Status on Hardware Refresh & Whitestrake’s Mayhem Event [January 2023]

ZOS_MattFiror

I’d like to give everyone an update on the server hardware refresh, where we are completely replacing hardware in our North American and European datacenters. If you remember, I gave an update late last year with a timeline for our European datacenter refresh. Now that we are starting the work in earnest, I have a few updates to share.

• We are running 1 or 2 weeks behind schedule because of shipping slowdowns. This is entirely out of our control and I apologize for it. This two week delay puts the refresh right on top of our March launch of Update 37, which for obvious reasons we don’t want to schedule simultaneously. So the new date for PC EU getting new hardware will be in early April, and PlayStation EU should follow very shortly after. In order to begin prepping for this work, we’re scheduling a maintenance on all EU realms that will occur on February 7.
• Just like the PC NA refresh that occurred mid-last year, expect about a 14 hour downtime when the actual cutover happens. We'll keep you posted as to the specific day and times the servers will be unavailable.
• The March/April ESO timeframe is always very busy. We have a lot of events and almost always have a major Update. Because of this, we need to move some events around on the calendar to give the infrastructure team some clear air to do the maintenance without impacting any ongoing events. We are moving Whitestrake’s Mayhem to later in the year to ensure the datacenter hardware refresh is complete before we hold the event. We still intend to have two Whitestrake’s Mayhem events in 2023. Since we will be moving an event that grants Event Tickets out of Q1 (January – March) and we want everyone to be able to get the Q1 morphing collectible, Passion’s Muse personality, we will make the Q1 fragments available through Q2 (April – June.) The amount of Event Tickets you can earn for the year will not change because of this shift. As we have done in previous years, all morphing collectible fragments for the year will also be available during the New Life Festival in December.

That's it for now - we'll keep you updated as events warrant.

thejadefalcon

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

we’re scheduling a maintenance on all EU realms that will occur on February 7.

Will this interfere with the event?

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

So the new date for PC EU getting new hardware will be in early April
expect about a 14 hour downtime when the actual cutover happens.

Will *this* interfere with the Anniversary event?

Katheriah

Thank you, happy to see we're still getting both of them.

Navarril

thejadefalcon wrote: »

Will *this* interfere with the Anniversary event?

Sometimes, it's beneficial to read the entire message before asking questions.

The answer you seek is there.

ApoAlaia

thejadefalcon wrote: »

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

we’re scheduling a maintenance on all EU realms that will occur on February 7.

Will this interfere with the event?

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

So the new date for PC EU getting new hardware will be in early April
expect about a 14 hour downtime when the actual cutover happens.

Will *this* interfere with the Anniversary event?

Yes to the first.

The event ends on the 7th @3PM UTC and they usually start maintenance at 9AM UTC so yeah, the last day of the event will be a writeoff for many.

So much so to follow 'we don't want maintenance to interfere with events' with a maintenance that interferes with the event

Doesn't fill me with confidence regarding your second question...

ApoAlaia

Navarril wrote: »

thejadefalcon wrote: »

Will *this* interfere with the Anniversary event?

Sometimes, it's beneficial to read the entire message before asking questions.

The answer you seek is there.

Considering that as I said above they follow a 'we don't want maintenance to interfere with events' with a maintenance scheduled to interfere with the current event maybe you should not take what is written as gospel.

goboltz

"So the new date for PC EU getting new hardware will be in early April, and PlayStation EU should follow very shortly after. "

So what happened to Playstation NA ?! When does it get updated ?!

thejadefalcon

Navarril wrote: »

thejadefalcon wrote: »

Will *this* interfere with the Anniversary event?

Sometimes, it's beneficial to read the entire message before asking questions.

The answer you seek is there.

Considering how often PC EU gets shafted on unexpected downtime, it's a fair question. They didn't bring up moving the Anniversary (nor do I actually expect them to, it's not much of an Anniversary if you don't hold it on the anniversary). The moving of Whitestrake's Mayhem is the only thing they've truly confirmed.

DirtyDeeds765

Just so we're all clear, since it wasn't explicitly stated, will the hardware refresh be completed for ALL servers by mid to late April due to the 1 to 2 week delay?

I ask because in the December 2022 update, you stated that (the hardware refresh) ". ..is happening and will be done and ready for all players, probably in late February or March of 2023."

@ZOS_MattFiror
@DirtyDeeds765

BradTheNord

So wait a minute PlayStation get data Center refresh before Xbox the company that actually bought you guys … you can’t make this *** up

alternatelder

BradTheNord wrote: »

So wait a minute PlayStation get data Center refresh before Xbox the company that actually bought you guys … you can’t make this *** up

I guess think of us as the testing platform, does that make you feel better?

Velocious_Curse

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

I’d like to give everyone an update on the server hardware refresh, where we are completely replacing hardware in our North American and European datacenters. If you remember, I gave an update late last year with a timeline for our European datacenter refresh. Now that we are starting the work in earnest, I have a few updates to share.

