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Patching/Maintenance during EU daytime

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Im trying not to be a total nag and i realise that many people have different opinions but something is starting to irritate me the last few days:

Patching and/or performing maintenance seems to always be in the night when you're living in the PST timezone. This means for players in the GMT timezone that servers are offline during the day. PST = GMT -7 and most people in Europe live in the GMT +1 zone.
So when you're living in Europe like me it's effecting your uptime quite a lot. Thursday i was able to start playing at 8pm (also due to the pre-patch bug), friday i could'nt play for 3 hours and now it's almost 1pm and the servers are still down.

In all honesty this isn't fair. And whatever the reasons for this or whatever appology people approve in their mind, if it isn't changed in to a rotation or isn't compensated it willl remain unfair for the effected people.
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  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    So who would you recommend we deprive of their playing time?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Someone's always going to lose out, you've got:

    Americans - Pacific Coast
    Americans - Central Areas
    Americans - East Coast
    UK
    Mainland Europe - Multiple time zones
    Middle East
    Far East
    Australia and New Zealand.

    There, I think I've covered all the bases. Like I said someone will always be doen in Daylight Hours, it's inevitable.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    So who would you recommend we deprive of their playing time?
    Rekken wrote:
    , if it isn't changed in to a rotation or isn't compensated it willl remain unfair for the effected people.

    mabey it would help the discussion if you'd started reading
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    So who would you recommend we deprive of their playing time?

    Asians and Australians -]]]

    Anyway, the time for patches should at least be set to working days, not 10-12 GMT weekend really.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Excorant wrote: »
    Asians and Australians -]]]

    Anyway, the time for patches should at least be set to working days, not 10-12 GMT weekend really.

    What about people who work nights?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Actually I did read it all.

    So again I ask... who would you pick to have downtime?

    Lets follow some logic shall we.

    1) They have to do maintenance, and apply patches

    2) They can't possibly choose a time that will affect no players

    3) They choose a time that affects the least amount of players.


    I think it's perfectly fair and justified, and I welcome the fixes they're putting in. Some of you seem to think that because of your particular circumstances like working nights, or long shifts, or family commitments, that you should be given different treatment to say someone who is playing all the time. You don't.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Unfortunately server maintenance has to take place at some time. If I recall, EVE Online had cut down on the impact of this by hvaing the servers shut down more often, but for only an hour.

    EVE Online's schedule (was): 6:00 - 7:00 AM Eastern Standard Time every day

    This seemed to work well, it being: early morning, lunch time, dinner time or late at night for most people.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    How about a time zone that is in the middle of the Pacific. I don' think many people on Easter Ilsand have Star trek Online... :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Actually I did read it all.

    So again I ask... who would you pick to have downtime?

    Lets follow some logic shall we.

    1) They have to do maintenance, and apply patches

    2) They can't possibly choose a time that will affect no players

    3) They choose a time that affects the least amount of players.


    I think it's perfectly fair and justified, and I welcome the fixes they're putting in.
    Rekken wrote:
    , if it isn't changed in to a rotation or isn't compensated it willl remain unfair for the effected people.

    A rotation would fix it all and would be fairest. (do i need to shout it in your ear for you to hear? lol)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    3) They choose a time that affects the least amount of players.

    Please give proof that the most players of STO live in the PST-Timezone.

    It would be optimal if they would rotate the maintenance time. Today 3 to 5 am PST, next time 5 to 7 am PST, then 7 to 9 am etc. It even would have the perk that that the server technicians don't have to get up that early for every maintenance (even though they have to get up earlier at some times. Or just go to sleep later.:D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    When I played CoH, cryptic used to do daily maintenance right smack in the middle of my play time (Middle east)so I had no choice but to dump that game even if i wanted to continue playing it.

