Cerah he was dreaming of Tanitel again.  Tanitel, the loyal ‘Minnie footman’, she thought as she dreamed.

It was over twenty years ago when she met Tan.  Cerah was learning, at the protest of her parents, all she could about the Minmatar people.  Tan was her guide in this journey into the forbidden knowledge of the slaves.  Nonetheless, Cerah pursued all she could learn and in turn, pursued her guide.  He was a strong man, proud with tradition and yet he treated her as if she was as close as kin.  Over time, Tan and Cerah did fell in love.  Such things happen when people spend time with one another.  In Amarrian, society ‘love relations’ do occur between the Amarr and their slaves, but it is not usually a mutual love, more of lustful abuse of the slaves.

Cerah and Tanitel had a different love.  A true love, one that you read about in the books of old.  Such ‘equal love’ had to be kept secret.  It had to remain hidden from the Amarrian world.  To allow their love to become known would have meant death for the both of them.

Painful it was, honoring the wishes of her parents to marry Galen Grendalis the IV.  She had no choice.  An arranged marriage on their world was not something that one could simply walk away from or at least, walk away alive.  The Grendalis family was one of the most powerful on Oris.  Her parents would have thought it an honor to marry into that family.  It was her curse to be wed to such a man.  His cruelty towards the Minmatar was well known.  He was the slayer of slaves.

Through everything, Tan was still there and alive.  He had been picked as her loyal footman, to tend to her needs when she was venturing beyond the grounds of the manor.  Some thought it odd that an Amarrian woman would have such a trusted slave, but it was not unheard of in the Empire.  To allow such an Amarrian Lady to fall into harms way would result in the destruction of many Minmatar villages.  It was point of honor to protect those women, yet another stone of oppression to hold over the collective heads of the Minmatar people.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.  It was dark again; night had fallen as she slept through the day.  She felt weak, drained.  The news that her son Galen would face the whip in the morning brought tears to her eyes again.  Softly she sobbed as she lay in her bed.

A quiet whisper sneaked out from the darkness, “Do not be sad my love.  All is not lost.”  Tanitel’s words floated through the night and settled upon Cerah’s troubled mind like the warm rays of the springtime sun.

“Tan, oh my Tan.  You have snuck in here again.  I have missed you these past few months.”  Cerah’s voice was weak and filled with pain.

“My love, I have a wonderful gift for you, “Tanitel spoke softly as he placed the data pad into her cold hand, “Look at your son…and our daughter.”

Cerah’s eye opened widely.  She stared at Tanitel and with tears filling her blue eyes, “Daughter?  I can not know anything of her, if Galen was to learn what I knew, she would be in danger.”

Tanitel smiled and helped Cerah to sit upright.  As he put his arm around her, he took the data pad and held it so they could both see the picture.

“Cerah, the Five will leave the Eight, you remember those words, don’t you?”  Tanitel whispered gently, “Galen Grendalis the Fifth and his sister Leainati have left Oris.  So look at your family my love, they are free.”

Cerah looked at the picture, “Oh, she is so beautiful.  Galen and Leainati, they are gone?  They have left?”

“Yes my love,” continued Tanitel, “Leainati rescued Ga’len from the chapel and they took a shuttle off planet.  Soon they will be too far for danger to reach them.”

“Ga’len?” asked Cerah, “you called him Ga’len, why?”

“It is the name Seenan has given him.  His new life needed a new name and he seemed to like it,” Tanitel held Cerah closer.

Cerah smiled and closed her eyes, “They are free.  Free to live their lives.  At last…”

Her breathing grew shallow and her embrace grew weaker.  Slowly she drifted away into sleep in Tanitel’s arms.  Slower and slower, he weak breath escaped her lips until it was quiet.

The room seemed to grow darker as Tanitel realized that he was alone.  The Five had left the Eight and so had Cerah’s life too slipped away this night.

Tanitel lightly kissed her on the lips, “Sleep my love, and be free.  It has been too long.  Your wishes will be honored.”

***

Dawn came to Oris quietly.  The sun slowly crept up across the horizon, spreading its light over the mountains, down into the valley and across the fields.  The Minmatar slaves had already been working for hours in the dark and they were about to begin their morning meal break, but this morning would be different.

Galen Grendalis the Fourth had called an assembly at the chapel.  Here within the chapel and on view screens all over the installation, everyone would watch the wrath of Galen befall those who would attack and kill Amarrian guards.  They would all witness yet another beating but this time, it was another Amarr citizen, his son.  All was going according to plan, Galen Grendalis was much too happy with himself.  Soon he would show all those who had been disobedient that he was their ruler and his power was uncontestable.

The knock on the door shattered the serenity of his morning meal.  “WHY DO YOU DISTURB ME?!?!?  ENTER!”,  Galen shouted.