• We are running 1 or 2 weeks behind schedule because of shipping slowdowns. This is entirely out of our control and I apologize for it. This two week delay puts the refresh right on top of our March launch of Update 37, which for obvious reasons we don’t want to schedule simultaneously. So the new date for PC EU getting new hardware will be in early April, and PlayStation EU should follow very shortly after. In order to begin prepping for this work, we’re scheduling a maintenance on all EU realms that will occur on February 7.
• Just like the PC NA refresh that occurred mid-last year, expect about a 14 hour downtime when the actual cutover happens. We'll keep you posted as to the specific day and times the servers will be unavailable.
• The March/April ESO timeframe is always very busy. We have a lot of events and almost always have a major Update. Because of this, we need to move some events around on the calendar to give the infrastructure team some clear air to do the maintenance without impacting any ongoing events. We are moving Whitestrake’s Mayhem to later in the year to ensure the datacenter hardware refresh is complete before we hold the event. We still intend to have two Whitestrake’s Mayhem events in 2023. Since we will be moving an event that grants Event Tickets out of Q1 (January – March) and we want everyone to be able to get the Q1 morphing collectible, Passion’s Muse personality, we will make the Q1 fragments available through Q2 (April – June.) The amount of Event Tickets you can earn for the year will not change because of this shift. As we have done in previous years, all morphing collectible fragments for the year will also be available during the New Life Festival in December.

That's it for now - we'll keep you updated as events warrant.

Soooo If all this is for PC/PS EU, Why not still have WhiteStrakes for PC NA and Xbox?

Araneae6537

Velocious_Curse wrote: »

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

I’d like to give everyone an update on the server hardware refresh, where we are completely replacing hardware in our North American and European datacenters. If you remember, I gave an update late last year with a timeline for our European datacenter refresh. Now that we are starting the work in earnest, I have a few updates to share.

• We are running 1 or 2 weeks behind schedule because of shipping slowdowns. This is entirely out of our control and I apologize for it. This two week delay puts the refresh right on top of our March launch of Update 37, which for obvious reasons we don’t want to schedule simultaneously. So the new date for PC EU getting new hardware will be in early April, and PlayStation EU should follow very shortly after. In order to begin prepping for this work, we’re scheduling a maintenance on all EU realms that will occur on February 7.
• Just like the PC NA refresh that occurred mid-last year, expect about a 14 hour downtime when the actual cutover happens. We'll keep you posted as to the specific day and times the servers will be unavailable.
• The March/April ESO timeframe is always very busy. We have a lot of events and almost always have a major Update. Because of this, we need to move some events around on the calendar to give the infrastructure team some clear air to do the maintenance without impacting any ongoing events. We are moving Whitestrake’s Mayhem to later in the year to ensure the datacenter hardware refresh is complete before we hold the event. We still intend to have two Whitestrake’s Mayhem events in 2023. Since we will be moving an event that grants Event Tickets out of Q1 (January – March) and we want everyone to be able to get the Q1 morphing collectible, Passion’s Muse personality, we will make the Q1 fragments available through Q2 (April – June.) The amount of Event Tickets you can earn for the year will not change because of this shift. As we have done in previous years, all morphing collectible fragments for the year will also be available during the New Life Festival in December.

That's it for now - we'll keep you updated as events warrant.

Soooo If all this is for PC/PS EU, Why not still have WhiteStrakes for PC NA and Xbox?

We’ll all have the event at the same time; that seems most fair for everyone and keeps everyone on the same event ticket/reward schedule.

tomofhyrule

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

Since we will be moving an event that grants Event Tickets out of Q1 (January – March) and we want everyone to be able to get the Q1 morphing collectible, Passion’s Muse personality, we will make the Q1 fragments available through Q2 (April – June.) The amount of Event Tickets you can earn for the year will not change because of this shift. As we have done in previous years, all morphing collectible fragments for the year will also be available during the New Life Festival in December.

Out of curiosity, will this also affect the Indriks available from the Indrik vendor?

We haven't seen the Indrik Vendor bring all possible Indriks back during New Life, and it's not mentioned whether she will also stock the Dawnwood/Spectral berries for the Q2 events. Will that also change, or should players interested in collecting missed Indriks prioritize them as the Passion's Muse items will be available later?

React

@ZOS_MattFiror

When will we receive an actual date for the event? Or is it possible to give a rough estimate as to when it will be held?

johnjetau

So why did you move WhiteStrakes, instead of Jesters Festival?

I understand the whole hardware replacement situation and the ZOS being busy, but surely having a "minor" event like WS would be less intensive than the Jesters Festival later in the month.
Especially when the hardware replacement, will probably still require adjustments right upto the launch of the new Update in March.

alternatelder

johnjetau wrote: »

So why did you move WhiteStrakes, instead of Jesters Festival?

I understand the whole hardware replacement situation and the ZOS being busy, but surely having a "minor" event like WS would be less intensive than the Jesters Festival later in the month.
Especially when the hardware replacement, will probably still require adjustments right upto the launch of the new Update in March.

