Server Maintenance, Patches and Announcements

Elki_Wilderglas

Yes there are some old threads about bringing back the Server Status section of the forum but this is only part of what my post is about.

It would be very much appreciated if ZOS could implement the following communications protocol (or similar):

1.Every Monday morning (same time) send a Tweet with:
- that Monday's expected server log time (which used to be 8AM EDT/ 10PM AEST but has been moved today and last Monday to two hours earlier)
- Whether it is gen maint. or whether there is a new patch being implemented.
- If gen maint, the expected server downtime.
- If it's a patch, please post patch number, and link to the forum page where more information can be found.

2. Create Patch Notes forum page(like previously, prior to the forum update which removed the server status section) for new patch and update with:
- expected server downtime
- drafted patch notes (which will be edited post-patch)

Not asking for much, just some more communication that we had previously from the ZOS team and a fraction more. The game has definitely improved in quality since (pre)launch and is living up to it's potential. The additional info every week would mean the difference between confused and frustrated gamers (particularly in Oceanic timezones) and being able to read the tweet/forum page and say "k, maint is then, so I'll watch the new GoT ep at this time."

Thanks for reading.

fromtesonlineb16_ESO

There's a BIG RED POST at the top of this forum, has been there for hours. I don't see a problem here.

Since there doesn't appear to be a patch being applied not sure what your comment about patch notes is about.

Arsenic_Touch

More communication? Psh, get that reasonable request out of here. Zenimax ain't got no time for communication.

babylon

I'd like to see a little graphical page with server names (all two of them ) and a little red light/green light indicator to show whether server is up or down.

Doesn't change much, just looks more professional and is more familiar to us MMO players, and also seems more friendly because it's in picture form.

Tabbycat

https://twitter.com/TESOnline

Elki_Wilderglas

fromtesonlineb16_ESO wrote: »

There's a BIG RED POST at the top of this forum, has been there for hours. I don't see a problem here.

Since there doesn't appear to be a patch being applied not sure what your comment about patch notes is about.

And if you're relying on their REGULAR MAINTENANCE times (which haven't been updated) instead of checking the forum every maintenance day......

Not to mention, historically Mondays are usually patch days. Sometimes regular maintenance. It's hard to tell when there's no advanced notice anymore.

Limitless

I came back from work at 4am and checked the forums first thing, saw that I only had 2 hours to play.

The big red message up top told me, and it was pretty noticeable.
Maybe instead of asking for better communication, people should keep track of how they deliver news?

Elki_Wilderglas

Tabbycat wrote: »

https://twitter.com/TESOnline

Yes, they have a twitter account which they use to inform Twitter followers AS the server is taken offline....

Elki_Wilderglas

Limitless wrote: »

I came back from work at 4am and checked the forums first thing, saw that I only had 2 hours to play.

The big red message up top told me, and it was pretty noticeable.
Maybe instead of asking for better communication, people should keep track of how they deliver news?

I keep getting the feeling people aren't reading the entire post. I'm asking for a consolidation of information and for MORE information.

Anex

I too would appreciate extra notice given when the servers are going to go down sooner than planned (or not go down, or whatever).

That "Big RED post" only shows up a tad before the server is about to go down and while it is down.

What is the point in having SCHEDULED maintenance times if they aren't going to be followed? Two hours sooner than planned twice that I've noticed in the last 2 weeks (and I wasn't on for all of them). Mind you, the moved time works better for me, but I would still like to know before hand.

If this is going to be the new time for maintenance, then the appropriate threads should be updated accordingly. If it is EXCEPTIONAL, then more effort needs to go into using social media (Facebook, Twitter etc), and the launcher (which doesn't even have its links updated for the patch notes forum re-structure) to convey that ahead of time if possible. While we're at it, why not a message under the login form in game as well?

I understand if it is an EMERGENCY hotfix or something like that, but don't call it a scheduled maintenance when it isn't at its scheduled time.

Falmer

Aside from the ETA's (which they will never supply and for good reason), all of that information exists on the forums already.

nawlinzbilly

babylon wrote: »

I'd like to see a little graphical page with server names (all two of them ) and a little red light/green light indicator to show whether server is up or down.

Doesn't change much, just looks more professional and is more familiar to us MMO players, and also seems more friendly because it's in picture form.

Total agreement!

demonlkojipub19_ESO

Every server maintenance there comes more server maintenance threads....

Enkil

I like the suggestion but would prefer they use the launcher or the official website.. I don't use Twitter (and I am sure I am not alone in that)...

Elki_Wilderglas

Falmer wrote: »

Aside from the ETA's (which they will never supply and for good reason), all of that information exists on the forums already.

No it doesn't. Not in the time-frame that I suggested in the OP. The PN's are put up AFTER the servers have been down for about 2 hours in most cases (excl 1.1.2). The whole point of the OP was to give players ADVANCED warning of MORE than 2 hours as well as ADDITIONAL information which will aid them with scheduling their evenings(Oceanic)/days(USA) and allow them to brace for any changes to their class(buff/debuff) in draft patch notes, i.e plan for tweaking their build.

