Should ZOS reimburse game time for unexpected maintenance extensions?

AlienSlof · June 2014

I play on both servers, so if one is unavailable, then I play on the other one. There's always one up for me to play on.

Kaytlin · June 2014

Seriously! You started a thread to whine about not being able to log in for a few hours while new content and adjustments are being made? Perhaps you would prefer they not add new content, not fix bugs, not make class skills adjustments at all, after all they will have to bring the servers down for those changes also.
Caytlynne of Skye
V12 EB Sorceress

Imaser · June 2014

Aeradon wrote: »

Just bought a pack of soda and one of the cans have a slight dent. Maybe I should sue Coca Cola.

pssst...yeah, over here. You can return that for another can without a dent. And why did you buy that in the first place?

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Good luck with this one, you won't get you money back, if it happens a lot they might give us extra play time, but no refunds.

I don't think anyone is looking to get their $0.50 back. Regardless of the jokes, over the years months of play time missed can accumulate because of their inability to quickly solve the problems. Fact is: I was able to play without any issue since the last patch. So, what did they break while trying to fix minor issues that has caused an elongated period of downtime?

Buck · June 2014

seriously why can't I have an ignore option in the forums?

Imaser · June 2014

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

Imaser wrote: »

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

When people start using words like "egregious" to describe not being able to play a game for a few hours, that's behavior that shouldn't be encouraged.

Look it up. You may learn something during this downtime.

TRG_Ebrasu · June 2014

Hmm lets see.

At $14.99 a month, it is about .50 cents (rounded) a day (.48 for those silly 31 day months). Which works out to about .02 cents an hour.

With the OP's reasoning they owe us about .20 cents.

If you really want to throw a fit for .20 cents have at it. It is a pretty ridiculous request and it is frankly ludicrous to think that a game company should give you compensation because of time you took off of work.

Imaser · June 2014

malikwalker_ESO wrote: »

EDIT: Aside from the joy or sense of comradeship that some get from entertaining this idea and going on about it EVERY TIME there is a maintenance, can you honestly say that rushing to get the server up and a possible repeat of 1.1.2 is preferable to more downtime and a reduced possibility of a repeat of said update's aftermath?

No we don't want them to rush to get the server up. What does that have to do with compensating for problems with their product?

jamesbl · June 2014

If your Internet service at home was down 10+ hours every week, would you think you deserved a refund for the service you were paying for from your Internet provider? Of course you would. This is no different. Large enterprises have figured out how to keep a service up and running while also performing maintenance at the same time. This company should figure this out as well. After all, it is not rocket science and again, is done this way by the majority of large corporations every day.

Rylana · June 2014

15/mo
50c/day
8 hours.

15 cents?

>_> perspective

DenverRalphy · June 2014

Imaser wrote: »

Fact is: I was able to play without any issue since the last patch. So, what did they break while trying to fix minor issues that has caused an elongated period of downtime?

Who says anything is broken? A more likely explanation is that new network/server hardware is also being introduced and/or installed, all of which has to be configured and tested before the network and servers are brought back up. That takes time, and it's normally not something done jiffy spiffy in a couple of hours.

Imaser · June 2014

Riptide wrote: »

Egregious? Good gracious, what a charmed life you must live if anything here really rises to that, friend. Relax man.

Too big of a word for ya, friend?

nerevarine1138 · June 2014

jamesbl wrote: »

If your Internet service at home was down 10+ hours every week, would you think you deserved a refund for the service you were paying for from your Internet provider? Of course you would. This is no different. Large enterprises have figured out how to keep a service up and running while also performing maintenance at the same time. This company should figure this out as well. After all, it is not rocket science and again, is done this way by the majority of large corporations every day.

Not the majority of game developers.

It's a game. A luxury good. Comparing it to anything that is used for work/productivity is just ridiculous.

Katniss_Everlark · June 2014

dragnier wrote: »

Katniss_Everlark wrote: »

That's the thing though @dragnier‌, they only expected it to be 4 hours not any longer until they got close to the 4 hour window. Things happen while they are implementing the patch that is out of their control & they want to fix it before they bring the servers back up.

I played WoW for 4 1/2 years. The only time I ever remember the servers being down longer than the scheduled down time was when Wrath of the Lich King expansion went live. The game was down almost all day, came up around 10pm est. I was able to create & play my death knight through the starting area just in time to have an announcement come up saying server shut down in 5 minutes. I didn't cry about not being able to play or try & get back the day & a half that was lost to maintenance. I was glad that they did every thing to get it right so they didn't have to do it again & take a whole other day.

They are doing the right thing in making sure everything is how it should be no matter how long it takes for it to be done.

You missed my reference entirely.

However long they think maintenance MIGHT take, they should double that and post it as what they expect it to take. That way, if it takes that long, great. If not, people are even happier.

If they already did that, then something needs to be changed about how they are estimating.

I've worked in the IT/Computer field and have friends that are programmers. Even they have agreed with me on this.

I went & reread your first comment & I did over look that part. I was rushing so I can go get dinner lol. I don't think they are doubling the estimated time based on this occurring a few times already. I do have to say that my happiest gaming days are the days maintenance took less than the time they announced. Sorry for missing the reference, my stomach got the better of me

.

Imaser · June 2014

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

It's a game. A luxury good. Comparing it to anything that is used for work/productivity is just ridiculous.

Electricity is absolutely a luxury service and they absolutely do reimburse for extended periods of downtime due to their own error.

Cable is absolutely a luxury service and they absolutely do reimburse for extended periods of downtime due to their own error.