    Fast forward several years & the only thing that's changed is really the very same game (that's how it feels when negotiating an obstacle, running & jumping very awkwardly) with the maintenance happening on FRI/SAT - Our weekend.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Rekken wrote:
    A rotation would fix it all and would be fairest. (do i need to shout it in your ear for you to hear? lol)

    I heard you, but in my view it would not be fairest, maybe you weren't reading my posts clear enough to understand that?

    I certainly wouldn't be wanting to be on the forums if Cryptic were to announce scheduled maintenance in the middle of the prime time for their largest group of players.

    They're doing it exactly the way I would do it.
    K-Tar wrote:
    Please give proof that the most players of STO live in the PST-Timezone.

    It would be optimal if they would rotate the maintenance time. Today 3 to 5 am PST, next time 5 to 7 am PST, then 7 to 9 am etc. It even would have the perk that that the server technicians don't have to get up that early for every maintenance (even though they have to get up earlier at some times. Or just go to sleep later.:D


    I don't have any proof as such, but being in a rather large fleet I can definitely see for myself. You can also tell when you're warping around sector space. It looked so.. empty.. lol
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Also take into account the physical location of Cryptic's servers - California. Their IT guys are showing up at 3am on a Saturday morning to do this work.

    As for the normal maintenance times, its mostly the same deal, they come in early to take care of it so that they still have their entire regular work day to do normal work. Its pretty much the standard in the industry, with WoW being the exception of doing Euro server maintenance seperate. But even that only started about a month ago.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Yes, it is annoying for me as an European player, but honestly, I don't think there is a really better way to handle this. Rotating the patching/maintenance schedule seems a complicated arrangement. Remember, people have to manage and perform this stuff, and this means they have to work at awkward and changing times. People with kids and family that might have to work at these times.

    What could help a lot if they were not doing it on weekends. During the week, the working and school-going players have a far shorter time window to play the game anyway, and if they do their patches around 8-18h GMT, most of the European players will have to work or be at school, anyway.

    As compensation, maybe a "I am a Startrek Online player in Europe and all I got was this lousy downtime T-Shirt"-T-Shirt. :D

    But I guess you'd rather have something like C-Store credits or your money back, but I doubt that is going to happen. ;)

    They just need to ensure the forums are open while the game is patched, so we can exchange thoughtful ideas, inspirations and relay our game experiences and learnings. [/optimistic]
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Yea Downtime Sucks but hey so I helpt my Wife cleaning our Kitchen and Bath wopps 2 Hours gone..

    Guys get a Live and you will see that downtime is sometimes not that hard..
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Again I say....

    EVE Online's schedule (was): 6:00 - 7:00 AM Eastern Standard Time every day
    This seemed to work well, it being: early morning, lunch time, dinner time or late at night for most people.

    The key is to have maintenance more often (every day), but for a shorter period of time (1 hour tops).
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    WLMF wrote:
    Also take into account the physical location of Cryptic's servers - California. Their IT guys are showing up at 3am on a Saturday morning to do this work.

    As for the normal maintenance times, its mostly the same deal, they come in early to take care of it so that they still have their entire regular work day to do normal work. Its pretty much the standard in the industry, with WoW being the exception of doing Euro server maintenance seperate. But even that only started about a month ago.

    I hope the maintenance guys get an unsociable hours allowance.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Beamsy wrote: »
    How about a time zone that is in the middle of the Pacific. I don' think many people on Easter Ilsand have Star trek Online... :D

    Eastern Island is at GMT -5 (PST -2) , would save me 2 hours atleast. Suggest it !

