Latest Updates on Server SNAFU

I'll try and post the latest updates on this thread instead of the older August 24th thread.   :-)

Posted by Yoshi-P on 25 August 0711PM PST

On behalf of the FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Development Team, I would like to extend my deepest apologies to those Early Access participants who have had difficulty using the NA/EU data centers.

In response to a variety of issues, we have conducted emergency maintenance several times over the past few days. The first instance, which was conducted six hours following the beginning of early access, was for the purpose of addressing the errors 90000 and 3000, which were first discovered during phase 4 of the beta test.

Our server team then began taking measures to improve the performance of the lobby and duty finder servers. The subsequent emergency maintenance was necessary to implement their changes.

This maintenance proceeded as planned, and afterwards we verified that the stability of instanced battles and the duty finder was much improved. However, we then discovered that certain lobby servers had been improperly configured, and we were forced to conduct another brief maintenance to resolve this issue.

Although we have successfully addressed a number of serious issues in the past several days, we have nevertheless decided to implement login restrictions for the time being due to the extremely heavy load being placed upon the servers. In this way, we can ensure that the maximum number of players can play the game without risking a sever crash. I know no one wants to wait to log in, but I hope you all understand why we believe this precaution is necessary.

Once again, I would like to sincerely apologize to all our players who have been unable to enjoy Early Access due to the tremendous congestion, the ensuing issues, and the frequent maintenance.

Everyone on the development and operations teams is dedicated to providing the best possible experience for our customers, and we will continue to do our utmost to resolve the remaining and any future issues.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Producer/Director, Naoki Yoshida

Thanks for keeping this update :)  I was able to log on this morning and get Twilah tucked into a featherbed at the Inn, so if I can't log on tonight at least she is resting.  In the meantime I made an archer Twilah on a Japanese server (non legacy) to explore more of the map and storyline when Excalibur is closed.

I do appreciate them conserving server stability - when in the game it plays great!  I do wish they had a queue function, however.  I wouldn't mind queuing for Excalibur when I got home from work, then making dinner and whatnot while waiting for my turn.  Used to be like that back in the WOW raid days :)

I agree with Twilah. The game itself is amazingly fun! My upset at present is without a queue function, I want to do a few things before work like crafting and I can't. I can log into another server but I only want to play the one toon in the end.

Crossing fingers they get a queuing system worked out.

It seem EA was extended. Launch is still the 27th, but EA "credits" have been extended to the 29th. So your free 30 days with purchase don't start until the 29th, amounting to 34 days of pre-paid playtime.

It is our pleasure to announce the beginning of early access for FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn! Those who have registered preorder codes or fulfilled the requirements of the Legacy Campaign may begin playing August 24, 2013, 2:00 a.m. (PDT). Prepare yourselves for new adventures in the realm of Eorzea!

Early Access Period

August 24, 2013 (Saturday), 2:00 a.m. to August 29, 2013 (Thursday), 11:59 p.m. (PDT)

For details on controls and game progression, please refer to the Play Guide(http://sqex.to/Rf3).
For those of you who have played FFXIV 1.0, please review details (http://sqex.to/_EB) on transitioning to A Realm Reborn transitioning to A Realm Reborn before playing.

Use of Copyrighted Material
Beginning with the start of the official launch, you may stream, upload or share the videos you record of FFXIV: ARR. However, please note that these things remain prohibited during the early access period. Please see the following for more details on the use of copyrighted materials (http://sqex.to/qn4).

Thanks for updating us on that! That makes me feel slightly better from what I just found out..

I've not tried but apparently FFXIV ARR has no AFK kick and there is people who are staying logged in so they know they can continue playing later. I understand the idea of it, but to inconvenience others is a no go.

They really need 2 things. A  que and an afk timer.  This is getting ridiculous that people can stay logged into the game 24/7.  I just tried now well before prime time and servers are still full.  Its been that way now for 48 hours I have not been able to log in.  Please be your own moral gauge.  If you find your self leaving your toon logged in 24/7 please think about those that can't log in.  I know "everyone else is doing it" but it doesn't make it right.  I can understand if you are coming back to the game in 15 to 30 minutes, but if you are leaving yourslef logged while sleep or working and even an hour think of those that can't log in at all.  I am sure they will have it dialed in in no time but it is frustrating for those that are locked out.

