Requesting clarity on event start/end times

TunnelMaster · July 22

I posted about this a few years ago too, and not to sound like a broken record, but I still think it's a fair question.

A lot of changes have happened in recent years to synchronize when various resets happen in the game: daily rewards - when we still had them - plus daily quests refreshed at the same time, and more recently, weekly tome challenges have also coincided with the weekly appointments for guild traders, the rotating stock of weekly vendors, various leaderboards, and trial quests. I think it's a great start and the timing of things is generally more logical now. However, I am not sure why with all of these changes that events do not begin and end along with the daily reset at 6:00am EDT.

In my original post, I suggested extending all events by one full day so players would not be deprived of event tickets (now trade bars, of course) with the loss of a partial day. And maybe there is a good reason why you folks time events the way that you do, but from the perspective of an ESO native like me, it's odd (and in the past, sometimes stress-inducing) to have a four-hour window after the daily reset to try to squeeze in a few more event-related activities. Can your team please explain?

LunaFlora · July 22

Events start on Wednesday since this year and most events are a full 2 weeks so 14 days instead of 13 days.

Though we can get Trade Bars from more than just events
- Twitch drops
- Tamriel Tome
- PvP Veterancy

i think the times will probably not change and just like livestream start times, there is no time that is perfect for everyone.

tsaescishoeshiner · July 22

I'm not sure why the events don't start and end on the reset (it could be so that they start during an active hour?), but I don't mind too much.

I just don't get the extra partial day in my time zone. Assuming it's for a good reason or workflow, it's fine by me to "miss" a little bit because I see it as optional/unreasonable to reschedule my life around a partial day for an extra event reward.

Of course, it's natural that people will want to do that, because the event is rewarding and chasing rewards is part of playing the game. But frankly, so is letting go of every possible benefit you could theoretically optimize for.

Nestor · July 22

As for time of day, it is 9 AM Eastern Time, 10 Central for me.

Gabriel_H · July 22

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

I'm not sure why the events don't start and end on the reset (it could be so that they start during an active hour?), but I don't mind too much.

The events are coded in and patched weeks in advance. If something goes wrong, you want people in the office.

Personofsecrets · July 22

I didnt get value out of the zenithar event since i planed to spend millions of tel var that Ive saved on wednesday.

raystormusa · July 23

TunnelMaster wrote: »

…In my original post, I suggested extending all events by one full day so players would not be deprived of event tickets (now trade bars, of course) with the loss of a partial day. And maybe there is a good reason why you folks time events the way that you do, but from the perspective of an ESO native like me, it's odd (and in the past, sometimes stress-inducing) to have a four-hour window after the daily reset to try to squeeze in a few more event-related activities. Can your team please explain?

From recent memory, before the change, Events almost always started on a Thursday, 10 am EDT, and ended on a Tuesday, 10 am EDT. Exceptions would be mini-Events like weekend PVP zones, double EXP, double Gold, and others I will not list.

Now we have Events starting on a Wednesday, 10 am EDT, and ending on a Wednesday, 10 am EDT.

Example:
Zeal of Zenithar 2025
June 26, 2025 at 10AM EDT, to July 8, 2025 at 10AM EDT (Thursday to Tuesday)
Zeal of Zenithar 2026
June 24, 2026 at 10AM EDT, to July 8, 2026 at 10AM EDT (Wednesday to Wednesday).

So the new additional window is 24 hours (1 day before previous) and 24 hours (1 day after previous), for 48 hours more than before.

You have requested a one full day. It is now fulfilled above your request.

All said, I am in agreement that synchronizing the start and end times to 6 am EDT for more things, Events included,
- can alleviate stress (“dear guildies, remember to claim your final Trade Bars after 6 am EDT reset but before the event ends at 10 am EDT!”) ,
- simplify the brainwork needed to maximize rewards due to partial days (“dear guildies, remember to pick up and pre-craft today but dont turn in your Writs before event start at 10 am EDT tomorrow - turn-in AFTER !”) , and
- reduce new-player confusion (“rando shouts in zone: WHERE IS MY TRADEBARS I DID ALL MY QUESTS / its 8 am you fool it doesnt start till 10 / NOOOO WTFFF !”).

Edit: apologies. My failure in reading comprehension, changes to bad math.

TunnelMaster · July 25

To be clear... https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/630128/daily-reset-change-and-events is my original post on this topic. As I said, it's from several years ago. I am not trying to split hairs today about events starting on Wednesdays and being a day longer in 2026; indeed, when I wrote that post in 2023 I was merely trying to head off other players saying things like, "Nooo, if you ditch the 4-hour partial day I will lose event tickets and FOMO..."

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

I just don't get the extra partial day in my time zone. Assuming it's for a good reason or workflow, it's fine by me to "miss" a little bit because I see it as optional/unreasonable to reschedule my life around a partial day for an extra event reward.

And yes, this is kind of my point. Unless I am missing something, everyone in every time zone has a partial day by virtue of the daily reset being at the same time for everyone, and the event start/end times being at the same time for everyone. Just, those two times are not the same and obviously some time zones are more conducive for folks capitalizing on that partial day more than others.
The two times being synced make it more of an even playing field I feel like, but like @LunaFlora pointed out, it is not as big of a deal now with trade bars not being capped and also being available from multiple sources. Like I said in my OP from earlier this week though, I would just love to hear an official line about this since it is not a new topic. But I am also keenly aware that the studio has other things going on right now, so I won't get my hopes too high.

katanagirl1 · July 25

TunnelMaster wrote: »

To be clear... https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/630128/daily-reset-change-and-events is my original post on this topic. As I said, it's from several years ago. I am not trying to split hairs today about events starting on Wednesdays and being a day longer in 2026; indeed, when I wrote that post in 2023 I was merely trying to head off other players saying things like, "Nooo, if you ditch the 4-hour partial day I will lose event tickets and FOMO..."

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

I just don't get the extra partial day in my time zone. Assuming it's for a good reason or workflow, it's fine by me to "miss" a little bit because I see it as optional/unreasonable to reschedule my life around a partial day for an extra event reward.

And yes, this is kind of my point. Unless I am missing something, everyone in every time zone has a partial day by virtue of the daily reset being at the same time for everyone, and the event start/end times being at the same time for everyone. Just, those two times are not the same and obviously some time zones are more conducive for folks capitalizing on that partial day more than others.
The two times being synced make it more of an even playing field I feel like, but like @LunaFlora pointed out, it is not as big of a deal now with trade bars not being capped and also being available from multiple sources. Like I said in my OP from earlier this week though, I would just love to hear an official line about this since it is not a new topic. But I am also keenly aware that the studio has other things going on right now, so I won't get my hopes too high.

Well, if you are on the west coast of the US, the end time is 10am Eastern Time which is 7 am Pacific Time. There is zero chance I will log in and get tickets on those days so I lose one day every event. I got one day back by them starting on Wednesday instead of Thursday though.

Valion · July 25

Speaking from experience, it's of no use to know the exact time an event will end. Usually, it'll be some random Hotfix, Patch or Maintenance ruining the last hours to achieve what is left to do anyway.

Just kidding.
I like the idea.