Maintenance.... Again!?

Veinblood1965 · November 3

Last'One wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

NoticeMeArkay wrote: »

Loggin back in after maintenance. Looks like they just patched the crown store for black friday?

We had some critical updates that needed to happen after some of the hotfixes from last week. We also had another hotfix to resolve some combat issue.

Sure, @ZOS_Kevin, but all of this seems odd and quite suspicious.s
On 27/10/25, the server was down for 6 hours.
On 29/10/25, it was down for another 4 hours.
And now, on 03/11/25, it’s been down for 8 hours.
That’s 18 hours of downtime in just the last eight days.

I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that these so-called “critical updates” or “critical bugs” just appear out of nowhere. It really feels like ZoS is taking the servers down for reasons they’re not telling us. Maybe, just maybe, these “critical bugs” aren’t random at all, but intentional triggers that give ZoS a reason to shut the servers down.

I’m sorry, but I can’t believe for a second that a bug like “bar swap removing all passives” just pops up by accident. I’m not buying it.

Maybe it’s all just “random bugs,” sure, but come on… something doesn’t add up. It’s becoming pretty clear that ZoS needs to close the servers more often than ever before.

So how about being honest with us, and telling us what’s really going on?

That may be true, but there were lay offs which probably also included the actual programmers. It happens where I work also sometimes. The people that are left have to pick up all the work that the people laid off were doing plus their own. There just were going to be issues, it's not avoidable. And most likely Microsoft is sticking it's big head right in the middle of every decision being made. Makes me wonder if the Wall even WAS going to be the awesome but after Microsoft saw the resources it was going to take they placed a nix on a lot of things. And what can the forum devs say "Hey we had layoffs and Microsoft sucks as a boss?).

KapiteinBoterham · November 3

WE NEED MORE MAINTENANCE!

Update 48 broke so many things.

ZOS_Kevin · November 3

Last'One wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

NoticeMeArkay wrote: »

Loggin back in after maintenance. Looks like they just patched the crown store for black friday?

We had some critical updates that needed to happen after some of the hotfixes from last week. We also had another hotfix to resolve some combat issue.

Sure, @ZOS_Kevin, but all of this seems odd and quite suspicious.s
On 27/10/25, the server was down for 6 hours.
On 29/10/25, it was down for another 4 hours.
And now, on 03/11/25, it’s been down for 8 hours.
That’s 18 hours of downtime in just the last eight days.

I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that these so-called “critical updates” or “critical bugs” just appear out of nowhere. It really feels like ZoS is taking the servers down for reasons they’re not telling us. Maybe, just maybe, these “critical bugs” aren’t random at all, but intentional triggers that give ZoS a reason to shut the servers down.

I’m sorry, but I can’t believe for a second that a bug like “bar swap removing all passives” just pops up by accident. I’m not buying it.

Maybe it’s all just “random bugs,” sure, but come on… something doesn’t add up. It’s becoming pretty clear that ZoS needs to close the servers more often than ever before.

So how about being honest with us, and telling us what’s really going on?

You're welcome to believe what you want. But others are noting the bug fixes to combat that we pushed this morning.
Downtime last Monday is standard for our launches.
Downtime on the 29th were to address issues that emerged from Monday's patch.
Downtime today was due to backend maintenance after having several hotfixes between the Writhing Wall event and U48 launch. We also added in the hotfix for combat issues that others have noted are now resolved.
That's it. No one wants to spend dev time and money to build "intentional triggers" to take servers down. There is literally no logical reason to do that.

Grafahel · November 3

Last'One wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

NoticeMeArkay wrote: »

Loggin back in after maintenance. Looks like they just patched the crown store for black friday?

We had some critical updates that needed to happen after some of the hotfixes from last week. We also had another hotfix to resolve some combat issue.

Sure, @ZOS_Kevin, but all of this seems odd and quite suspicious.s
On 27/10/25, the server was down for 6 hours.
On 29/10/25, it was down for another 4 hours.
And now, on 03/11/25, it’s been down for 8 hours.
That’s 18 hours of downtime in just the last eight days.

I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that these so-called “critical updates” or “critical bugs” just appear out of nowhere. It really feels like ZoS is taking the servers down for reasons they’re not telling us. Maybe, just maybe, these “critical bugs” aren’t random at all, but intentional triggers that give ZoS a reason to shut the servers down.

I’m sorry, but I can’t believe for a second that a bug like “bar swap removing all passives” just pops up by accident. I’m not buying it.

Maybe it’s all just “random bugs,” sure, but come on… something doesn’t add up. It’s becoming pretty clear that ZoS needs to close the servers more often than ever before.

So how about being honest with us, and telling us what’s really going on?