    Nah seriously, a rotation ( http://www.thefreedictionary.com/rotation ) would be fairest.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Saturday morning EST is not a good time to do maintenance, especially if it runs longer than expected or there is a problem, the regular crew is not there. Hopefully this little delay is not the norm.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Generally, it's not a case of who it will affect, but when the team that are going to do the work are available to do it. While companies will do what they can to target a point with the least impact, that time frame is still determined by where the boxes are geographically and when the team can do the job. Cost is also a factor, if said team is called in out of hours. Since the boxes are in the US, the best time to pull the plug is outside US peak hours, which usually means EU peak hours get fried. No amount of ranting will change this, really. The only solution to the problem is to play a game that's based in the EU (or has boxes there). Rare thing, these days, that.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    They could alternate it...So sometimes it stops the Americans playings and then Europe etc.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Understand this. Maintenance takes place during the lowest amount of server load, which generally is around that time as anyone in the US (with the exception of me) is awake that that hour. While it does affect those in other countries that cannot be helped. Its part of life. Then again this is a game based out of the United States. If the situation was reversed im sure many americans would be complaning if the game was based out of the UK/Europe. Just part of the way things work.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Rekken wrote:
    So when you're living in Europe like me it's effecting your uptime quite a lot. Thursday i was able to start playing at 8pm (also due to the pre-patch bug), friday i could'nt play for 3 hours and now it's almost 1pm and the servers are still down.

    Well I am living in Europe and the maintenance schedule doesn't effect my uptime at all. It is around midday in europe, sure it's saturday, but i wouldn't hardly call this time period primetime. And if you can play at that time during week days, then you are by far in the minority. Most people work at that time or -in the case of pupils- do their homework (or at least they should do their homework ;) ).
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    So who would you recommend we deprive of their playing time?

    you just don't do it ALWAYS on the europeans, take a turn everybody, I would say, fair is fair...so then you do maintenance at night, then during mornings, then during evenings, but not ALWAYS on the time of the Europeans, that is discrimination; now I have to Destroy you all, lol, just kidding...I think...

    Eskaton
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    So who would you recommend we deprive of their playing time?


    Well, some rotation system, maybe on a monthly basis, would be nice. But for starters, I would also like it much if maintenance would not always be executed mid-day (gmt of course) on WEEKENDS.

    I can live with mid-day maintenance during the week, but waking up on a saturday just to notice that when you finally wnat to go online playing STO you discover that not only was another maintenance scheduled with 3 hours or less ahead warning (while you were asleep), but also this mainetenance cuts nicely trough your first few hours of your weekend day.

    But I guess even mid-day weekend maintenance wouldn't be that bad if we in Europe would have at least a reasonable chance to be notified in time - like, say, some 12 - 16 hours in advance.
    And for the record, judging from the connection problems that started relatively early yesterday (about 16 hours prior to today's maintenance), a company that actually notices on it's own when it's servers start going haywire would have been able to provide such a heads-up info 14 hours in advance of today's maintenance easily.

    Then again, I realize that Cryptic is doing their best, some problems require short-notice decisions, and that things have already considerably improved over the past weeks.


    Well, I guess it really would just be nice if it weren't always us Europeans who get to look at hours of server downtime mid-day.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Excorant wrote: »
    Asians and Australians -]]]

    Anyway, the time for patches should at least be set to working days, not 10-12 GMT weekend really.

    lol, it is our (australian) peak time when the server goes down. in between 6pm and 8pm start - whenever it comes back up. this is the usual downtime for us.

    meh, its my usual playtime, but i just try and sneak extra in where i can to make up for the loss. part of playing a game run with servers in america, im used to it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Remember, people have to manage and perform this stuff, and this means they have to work at awkward and changing times. People with kids and family that might have to work at these times.

    ATM , as far as i know, it's an all American crew working behind STO. This means that they are performing maintenance most likely in the middle of their nights. I don't know how it is in the US but when you work at nights in my country (NL) you pay your employees a shitload more money for compensation.

    So it might even save money? ;-)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    part of playing a game run with servers in america, im used to it.

    So are we all, that doesn't make it fair though. Not saying anything about it feels a bit like being a victem of Copenhagen Syndrome.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Tough

    10 chars
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    tbh, The server was crapping out yesterday, so I dont think this was a scheduled maintenance but more a required one to rekick everything after the patch.

    Iron out a few teething problems.

    Better they fix it now than watch it limp along for a few days, and typically the server is always hit hard at the weekend, especially by the americans.
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