Final Among Us Report - Grade: A PDF

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Final Among Us Report...

Description

FORMAL REPORT An Impostor with No Interruptions

For : InnerSloth

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Table of Contents Executive Summary..................................................................................................ii Introduction...............................................................................................................1 Jargon Explained.......................................................................................................2 Options......................................................................................................................3 Solution......................................................................................................................3 Conclusion.................................................................................................................5 Works Cited...............................................................................................................6

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Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to examine the options and improvements InnerSloth needs to make for its application Among Us. A fast-growing game like Among Us has resulted in an influx of users that has contributed to various server errors. These server errors cause a disruption when players are enjoying their games, and it causes even more of a confusion when the error messages are full of jargon. A continuum of this will have a quick end to Among Us’s success because it is ruining players’ experience, but a solution can be met for the game. The five important sections of this report are as follows: ● Introduction- Background on Among Us and how their success has also brought some downfalls. ● Jargon Explained – A description of the error prompts received in layman’s terms and how to solve them. ● Options- The available options for Among Us to improve. ● Solution – An examination of my recommendation on the best solution for the Among Us system to enhance consumer experience. ● Conclusion – An overall overview of the report. The report finds that a cloud-based server running in areas where Among Us players are heavily concentrated along with a more user-friendly error message system will improve user experience.

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Introduction

Although InnerSloth created the app Among Us and released the game in 2018, the game has recently gained massive popularity this past summer. According to Inner Sloth, the game “reached 1.5 million concurrent players across the different versions of the game”, in just a weekend, Among Us peaked at 400,000 views across all countless streaming channels such as Twitch and Discord. Although Among Us has had great success, it could have a decrease in users due to unforeseen server failures. There have been different instances where there have been glitches in the app. For example, when playing a game, the server tends to randomly kick players out and prompt messages like, "Could not send data as a SocketException occurred: Network is unreachable", “Forcibly disconnected because: Reliable Pack Without Response", "Sent pings that remote has not responded to",” "Reliable packet 1" and other server error messages. These messages use jargon that the user is left to fix on his/her own and interrupt their gaming experience. It took a couple of years for Among Us to reach its current success, but it is important to improve customer experience to keep gamers engaged and wanting more in the short-term. There is an uncertainty whether it’s worth changing servers as it can be costly and a complex problem for the company to handle. However, with the proper solution, the Among Us customer experience can improve and continue Among Us’ success for years to come.

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Jargon Explained

When users are suddenly kicked out of a game, they are shown an error prompt that leaves them confused as to whether it was their fault or the app’s fault. The following table includes the explanation to the jargon and how to solve the issue in the error messages:

Error Message

Meaning

You disconnected from the server. Reliable packet 1 (size=#) was not ack'd after #ms

Servers are down or under heavy load. Keep trying to connect, change server regions (click the globe icon in the bottom-right corner) or wait a bit before trying again. You disconnected from the server. Network is unreachable. This error can Could not send data as a occur when trying to play on a data SocketException occurred: connection. Connecting to Wi-Fi can solve the problem. Forcibly disconnected from the server: The server is down or under heavy The remote sent a disconnect request. traffic. Keep trying again or wait a bit and access it later. You disconnected from the server. Sent The server is having trouble reaching # pings that remote has not responded your client. Ensure that your internet to connection isn't dropping packets, especially if you're on Wi-Fi. Running a speedtest can help determine this. If your connection is fast and stable, chalk it up to another server issue. Understanding the prompts can make it easier for users to fix the problem. By making the error messages more understandable as does the right column in the table provided above, users will be able to take action instead of having to search for a solution or worse yet, log out/delete the game which would be detrimental for InnerSloth.

