Ok, I do not want to start another flame thread about ranking issues with EA/ThePlanet on 2142 servers, so I hope this does not come to that. However I would like some answers to several questions that seem to get blackballed around when asked via phone calls with ThePlanet.


12-20-06 ~11:00 pm est
I called ThePlanet and spoke to some guy in the sales department (forget his name, but I do remember that his voice was very deep and he was very hard to understand).

I asked him if the box I was looking at would be able to handle the servers at which I wanted to host. This is, 3 servers total. 1 Unranked 26 man server for scrim matches, 1 Ranked 48 man titan, and 1 ranked 64 man titan. He said it would handle that perfectly, I repeated back to him his answer, and he confirmed it again.

I then asked him how long it would take for the box to become ranked once I purchased it. He then said 24-48 hours max. So again, I repeated back to him what he said, and he confirmed it again, that it would take 24-48 hours to become ranked.

So I figure, ok, why not. Lets order this baby.


So I ordered it the next afternoon, and it was setup that day.
12-21-06
Once I received the emails, I went into cortex, and started setting up my servers. I wanted the scrim server up asap for matches I had scheduled. I got it setup and running fine, except that 2142cc would not work what-so-ever, it kept saying that they were problems with the versions on the server.

12-22-06
So I put in a ticket, the next day they fixed that 2142cc problem, however I still was having errors out the wazoo with it, so I had them switch it to Windows 2003 instead of Linux OS.

After the first OS Reload, they did not put cortex back on, I put in a ticket for this, and pretty much they said "ooppss, didnt notice it was a cortex box".

Ok, that is fine, so I put in another one, and made sure this time to have Cortex spammed all over the comments of the ticket.

12-23-06
I put in a support ticket as to why my servers were not ranked yet, as I was told via sales dept that it would be within 24-48 hours. I was then told that it would take anywhere between 24-72 hours. Ok, cool I can live with that.

I also, had to have my box's os reload this day because they told me that it had a virus on it causing it to crash everytime I added a new IP address in cortex.

12-24-06
OS Reload Complete, added new IP address....crash
I put in another ticket, they said to do another OS reload to fix the problem.
---os reload going here--
Put in another IP into Cortex.....crash
*new ticket here*
Tech said that everytime I add a new IP via cortex it crashes the box and they have to physically fix something (duh that's what I said), and he recommended him adding in all the IP's manually so it did not crash.

He did so.

*new ticket here*
Put in a new ticket about my ranked status, this time they told me it would be anywhere between 5-7 days.
(keep inmind this is day 4 already) which is completely different from what I was told the two times.

*phone call placed hours after no response*
Told over the phone 1-2 weeks for Ranked Status, but that my server was already ranked.


12-25-06
New IP's do not show up inside Cortex. Put in a ticket, and they said AGAIN I had to have another OS reload, this time manually so that windows would be updated before it went online. (keep in mind this was OS reload #5/6?)

So I tell them to go ahead and do it.
--os reload goes here--
Problem fixed finally (after 5-6 os reloads).

12-26-06
Day 6 after server was provisioned
Put in another support ticket over ranked status.

This time they replied with it could take anywhere between 5-10 days, and assured me that it is all in EA's hands, which are short staffed due to the holidays.

*phone call placed hours after no response*
Told over the phone 1-5 days for Ranked Status, but that my server was already ranked.


12-27-06
Day 7 after provision.

Put in another support ticket for ranked status
This time I was told that the IP's were not sent in until 12-26, and they could take between 3-5 days to come back, but that they would be back at the latest by Saturday(today), and that I would be up and running before the new year.

12-30-06
Day 10 After Provision

Put in anther support ticket about ranked status.
Reply was "forwarded to Cortex Dev Team for further review, please stand by"

Now, when I am told "Please stand by" I am expecting a response soon (ie within 30min - 1 hour)
7 Hours later...no reply.

Called Tech Support,
They say it is ranked, then look into the ticket, and say that the cortex dev team won't be back until Tuesday, so there is nothing at all, by anyone there, that can do anything until Tuesday.
He also told me that getting ranked status takes anywhere between 1-3 weeks. (yes, he said 1-3 weeks), typically between 2-3 weeks.

So here I am. At a loss. I have been told by phone support numerous times that my server is already ranked, been told in tickets that it takes between 24-48 hours, 24-72 hours, 1-4 days, 1-5 days, 1-2 weeks, 2-3 weeks, and 5-7 days. My server was not sent in until a week after it was provisioned, yet that entire week before they sent it in, they told me numerous times that it was already in EA's hands, I have had to have over 6 OS Reloads, and lost ~$250.00 to be able to use a 26 man, unranked, scrim server, once.

I do not know what else to do here. I am at a loss. I have just been told that basically I gave them $250.00 for an unranked 26 man for a month, then next month, hopefully, I will get a ranked server. All this after over 45 tickets. >_<;

What can I do? or is there anything that can be done besides finding someone else that wants my money?

Well technically your server is ranked, the problem ends up being on EA's end usually.


They submit your IP's to EA as ranked IP's then EA has to update that and put it into their system.

Okay I did not have the attention span to read the whole thing but I did see 2 things in the beginning.

1) Never use Linux for BF2 or 2142

2) No Insomnia server will handle a 64 man titan server.

the whole ranking thing is a nightmare and usually the problem is on EA's side.

I hope you get your problem resolved soon.

I thought the Dual Core 5130's with 2GB of ram would handle 64 slot titans?

That was a typo. Was suppose to be 48 Ranked Titan, and 64 Ranked Conquest. Sorry.

The server being ranked doesn't do anything if I can't start a ranked instance does it?

Just skimmed over this topic.

Sales does not know whats goes on down it the pits.
Right hand needs to communicate with the left more.

It can take two days or more for a server. We waited
a week for our BF2 but two hours for our 2142 server.

The ranking could also take another week, its an EA thing.

If you have a problem with your server then you should not
be the one to pay for the OS reloads or any down time you
have. Submit a ticket to accounting for credit.

Don't give up on them, there are great people here at the planet.

Holy smokes. That's quite an ordeal, and you shouldn't be getting that at all. Please PM me your account number, and I'll make sure everythign is running smoothly for you.

I imagine the discrepancy around what you were told stems round our recent troubles with EA and new IP ranges and various folks in the chain going on and off vacation. Assuming an absence of largely celebrated winter holidays it typically takes 3 to 5 business days for your server to rank from the time its provisioned.

If you try to start a ranked BF2 server befoire its on the list then the server will 'hang' at a dialog box saying its not authorized to be ranked. If you start a 2142 server before its ready then it'll immediately crash and report a similar message to its logs.

Did that change Kevin? At one time you could start a 2142 server set to ranked and it would register as sv.ranked 0 but still run.

Yup that came about in the last patch or so. Its certainly made troubleshooting more fun. :/

PM sent.

They also had supposedly forwarded a ticket to you directly on Saturday...however apparently that did not get to you as it is still open and I have not received a response from you.

I just found that ticket and updated it. No worries. We'll get this fixed.

klaude got this fixed this morning! Thank you so much!