<INSERT COUNTLESS OTHER EXAMPLES HERE> is absolutely a luxury service and they absolutely do reimburse for extended periods of downtime due to their own error.

Spiritreaver_ESO · June 2014

Imaser wrote: »

malikwalker_ESO wrote: »

EDIT: Aside from the joy or sense of comradeship that some get from entertaining this idea and going on about it EVERY TIME there is a maintenance, can you honestly say that rushing to get the server up and a possible repeat of 1.1.2 is preferable to more downtime and a reduced possibility of a repeat of said update's aftermath?

No we don't want them to rush to get the server up. What does that have to do with compensating for problems with their product?

The post i have quoted below says it better than me ---v

Rylana wrote: »

15/mo
50c/day
8 hours.

15 cents?

>_> perspective

Syndy · June 2014

You are missing the "LoL, this must be OP's first MMO" option...

Blade_07 · June 2014

dragnier wrote: »

Basically, since this maintenance looks like it will be 10+ hours instead of the 4 it was supposed to be, should ZOS give everyone game time to replace it?

All those that said no are brown nosing fan boys for most part.

All Zenimax needs to do is do this maintenance/update stuff during off hours instead of during prime time. Its inconsiderate as far as I'm concerned.

Pele · June 2014

Innocente wrote: »

Here's 25c. The actual value of your lost game time.

This. Contact customer support and they'll probably give you your 25 cents back. If downtime extends for a day then request 50 cents.

Syndy · June 2014

Blade_07 wrote: »

dragnier wrote: »

Basically, since this maintenance looks like it will be 10+ hours instead of the 4 it was supposed to be, should ZOS give everyone game time to replace it?

All those that said no are brown nosing fan boys for most part.

All Zenimax needs to do is do this maintenance/update stuff during off hours instead of during prime time. Its inconsiderate as far as I'm concerned.

What is prime time for you is not for other people...

It is 4:25 CST, I don't consider that Prime time yet for me... But for someone in the EST time zone, I would say it is...

It's all about perspective.

No matter when they do it, they will be in someone's "Prime Time".

barmarchub17_ESO · June 2014

Having been in the software and IT industry most of my professional life, I know that major software updates take time to be well verified and tested. I don't understand why the estimates of downtime are so far off. This release should have gone into a staging server prior to the production server release and estimates should be able to be gleaned from that. I would expect a 20% differential, but not a 400% differential. Is Innogames reluctant to tell users how long they really project the downtime to be?

Ragekniv · June 2014

I'd be happy with a full reimbursement for the Imperial edition!

Beta and three months subscription revenue and Templars still have no resource mechanic and have the worst sustained DPS of all classes.

How long do we have to wait for balanced classes?

Anilahation · June 2014

When mop came out I couldn't even log into Illidian on WoW... yet they didn't give me game time. So no I don't think we are entitled to free game time

magickats242cub18_ESO · June 2014

TheBull wrote: »

Patch day is patch day man. Learn to embrace it. It's like and mmorpg gamer bounding time.

To me patch day is more like: get caught up with house chores time.

vanillexhope · June 2014

I want a functional game. Maintenance takes as long as it takes. I don't care if it takes one hour. I don't care if it takes 24 hours. Fix the game. THAT'S what I pay for. There are a billion other things I can do during downtime.

epoling · June 2014

I have played way too many MMOs for way too long to believe the estimated down times are going to be accurate. The more complicated the patch the longer it will be. And I am smart enough not to let my life get so wrapped up in a game that if I can't play it for a few hours I am going to get upset. Just let it go and realize it's only a game -- your life will not end because the update took longer than expected. (Also, take a look at the TOS. It does not guarantee how many hours you can play the game.) And to the guy who tried to equate it with electricity or the internet, my father-in-law requires several medical devices that run on electricity. It certainly isn't a luxury for him. My wife's employer requires their employees to work from home via the internet. The internet is not a luxury for her. I have yet to hear of anybody having the same need to be constantly connected to ESO.

Laura · June 2014

for content updates? just no. stop playing mmos and go home

hk11 · June 2014

I'm pretty sure there is something about this in the ToS. I haven't read it, but I'm sure it's there.

Riptide · June 2014

Imaser wrote: »

Riptide wrote: »

Egregious? Good gracious, what a charmed life you must live if anything here really rises to that, friend. Relax man.

Too big of a word for ya, friend?

Hardly.

But once you've done the normal stuff in life that adults do, like fight in a war, graduate college, work 50-60 hours a week, be a care giver for a loved one a couple of times through cancer, be a parent and so forth - the word "egregious" means something a lot different than it apparently does to some of the folks here.

And in point of fact, when you branch out from video games, and do things like get a membership to a country club (on your own dime, I mean, not your parents), and so have green fees gratis thanks to your monthly payment - and go off on a rant because they had to work on the greens once a week and so close the course....you are going to feel like a pretty big goof looking back on today.

In other words, "egregious", when applied to video game, makes a person look like a kid without any sense of perspective on life whatever.

Have a nice day.

JeffKnight · June 2014

demonlkojipub19_ESO wrote: »

I think my ISP should reimburse me for times of intense instability tho.

There are actually laws trying to be passed that would force ISPs to refund fees for times when the max advertised speed isn't available to you. Constantly getting a max of 5 Mbps on your 20 Mbps Comcast plan? Soon that'll get you a refund, as long as you can prove it is Comcast's fault.... which it probably is, due to inadequate equipment and overselling nodes.

Spiritreaver_ESO · June 2014

hk11 wrote: »

I'm pretty sure there is something about this in the ToS. I haven't read it, but I'm sure it's there.

You are right.

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