So I know they turned off the multiplayer servers for Dark Souls at some point last week, but they also turned them back on. Thing is, since they turned it back on the place has still been a ghost town, at least on my end. I don't know if it's my doing or what, but I just cannot for the life of me see any other players. By contrast, when I fire up my 360 version I still see the odd bloodstain and phantom.

I guess what I'm wondering is this: did something fuck up on my end, or did the community on PC just tank that hard with the servers coming down? I'm getting tired of seeing the same three messages.

I'm not convinced the PC online functionality is still completely working.

I just beat the game last night and the only messages and summon signs I saw were in the DLC area.

Going to guess that the team is busying putting out Dark Souls 3-related fires right now to really address any issues with Dark Souls 1. I've also read that there's some not intended funkiness going on with it.

I was playing the PC version a couple of days ago, and someone invaded me while I was in light Anor Londo. I also saw a bunch of messages leading up to O&S; so it seemed fine to me.

According to steam stats Dark Souls 1 peaked at 9745 concurrent players today on PC. So there must be something wrong with your game.

It was completely dead when I played a couple weeka ago, i think it has something to do with moving to steam from gfwl.

@oursin_360: Except they moved from gfwl to steam in December 2014.

It hasn't worked properly for me for a long time.

To be fair, its a pretty old game at this point.

Earlier this week there was one day (think it was Tuesday) where connection nodes were popping up for me again (according to the pvp watchdog mod),and the multiplayer worked fine; managed to coop on a handful of bosses with barely any waiting in between. But then the day after it went right back to 0 again, and it's been down since.

I've tried switching download regions from my usual home country (the Netherlands) to LAN-event Europe, since some people claimed that worked for them, but no luck.

Lots of people are also suggesting Wulf's connectivity mod works well, but I haven't tried that myself, mainly because my anti-virus keeps telling me it's a trojan (tried downloads from both the Nexus and the author's own site). It might very well be a false positive, but I am not really in the habit of running random .exe files.

@counterclockwork87 said:

That's not really a fair point because the game wasn't close to a ghost town days before the servers were shut off. Prior to it, I couldn't go through an area without running into numerous messages and bloodstains. The server event drastically reduced their frequency, whether it's driving off players or introducing bugs that are preventing their visibility.

@colony024: Well an DS fix that many people recommends is hardly an random .exe file is it? ;)

@rethla: Well let me put it this way: it's a single .exe that comes with no signature, no explantion, no readme or anything else about how it works or what it does, and I can't find any outlet and/or person that I reasonly trust to give me any further info (RPS did post a link to it, but also say they didn't try it and don't know if/how it works). This alone makes me cautious.

But then there are multiple people on both the Nexus and the Steam forums, aside from myself, who also get the trojan warning, but the author (who is actually very active on Steam right now telling everyone to go download his mod) has yet to respond to any of the questions about this potential threat.

Again, it might very well be all legit, but I prefer the better safe than sorry approach for now, especially when people are asking me to "just put your Steam ID into the textbox when the running the .exe".

I'm wondering if it's because I'm so far back in the game - I only just got to the Capra demon and have seen nothing but a few messages. No bloodstains, no phantoms, no summoning signs. "Why so far back?" I hear you ask? "Well, because for some reason the switch from GFWL to Steam didn't carry over my save even though I followed the guide," I say, which lost me a whole heaping helping of progress. I only just recently buckled down and tried to start a new game.

At any rate I guess I will just continue to solo around and maybe once I get a bit further in there will be some activity. A man can dream. That or I'll just give up and play it on Xbox, which has shown a bit more life.

Send it to Vinny for his next internet quicklook ;)

Hm. I played through it on PS3, and finished it a couple of days ago. I played it all offline (I don't care for the invasions that stop my progress), so that aspect honestly doesn't bother me. Why do you feel you need it? I don't think it makes or breaks the game.

@ntm: I think it's more about seeing the "ghost" of other players running around. seeing blood stains and watching them to see how a person died (laughing at said person or learning from that person mistake) and have the orange soap signs down. All those things gives the world more life. Plus one can pretty much play with all that and never get invaded by always staying in hollowed status.