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Options

The unforeseen influx of users on any application or website can cause server crashes. So, what is the best solution for a company who experiences a sudden growth spurt? There are various options a company can choose from. One of the most efficient options a company can choose is to have physical servers that are kept on site at the company or have cloud-based servers that are managed by an external party (like Amazon Web Services and other similar companies) and are off-site. Larger and international businesses benefit more from cloud-based servers because they require less maintenance and protection. On the other hand, physical servers are more powerful and efficient, but they are harder to maintain and can be costly due to the constant hardware and software changes. When choosing a server, it is important to keep the businesses needs in mind. The needs include size and durability. Size meaning with a continuance influx of users the server will keep supporting the increase in number of users. The solution should handle more users than it currently has. It is important to have a server that will have long-term durability. Then, it will meet all the future needs of the business and avoid the need for a constant server update. Solution

As discussed above, a cloud-based server suits Among Us’ needs best because it would be the most economical option for InnerSloth. It can increase the capacity for the number of players on the app without having error messages constantly pop up for the players. A cloud server is best for all the users connecting internationally to play the game as the server does not have a physical location, but rather, it is in the “cloud” meaning everyone’s distance to and from the server is essentially the same. For a developing company, cloud-based servers like those provided by Amazon have helped Among Us launch and connect with various users, but there is a problem. Among Us has had a spike in players now totaling over 100 million users worldwide. With its success, Among Us has succumbed to server errors. The optimal solution would be changing its current server from the Amazon AWS nano to an Amazon AWS EC2 t3.2xlarge nano. Although the servers may be named similarly, T3 is designed to run general purpose workloads at a low cost. With a burst bandwidth up to 2780 Mbps at the cost of $0.133 hourly for 3 years. The T3 is built on AWS Nitro System, a collection of building blocks that offload the traditional virtualization functions to dedicated hardware. By using the Nitro System, Among Us can experience high performance, availability and security while reducing virtualization overhead.

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Because Among Us’ main server is based in the US, another possible solution would be to get another server based in Europe and/or Asia depending on the market and if InnerSloth has the ability to afford the overhead. This option is also available through Amazon Web Service, and it would help decrease the congestion on a single server especially since the largest number of users are from the Philippines according to InnerSloth. Adding a server in a different region would reduce the traffic on one server and allow the game to become more efficient for users in the long run. The last possible option is to change the jargon in the error prompts with words users without technical knowledge can understand while also providing simple solutions for the error’s users face. This isn’t the best solution because users will still be interrupted, but it is affordable and will help lessen the confusion for players. The three solutions provided above are in order of effectiveness for Among Us in the long run.

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Conclusion

To conclude, it is important for Among Us to provide the most efficient servers for its current and future players. While it took them 2 years to obtain the 100 million users they have worldwide, it could take them even less time to lose millions of users due to poor gaming experience. To maintain and increase the number of users, InnerSloth has to focus on continuously improving the customer’s experience, and in order to do that, they need to update their servers because the interruption during the games is an unpleasant experience for all which could cause a decrease in the total number of players of Among Us. Therefore, the optimal solution I propose would be to upgrade the cloud server to the Amazon AWS T3. nano as it has the capacity to hold an increased number of Among Us’ users without any interruptions. To enhance the customer experience, Among Us should also change the error prompts to not include technical jargon and provide a simple yet detailed solution to the error message. They should implement new error messages while they are in the works of upgrading their server system in hopes of retaining current players while attracting new players as well.

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Works Cited

Daly, Donald J., and Donald J. Daly. “Economics 2: EC2.” Amazon, CGA Canada Publications, 1987, aws.amazon.com/ec2/instance-types/t3/. “Server Issues - Maintenance & Error Codes: Among Us - GameWith.” GameWith(ゲームウィズ), 24 Sept. 2020, gamewith.net/among-uswiki/article/show/22211. Fenlon, Wes. “Among Us Error Codes: What They Mean.” Pcgamer, PC Gamer, 22 Sept. 2020, www.pcgamer.com/among-us-error-codes-reliable-packetsdisconnected/. Innersloth. “The Data Among Us.” Itch.io, Itch.io, 4 Oct. 2018, innersloth.itch.io/among-us/devlog/50755/the-data-among-us....