• Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Deleted member 2840

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,400
Earlier this week Bamco turned off the online servers after it came to light there was a RCE exploit that affected all Dark Souls titles. Now it seems they removed the multiplayer/online tags on Steam for those games.

steamcommunity.com

It's Dead Jim (They removed PvP & Co-op tags from store) :: DARK SOULS™ III General Discussions

Aaaaand there's my money and time down the drain for no reason. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2732841171

08EB171EEBB99296407084F933B84BEEDC481956


Maybe they did it so the pages don't have a "false advertisement" while they try and fix the exploit. Or maybe they gave up and those games won't be playable online again. What do you think ERA?
 

Dest

Has seen more 10s than EA ever will
Coward
Jun 4, 2018
14,074
Work
I think it'll get fixed up. I doubt they would just kill the entire franchises multiplayer like that on what the platform that probably has the most dedicated players.
 

Deleted member 14089

Oct 27, 2017
6,264
My hunch would be that it's temporary, let's just wait until official communication. It's a core part of the series to have MP. They'll bring it back.
It's likely done due to steam policies.
 

SunshinePuppies

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 14, 2020
3,357
I'm guessing fixing multiplayer is probably a larger task than I had thought, good move on removing the tag but woah
 

Kromeo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,904
Ain't no way they are permanently going to strip it from the PC version Elden Ring. Whenever they get the fix out they will probably add it back for that game. I am not familiar with how much the games share on the back end though. I would imagine if whatever fix they come up with for Elden Ring can be used for the older titles they will come back up as well. If that can't be easily done, well it wouldn't be the first time a publisher has killed online features for a legacy title.

I don't think they've removed it at all from Elden Ring?
 

Lashley

<<Tag Here>>
Member
Oct 25, 2017
60,095
Probably had to do it to avoid false advertising whilst they work on fixing it
 
Oct 27, 2017
2,852
Columbus, OH
I really hope this all gets worked out before Elden Ring hits. I'm eyeballing that console version even though I have a preorder on Steam.
I mean let's be honest, I'll own it on multiple platforms eventually.
 

Bungie

Member
Oct 31, 2017
3,790
I imagine once they call Durante and ask him how to fix they'll be able to give people a better idea of when the servers will be back up
 

ChitonIV

Member
Nov 14, 2021
2,190
Pretty nuts that the servers for this 30 million+ selling series, are still offline.
 

Foffy

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
16,395
Wait, DaS1-3 STILL don't have the servers back up?

They made an announcement that they will be put back online some time after Elden Ring, and given that's only been out a week now, it's understandable it's not yet. I think their reasoning is they want to fix all three games.

I can't speak to the depth of the problem, but Elden Ring's PC woes are...everything but hackers now.
 

elenarie

Game Developer
Verified
Jun 10, 2018
9,835
Wait, DaS1-3 STILL don't have the servers back up?

Depends on who's going to pay for that. Are FROM even contracted anymore to support the older games or is that ran entirely by BN at this point? Maybe they just don't have anyone on staff to fix the underlying security issues, and thus their only option is to remove the MP entirely.
 

ChitonIV

Member
Nov 14, 2021
2,190
It's been weeks. It's nuts. Bandai/NAMCO are really fumbling this.

Elden Ring is undoubtedly driving interest in Dark Souls games. Heck, I wanna play 3, while I wait for ER to be playable on PC...
 

Deleted member 93841

User-requested account closure
Banned
Mar 17, 2021
4,580
Bumping this once again because these servers are still down and I think the situation is getting unacceptable at this point. We still haven't had any communication from Bandai/NAMCO on when we can expect the fix to actually be rolled out, if ever, and even worse is that at least 3 of the games are still being advertised with multiplayer on their store pages:

New Content for PC
Dark Souls™: Prepare to Die™ Edition will include an untold chapter in the world of Lordran. Sent back to the past, player will discover the story when Knight Artorias still lives.
  • New Bosses – Including Black Dragon, Sanctuary Guardian, Artorias of the Abyss.
  • PVP Arena & Online Matchmaking System – Quick matching for players to play 1vs1, 2vs2 and 4 player battle royal.
  • New Areas – Including Oolacile Township, Oolacile Sanctuary, Royal Wood, Battle of Stoicism which is the training ground for online PVP battles.
  • New Enemies – Including Wooden scarecrows, Chained Prisoner, Stone Knight.
  • New NPCs – Including Hawkeye Gough, Elizabeth (keeper of the sanctuary).
  • New Weapons and Armor – Equip some from the new bosses, enemies, and NPCs
The Story
Dark Souls is the new action role-playing game from the developers who brought you Demon's Souls, FromSoftware. Dark Souls will have many familiar features: A dark fantasy universe, tense dungeon crawling, fearsome enemy encounters and unique online interactions. Dark Souls is a spiritual successor to Demon's, not a sequel. Prepare for a new, despair-inducing world, with a vast, fully-explorable horizon and vertically-oriented landforms. Prepare for a new, mysterious story, centered around the the world of Lodran, but most of all, prepare to die. You will face countless murderous traps, countless darkly grotesque mobs and several gargantuan, supremely powerful demons and dragons bosses. You must learn from death to persist through this unforgiving world. And you aren't alone. Dark Souls allows the spirits of other players to show up in your world, so you can learn from their deaths and they can learn from yours. You can also summon players into your world to co-op adventure, or invade other's worlds to PVP battle. New to Dark Souls are Bonfires, which serve as check points as you fight your way through this epic adventure. While rested at Bonfires, your health and magic replenish but at a cost, all mobs respawn. Beware: There is no place in Dark Souls that is truly safe. With days of game play and an even more punishing difficulty level, Dark Souls will be the most deeply challenging game you play this year. Can you live through a million deaths and earn your legacy?

Key Features:

  • Extremely Deep, Dark & Difficult – Unforgiving in its punishment, yet rewarding for the determined – learn to strategize freely and conquer seemingly impossible challenges.
  • Fully Seamless World – Explore a completely integrated world of dark fantasy where dungeons and areas are seamlessly intertwined, with great height.
  • Mastery Earns Progression – Contains 60 hours of gameplay, with nearly 100 uniquely despair-inducing monsters & an incredibly nuanced RPG systems including: weaponry, armor, miracles, faith, and more. Player success depends on their eventual mastery of how and when to use the magic spells, choice of armor, the number of weapons, the types of weapons, and the moves attached to the weapons.
  • Network Play – Players may cross paths with one another, invading each other for PVP battles, or to play co-op and take on giant boss encounters as a team.
  • Flexible Character Development & Role Play – As the player progresses, they must carefully choose which of their character's abilities to enhance as this will determine their progression style.
  • Community – See other real players and empathize with their journey, learn from seeing how others died, find and leave messages for your fellow players; helping them or leading them into death.
  • Symbolic of Life & Hope – The Bonfire is an important feature in Dark Souls for many reasons. Though in gameplay it serves as a health and magic recovery and a progression check point, it also happens to be the one place in the dark world where players can find a fleeting moment of warmth and calm.
Then, there was fire. Re-experience the critically acclaimed, genre-defining game that started it all. Beautifully remastered, return to Lordran in stunning high-definition detail running at 60fps.
Dark Souls Remastered includes the main game plus the Artorias of the Abyss DLC.

Key features:
• Deep and Dark Universe
• Each End is a New Beginning
• Gameplay Richness and Possibilities
• Sense of Learning, Mastering and Accomplishment
The Way of the Multiplayer (up to 6 players with dedicated servers)
Gamers are in for a big surprise in DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin. An unforgettable journey awaits you in a breathtaking world where each dark corner and unexpected encounter will test your resolve. Go beyond what you thought was possible and discover incredible challenge and intense emotional reward. Whether you've previously played DARK SOULS™ II, or are new to the award-winning franchise, you are in for an entirely different experience with this exclusive, "Director's Cut" version of the game.

- The definitive edition of DARK SOULS™ II. DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin includes all the DARK SOULS™ II content released to-date in one package and much more!

- A brand new experience and challenge. Enemy placement has been overhauled, resulting in a completely different play dynamic than experienced before. The safe zones that some players remembered are no longer safe! A new NPC invader called Forlorn will also play a key role in changing the gameplay experience. Hardened players will have to forget everything they thought they knew about DARK SOULS™ II.

- Online play has been enhanced with the addition of a special item to regulate souls acquired in battle - it's now possible to match up more consistently online. The number of players who can participate in an online session has also been increased, from 4 to 6 people, completely changing the online play dynamic.

DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin brings the franchise's renowned obscurity & gripping gameplay to a new level. Join the dark journey and experience overwhelming enemy encounters, diabolical hazards, and unrelenting challenge.

I wonder at what point it becomes time for Steam to step in and tell them to give clarity on the situation or put up a notice for potential buyers to tell them that the games' multiplayer has been stripped out. If they're struggling to fix it, fine, but we're going to need some kind of communication soon. Just dragging out the situation endlessly is BS, imo.
 

Griffith

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,585
How long has the multiplayer been offline now?

Close to two months if I'm not mistaken. They did say they'd only resume trying to find a solution after Elden Ring's release which, under those circumstances, is acceptable (even though they've known about these issues for years), but Elden Ring came out over a month ago and there's still radio silence from them.
 

Dever

Member
Dec 25, 2019
5,350
Huh I thought this was fixed considering Elden Ring probably uses most of the same infrastructure?

Although I would hesitate to say the online in Elden Ring "works"... Disconnecting constantly lol.
 

Deleted member 93841

User-requested account closure
Banned
Mar 17, 2021
4,580
Close to two months if I'm not mistaken. They did say they'd only resume trying to find a solution after Elden Ring's release which, under those circumstances, is acceptable (even though they've known about these issues for years), but Elden Ring came out over a month ago and there's still radio silence from them.

It's actually been over two months at this point. They shut the servers down on 23 January.
 

Kalik

Banned
Nov 1, 2017
4,523
While Elden Ring thrives, the PC Souls games have been offline for 103 days

Elden Ring being such a smash hit felt like the deserved culmination of a long and rich action-RPG lineage...its success was only possible because of the rich action-RPG lineage behind it, so it's ironic and unfortunate that in the background of Elden Ring's success, the Souls games on PC feel abandoned—even if ultimately that may only prove temporary

it's hard to shake the sense that either Elden Ring's success has focused too much attention elsewhere, or that this exploit may be an even worse problem (in terms of restoring the games' functionality) than it appears...

www.pcgamer.com

While Elden Ring thrives, the PC Souls games have been offline for 103 days

Publisher Bandai Namco hasn't said anything publicly since early February.
 

BasilZero

Member
Oct 25, 2017
36,408
Omni
Ironic I was gonna play DS1, 2 and 3 again with my buddies right before the issue with mp started

I hope the MP comes back , would suck so bad if it doesn't
 

Deleted member 93841

User-requested account closure
Banned
Mar 17, 2021
4,580
Yeah, the situation is inexcusable. If they are unable to fix it, they need to let us know and update the Steam store pages to say that these versions are missing multiplayer functionality.

They might have removed the multiplayer tags from the store pages, but they all still mention multiplayer in their descriptions.
 

dsk1210

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,402
Edinburgh UK
They annoyingly still try to connect to servers and fail which slows down getting into the actual games unless you actually go into offline mode before hand.
 
Oct 27, 2017
4,198
Earlier this week Bamco turned off the online servers after it came to light there was a RCE exploit that affected all Dark Souls titles. Now it seems they removed the multiplayer/online tags on Steam for those games.

steamcommunity.com

It's Dead Jim (They removed PvP & Co-op tags from store) :: DARK SOULS™ III General Discussions

Aaaaand there's my money and time down the drain for no reason. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2732841171

08EB171EEBB99296407084F933B84BEEDC481956


Maybe they did it so the pages don't have a "false advertisement" while they try and fix the exploit. Or maybe they gave up and those games won't be playable online again. What do you think ERA?
lol they fixed it they just want you to play elden ring.
Huh I thought this was fixed considering Elden Ring probably uses most of the same infrastructure?

Although I would hesitate to say the online in Elden Ring "works"... Disconnecting constantly lol.
i dont know if it was ever confirmed to even be a problem with elden ring ( still though the online in this game even though its not amazing or anything and coming from someone that played every game but ds1 at launch this game has the best online in from history... it still can be better though) it was a concern but that could have been the reason for the one month delay...

id rather them use time to further patch Elden ring.
 
Last edited:

PKrockin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,260
This isn't quantum mechanics, fans already made mods that solve the issue. They either don't give a single shit or they actually like that this happened so that people are forced to drop $60 on the new game to play multiplayer.