Arsenic_Touch

For those just tuning in and not actually reading before commenting, this is the second week where they changed the time without saying anything. There was a schedule that they were pretty good with following and it appears that they threw the schedule out again without word.

I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt last week, but not this week. Their communication as of late has been horrid and you cannot sit here and honestly defend it. Well scratch that. You can defend it but you'd have no ground to stand on.

All zenimax has to do is chime in and explain why they keep ignoring their own schedule and provide players with some sort of semblance of direction which has been curiously absent as of late.

nerevarine1138

I have no idea why you would suggest using Twitter to distribute information instead of the official site (where we already get the info).

And they're never, ever, ever going to give an estimate for the total downtime. It's a dumb move for any company to do that, because the instant that they go over or under the time, these forums will be inundated with posts from people screaming about how ZO lied about how long maintenance would take.

demonlkojipub19_ESO

If I had any suggestion, it would to put whether or not there will be a patch in that big red post that everyone should be able to see.

NateMiddleton

There is some good ideas being discussed here and I agree with most of them on the side of more info. Like ETSR (Estimated time of server return) would be great!

nerevarine1138

NateMiddleton wrote: »

There is some good ideas being discussed here and I agree with most of them on the side of more info. Like ETSR (Estimated time of server return) would be great!

No, it wouldn't.

When they give an ETA, people will flip out as soon as the servers come back a minute late or early. It's why most companies never give an estimate on server downtime.

NateMiddleton

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

NateMiddleton wrote: »

There is some good ideas being discussed here and I agree with most of them on the side of more info. Like ETSR (Estimated time of server return) would be great!

No, it wouldn't.

When they give an ETA, people will flip out as soon as the servers come back a minute late or early. It's why most companies never give an estimate on server downtime.

From what I have seen I agree with you, however if it was updated on a rolling scale like when you download a file... 4 minutes to download....2 minutes to download...8 minutes to download EH! lol

Elki_Wilderglas

Twitter

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

I have no idea why you would suggest using Twitter to distribute information instead of the official site (where we already get the info).

And they're never, ever, ever going to give an estimate for the total downtime. It's a dumb move for any company to do that, because the instant that they go over or under the time, these forums will be inundated with posts from people screaming about how ZOS lied about how long maintenance would take.

Twitter= Convenient alert which can be sent to mobile devices while people are at work/uni. Not everyone is signed into the forum while at work/uni. Personally the only reason I have a twitter is to get ZOS announcements. Sad but true. Not sure what the problem two of you people here have with "Why do we have to have TWO sources of information?!"


I'd like to give TESO subscribers more credit than to assume most of them don't understand the definiton of the word "estimate." The game has been online for over 2.5 months now. By now they're starting to get into the swing of things. They know that a small maintenance on Thurs night should go for an hour. Why not tell us in advance. They know a big patch takes about 4.5-5 hours, A slightly smaller one takes 4. I'm sure they're tracking the downtimes in the backrgound and comparing them against the sizes of the fixes included in the various gen maint, hotfixes, patches, and should at least be able to project some basic downtimes based on the size of the work being done on the megaserver. Factor in a safety net of what they would consider to be an approptiate margin of time(eg. 12.5%) in case something goes wrong, and they have a slight buffer to work with.

vtn

I have my own schedule time for "Character Maintenance" that happens at 6am CST everyday - prior to Zen's Maintenance. Character Maintenance includes:
- "feeding 6 horses",
- "researching traits",
- "selling backlog of items in guilds", etc.

I would do this earlier, if I was notified (3-7 days) earlier on Zen's Maintenance time change. This Character Maintenance is important to me to get done each day on schedule to not get behind.

A little ahead of time communication goes a long way. I understand, appreciate and support Maintenance time frames (though Zen should really look at "high availability", as many larger companies have invested in it and their clients appreciate the seamless service). However, if Zen could just put the notice on the pre-login screen, this would be extremely helpful to several players.

nerevarine1138

Elki_Wilderglas wrote: »

Twitter

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

I have no idea why you would suggest using Twitter to distribute information instead of the official site (where we already get the info).

And they're never, ever, ever going to give an estimate for the total downtime. It's a dumb move for any company to do that, because the instant that they go over or under the time, these forums will be inundated with posts from people screaming about how ZOS lied about how long maintenance would take.

Twitter= Convenient alert which can be sent to mobile devices while people are at work/uni. Not everyone is signed into the forum while at work/uni. Personally the only reason I have a twitter is to get ZOS announcements. Sad but true. Not sure what the problem two of you people here have with "Why do we have to have TWO sources of information?!"


I'd like to give TESO subscribers more credit than to assume most of them don't understand the definiton of the word "estimate." The game has been online for over 2.5 months now. By now they're starting to get into the swing of things. They know that a small maintenance on Thurs night should go for an hour. Why not tell us in advance. They know a big patch takes about 4.5-5 hours, A slightly smaller one takes 4. I'm sure they're tracking the downtimes in the backrgound and comparing them against the sizes of the fixes included in the various gen maint, hotfixes, patches, and should at least be able to project some basic downtimes based on the size of the work being done on the megaserver. Factor in a safety net of what they would consider to be an approptiate margin of time(eg. 12.5%) in case something goes wrong, and they have a slight buffer to work with.