I think we're safe to say that members here don't do the AFK exploit but yes, they need a timer. I got in last night after dinner with Marrra very easily. Now in my morning, no go.

When I am in game, all the stress bleeds out, but when this happens I begin to wonder how long it will take to get Excalibur trouble free vs taking the stress as it comes.

Hopefully with the extension now, they will get things sorted so this coming weekend can be more fun than hair pulling!

The thing is it isn't really an exploit to AFK to stay in.  I am not a programmer but I would think that is something very easy to program into a game.  If they wanted it it would be in or imagine added pretty easily.  I won't lie, knowing how congested things are if I need to run and put the kids to be or something for 30 minutes I would stay in, but overnight or all day while I am at work I wouldn't do.

Yeah, the lack of auto-kick for AFK and the lack of a real server queue is frustrating. I haven't been able to log in for about a day and a half, except for a small bit right before I went to work this morning (was able to get to the Inn, so that's good).

I rolled a character on one of the lowest pop NA servers I could find (Siren) and it's amazing how different the game feels (probably very similar to when it was in a smaller closed beta). When a FATE pops you usually have time to run halfway across the zone to join in - they usually only have 3 to 5 people at them, and you can actually die at one! Plus I've never had any issues logging in to that server.

I am worried they won't get the server issues resolved for a week or so - I can't imagine the crowds being LESS on the day the game launches (tomorrow) or the first "real" weekend - which is a US holiday also. Hopefully SE gets their act together a bit more than this.

After spending all of beta 4 locked out of Excalibur and all of these first two days of beta 5 mostly locked out, I have no qualm going AFK for several hours in-game. I've done my time sitting and clicking through 1017 for hours on end. Now that I'm finally on, it's going to take server downtime to get me off lol!

There is a server queue, they are just using it to throttle logins by allowing a very small maximum queue capacity.  My guess is 25-50 queue spots, if anyone has seen over 50 when they get into it, please let me know.

Hopefully they will slowly increase that cap over the next few days, or at least implement an AFK auto-kick feature.  I haven't checked, but I'd be surprised if there wasn't already a mile long "faux petition" post (since they don't allow petitions) somewhere on the official forums requesting an AFK kick feature.

Charlatan, I'm currently playing on Siren as Teagan Meilseoir, level 18 Arcanist. Look me up if/when you're on. I'll be more than happy to run with ya. And you're right about the FATES, but I fear that will come to a close today.

I've consistently tried to get back on Excalibur and am met with resistance, so until they get this mess straightened out I'll be on Siren or Kujata (Japan servers FTW).

To those members who are considering playing over on the Japanese World Servers:

8/27/2013  5:03 AM

Regarding Congestion in Japan Data Center Worlds (Aug. 27)

Thank you very much for playing FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

Currently, an extremely high number of players are enjoying the game. Should the number of players continue to increase at the current pace, there is the possibility that our expectations and server capacity will be greatly surpassed. Therefore, in order to maintain a stable gameplay environment, we are implementing login and character creation restrictions.

In order to be able to welcome a drastically greater number of players, we are starting as early as this week with preparations to increase our facilities, to be ready by early next week. Until that time, we will be continuing to implement these restrictions as required, and we ask for your understanding and patience.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, and once again thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this matter.

They obviously SEVERELY underestimated the number of people that would be interested in and playing this game. They need new severs, and free transfers to those servers, PRONTO!!!

8/27/2013  10:41 AM

Regarding Character Creation and Login Restrictions (Aug 27): Follow-up 4

Currently, we have stopped allowing the creation of new characters in the following worlds:

Behemoth
Phoenix
Odin
Shiva
Moogle
Ultros
Cactuar
Cerberus
Ragnarok
Diabolos
Gilgamesh
Leviathan
Balmung
Excalibur
Hyperion
Tonberry
Mandragora
Bahamut
Chocobo

In the event of any changes in the situation, follow-up news posts will be posted here as well.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Here is some delicious copy-pasta from reddit:

After siting for a while (due to not being able to log in), I completely understand the dilemma they face. Servers cost money. Lots and lots of money. As anyone in P3 remembers, the servers performed wonderfully and population seemed highly spread out, but there are some things you can't predict until launch. If I remember correctly, since launch, they have since brought at least 8 new servers online, but until folks stop hammering the top 6, then it will still be an issue.