The door slowly opened and the standing in full armor was Nathorn, the head of the house guard.  He was a large man, broad shoulders.  His face was clean; his hair was always perfectly presentable.  He always stood tall and possessed an arrogant and commanding presence, but this morning, he stood in a half-bent over cower.  It was clear that he was very unsettled, something was very wrong on this morning.

“Milord, I am most sorry to bring you this sad news.”  Nathorn’s voice was trembling with fear.  The news must be severe for this man to be filled with fear.

“WELL, OUT WITH IT YOU FOOL!”  Galen grew impatient.  He hated to be disturbed in the morning.

Nathorn continued, “The doctor visited upon your wife, the Lady Cerah this morning and has discovered that she has passed.  I am so sorry milord; please accept the condolences of myself, my family, and the house guard.”

Galen Grendalis sat there in his chair.  He paused his chewing for a moment and looked up at Nathorn.  “This is why you have disturbed me?  To tell me that ungrateful bitch, that rotting corpse in my bed has finally succumbed to her laziness?  Tell me, “Galen’s voice was filled with contempt, “why I should not have you killed?  Sad news?  This is good news.  She is finally dead, good riddance!”

Nathorn remained motionless and stuck in is half-cowering stance.  “There is more milord,” his voice was very broken, and he was shaking in fear, “It would seem that your son has escaped from the chapel during the night.”

“WHAT!?!?!?!?!  WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE HAS ESCAPED!”, Galen flew up out of his chair and ran across the room.  He drew his knife that he always kept on his belt and slashed out at Nathorn’s throat.   The blade clanged against the neck armor and then fell to the floor.

“NATHORN, YOU WILL FIND MY SON AND BRING HIM TO THE CHAPEL NOW!  YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES AND IF YOU DO NOT BRING HIM, I WILL MAKE SURE I GET THROUGH YOUR ARMOR NEXT TIME!”, Galen’s voice was filled with rage enough to push Nathorn out of the room.

Nathorn called out, “GUARDS!  GUARDS!  FIND GALEN GRENDALIS THE FIFTH IMMEDIATLY!”

Galen stormed out of the room, stopping only to pick up his knife.  As he exited the doorway, the slashed out with his knife and killed the first man he saw.  The servant who was moving the body of Cerah Grendalis found his throat cut wide open, he fell to the ground with a gurgling choke, and blood sprayed everywhere.

The cleric escorting the body spoke, “Milord!  Please stop!  We understand you may be distraught with the passing of you wife, but…,” the servant’s voice was stopped short and the blade slashed out again, cutting his shoulder deeply.  He ran away down the hall, screaming in pain.

Galen Grendalis the ‘slayer of slaves’ was on a rampage and anyone who fell into his path would die.  The manor was going to become a bloody place again.

***

Hidden in the shadows in the hallway, Tanitel observed the carnage.

“How fortunate, his rage has helped me for once,” Tanitel thought, “With that dammed cleric gone tending his wounded shoulder and unfortunately the servant dead, Cerah has been left alone.  My love, as I promised, your wishes will be honored.”

Tanitel moved quickly, picked up Cerah in his arms, and ran down the east hall, ducked around the corner and headed into the secret passage he had come to depend on.  In another moment, he was out of the manor and safely heading into the woods.

Deeper into the woods, Tanitel tried to make his way as quietly as he could.  He would soon be missed the morning meal.  He had managed to elude being seen and unbeknownst him, missed as the first shift began its work in the fields.

Deeper and deeper Tanitel traveled, towards the old ruins.

It would be here, as Cerah had told him long ago, that he would build the pyre.  It would be here that Cerah Grendalis would finally see her freedom from this life.

“Soon my love, soon you will be free among the starts,” Tanitel’s thoughts drifted from Cerah’s last wish and their daughter, “This is so cruel Leainati.  You barely knew your mother and now she is gone.”

Further and further into the forest Tanitel silently moved.  Soon, soon it will all be over.

***

Seenan was gathered with many workers from the first shift.  She was standing in front of on of the man view screens that normally showed the current production numbers, which teams were behind and news bursts that usually showed her fellow slaves being beaten for simply not working as hard as their masters demanded.

This morning, there was supposed to be a special viewing of a disciplinary action in the chapel.  She chuckled quietly to herself, as she knew well; the poor soul that was bound in the chapel was now light-years away from Oris.

A low murmur began to spread through the crowd.  The guards were all talking into their communications gear; there were panicked looks on their faces.

“Something is not right…or was it?” Seenan thought to herself, “Lord Grendalis must be in a rage over  Ga’len’s escape.  That must be it.”

The guards began moving people into formation for a count.  They all seemed very frantic, their eyes filled with fear.  This Seenan expected however, one of the guards looked as if he had been crying.  He was so distraught that he dropped his weapon.