Dude maintenance during an event is annoying, sure, but I really don't think there's some grand conspiracy to keep people from the game lol. Maybe time to take a little walk, it's peak autumn, enjoy the trees.

scrappy1342 · November 3

Veinblood1965 wrote: »

And what can the forum devs say "Hey we had layoffs and Microsoft sucks as a boss?).

great idea for the next dungeon.... rofl

scrappy1342 · November 3

Gabriel_H wrote: »

lostineternity wrote: »

Could someone please explain me (I'm ex wow player) why maintenance in ESO takes so long? And why it is during the day? I can't comprehend it.

As an ex WoW players myself, I will point out that WoW maintenances used to be legendary, to the point there were even guild names mocking it.

It would always overrun, there would always be server crashes and logon issues, and there would be bets on the forum as to how many hours it would be extended by.

"Never play on patch day" did not originate with WoW, but "Never play on maintenance day" did.

about 20 years ago, when i lived in florida, i was a horseshoer. only had to work a couple days a month. i would schedule all of my work on tuesdays because of wow maintenance lol

Last'One · November 3

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Last'One wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

NoticeMeArkay wrote: »

Loggin back in after maintenance. Looks like they just patched the crown store for black friday?

We had some critical updates that needed to happen after some of the hotfixes from last week. We also had another hotfix to resolve some combat issue.

Sure, @ZOS_Kevin, but all of this seems odd and quite suspicious.s
On 27/10/25, the server was down for 6 hours.
On 29/10/25, it was down for another 4 hours.
And now, on 03/11/25, it’s been down for 8 hours.
That’s 18 hours of downtime in just the last eight days.

I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that these so-called “critical updates” or “critical bugs” just appear out of nowhere. It really feels like ZoS is taking the servers down for reasons they’re not telling us. Maybe, just maybe, these “critical bugs” aren’t random at all, but intentional triggers that give ZoS a reason to shut the servers down.

I’m sorry, but I can’t believe for a second that a bug like “bar swap removing all passives” just pops up by accident. I’m not buying it.

Maybe it’s all just “random bugs,” sure, but come on… something doesn’t add up. It’s becoming pretty clear that ZoS needs to close the servers more often than ever before.

So how about being honest with us, and telling us what’s really going on?

You're welcome to believe what you want. But others are noting the bug fixes to combat that we pushed this morning.
Downtime last Monday is standard for our launches.
Downtime on the 29th were to address issues that emerged from Monday's patch.
Downtime today was due to backend maintenance after having several hotfixes between the Writhing Wall event and U48 launch. We also added in the hotfix for combat issues that others have noted are now resolved.
That's it. No one wants to spend dev time and money to build "intentional triggers" to take servers down. There is literally no logical reason to do that.

Well… okay! But all of this still feels very odd.
You’re doing an amazing job with the community, and we do trust you , so I guess I’ll trust you once more.
Still, all these "maintenance" periods, plus everything else happening in-game lately, just feel strange and a bit suspicious. But alright…

spartaxoxo · November 3

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Last'One wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

NoticeMeArkay wrote: »

Loggin back in after maintenance. Looks like they just patched the crown store for black friday?

We had some critical updates that needed to happen after some of the hotfixes from last week. We also had another hotfix to resolve some combat issue.

Sure, @ZOS_Kevin, but all of this seems odd and quite suspicious.s
On 27/10/25, the server was down for 6 hours.
On 29/10/25, it was down for another 4 hours.
And now, on 03/11/25, it’s been down for 8 hours.
That’s 18 hours of downtime in just the last eight days.

I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that these so-called “critical updates” or “critical bugs” just appear out of nowhere. It really feels like ZoS is taking the servers down for reasons they’re not telling us. Maybe, just maybe, these “critical bugs” aren’t random at all, but intentional triggers that give ZoS a reason to shut the servers down.

I’m sorry, but I can’t believe for a second that a bug like “bar swap removing all passives” just pops up by accident. I’m not buying it.

Maybe it’s all just “random bugs,” sure, but come on… something doesn’t add up. It’s becoming pretty clear that ZoS needs to close the servers more often than ever before.

So how about being honest with us, and telling us what’s really going on?

You're welcome to believe what you want. But others are noting the bug fixes to combat that we pushed this morning.
Downtime last Monday is standard for our launches.
Downtime on the 29th were to address issues that emerged from Monday's patch.
Downtime today was due to backend maintenance after having several hotfixes between the Writhing Wall event and U48 launch. We also added in the hotfix for combat issues that others have noted are now resolved.
That's it. No one wants to spend dev time and money to build "intentional triggers" to take servers down. There is literally no logical reason to do that.

Ah. This makes more sense now. Thanks for the update!

Tandor · November 3

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

NoticeMeArkay wrote: »

Loggin back in after maintenance. Looks like they just patched the crown store for black friday?

