Now what we've got here, is a failure to communicate.

frogturtle6b14_ESO · April 2014

Before you bash on me for criticizing ZES, let me explain my position on this "Downtime".

First off, this is the first MMO launch that I've attended. I don't know what it's supposed to be like, but I'm sure that downtime for maintenance and prolific bugs are common.

Despite this, we should deserve a little communication on ZES's part. I follow TESO twitter, and they did not tweet out a warning of the servers going offline. While I wasn't home nor online while they were shutdown, it occurred right before I got home to play.

According to some people, there was a 15 minute in-game warning that the servers were going offline, but I can't confirm that. Now that is good communication, but only for the people currently playing, which is not the majority of the ESO population.

Now, ZES has us "pre purchasers" buy a $60-80 game, signifying that we will most likely be paying for a future subscription. With this in mind, shouldn't we deserve better service (communication)?

Recently, as I was probing the forums for answers, I found an official announcement, which solved this issue of downtime for me:

"We want all of you to know that everyone who was part of Early Access will be granted an extended grace period until Sunday at 8AM EDT/12PM (noon) GMT before being required to transition your account to live. This will cover those who purchased ESO from an online retailer and won't be getting your box shipped in time and also gives anyone in Early Access who purchased digitally more Early Access time."

After reading that, why should you be complaining at all about "losing early access time"?

The only part that I'm still worried about is the communicative skills of the Zenimax team. We deserve better and quicker warnings.

Anyways, I'll be waiting for the Official Launch, and it pleases me to see ZES extending "Early Access", which basically means more free time!

Inversus · April 2014

I might be very wrong, but I think they gave us warning on both twitter and the forums that this was going to happen.

Xionar · April 2014

What does the E stand for in ZES?

Viiqupaen · April 2014

Inversus wrote: »

I might be very wrong, but I think they gave us warning on both twitter and the forums that this was going to happen.

Many MMOs have in-game announcements that scroll along the top of the screen or appear in the chat. I don't see how it'd be so hard to incorporate that into TES:O.

I remember my frustration when I was booted from the game for maintenance while fighting through Spindle. God help the first person I see if that happens to me again.

Inversus · April 2014

Xionar wrote: »

What does the E stand for in ZES?

Lol, didn't even notice that.
I'm so unobservant...

Kinsaven · April 2014

I agree that communication at the moment is very lacking. The downtime is acceptable, I understand that it's needed, but the reason why a lot of people are upset is not because of the downtime, but because of Zenimax not informing them on anything that is going on. If they would do that, I'm sure there would be far less complaints.

Lalai · April 2014

Viiqupaen wrote: »

Many MMOs have in-game announcements that scroll along the top of the screen or appear in the chat. I don't see how it'd be so hard to incorporate that into TES:O.

They did have an in game announcement that flashed up twice before I chose to logout prior to the server going down. They also had a post notifying that the server would be going down on the forums. I can't speak for Facebook, Twitter, or other social media outlets.

That being said. I agree they could have communicated better as this was a scheduled maintenance. Something in the launcher would have been perfect, as would starting the "we're going down, sign off" message earlier. The message in game also didn't say when the servers were going down this time around (it did when they did emergency maintenance the other night). So a lot of folks were a bit confused there.

Inversus · April 2014

Viiqupaen wrote: »

Inversus wrote: »

I might be very wrong, but I think they gave us warning on both twitter and the forums that this was going to happen.

Many MMOs have in-game announcements that scroll along the top of the screen or appear in the chat. I don't see how it'd be so hard to incorporate that into TES:O.

I remember my frustration when I was booted from the game for maintenance while fighting through Spindle. God help the first person I see if that happens to me again.

They do happen in ESO - and yes, I can confirm there was an in-game warning prior to the maintenance.

Gohlar · April 2014

There was about a 5min warning in game. Most people spent that time telling others their characters were going to be wiped. It was funny because many believed it.

Budnick · April 2014

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1fHxPY3TJo

DigitalStorm · April 2014

"We want all of you to know that everyone who was part of Early Access will be granted an extended grace period until Sunday at 8AM EDT/12PM (noon) GMT before being required to transition your account to live. This will cover those who purchased ESO from an online retailer and won't be getting your box shipped in time and also gives anyone in Early Access who purchased digitally more Early Access time."
This here is great news! I think it's awesome! They obviously care about the customer. They don't HAVE to do this, but it is very much appreciated. I've enjoyed my time so far, and can't wait to continue playing. Crap happens... oh wells, and we should ALL understand that.

Gedalya · April 2014

" before being required to transition your account to live. "

Wait, what transition are we talking about here?

joshisanonymous · April 2014

I'm a bit confused. You're worried that Zenimax isn't communicating well enough about server shutdowns to people who aren't currently playing and wouldn't be able to squeeze some earlier playtime in if they knew anyway?

