Lost sessions = lost pay for pay-to-play DMs

Any reimbursement/credit for pay-to-play DMs? I've just had to call it for tonight because your systems are collapsing. I've had to roll over credit to next week. That costs me money when I have zero other income due to coronavirus shutdowns. Your servers have been stuggling for the last few weeks and are now collapsing under the load of the strain of the update and the peak of demand for roll20 with coronavirus keeping people at home.

Mike L. said: Any reimbursement/credit for pay-to-play DMs? I've just had to call it for tonight because your systems are collapsing. I've had to roll over credit to next week. That costs me money when I have zero other income due to coronavirus shutdowns. Your servers have been stuggling for the last few weeks and are now collapsing under the load of the strain of the update and the peak of demand for roll20 with coronavirus keeping people at home. So bad tonight, we switched to theater of the mind because it just wasn't gonna happen.

It was ridiculous. Even once we managed to get everyone in the rolling outages were taking people out constantly. Plus the new bugs inherent in the new update with a whole bunch of broken features since yesterday.

Mike L. said: It was ridiculous. Even once we managed to get everyone in the rolling outages were taking people out constantly. Plus the new bugs inherent in the new update with a whole bunch of broken features since yesterday. Really stinks I have used Roll20 for 5 years but am starting to look at alternatives, because this just isn't gonna work if it continues.

It isn't.  We are in a ONE TIME IN OUR LIFETIME situation and yes Roll20 is getting overwhelmed.  Get a clue.  Do you really think they could have planned for bazillions of people at home at the same time with nothing to do all wanting to play?   And if you think they SHOULD have planned for this, I've got a ton of swamp for you to buy somewhere I'm going to think up, or WAKE UP, you're in NANA land

Victor B. said: It isn't.  We are in a ONE TIME IN OUR LIFETIME situation and yes Roll20 is getting overwhelmed.  Get a clue.  Do you really think they could have planned for bazillions of people at home at the same time with nothing to do all wanting to play?   And if you think they SHOULD have planned for this, I've got a ton of swamp for you to buy somewhere I'm going to think up, or WAKE UP, you're in NANA land Wow that was a little unnecessary, I don't think anyone said they should have planned for this, but if you charge for a service and it is pretty much unusable people are gonna be upset. The servers have not shown any signs of improvement if anything they have gotten worse. Guess I'll go set my alarm though, don't wanna get stuck in NANA land.

Anthony V. said: Mike L. said: It was ridiculous. Even once we managed to get everyone in the rolling outages were taking people out constantly. Plus the new bugs inherent in the new update with a whole bunch of broken features since yesterday. Really stinks I have used Roll20 for 5 years but am starting to look at alternatives, because this just isn't gonna work if it continues. One of you is bitching because you lost money.  I understand that.  You are bitching because it was failing tonight.  Do either of you realize what's going on around you or the country or the world?  Roll20 is getting overwhelmed because of unexpected demand that NO ONE could have planned for.  Chill

Victor B. said: Anthony V. said: Mike L. said: It was ridiculous. Even once we managed to get everyone in the rolling outages were taking people out constantly. Plus the new bugs inherent in the new update with a whole bunch of broken features since yesterday. Really stinks I have used Roll20 for 5 years but am starting to look at alternatives, because this just isn't gonna work if it continues. One of you is bitching because you lost money.  I understand that.  You are bitching because it was failing tonight.  Do either of you realize what's going on around you or the country or the world?  Roll20 is getting overwhelmed because of unexpected demand that NO ONE could have planned for.  Chill You are a gem.

Why thank you.  But Anthony, I think I've seen you on my Combat Master Thread.  Trust me on technology.  No one could have predicted ANYTHING that has happened, the pandemic itself, the resulting stress on unemployment systems nor Roll20 systems.  Trust me.  Give it time.  Why don't we throw in Toilet Paper.  Anyone see that coming?  

Victor B. said: Why thank you.  But Anthony, I think I've seen you on my Combat Master Thread.  Trust me on technology.  No one could have predicted ANYTHING that has happened, the pandemic itself, the resulting stress on unemployment systems nor Roll20 systems.  Trust me.  Give it time.   I do appreciate your Combat Master work. I'll repeat myself I did not say they should have predicted this, I was stating that it was unsatisfactory service and that I was looking into alternatives which I think is a fair statement to make without being called an "Idiot". It wasn't just tonight the servers have been having issues for weeks. Have a good night Victor.

All good Anthony.,  I'll see you on the Combat Master thread.  

Victor, I’ve seen your combat master thread, I’m surprised that you haven’t lost your patience sooner.  As for those that think they’re paying for a service.  You may note that you get the service for free and, if you pay, it is for some perks to that free service.

I have no interest in jumping into an ongoing fight. IMHO this forum should be to suggest fixes, not to insult users who are experiencing a problem. No one is suggesting that anyone could have predicted this. There are a number of fixes that could be considered without adding memory to the server, e.g., reduce cache sizes, compress before streaming, or even block uploads or other activity at peak times while people are playing. These are big decisions that would need to be based on user demand and priorities--so it is useful to talk about it

Perhaps I was being a bit harsh because of general frustration with the world right now and everything going on in it, but expectations of everything  being perfect are unfounded in our new normal.  If you haven't noticed nothing is working right now.  Supply chains can't keep toilet paper stocked.  Unemployment is crashing due to load.  It's up to you, but don't expect Roll20 to magically deal with the unusually high demand right now either.  Nothing else can deal with it.  And yes you may be a paying subscriber, but we pay taxes and governments are struggling.  We pay stores for goods and they can't keep up.  No one could have planned for this.   I do apologize if I insulted anyone.  Wasn't the goal, just trying to make a point.  

Wow Victor. You come in, rage, and then accuse people of being unreasonable.  The increase in demand would be easily tracked by roll20. So then you invest in the infrastructure to handle the increasing demand. That isn't unreasonable, it is good business! Roll20 are using CloudFlare, so presumably can increase server capacity easy enough. But deploying a new update, which no doubt requires additional server resources, when the servers are already strained isn't a smooth move.