@ntm: Can't speak for everyone obviously, but personally I like the coop part of the game. I've never cared for the invasion mechanic and couldn't really care less about PvP, but helping out others defeat bosses while also getting a few souls and goodies out of it has been tons of fun. Wouldn't say it makes or breaks the entire game though, just a fun diversion every once in a while.

@ntm: I like the way the phantoms make the world feel more alive - it's these little moments of connection you get seeing someone else sitting at a bonfire or fighting some enemy you've already taken on. Plus I like having the option to summon in help if I'm stuck (so if for example the bloody Capra demon is giving me fits, I can get help).

@colony024: @monkeyman04: Yeah, totally. I understand the reason why people like it, I'm just saying I don't think it's needed to really appreciate the game overall. I personally really liked all the helpful stuff (though I never did the co-op), but I just don't want to take the chance of being invaded regardless once I do eventually become human, even though being hollow is how I am throughout most of the game (which may or may not change here in two). It really doesn't bother me, and I actually quite prefer it now that the bloodstains and messages are gone other than the developer made ones. That's me personally. I was just saying I don't think it'll ruin his experience. It may be a slight unfortunate thing, but overall it's still great.

The reason I am adverse to invasions is because, despite wanting to like it, and look at it as a tough boss, it in the end was not what I want from the experience. I want to go through it, facing the troubles the offline stuff poses, seeing the places and enemies/bosses; not at some random point to be invaded from someone that's levels ahead of me. Them taking souls isn't even the issue, it's just that it stops my progress; it can happen over and over from the same person (happened in the very end of Demon's Souls, which is when I started playing it offline), and like I said, they can be levels ahead, so at that point, it's more luck than skill to beat them.

It momentarily stops the fun.

@ford_dent: Understandable. I felt that way once, though I don't feel that way anymore. Plus, I think the game having a lack of other players around kind of makes sense; just the way the world is supposed to make you feel. As for bosses, just go to a new area and do that first, or grind for a short while so you can beat him. The Capra Demon is one of the easiest bosses in the game, and later, though he's quite a bit easier in terms of health, he becomes a normal enemy in Demon Ruins. I just want to say, don't give up on the game just because of this. I think you'll really enjoy it regardless.

@ntm: Thing is, you only need to be in human form to summon others into your world, but putting down your own sign so that others can summon you can still be done even if you're hollow. So you're only opening yourself up to invasions if you want to ask for help, not if you're offering it.

@colony024: Okay, well that doesn't bother me. I play offline remember? I know this though. Even if I had played online, I wouldn't summon for co-op though. So it's again not really an issue there. The only stuff I care for is the bloodstains and messages. The downside to those aspects is that they can get in the way if you press it in an inopportune time.

There's definitely something funky at the server end of things.
I finished off my NG+ playthrough recently (after not having played for a long while). Most times I was not seeing any orange messages, though there was one day (Wednesday?) where they were showing up as normal.
Played a bit of NG++ today, and I did see a few messages that weren't my own. So maybe things are working again? I'm not typically summoning or putting down white signs so not sure if that is working properly (at any rate didn't see any white signs despite being human, but might be because of my high SL? I'm not too familiar with the rules around that). And also I recall that even a couple of years ago, summoning was pretty flaky for me.

@ntm: Yeah I get that; I just mentioned it because, like yourself, I don't like the invasions, but I do like helping others out in their worlds, which I can still do without ever going human (or could do anyway, before these server shenanigans). Not just you specifically, but lots of people seem to think that both parties need to be in human form, which is not the case.

It's a much more fun way to get some extra souls for upgrading my gear than grinding mobs in my own world is. I kind of like that aspect, that you only have to expose yourself if you want help, but not if you're helping someone else.

@colony024: Aw. Okay, yeah, that does sound like a faster, funner way to get some souls. I don't plan on doing that, but that's cool.

@hone_mcbone: not seeing your point? From the stuff i read when i wnet back and finished, the online stuff was having issues since the switch and it was never fully fixed. Stuff like changing your download region in steam etc where tips to help fix it but i just didnt bother, then they shut th servers down completely. Anyway seemed like a known issue from i read when i was playing.

I was summoning, being invaded, and co-oping with two different friends without issue about six months ago, so either something has happened since then or it's on your end.

Last I heard there were legitimate issues with the servers that were being looked into.