Daytime maintenance and subscription

Kagemane

Hi guys,

I guess it is ok for a daytime maintenance if they patch is really important. However, I really expect an extension to my subscription of 1 day in compensation.

I am your average gamer. I play 2 hours per day maximum, and not every day, since I have to work, family, etc. Not being able to log in when I usually play, means a lost day completely. And maybe, the opportunity I had in 2-3 days of playing since tomorrow who knows if I will be able to play or I will have to take the kids to football, I am late at work, on a trip, or whatever.

Please do not make me count the days I played last month and decide then if I want to extend my subscription.

So yeah, I really think for your interest, you should extend 1 day at least to all the EU accounts.

Hope you understand.

Angmarsky

You're right. But ZeniMax thinks that europeans are second-quality gamers. I think they won't give us any compensation.

ruckus37b16_ESO

This launch in it´s entirety is a fail by any standard, a day , heck they should be giving us a month free, to make us happy so we stay.

Oswuld

I'm in the same boat, I don't religiously follow the uptime of the servers. I'm pondering whether or not to continue my subscription too. Just a +1

davidetombab16_ESO

you not understand the Zenimax think that US is the center of the world. Maybe he has not yet figured out that the rest of the world uses a different time zone

KerinKor

Kagemane wrote: »

I guess it is ok for a daytime maintenance if they patch is really important. However, I really expect an extension to my subscription of 1 day in compensation.

Ah, the entitlement angle .. read the TOS and LEARN!

Where's the +stupid-post button?

Songs

I feel like game time compensation would be really nice. The World of Warcraft used to do it when they had ridiculous maintenance times (days, weeks [seriously it was down for weeks]). I feel like it's the nice thing to do for your gaming community. Who knows if they will, but it would nice.

amadoth

you think this launch is a fail? This launch my many standards is far and away better than most if not all MMO's that have launched in recent memory. Keep in mind that I'm just voicing my humble opinion regarding my perspective of the launch.

Lots of other MMO's had servers down for days, multiple roll backs, lag so bad it took you 5 minutes to turn 180 degrees and countless other issues. ESO has had some issues but not to the degree other games have had at launch.

Turelus

In all my years playing MMOs it's very rare for a company to give out free subscription time due to maintenance of a server.
If servers are down for a few days maybe but a three or four hour patch isn't likely to give players free time.

Honestly my prediction is that ZOS will do something to reward the players who are still subbed in a month or two to thank them for staying with them through the rough times and being patient while they fixed things, this is normally what I have seen from other games companies.

Reignskream

Kagemane wrote: »

Hi guys,

I guess it is ok for a daytime maintenance if they patch is really important. However, I really expect an extension to my subscription of 1 day in compensation.

I am your average gamer. I play 2 hours per day maximum, and not every day, since I have to work, family, etc. Not being able to log in when I usually play, means a lost day completely. And maybe, the opportunity I had in 2-3 days of playing since tomorrow who knows if I will be able to play or I will have to take the kids to football, I am late at work, on a trip, or whatever.

Please do not make me count the days I played last month and decide then if I want to extend my subscription.

So yeah, I really think for your interest, you should extend 1 day at least to all the EU accounts.

Hope you understand.

If you would have read your terms of service, which you accepted before you started playing, it stated that ZOS can bring server(s) down at any point in time, without having to notify anybody.

RichterVonStrid

I really wish you guys would give it a rest already. There have been no end of problems here in the US also. Where do you get this notion that we are being treated any differently? Grow up.

davidetombab16_ESO wrote: »

you not understand the Zenimax think that US is the center of the world. Maybe he has not yet figured out that the rest of the world uses a different time zone

Oswuld

KerinKor wrote: »

Kagemane wrote: »

I guess it is ok for a daytime maintenance if they patch is really important. However, I really expect an extension to my subscription of 1 day in compensation.

Ah, the entitlement angle .. read the TOS and LEARN!

Where's the +stupid-post button?

There is a prudent way of doing things and this is certainly not it. In the BST time zone it is currently 17:00. Having a pay to play game be down at this time is frankly bad service. Things happen, I'm a programmer myself, I know how horrible things can go but this is happening fairly consistently. The ToS allows you access to Zenimax's servers on their discretion but still. There are service standards.

JessieColt

Downtime will be during business hours for the company. All games that have downtime affect some users playtime. This is inevitable and unavoidable.

All users agree to this downtime in the Terms of Use. If you do not agree with it, or the times that it happens, you are free to terminate your contract with the game company by cancelling your account/subscription.

You will not be compensated for the downtime.

http://www.zenimax.com/legal_terms

6. Availability of Services and Content; Game Maintenance, Patches, Updates; Termination of Services

ZeniMax does not guarantee that any Services will be available at all times, in all countries and/or geographic locations, at any given time, or that it will continue to offer any particular Services for any particular length of time.