Seenan immediately fell to her knees and cowered away from the guard.  No slave was to ever stand if a guard was not armed.  The guard quickly picked up his weapon and spoke with a shaky voice, “On your feet, form up.”

“Yes sir…if I may speak?”  Seenan spoke boldly, “normally we do not care much for you guards, but something is bothering, is it not?”

The guard’s eyes narrowed and he looked as if he was about to strike Seenan, but he stopped himself and spoke, “No, this I will not do, not today,” his voice was filled with grief, “Yes, something is wrong.  Your Lady Grendalis has passed into the next life.  She died in her sleep last night and you will…”

Before the guard could finish her sentence, he saw that Seenan’s eyes were filling with tears.  She fell to her knees and sobbed softly.  Her ankle still ached with pain.  She put a hand on her ankle to try to hold back the pain.

As she looked up at the guard, she spoke warmly, “Dear sir, I can see that you morn her.  Know that you are not alone in your grief.  The Lady Grendalis was always kind to me and mine.  Her light will be missed in all our lives, “Seenan continued, “You honor her on this day by not striking me, by not showing me the violence that she hated with her entire being.  I shall honor your kindness by my submission.  Do with me as you will.”

The guard was taken aback by this display.  How could a lowly slave touch his heart?  His eyes began to fill with tears.  He hid his face with his hand and shouted, “You two there, help this woman, her leg is injured.  Take her to the infirmary at once.  Lord Grendalis will want all his slaves to be able to work double hard after this delay today.”

The guard, after wiping his face clean, looks at Seenan through mournful eyes and mouthed two words, Thank you.

***

When Seenan arrived at the infirmary, her ankle had begun to stop its protest of pain.  Regardless, she administered a pain reliever and put on a brace.  She had to hurry; Tanitel would be making his way to the old ruins.  There was much work to do.

She returned to her barracks and gather what she would need, including the urn she had kept hidden for Tanitel.

“Seenan, is it true?  Has Lady Cerah died?” asked one of the infirmary’s attendants.

“Yes, her light has left us my friend.  Pass the word, at dusk we meet at the old ruins deep in the forest,” Seenan’s eyes began to fill with tears again, “Tonight we honor her memory.”

Continued

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** steps on soapbox **

Yes, it’s a bit of soapbox time for me as I simply do not understand petition responses from the GM’s and why low sec systems continue to NOT see the benefits of Stackless I/O .

I shall explain my confusion and I am looking for active feedback on this one, regardless if you agree with my point as a good, solid discussion about lag, Stackless I/O and server logs needs to happen.

So, where do we begin?  With an observation or mainly a question.

Has Stackless I/O reduced lag for the entire game of EVE?

This is a question that many have been dancing around and it’s high time that we talk about it.  Unfortunately, I have to say no, lag has not been resolved nor reduced in all of EVE.

Been to Jita lately?  It’s great.  1200 or more people in system and it’s stable and responsive.  The combination of Stackless I/O and additional hardware resources has greatly improved that system as you can see in the game play, even on a Sunday!!

0.0 Space?  That seems to be working better as well.

Low Security space?  Not so much.

Since Quantum Rise has been deployed, I have been in ‘large’ and ‘small’ fleet engagements with very different results.  I have been in small fleet engagements in low security space, for example systems like Otou, Lamadent and Rancer as well as several large fleet engagements in 0.0 space.  In all of these engagements, lag has affected the game play, however, the engagements specific to low security space, the encounterd lag was so severe that both sides of the engagement petitioned for the severe impact to game play and the game was simply not playable.

So, what do you do when your game play is reduced to a slide show and your ship is no longer responding?  You put in a stuck petition as you are plainly stuck.  What really makes me scratch my head is the petition response that is used so many times, “logs show nothing”.

Let’s look at the following examples of engagements that I have been in over the past 4 months.  We will look at both engagements in low security space and engagements in 0.0 space:

Low Security Space

• Prior to fights on a POS, fleet battle requests were put in by both sides over 24 hours before said engagement.
• Total people in system never peaked above 150, most times it’s less than 100 people.
• Less than 100 people were on grid, roughly a 45 man gang versus 24 man gang, a ‘small’ fleet engagement.
• Once the fight started, module activation times were increased to a wait of 2 to 5 minutes or more.
• Most people received the infamous, “an attempt to activate this module is underway” or “armorrep is already armorrep” messages.
• Fight ended due to lag as the lag severly prohibited game play.
• Petitions for lag put in by multiple players from both sides of the engagement.
• All petitions denied as lag was not verifiable by the GM.

0.0 Space

• Prior to the fight, NO fleet battle request was made as these fights are exclusively of the ‘random engagement’ type of combat.
• Total people in system usually peaked well over 100.
• 300 people were on grid, roughly a 90 man gange versus over a 200 man gang, a ‘large’ fleet engagement.
• Once the fight started, module activation times were increased to almost 45 seconds.
• Fight ended as one side won the engagement as it should be.
• No petitions filed for lag as lag was acceptable and did not severely prohibit game play.

Now, seeing these lists, you would wonder if low security space, specifically the systems in the Aeman constellation, had seen Stackless I/O deployed.  Making that determination based on the two examples I have here would not be fair nor accurate as many things can affect lag on any given day.

The issue I have is that these two situations listed above have occurred multiples of times each, over the past 4 months.  Granted, there has been some minor variations where the fights occur within the systems (POS, Station, asteroid belt and/or on a Stargate) but my experiences and those of the people I have been both flying with and against, have been identical.

What observations can we draw from this collected evidence?

• Large engagements in 0.0 space have lag in module activation and client/serve response time that is measurable in seconds, not minutes and thus do not severely limit game play.
  
• Small engagements in low security space have lag in module activation and client/server response time that is measurable in minutes not seconds and does severely prohibit game play.
• Regardless of fleet battle requests made for engagements in low security space, no additional resources are being brought in to support the nodes affected.
  

This makes no sense at all.  If Stackless I/O has been deployed, as it has been in Jita and in 0.0, the first two observations should be the same.  In fact, they are complete opposites.

Small gangs in low security space see more lag than large gangs in 0.0 space.

Our third observation here should be taken in a different context as these request for fleet battles are handled on a case by case basis, however in our experience, we have yet to have a positive result or a node reinforcement for a request made for a battle and/or POS seige in low security space.

With all the work that was done with Stackless I/O, how do they know it’s working?  What metric, other than feedback from users, tells CCP that lag is actively being reduced? There must be a metric that logs data on client/server performance.  How else would they be able to establish a performance baseline to obtain results that can show that Stackless I/O is working.  It makes you wonder how they evaluate performance.

Without a valid metric, there is no way to know that Stackless I/O has any effect on reducing lag and ensuring consistent and reliable game play for pilots.

So, tell me this.  If you are a GM and you are seeing roughly say, 50 petitions come into the queue for lag.  All these petitions are reporting a lag issue for the same date, time and location in game.  Why do you tell all 50 of those people that there is not a problem.

The fact is, you ARE seeing a problem.  50 people have reported a problem.  That’s your indicator of a problem.  That’s your metric that is independent of the server logs.  You should be looking into why there is a problem and resolve it.  That’s what customer service departments are supposed to do.

If you ignore it and tell people that there is no problem, it will not go away.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  Eventually, you will not hear about it anymore as people will stop reporting issues.

When you receive continual large groups of petitions for lag, from the same systems in the game on a regular basis, you need to address that lag issue at that those locations in game.

Don’t tell me that there is nothing you can do about.  Jita is a classic example of lag reduction in game.  The improvements to 0.0 space are another wonderful example of how lag has been significantly reduced from the many improvements applied.

My dear CCP, from where this pilot and many others are standing, we are drawing the following conclusion:

Low security space has not seen any improvements from Stackless I/O, network clustering optimization or the new Ramsan installations.  Fleet battle requests and reports of lag issues are simply being ignored.

This conclusion may not be true from CCP’s perspective, but it’s what people in low security space are consistently experencing and consistently providing feedback in discussions on various forums, chats and player meetups.

You are about to release a new expansion for the game in a few days.  It would be a shame if all those new players can’t play the game due to lag.  Don’t fail the new players and stop failing the veterans.  We love the game, we want it to succeed.  We want CCP to succeed.  Listen to your stakeholders, they are actually trying to help you and they are doing a great deal of work for you, for free.

Stop looking at petitions for lag as ‘players complaining’.  It’s not complaining, it’s the valid metric for client/server performance that you seem to not be addressing.  It’s the metric that fills that gap  from where the server “logs show nothing” and what performance the players are seeing.

Stability, consistent performance and reliable sustainability are just as valid stakeholders as players and thus are also valid inputs to the SCRUM process.  Don’t fall into the trap that many other companies fall into and not learn that lesson.  Player feedback, including petition trends should be a part of your ‘sprint’ meetings for customer support.

Petitions are a valid bug report, already submitted, that are telling you where that lag is occurring, when it is occurring and how many people are experiencing that lag.   Don’t tell people to fill out another form, such as a bug report form, it’s already been done.  Stop ignoring all that useful information that petitions are giving you, instead use it and address these issues.

Take the metric, deploy the resolving solution already identified to reduce client/server lag as was done for Jita and get that iterative increment of usable software that the systems and pilots in low security space are still waiting to see deployed.  Then and only then will you be able to capture the valid metric and be able to prove that Stackless I/O has reduced lag in EVE, everywhere.

Until then, I will see you out there, lag permitting.

*** steps off soapbox ***

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