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty certain majority of people would rather have WS with new hardware.

esogamer2021

I’m not convinced in the times and dates provided to be to really honest especially based on poor previous set times and let downs by ZOS , you throw dates and Times around then change them faster then a 2 bar zerg kills one player in cryodill lol let’s hope it’s all done by 2026

TechMaybeHic

How bout that code rework? Is that going? Did I miss the notes?

DirtyDeeds765

TechMaybeHic wrote: »

How bout that code rework? Is that going? Did I miss the notes?

Yes.

"Our multi-threading work continues, as we announced a month or so back. Just to remind everyone, this is the initiative that will result in better overall server performance. As we already announced, we will be phasing these changes in over the course of 2023, starting with the Chapter in Q2. We’ll keep everyone updated in patch notes going forward."

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/63363

@DirtyDeeds765

TechMaybeHic

DirtyDeeds765 wrote: »

TechMaybeHic wrote: »

How bout that code rework? Is that going? Did I miss the notes?

Yes.

"Our multi-threading work continues, as we announced a month or so back. Just to remind everyone, this is the initiative that will result in better overall server performance. As we already announced, we will be phasing these changes in over the course of 2023, starting with the Chapter in Q2. We’ll keep everyone updated in patch notes going forward."

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/63363

@DirtyDeeds765

Oh so the update at end of quarter 2. Got it

TaSheen

The "code rework" I thought had nothing to do with multithreading. I understood that the "code rework" was something to do with PVP?

Vrienda

johnjetau wrote: »

So why did you move WhiteStrakes, instead of Jesters Festival?

I understand the whole hardware replacement situation and the ZOS being busy, but surely having a "minor" event like WS would be less intensive than the Jesters Festival later in the month.
Especially when the hardware replacement, will probably still require adjustments right upto the launch of the new Update in March.

My understanding is the hardware refresh is mostly for the benefit of pvp. Which is always at its least stable during whitestrake’s due to the complete lack of a PvE alternative.

tomofhyrule

johnjetau wrote: »

So why did you move WhiteStrakes, instead of Jesters Festival?

I understand the whole hardware replacement situation and the ZOS being busy, but surely having a "minor" event like WS would be less intensive than the Jesters Festival later in the month.
Especially when the hardware replacement, will probably still require adjustments right upto the launch of the new Update in March.

I know most people would prefer a more intensive event with servers that can handle the more intensive load. And there's no way that MYM (needing several new Cyro and IC campaigns, quick server calculations, increased numbers of players in PvP), is less intense than Jester's (5 fetch quests).

Also the fact that "Jester's Festival" is a holiday in-universe (https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Jester's_Festival) set during April. Now you could ask why it's before Anniversary instead of after - the in-universe holiday is on the 28th - but that's to line up with the real-world 'holiday' of April Fool's day on the 1st.

Besides, from another thread... there's also a benefit to them delaying MYM considering one of the new achievements that's coming with the next update, so it'd be nice to get MYM to come after U37 lands:

tomofhyrule wrote: »

But more importantly, for anyone who's read the new PTS Patch notes yet, there's a new achievement coming with U37:

It would seem that they want to give us this achievement before we have an event which encourages us to do some of the stuff in said achievement, since that is quite a lot.

Silaf

Please give us a way to obtain past event itams like the "Dragon rise" event. Real life problems prevented me from retriving it and we are all collectors...

In the name of Stendarr have mercy!

Hesperax79

@ZOS_Kevin : I must say, that this kind of new, open and informative communication is highly appreciated and a very good step ahead.

boi_anachronism_

Appreciate the communication but what happened to PS? Seriously. PC had one server upgrade already and we had nothing (no offense y'all). Ps cyro is bottom bin. This weekend I was kicked multiple times within an hour span, locked into a delve two different times cause I made the unfortunate decision to kill a boss for the ap bonus and the "combat was basically unplayable. Couldn't bar swap, couldn't block, couldn't engage ultis or pots. It literally was a tour of new and interesting ways and places to get killed. I'd freeze frame or rubber band only to find that when my screen had normalized I was dead.

MafiaCat115

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

• Since we will be moving an event that grants Event Tickets out of Q1 (January – March) and we want everyone to be able to get the Q1 morphing collectible, Passion’s Muse personality, we will make the Q1 fragments available through Q2 (April – June.)

Will the Q1 Indriks also be available in Q2? I was looking forward to getting one with the extra Q1 tickets. Probably not, I assume?

FluffWit

Any idea when Xbox gets this?

Ishtarknows

No mention of Xbox?

Elvenheart

johnjetau wrote: »

So why did you move WhiteStrakes, instead of Jesters Festival?

I understand the whole hardware replacement situation and the ZOS being busy, but surely having a "minor" event like WS would be less intensive than the Jesters Festival later in the month.
Especially when the hardware replacement, will probably still require adjustments right upto the launch of the new Update in March.

They can’t move the Jester’s Festival because that’s when we finally get the REAL most requested feature, an option to Hide Shoulders! 🎁 🎉 🎊 🎈

Just a little more seriously, for me the Jester’s Festival is synonymous with April Fools Day and it just wouldn’t seem right to have it some other time. That’s just my personal opinion, of course. 😊