Tai

I understand your point of view, but the first months are always hard for an MMO, you have unexpected issues, broken quests, bots, gold sellers, cheating and a lot of other problems to deal with, so maintenance hits more frequently, and sometimes it can be frustrating.
I would like better communication, such as ETA on maintenance, detailed info on what is being fixed, and an ingame customer support, with living GMs assisting the players and so on.
If i had that, i would be happier than if i had a 1 day extension on my sub.

ruckus37b16_ESO

amadoth wrote: »

you think this launch is a fail? This launch my many standards is far and away better than most if not all MMO's that have launched in recent memory. Keep in mind that I'm just voicing my humble opinion regarding my perspective of the launch.

Lots of other MMO's had servers down for days, multiple roll backs, lag so bad it took you 5 minutes to turn 180 degrees and countless other issues. ESO has had some issues but not to the degree other games have had at launch.

U sir are so wrong!

Kagemane

KerinKor wrote: »

Kagemane wrote: »

I guess it is ok for a daytime maintenance if they patch is really important. However, I really expect an extension to my subscription of 1 day in compensation.

Ah, the entitlement angle .. read the TOS and LEARN!

Where's the +stupid-post button?

For those of you bringing the tearms, and telling me to learn to read... Please, learn to read yourselves, my post.

I am not saying thay HAVE to give us 1 day, because I know they are not in the obligation of doing it. I am just expressing my opinion, and informing them of why I will/would cancel my subscription. I expect the day, but I know they dont have to give it to me. If that where the case, I would not post, I would sue xD.

dennisb16_ESO73

KerinKor wrote: »

Kagemane wrote: »

I guess it is ok for a daytime maintenance if they patch is really important. However, I really expect an extension to my subscription of 1 day in compensation.

Ah, the entitlement angle .. read the TOS and LEARN!

Where's the +stupid-post button?

Yeah he clearly has to learn that as an mmo customer he is crazy to expect any form of service uptime.
All he is entitled to is paying his subscription fee, and to expect nothing more.
And if he's not from the US he should know he is simply a 2nd rate customer in the first place when it comes to maintenance windows

warlock41

Yes I agree ! Its a bad time for maintenance ! Please notify us in Twitter or something.

Tripp3r

I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY PLAYERS FAIL TO SEE THIS

No matter when they take the megaservers down, it's prime time somewhere in some country.
they can't please everyone, i'm as disgruntled as the rest of you, i'm so close to level 36 and my veteran style gear, but they took the servers down, but still.. there is no need to flood the forums with stuff like this...
it's a megaserver... everyone's on it, it's always going to annoy someone.

Phyrdrin

This maintenance was scheduled. They are implementing important fixes for a lot of problems. Not only that, but it is only lasting a few hours. In my opinion, this is not grounds for compensating days of play time. If the server was down for over a day straight, then I might consider agreeing about compensation.

I understand what you are saying about courtesy, but consider that this is a business and they can't just give out free days right and left every time they fix something. You ask what you're paying for? You're paying for this - for maintenance. You are paying so that the game has less issues in the long-run.

I have conflicted opinions about this launch, as my own experience was badly messed up by horrible customer service. I expect bugs and down times. If you've ever played any MMO, you know that this will happen. Despite the plethora of bugged quests, item losses, etc. (I refuse to use the over-stated word "game-breaking" as the game is still functional) I think this game has turned out pretty well. The main issues I see are ones dealing with capacity on the servers. The game runs just fine when its not prime-time. I'm still not sure if I will continue my subscription myself, but consider this OP -

You threatening to cancel your sub really doesn't scare ZOS. If they aren't afraid of losing hundreds of people (see my signature) to poor customer service, then they won't be afraid to lose a few players who consider themselves entitled to free game time. Just my two cents. No offense meant, so I hope you don't take any.

shaunmoorhead_ESO

SOOO? You think they should have their entire dev team there 24 hours a day seven days a week. The company is in NA...they work on NA times...they sleep on NA times... its inconsiderate to expect them to do 2 separate time slots for maint...WHEN THERE WAS A VOTE. Your side lost the vote.

shaunmoorhead_ESO

welcome to democracy

LordKelsier

shaunmoorhead_ESO wrote: »

SOOO? You think they should have their entire dev team there 24 hours a day seven days a week. The company is in NA...they work on NA times...they sleep on NA times... its inconsiderate to expect them to do 2 separate time slots for maint...WHEN THERE WAS A VOTE. Your side lost the vote.

You must be kidding right? We are talking about EU (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) MEGASERVER (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) maintenance. Maintenance has to be placed in off-times, especially on a *** megaserver. That means somewhen in the night on working days (like 2am to 6am) or early morning (like 6am to 10am) on weekends.

Doing it in the freaking MAIN TIME FOR GAMING, i.e. late afternoon, is ridiculous.

shaunmoorhead_ESO

once again the maint times were placed up to vote... the EU being a smaller player basis than NA lost the vote. You lost end of story, that's how democracy works, crying about it does no good.

Jaburra

Kagemane wrote: »

Hi guys,

I guess it is ok for a daytime maintenance if they patch is really important. However, I really expect an extension to my subscription of 1 day in compensation.

I am your average gamer. I play 2 hours per day maximum, and not every day, since I have to work, family, etc. Not being able to log in when I usually play, means a lost day completely. And maybe, the opportunity I had in 2-3 days of playing since tomorrow who knows if I will be able to play or I will have to take the kids to football, I am late at work, on a trip, or whatever.