We had some critical updates that needed to happen after some of the hotfixes from last week. We also had another hotfix to resolve some combat issue.

This is, at the very least, the level of detail that needs to be included in any downtime announcement.

Ideally, of course, hotfixes one week shouldn't result in the need for critical updates to those hotfixes the following week! However, I make due allowance for the recent layoffs which may well have included QA staff.

Skorro · November 3

Last'One wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

NoticeMeArkay wrote: »

Loggin back in after maintenance. Looks like they just patched the crown store for black friday?

We had some critical updates that needed to happen after some of the hotfixes from last week. We also had another hotfix to resolve some combat issue.

Sure, @ZOS_Kevin, but all of this seems odd and quite suspicious.s
On 27/10/25, the server was down for 6 hours.
On 29/10/25, it was down for another 4 hours.
And now, on 03/11/25, it’s been down for 8 hours.
That’s 18 hours of downtime in just the last eight days.

I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that these so-called “critical updates” or “critical bugs” just appear out of nowhere. It really feels like ZoS is taking the servers down for reasons they’re not telling us. Maybe, just maybe, these “critical bugs” aren’t random at all, but intentional triggers that give ZoS a reason to shut the servers down.

I’m sorry, but I can’t believe for a second that a bug like “bar swap removing all passives” just pops up by accident. I’m not buying it.

Maybe it’s all just “random bugs,” sure, but come on… something doesn’t add up. It’s becoming pretty clear that ZoS needs to close the servers more often than ever before.

So how about being honest with us, and telling us what’s really going on?

I'm pretty jaded atm with ZOS, but this seems a bit tinfoil hat territory. I don't see why they would go through so much effort to sabotage themselves

We blame the high elf cabinet throwing cat slurs they neglected to fix... But Tom, I do owe you a meal and a drink! Seems they fixed some actual meaningful things!

LadyLethalla · 1:43AM

I've complained a fair bit in the past about maintenance - because it's always during my prime play time (6-8pm start time, depending on the time of year). I had yesterday off, and logged in early to do my dailies. Was surprised to see a maintenance banner on the game - but I never saw one on the forums. I see one, now that it's completed. There have been a few other recent occasions where there has been no forum banner - as this is where I get my maintenance info from, that's a pretty important thing to miss. At this time of year, maintenance doesn't start until 8pm, so I would have had time after dinner, but I feel sorry for the people who had no idea because they hadn't logged in beforehand yesterday. And when maintenance starts at 6pm that requires additional effort to do the dailies, whilst cooking dinner.

And as for the 3 maintenances in one week, I'm still salty that I've missed out on event tickets. Two were my fault (I forgot), but the other two were the so-called "hot fix" - and again, I think the forum banner may not have been up in adequate time. I've always been under the impression that a "hot-fix" is applied without taking a game offline. Just saying.

So... could we please have 48 hours' notice as a minimum for every maintenance??? @ZOS_Kevin

queenlarxene · 2:23AM

LadyLethalla wrote: »

So... could we please have 48 hours' notice as a minimum for every maintenance??? @ZOS_Kevin

Desperately agreeing with this, with the added request that maintenance notice be put in the in game news as soon as it appears in the forum banner? (I play on xbox, where this is definitely not the case, unsure if it is already on PC) My usual play time is the last 2 or 3 hours before reset generally, but I can usually jump on earlier if I need to. I need to actually know about the maintenance before my usual time to start though, otherwise that's kind of impossible.

Having the maintenance notice appear on the day of helps for people to know when they need to be FINISHING playing, but useless for those of us who due to time zones, start playing nearer to reset.

Honestly it would probably be best if there could be actual notice for those not on the forums, but also if maintenance started AT reset instead of this "usually an hour or two, but sometimes randomly 4 hours before reset." At reset would mean that players wouldn't be unexpectedly unable to complete their usual tasks, and at least there'd be a CHANCE later in the day for those who usually only play directly at reset.

(I've missed many a daily quest, event ticket, or other reward due to not knowing maintenance was happening at all, never mind the time, so I've thought about possible solutions a lot)

StackonClown · 6:04AM

There was a time when they wouldn't announce an end time for maintenance. Yes, its true!!

I argued and argued that even the worlds biggest banks and tech companies always plan outage durations - the usual apologists came out and told me to go outside and go for a walk.

Eventually someone at ZOS realised it was a bit 'rich' to simply say maintenance starts at NN:NN time, and see ya later - hence at least we get given a start and end time now - not that anyone cares, but because of me lol.

Found it! 8 YEARS AGO

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/360235/should-maintenance-have-etas/p1

cozmic72 · 6:31AM

How else would we get such a smooth running game without constant maintenance.

Grafahel · 9:50AM

LadyLethalla wrote: »

So... could we please have 48 hours' notice as a minimum for every maintenance??? @ZOS_Kevin

I'm pretty sure this one was announced a few days beforehand, I think I saw the banner on saturday.

