Whew! What a week.
I think we can all agree that any of the dedicated PlayTime watchers (Including ourselves!) have all lost a little bit of sanity and sleep these past few days. Boy, we really don't know where to start!

Turns out we lied, because we actually know exactly where to start: A thank you. Seriously, thank you! We knew that Semi-Open Beta was going to be huge, but we really had no idea the community outreach would become THIS huge. In fact, there are so many of you trying to play that you've managed to take down our entire website on multiple occasions! And yeesh, you don't even want to see our hosting bill because of it.

Now, we know the system is far from perfect. We knew it would have some problems, and we did our best to prepare for them. The root of all of the problems lately has been because of the web server. You see, when planning Semi-Open Beta, as we said, we knew it was going to be big. We spent quite a long time making sure our game servers were geared up and ready to go -- and they certainly were! On the first day of Semi-Open Beta, we had hundreds of testers playing at once without any issues whatsoever. We were really impressed with how the servers held out, and things were going swimmingly!

The problem arose in something we overlooked, and definitely shouldn't have: Our webserver. We've never had a problem with our webserver in the past, as it can generally hold up with the amount of people visiting our site. As word got out about Semi-Open Beta, however, you absolutely pummeled the servers! (Which we're actually pretty proud of as well. It's just amazing how many people are trying to play.)

When the webserver goes down, so does the account server, which cuts off connections to the game. Sadly, as many have experienced, it also cuts out connections to the PlayLine. That's a big no-no. We've been pulling our hair out all week, but finally, the issues are beginning to subside! As we originally said, the Semi-Open Beta system is completely experimental and we expected issues with it. It's going to be a while before we can call it perfect - but lucky for you, it's about to get a little bit closer!

Despite the issues, thousands of toons have already gotten in-game to Toontown Rewritten and we've spoken to many of them. It's just an amazing feeling to watch someone's first reaction when playing Toontown for the first time in nearly a year -- and for some veteran players who missed the closing, even longer! Even if you're having trouble getting in game, don't sweat about it. Think about all of the people who have made it to the front of the line, and what it would be like in their shoes. We've watched them on a first-hand experience, and it's a really great feeling both to experience and to watch. One day, a day very soon, you'll be getting to experience it too if you haven't already!

That day might even be today. As a thanks for all of the support this week, PlayTime schedules can now hold 30 toons at a time, and the PlayLine has received a boost as well! You might even see your wait time get cut in half.

Thanks again for everything you toons do, and thanks for bearing with us as we continue to work on Semi-Open Beta. We'll see you in game soon!