Please do not make me count the days I played last month and decide then if I want to extend my subscription.

So yeah, I really think for your interest, you should extend 1 day at least to all the EU accounts.

Hope you understand.

Go dig around in your couch, I'm sure you'll dig up some spare change. After all that would be the compensation. As it's been said several times in this post, they aren't going to please everyone, so why be so surprised when something like this happens. And to all the haters saying this has been a failed launch, apparently you weren't present (or perhaps even born yet judging by some of the attitudes) for WoW's release, or Ultima Online's release. I haven't played every MMO, nor do I consider myself an "expert" on the topic, however I would have to say in my personal experience, this game has had a wonderful launch. Yes there have been bugs, yes there have been extended down times. But what would you rather have? A buggy *** game that never loads or works right and all the time in the world to be on the servers, or have them take the servers down when they need to, to perform necessary updates and patches, so that they are providing their customers with the best possible product they can give?

Newly released MMOs will have problems. It's best to find something else to do with your time, then to scream at a company who is doing the best they can with what they have to work with. Don't like the megaserver system? Go back to WoW where they have tons of different servers to play on with different maintenance times.

Deluged

I think what you're bickering about is moot. The trouble I see is that this company seems to be such rookies at all things on-line. I've lost another day to down-time. The length of which is astounding. ALL day? We'll TRY to have it back up by EARLY EVENING? Oh, come on, that's pathetic.

shaunmoorhead_ESO

Ultimately, Zenimax is not currently large enough to support 2 full dev teams working on 2 time slots..... until the point which they are, these will be the time slots...as these were the ones that were chosen by MAJORITY vote...This is something you will either need to accept or move on.

Kagemane

shaunmoorhead_ESO wrote: »

SOOO? You think they should have their entire dev team there 24 hours a day seven days a week. The company is in NA...they work on NA times...they sleep on NA times... its inconsiderate to expect them to do 2 separate time slots for maint...WHEN THERE WAS A VOTE. Your side lost the vote.

I had to read this post 4 times to understand it, and I am still not sure if I do.
You are trying to say that since the company is in US they sleep in US times, and therefor we customers must adjust to the company's time zone?

How old are you? This is not how business goes at all. I understand and respect all the comments in this thread, but I simply cannot understand yours.

Tolio

shaunmoorhead_ESO wrote: »

once again the maint times were placed up to vote... the EU being a smaller player basis than NA lost the vote. You lost end of story, that's how democracy works, crying about it does no good.

And where do you get the impression that the EU has a smaller playerbase than NA? https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=north+aemrica+vs+europe

NA: 559 mio
EU: 601 mio
inhabitants, as there are no stats for "players who play ESO location"

And thats not even counting all the other near to europe timezones like russia, which has a healthy population of gamers as well.

Ever looked at how the other MMOs do it? They usually even have seperate datacenters to accomodate to the EU players and with that seperate patch times. Look at the genre primus WoW, look at rift, etc etc. They know that the GMT timezones are a crowd they can not afford to lose.

So if you want to quote democracy guess who would lose? The small part of the world that is NA

KaosApezb16_ESO

To be fair, I just came back from work. Made a dinner and was eager to play. However the downtime in EU is during the hours people start playing. If they would rap it up around 17:00 ECT it would be great.

What I don't like are the people from the US who are accusing the EU players of moaning because nothing is wrong. In the US it is 6 hours earlier. Ofcourse there won't be people coming back from work (some might though). Here in the EU we do get back from work and are eager to play. That is why the downtime in the EU is not really great.

If they would have done it this midday it would be perfect. However the staff of ZOS doens't work during these hours in the states. That is the big conflict at the moment we need to deal with. But please don't react as the person below it doens't show a great amount if intelligence.

RichterVonStrid wrote: »

I really wish you guys would give it a rest already. There have been no end of problems here in the US also. Where do you get this notion that we are being treated any differently? Grow up.

davidetombab16_ESO wrote: »

you not understand the Zenimax think that US is the center of the world. Maybe he has not yet figured out that the rest of the world uses a different time zone

shaunmoorhead_ESO

Kagemane wrote: »

shaunmoorhead_ESO wrote: »

SOOO? You think they should have their entire dev team there 24 hours a day seven days a week. The company is in NA...they work on NA times...they sleep on NA times... its inconsiderate to expect them to do 2 separate time slots for maint...WHEN THERE WAS A VOTE. Your side lost the vote.

I had to read this post 4 times to understand it, and I am still not sure if I do.
You are trying to say that since the company is in US they sleep in US times, and therefor we customers must adjust to the company's time zone?

How old are you? This is not how business goes at all. I understand and respect all the comments in this thread, but I simply cannot understand yours.

This is how business goes actually. And no i meant North American(Canada, United States, Mexico) Yes, that NA. The Average American - works between 7am and 6pm. Making not just ZENIMAX the only one who follows these time slots. But, All the people who VOTED and WON probably work or sleep during this time. Once again if you read my post 4-5 times you'll see this was chosen by vote. its like trying to renegotiate a new president...which im sure our country would love to do...you just cant do it.