Edit: I see the post linked in the maintenance banner was even created october 30th, so that was last thursday.

DenverRalphy · 1:32PM

Grafahel wrote: »

LadyLethalla wrote: »

So... could we please have 48 hours' notice as a minimum for every maintenance??? @ZOS_Kevin

I'm pretty sure this one was announced a few days beforehand, I think I saw the banner on saturday.

Edit: I see the post linked in the maintenance banner was even created october 30th, so that was last thursday.

And that banner is also accompanied by a notification in the game launcher at server login.

twisttop138 · 1:58PM

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Last'One wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

NoticeMeArkay wrote: »

Loggin back in after maintenance. Looks like they just patched the crown store for black friday?

We had some critical updates that needed to happen after some of the hotfixes from last week. We also had another hotfix to resolve some combat issue.

Sure, @ZOS_Kevin, but all of this seems odd and quite suspicious.s
On 27/10/25, the server was down for 6 hours.
On 29/10/25, it was down for another 4 hours.
And now, on 03/11/25, it’s been down for 8 hours.
That’s 18 hours of downtime in just the last eight days.

I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that these so-called “critical updates” or “critical bugs” just appear out of nowhere. It really feels like ZoS is taking the servers down for reasons they’re not telling us. Maybe, just maybe, these “critical bugs” aren’t random at all, but intentional triggers that give ZoS a reason to shut the servers down.

I’m sorry, but I can’t believe for a second that a bug like “bar swap removing all passives” just pops up by accident. I’m not buying it.

Maybe it’s all just “random bugs,” sure, but come on… something doesn’t add up. It’s becoming pretty clear that ZoS needs to close the servers more often than ever before.

So how about being honest with us, and telling us what’s really going on?

You're welcome to believe what you want. But others are noting the bug fixes to combat that we pushed this morning.
Downtime last Monday is standard for our launches.
Downtime on the 29th were to address issues that emerged from Monday's patch.
Downtime today was due to backend maintenance after having several hotfixes between the Writhing Wall event and U48 launch. We also added in the hotfix for combat issues that others have noted are now resolved.
That's it. No one wants to spend dev time and money to build "intentional triggers" to take servers down. There is literally no logical reason to do that.

Man I'm pretty unhappy with Zos right now but I just have to take a moment and say that this response is awesome and the level of detail is really something I wish could be for many things that happen.

If you really are building intentional triggers though, could I request that you guys like randomly swap peoples weapons from the front bar to the back bar? Not everyone but people in my guild specifically. I think it'd be pretty funny. Or maybe make it rain cheese, but just a little as a random encounter and then Sheogorath pops out.

Ashjunkie · 3:07PM

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

NoticeMeArkay wrote: »

Loggin back in after maintenance. Looks like they just patched the crown store for black friday?

We had some critical updates that needed to happen after some of the hotfixes from last week. We also had another hotfix to resolve some combat issue.

While we all appreciate it when things are fixed and understand that it must happen, it would also go a long way if we got some sort of something when maintenance is more than expected. Many other games send their customers a lovely little mail with a short apology for the inconvenience along with a little gift of in game currency (seals of endeavors or crowns would be equivalent to what other games do).

While people are annoyed by the maintenance going into overtime or being extra, that little apology and gift takes some of the bitter taste away.

queenlarxene · 4:06PM

DenverRalphy wrote: »

Grafahel wrote: »

LadyLethalla wrote: »

So... could we please have 48 hours' notice as a minimum for every maintenance??? @ZOS_Kevin

I'm pretty sure this one was announced a few days beforehand, I think I saw the banner on saturday.

Edit: I see the post linked in the maintenance banner was even created october 30th, so that was last thursday.

And that banner is also accompanied by a notification in the game launcher at server login.

Does that notification in the game launcher appear from the same time that the banner does on here? If so, great for PC, and could we get the same on console, please and thank?

DenverRalphy · 5:20PM

queenlarxene wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

Grafahel wrote: »

LadyLethalla wrote: »

So... could we please have 48 hours' notice as a minimum for every maintenance??? @ZOS_Kevin

I'm pretty sure this one was announced a few days beforehand, I think I saw the banner on saturday.

Edit: I see the post linked in the maintenance banner was even created october 30th, so that was last thursday.

And that banner is also accompanied by a notification in the game launcher at server login.

Does that notification in the game launcher appear from the same time that the banner does on here? If so, great for PC, and could we get the same on console, please and thank?

We get it on console. I'm PSNA myself, and I see them when I first log in.

Katheriah · 5:51PM

I just wish they would stop resetting the BG leaderboard. What was it the last week? 3 times or something? Of which the last one was just before the deadline. Thanks ZOS.