At the same time, you have to be very careful with the servers you do bring online. Remember that most gmes have drops in population at 30 days, 60 days, etc. It's just the lifecycle of most MMOs (and many other digital services). I would also suspect that most of these people that had any chance of staying are willing to try again once the server rush dies down. The worse experience is 6-12 months down the road when some servers are ghost towns, because that will shorten the length of long term subscribers, and the developers will be hesitant to merge (since that indicates that your game is "dead").

It's a fine balancing act and I don't envy the positions SE find themselves in trying to keep players happy but ensure long term healthy server populations. Can't wait until the launch issue subside and we can get back to enjoying this really awesome game!

I re-rolled on Fairie and for awhile I could get logged in but now even this server is slammed with error 1017 =(

ya I'm getting the same 1017 error. 

well if nothing else I just redeemed the product code for my collectors edition so now I have 33 days of free game time, plus all my in game bonus's waiting for me. somehow the code was lost in my spam folder. luckily I looked instead of just deleting everything with out looking

8/27/2013  7:23 PM

All World Emergency Maintenance

At the following time, we will be performing maintenance on FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn. During this period, FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn will be unavailable.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

[Date & Time]
Aug. 28, 2013 from 12:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. (PDT)
* The completion time may be subject to change.

[Affected Service]
FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn

Posted 8/28/2013 06:59 AM

A version update was performed on FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn at the following time.

* Clients will update automatically upon launch after the date and time below.

We have made fixes listed below.

- We have adjusted the difficulty level on the following conjurer quests:
Trial by Wind / Trial by Water / Like Mother, Like Daughter

We have addressed the following issues:
- An issue wherein the chocobo companion action "Choco Medica" would not properly recover HP.
- The following quests were not able to be completed if a player’s inventory was full:
My Feisty Little Chocobo / Double Dragoon
- The cutscene for the "He Ain't Heavy" quest would be canceled when receiving damage.
- When challenging a boss during a FATE, the reward received when the FATE was unsuccessful was incorrect.
- There were cases where monsters in the Aurum Vale instanced raid would not use specific moves and the server would go down under certain circumstances.
- Searching for items on the markets that are available in large quantities would cause the game client to shut down.
- When stepping into an unknown land, players were able to obtain experience points repeatedly.
* We will be correcting the data for players that were affected by this issue.
If you received experience points in regards to this issue, please contact us via the Support Desk, or wait for more details from the Operations team.

We have implemented a solution to the following issue:
- Monsters would occasionally not appear during quest battles, which would prevent progression in the quest.

Announcement came out about server enhancements. Looks like they are working on fixes to enhance performance that they expect to be done at the beginning of next week. Until then, character creation/logins will continue to be restricted and new digital sales will be suspended.

Announcing Server Enhancements and the Temporary Suspension of Digital Download Sales

FINALLY! Some Relief !!

9/01/2013 11:33 PM

[Maintenance] All Worlds Maintenance (Sep. 3)

At the following time, we will be performing maintenance on FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn to perform the operations listed below. During this period, FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn will be unavailable.

[Details]
- Addition of new Worlds
- Implementation of countermeasures to handle the influx of concurrent user counts as a result of split processing the duty finder
- Address several known issues

* Clients will update automatically upon launch after the date and time below.

* We will announce details of the fixes at a later time.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

[Date & Time]
From Sep. 3, 2013 5:00 p.m. to Sep. 4, 2013 3:00 a.m. (PDT)
* The completion time may be subject to change.

[Affected Service]
FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn

Hope it's easier to log on after this.  I got disconnected tonight, but decided to call it a night since I played so much this weekend instead of fighting server monster *rawr*

I have not been able to login for more than about 3 minutes since Thursday or so.  I am disconnected and it crashes my computer.  I have followed their suggestions, submitted multiple notices to the email help line, but their call center is not open on the weekends, holidays or after 6:00 PM during the week (WHAT???  WHY WOULDN'T YOU HAVE THE CALL CENTER OPEN DURING PRIME PLAY TIME???).  I am still planning to play, but I am pretty unhappy with this situation and I have lost most my enthusiasm to play this game.

They sent me a customer satisfaction survey.  I have not completed it yet, but I plan to tell them exactly what I think.  One good thing is that I don't think I was charged for the early access.  If I do see that charge on my credit card, I am planning to raise hell with them and get my money back. 

Fym

I disconnected myself ><  Had Tune up Utilities running in the background and forgot I had it set to shut off after defragmentation was done.  *duh*  I was trying to find some apples and the whole thing shut down - go me!

I hope they improve the situation this week.  I have a team meeting and my dad's birthday Thursday night to get ready for so I'm crossing my fingers for a smooth weekend :)

9/03/2013 Server Congestion and Trial Period Extensions (9/03/2013)

Since the beginning of official service on August 27, 2013, the number of users attempting to access the game has significantly exceeded our initial estimates. While we are pleased to see support for the game reach far beyond our expectations, the servers were not prepared to handle this influx of players. As a result, our servers have been pushed beyond maximum capacity. In order to allow access to as many users as possible, we have implemented login and character creation restrictions. We understand, however, that these restrictions have greatly inconvenienced our players.

To resolve this issue, we will be performing maintenance from September 3, 2013, at 5:00 p.m. to September 4, 2013, at 3:00 a.m (PDT), for the purpose of increasing the number of available Worlds, reducing stress on the Duty Finder servers, and increasing the number of concurrent logins allowed for each server.

Because login and character creation restrictions have hindered our ability to provide quality service, all FINAL FANTASY XIV service accounts will receive an additional seven days of free play time. Furthermore, users who have yet to enter their registration codes will receive an additional seven-day trial should they register before 11:59 p.m. (PDT) on September 9, 2013. Moving forward, we will continue monitoring the servers to ensure that quality service and support are provided in a timely manner.

The additional seven days will be reflected on service accounts after maintenance has concluded on September 4, 2013, which can be confirmed by accessing the FINAL FANTASY XIV: Mog Station.(http://sqex.to/Msp)

We thank you again for your patience and understanding as we continue to address these issues, and look forward to your continued support of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

Just an FYI for anyone who reads this: There is a ~1gb patch on the launcher now.

9/04/2013 2:33 AM

Regarding Results of Maintenance (Sep. 4)

The following are the results of the maintenance that occurred on Sep. 3, 2013 from around 5:00 p.m. to Sep. 4, 2013 around 2:10 a.m. (PDT).

-Alleviating Stress on Duty Finder Servers This maintenance has implemented countermeasures to alleviate the stress on servers. Previously, matching took place across all servers in the various region data centers, but following this maintenance, matching will now take place within the selected groups below.

*Japan Data Center
-Group 1
Aegis/Alexander/Atomos/Carbuncle/Chocobo/
Gungnir/Ifrit/Ixion/Ramuh/Ridill/Titan/
Typhon/Valefor

-Group 2
Anima/Bahamut/Durandal/Fenrir/Garuda/Hades/
Kujata/Mandragora/Masamune/Tiamat/Tonberry/
Ultima

*North American/European Data Centers
-Group 1
Adamantoise/Balmung/Cactuar/Diabolos/Exodus/
Goblin/Hyperion/Lamia/Malboro/Moogle/Odin/
Ragnarok/Siren

-Group 2
Behemoth/Cerberus/Coeurl/Excalibur/Faerie/
Gilgamesh/Leviathan/Midgardsormr/Phoenix/
Sargatanas/Shiva/Ultros

-Login Restrictions
In the time period just after maintenance has completed, we predict a rush of characters logging in simultaneously. In order to prevent any technical difficulties due to this login rush, we will be temporarily placing severe login restrictions. These login restrictions may occur frequently, lasting from a few minutes to ten minutes; however, restrictions will be lifted in a gradual manner as login status is carefully monitored. We ask for your patience and understanding in this matter.

Furthermore, as a result of the countermeasures taken to alleviate stress on the Duty Finder servers, we expect to be able to increase the number of players able to login simultaneously; however, if those login numbers still surpass the maximum number of possible logins in the various Worlds, please be aware that we will continue to implement login restrictions.

-Regarding Limits on New Character Creation As a result of this maintenance, it is now possible to accommodate an increased number of simultaneous logins in the various Worlds; therefore, we have now lifted the New Character Creation restrictions in the majority of Worlds in which restrictions were in effect. New players who are just starting a game or those who would simply like to create a new character can do so by finding a World which has had the restrictions lifted, and creating a character there.

Please note that there is a tendency for characters to become concentrated in certain Worlds, causing login numbers to jump up in those particular Worlds. In order to create a population balance between Worlds, we will continue to be implementing New Character Creation restrictions in overly congested Worlds.

We will monitor the situation, and in the event restrictions may be lifted, follow-up news posts will be posted. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and ask for your patience and understanding.

-Addition of New Worlds
With this maintenance, preparation for the addition of new Worlds has been completed.

Although it is possible to add several new Worlds due to load balancing on servers, an increased number of players able to login simultaneously to various Worlds, and New Character Creation being possible again on various Worlds as a result of this maintenance, we will only be adding a minimal number of Worlds at this time directly after maintenance.

At this time, the following new Worlds have been added.

*Japan Data Center
-Pandemonium

*North American/European data center
-Famfrit/Lich (Europe-recommended World)

Please note that, after a new World opens, we predict players will be concentrated in that specific World. In order to create a population balance, please be aware that we will be implementing New Character Creation restrictions or login restrictions in overly congested Worlds.

We will continue with the addition of new Worlds as we monitor the login situation and public opinion in real time, and updates of any new Worlds will be posted.

I was hoping for a lot more when they promised more servers and an increase to the duty finder servers (thereby allowing more room on each individual server for new characters). It is just as congested right now trying to make a new character on practically any server as it was yesterday. Sadly, unless they offer free character transfers to Excalibur down the road, myself and Briin will be stuck and staying on Lamia and will look for a Free Company to join there. I wish y'all the best of luck and hope by some miracle to join everyone on Excalibur in the future. -Kriggles Diarmada (tank on Lamia), - Lalissly Diarmada (dps on Ixion).

Looks like I'm just not going to be able to play. Now the game crashes my entire computer every 20 minutes. Just hard Crash, screen freezes, audio gets stuck, nothing works. Have to hold power button down to fix. Havn't found a solution to the problem when searching for the same issue.

9/09/2013 1:40 AM

[Maintenance] Notice of All Worlds Maintenance (Sep. 11)

At the following time, in order to add new content to Worlds, enhance instance Worlds, further enhance Duty Finder performance, and to address several confirmed issues, we will be performing maintenance on all Worlds.

During this period, FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn will be unavailable.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

* Clients will update automatically upon launch after the date and time below.

*Because we predict a login rush right after maintenance completion, you may experience a 1017 error. If this happens, please wait awhile and try to login again at a later time.

*Details on the addressed issues will be posted separately.

[Date & Time]
Sep. 11, 2013 from 5:00 p.m. to Sep. 12, 2013 3:00 a.m. (PDT)
* The completion time may be subject to change.

[Affected Service]
- FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn

Patch Notes Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Updated (Sep. 11)

[Update Details]
The following features have been implemented:

-An auto-logout feature has been introduced wherein characters that are inactive for 30 minutes will be automatically logged out of the game.

The following adjustments and countermeasures have been implemented:

-Changes have been made to the behavior and mechanics of the enemies found within the “The Wanderer’s Palace” and “Amdapor Keep” dungeons to counteract instances of players running through the dungeon without engaging enemies on the way to bosses.
As advancing through dungeons without defeating enemies is not an intended strategy, we plan to continue making further changes in the future to discourage this type of behavior.
-In instance dungeon “The Wanderer's Palace” and “Amdapor Keep”, we have increased the amount of AllaganCoins that can be obtained from a treasure chest.
-Reduced the amount of gil required for repair fees and materia removal as follows:

Equipment levels 1-10: 10 gil -> No Change
Equipment levels 11-20: 50 gil -> 30 gil
Equipment levels 21-30: 100 gil -> 60 gil
Equipment levels 31-40: 210 gil -> 120 gil
Equipment levels 41-40: 500 gil -> 200 gil

-Reduced the price of Dark Matter as follows:
Dark Matter G1: 5 gil -> 4 gil
Dark Matter G2: 30 gil -> 12 gil
Dark Matter G3: 70 gil -> 24 gil
Dark Matter G4: 150 gil -> 48 gil
Dark Matter G5: 350 gil -> 80 gil


A temporary countermeasure has been implemented for the following issue:

-For the issue wherein the “Manor Sentries” found within the Haukke Manor dungeon could become stuck and prevent players from progressing through the instanced dungeon, we have changed the original location of “Manor Sentries” to the second floor.


The following issues have been addressed:

-The server would crash under certain conditions during instanced dungeons.
-Characters would sometimes get stuck in the “Binding Coil of Bahamut” dungeon after the party was wiped out.
-Bomb Boulders would sometimes fail to appear in “The Navel (Hard)” battle.
-Certain monsters would sometimes get stuck in the “Amdapor Keep” dungeon.
-The option to return to Home Point would not display when completing a primal battle while being KO’d.
-The entry point for the “The Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak” dungeon was shown in the field in the “Stinging Back” guildhest.
-The “Steel Reign” FATE would sometimes fail to appear.
-Completing the “Behold Now Behemoth” FATE would sometimes cause the server to crash.
-If the player was disconnected during the “Lady of the Vortex” instanced battle, the Duty List, Journal, and Journal Map may display incorrectly.
-The “Notorious Biggs” quest could sometimes be progressed without completing the instanced battle.
-There were occasions where it was impossible to target the snowman in the “Speak Softly to Me” quest.
-The cutscene was canceled if the player was attacked during the “Lord of Crags” cutscene.
-If a player logged out while being bound by duty within an instance, and logged back in after conclusion of the instance, the free company chat would not work.
-Mog Letters were not sent properly in some instances.
-Certain conditions would sometimes cause the server to crash while interacting with the free company
“Company Chest”.
-The “Reach” gauge was sometimes not selectable when in a new, unknown gathering point.
-In some instances, the specified items to collect were incorrect in the “A Relic Reborn” quest.
-In some instances, the specified enemies to defeat were incorrect in the “A Relic Reborn” quest.

Posted 9-11-2013 02:55 AM

Subject: High Level Dungeons

From: Devin "Camate" Casadey - Community Team

Greetings,

The development team is aware that there are times when you cannot participate in content so easily and without worry, and I’d like to let you know future countermeasures we have planned to address this.

1. Significantly reduce repair fees and the cost of dark matter
   While the focus will be placed on high-levels, we will be significantly lowering the overall fees for repair and the cost of dark matter.
   
2. Addition of item level requirements for high-level dungeon participation
   We'll be adding a requirement to participate in high-level dungeons and hard mode primal battles that will make it so you need to have equipment above a certain item level equipped to participate. To coincide with this, we will be implementing a system that will display the average item level for your gear in the character window.
   
3. Addition of a party recruitment window
   We'll be implementing a bulletin board type of system where you can recruit party members that are only on your world. When recruiting, you can indicate the dungeon you would like to do, the roles you are looking to recruit, the levels, etc. (We'll be announcing the details soon.)

We will be addressing #1 after the maintenance tomorrow, and #2 and #3 will be implemented after patch 2.1.

The NA/EU Servers will be down for maintenance on Sept.19 from 4:00-6:00 PM PDT. As of this writing the servers are still down. A notice appeared while I was on the Japanese Servers that another emergency maintenance patch will occur today from 7:00-9:00 PM PDT. The Japanese Servers had already had a patch previously from 2:00-4:00PM PDT.

» Edited on: 2013-09-19 19:02:09

Been getting 1017 errors trying to log into Excalibur since the patch finished a short while ago.