After experiencing server issues over the weekend, Once upon a time, I was human Developer Starry Studio revealed that it struggled to cope with the unexpected number of players flocking to the game.
Once Human is a free-to-play multiplayer open-world survival game from developer Starry Studio, which is owned by Chinese gaming company NetEase. It was released on PC on July 9 and quickly gained popularity, reaching a peak of 231,668 concurrent players on Steam.
While this is a huge success for NetEase, some players are experiencing frustration just playing the game – specifically, some are finding themselves unable to play with their friends due to the newly imposed player limit, playing on already full servers, or experiencing long wait times.
now Steam PostsStarry Studio said the increase in player numbers over the weekend “exceeded previous expectations,” leading to long queues for servers, which Starry Studio said left it “no choice” but to limit the number of players on each server.
“However, we acknowledge that it has caused inconvenience to some players, and we are working on improving it,” the developer added. “We apologize for any inconvenience caused.”
Starry Studio detailed why Once Human runs into problems when there are too many players on a single server, which is a useful insight into how the game works and the challenges developers face with an MMO-style game like this.
“Once Human is an open-world survival-building game with a limited number of resources on the map,” Starry Studio said. “When too many players gather on the same server, it becomes more difficult to find a suitable place to build your territory. In addition, it also affects late-game content such as Stronghold Conquest on PvP servers. According to previous test data, we found that in the current scenario, limiting the number of players on each server to 6,000-8,000 can provide a better gaming experience. Therefore, we have imposed a limit. Once this limit is exceeded, players will have to wait in a queue. All of this is for online players to enjoy a better gaming experience.”
At the time of publishing this article, nine of Once Human’s servers are completely full. Starry Studio suggested players play on other servers instead to join the game. In the meantime, Starry Studio said it will soon raise the limit for each server, allowing players to play on the server of their choice. “However, this measure is not a long-term solution, so please avoid servers that seem too crowded.” The August update will add an invite code feature, allowing players to be invited to a server even if it is already full.
In the short term, a patch scheduled for July 18 will bring some initial improvements, and there are plans to offer compensation to “those who wait long periods in the queue.”
“We know you’re eager to have fun with your friends. Our team is hard at work resolving issues related to server load and are doing all we can to improve queuing issues,” Starry Studio said.
last week, Starly Studios has responded to backlash over Once Human’s cosmetic mechanics, promising changes.Once Human has received “mixed” user reviews on Steam, with some players voicing concerns about everything from the game’s privacy policy to its use of the NetEase Launcher. On the gameplay side, players have been critical of the forced seasonal reset and how it affects character progression and attachment, as well as cosmetics being tied to individual characters.
Wesley is IGN’s UK News Editor. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or wyp100@proton.me.