Communicating about regularly scheduled downtime is one thing. Communicating about emergency shutdowns during launch to people who aren't affected in the slightest would be a bit odd. I will never get upset if the servers go down for a couple hours while I'm sleeping and no one tells me.

demendred · April 2014

I play for 50 hours.
Nobody can play for 50 hours.
You just said he could play anything.
Did you ever play for 50 hours?
Nobody ever play for 50 hours.
Hey, Babalugats. We got a bet here.
My boy says he can play 50 hours, he can play 50 hours.

frogturtle6b14_ESO · April 2014

joshisanonymous wrote: »

I'm a bit confused. You're worried that Zenimax isn't communicating well enough about server shutdowns to people who aren't currently playing and wouldn't be able to squeeze some earlier playtime in if they knew anyway?

Communicating about regularly scheduled downtime is one thing. Communicating about emergency shutdowns during launch to people who aren't affected in the slightest would be a bit odd. I will never get upset if the servers go down for a couple hours while I'm sleeping and no one tells me.

People were playing. It's unjustified to say that people weren't, because many were or were about to, as seen by the posts of "I was just about to get on since I got home from work", etc.

This wasn't an Emergency Shutdown, like the one a few days ago. It was a shutdown to prepare for launch, which they could've schedule and communicated to us, which would help other people plan their day without having to reschedule their personal plans that they may have cancelled. It's a convenience that we deserve.

Illud_Vindicare · April 2014

Inversus wrote: »

I might be very wrong, but I think they gave us warning on both twitter and the forums that this was going to happen.

Yeah, about 5 minutes in advance.

Dahlia_Bristow · April 2014

I've played a number of MMOs and the communication you see here is on par with what you get everywhere. Advance notice was, indeed, given. It might not have come via a method that you monitor (Twitter, for example) but it was there. Honestly, I've seen far, far worse communication from devs in other games.

You should understand that there are concrete reasons why most MMOs decline to offer up specific time frames or details about problems or impending new content, and most of those reasons have to do with the player base using that information against them when things don't work out exactly the way they'd hoped.

Players often have selective memories when it comes to perceived facts, promises and timeframes. There've been some pretty good examples of that in these very forums in the last couple of hours.

Communication here is fine, all things considered.

Bloodsip · April 2014

Since this is your first Launch, you should be very aware that every MMO that I have played, EQ EQ2 GW and LoTRO that you will not get the communication you are looking for. It is not going to happen, ever. EVER.

I know everyone wants it, me included, but we are not going to get it, it just doesn't happen and when it does happen, people still miss it. I see hundreds of these posts in every game I have played. Get used to it or get frustrated, those are your options.

I am sure once the game is up and running and they have regular maintenance they will post, but this is the launch and stuff just happens.

There was a message in game that they were bringing it down.

Bloodsip · April 2014

Since this is your first Launch, you should be very aware that every MMO that I have played, EQ EQ2 GW and LoTRO that you will not get the communication you are looking for. It is not going to happen, ever. EVER.

I know everyone wants it, me included, but we are not going to get it, it just doesn't happen and when it does happen, people still miss it. I see hundreds of these posts in every game I have played. Get used to it or get frustrated, those are your options.

I am sure once the game is up and running and they have regular maintenance they will post, but this is the launch and stuff just happens.

There was a message in game that they were bringing it down.

Leeta · April 2014

Dahlia_Bristow wrote: »

I've played a number of MMOs and the communication you see here is on par with what you get everywhere. Advance notice was, indeed, given. It might not have come via a method that you monitor (Twitter, for example) but it was there. Honestly, I've seen far, far worse communication from devs in other games.

You should understand that there are concrete reasons why most MMOs decline to offer up specific time frames or details about problems or impending new content, and most of those reasons have to do with the player base using that information against them when things don't work out exactly the way they'd hoped.

Players often have selective memories when it comes to perceived facts, promises and timeframes. There've been some pretty good examples of that in these very forums in the last couple of hours.

Communication here is fine, all things considered.

What exactly with this communication is fine? For a quick fix, yea sure then this kind of last minute notice is ok but for hours long downtime it is not.

Dahlia_Bristow · April 2014

Leeta wrote: »

Dahlia_Bristow wrote: »

I've played a number of MMOs and the communication you see here is on par with what you get everywhere. Advance notice was, indeed, given. It might not have come via a method that you monitor (Twitter, for example) but it was there. Honestly, I've seen far, far worse communication from devs in other games.

You should understand that there are concrete reasons why most MMOs decline to offer up specific time frames or details about problems or impending new content, and most of those reasons have to do with the player base using that information against them when things don't work out exactly the way they'd hoped.

Players often have selective memories when it comes to perceived facts, promises and timeframes. There've been some pretty good examples of that in these very forums in the last couple of hours.

Communication here is fine, all things considered.

What exactly with this communication is fine? For a quick fix, yea sure then this kind of last minute notice is ok but for hours long downtime it is not.

It's fine because we had warning, followed by a post with a time frame that has not yet expired. What exactly is it that you think they should say?