered. 

I was at the point that I pretty much figured the inventory was gone for good after speaking to Live Chat and doing the clean install of the SL viewer. Ok, things happen. I was disappointed, but not upset and was planning to begin contacting the designers of my lost inventory, explain the issue, and see if they have a replacement policy or repurchase the items.  Then I received a response to my reply that the clean install did not work which said to read the Wiki and answer the same list of questions that were a part of my case ticket.  If I had not done either of those things, ok...but I had read the Wiki and done everything it said as well as previously answering the questions which can be found on my case ticket.  That is when I got a tad upset.  If the inventory cannot be restored due to whatever technical issue occurred, I'd much rather be told that than be sent on a bunny trail.

If you (LL) have any further suggestions that have not already been suggested and tried, I would glady love to try anything to retrieve my inventory.  If not, I, like I suspect other residents, would just like to know nothing further can be done - that is what causes some of the upset and "whining."

[Czari Zenovka]

I firmly believe that if I post re: a negative experience concerning my dealings with LL, then I should also post positive experiences.

At the time of my previous posts above, I was getting frustrated as much about being told to "Check the Wiki" after other steps had been tried as I was about the missing inventory.  However, I continued to reply professionally to the LL representative who was handling my support case ticket.

Shortly thereafter, I received an email  from Izzy Linden stating she/he (?) had run a fix on my inventory and gave instructions on how to proceed.  I was very hopeful to now have a Linden handling this issue.  Unfortunately the fix did not work which I related back to Izzy.  This morning I received a reply from Izzy Linden saying the frustration at my inventory loss was understandable but at this point all attempts have been tried and unfortunately my lost inventory cannot be recovered.

Per my comments to Oskar Linden above, I understand that this can sometimes happen and I would rather be told that than a continual loop of try this-try that.  I want to heartily thank Izzy Linden for stepping into this case and telling me straight up.  I also want to note that Izzy went what I consider above and beyond to take the "sting" out of losing the inventory in a manner that has GREATLY restored my confidence in how the Lindens are now handling resident/customer issues.

This type of customer service goes a very long way in demonstrating that LL does consider their customer base.

Thank you again, Izzy! :matte-motes-big-grin: