Blizzard implemented fixes to Diablo 2's backup global database

Things went sideways yet again on Monday when Blizzard implemented fixes to D2R Items backup global database and then tried to move it onto the new database. After the switch was made it continued running backup processes and not respond to request from distant servers.

The issue was resolved on Tuesday, but another high concurrent player count that also occurred that day led to "degraded database performance," which engineers working on databases are trying to resolve. The situation is so dire such that Diablo 2: Resurrected team has roped engineers from other departments of Blizzard to assist in fixing smaller issues, while focusing its attention in "core problem with server."

"We also reached out to our third-party partners for assistance in the same way," PezRadar said.

It is interesting to note that Blizzard's desire to maintain the original Diablo 2 experience in the remake is the primary cause of the problems. One "legacy service" in particular handles critical functions including "game creation/joining, updating/reading/filtering game lists, verifying game server health, and reading characters from the database."

It was upgraded and optimized for Diablo 2: Resurrected but is still rooted in 20-year-old technology, and is having a problems staying up to date with "modern player behavior."

"In 2001 there wasn't nearly enough content available on web regarding playing Diablo 2 'correctly' (Baal is available for XP pindleskin/Ancient Sewers/etc magic find, etc)," PezRadar said. "Today the new player can look up many amazing content creators who can teach players ways to use the game in various ways.

Many of them including lots of database load, in the form of creating loading, dismantling, and even destroying games all in a short time. Though we did foresee this--with players creating fresh characters on new servers, working tirelessly in order to find their magic items -- we far underestimated the range of possibilities we discovered from the beta testing."

Another significant issue is the amount of global database saves, which are happening way too often with no reason. Buy D2R items PS4 has implemented some changes to smooth things out currently and is working on a more permanent solution, but it's long in coming as it's "an structure overhaul that will require time to build and test, before implementing."