If you want Twitter notification, go ahead. I don't use the platform, and I wasn't aware that so many people would consult it before consulting the official forums.

And I'd love to give subscribers more credit too. But let's be honest. The majority of people are looking for a reason to complain. If that reason ends up being that an estimated downtime was incorrect, they will use it to blow up the forums. This happens regularly with every other game, and this forum community has already shown itself to be worse than pretty much every other MMO forum I've ever seen. When you can't start a thread without it getting hijacked by the "Game is going f2p zomg!" crowd, do you really think that a missed maintenance ETA wouldn't cause a backlash?

NateMiddleton

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

Elki_Wilderglas wrote: »

Twitter

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

I have no idea why you would suggest using Twitter to distribute information instead of the official site (where we already get the info).

And they're never, ever, ever going to give an estimate for the total downtime. It's a dumb move for any company to do that, because the instant that they go over or under the time, these forums will be inundated with posts from people screaming about how ZOS lied about how long maintenance would take.

Twitter= Convenient alert which can be sent to mobile devices while people are at work/uni. Not everyone is signed into the forum while at work/uni. Personally the only reason I have a twitter is to get ZOS announcements. Sad but true. Not sure what the problem two of you people here have with "Why do we have to have TWO sources of information?!"


I'd like to give TESO subscribers more credit than to assume most of them don't understand the definiton of the word "estimate." The game has been online for over 2.5 months now. By now they're starting to get into the swing of things. They know that a small maintenance on Thurs night should go for an hour. Why not tell us in advance. They know a big patch takes about 4.5-5 hours, A slightly smaller one takes 4. I'm sure they're tracking the downtimes in the backrgound and comparing them against the sizes of the fixes included in the various gen maint, hotfixes, patches, and should at least be able to project some basic downtimes based on the size of the work being done on the megaserver. Factor in a safety net of what they would consider to be an approptiate margin of time(eg. 12.5%) in case something goes wrong, and they have a slight buffer to work with.

If you want Twitter notification, go ahead. I don't use the platform, and I wasn't aware that so many people would consult it before consulting the official forums.

And I'd love to give subscribers more credit too. But let's be honest. The majority of people are looking for a reason to complain. If that reason ends up being that an estimated downtime was incorrect, they will use it to blow up the forums. This happens regularly with every other game, and this forum community has already shown itself to be worse than pretty much every other MMO forum I've ever seen. When you can't start a thread without it getting hijacked by the "Game is going f2p zomg!" crowd, do you really think that a missed maintenance ETA wouldn't cause a backlash?

So true *nods* good point.

vtn

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

NateMiddleton wrote: »

There is some good ideas being discussed here and I agree with most of them on the side of more info. Like ETSR (Estimated time of server return) would be great!

No, it wouldn't.

When they give an ETA, people will flip out as soon as the servers come back a minute late or early. It's why most companies never give an estimate on server downtime.

Agree with nerevarine1138.


The world would be a better place if a little more constructive behavior happened or at least fewer spouts of "flipping out".

NateMiddleton

Yes it seems my original opinion has been swayed. well if the leaders of the world can do that why cannot I? cheers for the discussion.

Hypertionb14_ESO

a Twitter Status message is not a bad idea, tho they would have to use a account seperate from their primary for just these support updates. It is however a very reasonable idea since they only have 2 servers.

While yes this time it was again early by 2 hours... i saw that they had the alert on these fourms at least a hour in advance this time. Far better than the 15 minutes on the last monday update, which only happened ingame and possibly on the launcher.

Im still annoyed if i cant play, but i dont mind the downtime this time around thanks to a much better warning.

ThePonzzz

NateMiddleton

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/84355/scheduled-downtime-how-long-does-it-take

Reading through this very similar as history repeats.

Elki_Wilderglas

NateMiddleton wrote: »

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

NateMiddleton wrote: »

There is some good ideas being discussed here and I agree with most of them on the side of more info. Like ETSR (Estimated time of server return) would be great!

No, it wouldn't.

When they give an ETA, people will flip out as soon as the servers come back a minute late or early. It's why most companies never give an estimate on server downtime.

From what I have seen I agree with you, however if it was updated on a rolling scale like when you download a file... 4 minutes to download....2 minutes to download...8 minutes to download EH! lol

What sort of rock thumping australopithicines do you take TESO subscribers for? If they know they're going to run OT 5-10 minutes prior to the "deadline" the courteous thing to do is update the appropriate page (and tweet), set a new ETA, if possible explain what may be causing the delay, excuse the inconvenience. And in the background log the ETA overtime & cause, work out the additional % the OT is in addition to the spent time, work that specific OT % into the amendable buffer I mentioned earlier to raise it. It would need to be either averaged out if the OT was because of something recurring (or likely to frequently recurr) or assigned to a specific task which precipitated the delay.