Downtime....inexcusable

human151 · October 2016

Yeah, Downtimes are inconvenient and since I work nights im always affected by them since Sunday, Monday, Tuesday are my days off (I stay up nights and sleep days on my days off). A few hours.....for what? To run some patches? I work in a Data Center and for those of you who do not know, the "Server" is not just one server, it is hundreds or even thousands of servers clustered together (meaning all the servers behave as one, in simple terms) . I imagine on Sundays the load is low (amount of people online as compared to other nights) so why cant ZOS just move the resources off of a group of servers and bring down those servers and do maintenance. Once complete with that group, bring them back online and move the resources onto them and then bring down the other group? THen there would be no need for downtime.

THe answer is, this would double the time maintenance would take which is why they wont do it. I just find it laughable that they would rather inconvenience their customers than lengthen the DT. I find 3 or 4 hours every week unacceptable (in one chunk) . ANd no, this is not my first MMO, Other MMOs have downtime too but it is usually only an hour.

Mickey_Ox · October 2016

Get a new job with more sociable hours maybe??

BFT88 · October 2016

Another thread about inconvenient downtimes. Come on people ZOS has been doing this for almost 2 years lol.

human151 · October 2016

Mickey_Ox wrote: »

Get a new job with more sociable hours maybe??

I get paid %10 more for working nights and dont have to deal with office politics. plus, more freedom at night. WHen its not busy, I bring my laptop to work and play ESO, or wath netflix of whatever.

Deyirn · October 2016

Mornings are right now the perfect time for me to log in an play with a fresh mind. Most maintenances are taking place exactly during this time, and they all seem to be favoring US residents more than anyone else.

But is there anything that can be done? I'd say nothing.

In my imagination maintenances should be taking place at the same time so if there are problems they are cleared out as soon as possible. Sure, it will be great to have the EU servers have a downtime around 01:00 and come back up around 07:00, but that will probably never happen...

human151 · October 2016

BFT88 wrote: »

Another thread about inconvenient downtimes. Come on people ZOS has been doing this for almost 2 years lol.

so that means we should just blindly accept it? Its still BS, whether its 2 years in or 20.

AzraelKrieg · October 2016

Oh look. Another "woe is me, maintenance is during my gaming time/day off" topic. Get over yourself. I finished work for the day a few hours ago, got a little time to log in, check mail, craft for a guild mate and logged off. I knew maintenance was coming, and I accept it. I don't come on here and complain because of entitlement. I do something else. I just let the launcher sit in the background while do something else like watch some stuff that I've been mean to watch or play another game. So seriously, get off your high horse. I want to be playing right now, I know I can't but I don't complain.

Cously · October 2016

Sounds like a personal problem.

Qbiken · October 2016

Mickey_Ox wrote: »

Get a new job with more sociable hours maybe??

I loled at this

human151 · October 2016

AzraelKrieg wrote: »

Oh look. Another "woe is me, maintenance is during my gaming time/day off" topic. Get over yourself. I finished work for the day a few hours ago, got a little time to log in, check mail, craft for a guild mate and logged off. I knew maintenance was coming, and I accept it. I don't come on here and complain because of entitlement. I do something else. I just let the launcher sit in the background while do something else like watch some stuff that I've been mean to watch or play another game. So seriously, get off your high horse. I want to be playing right now, I know I can't but I don't complain.

So youre putting down customers who are not happy with being inconvenienced by a company they are giving money to for a service or product? I subbed for over a year to this game and regularly buy stuff out of the crown store. I am a customer.

Are you telling me I dont have a right to be upset that I cannot use the product I paid for and continue to pay for?

human151 · October 2016

Qbiken wrote: »

Mickey_Ox wrote: »

Get a new job with more sociable hours maybe??

I loled at this

me too, actually

Preyfar · October 2016

I used to work as a datacenter technician, too. I kept the cloud nice and fluffy. I don't know why ZOS' maintenance lasts as long as it does, but it's definitely a software issue, not a hardware one. What the exact process of "maintenance" actually is remains a mystery. That said, it's a frustrating price to pay for a game on the scale of ESO. I'm not happy about it, but I understand. I just wish ZOS would give a bit more clarity about the process entails.

I imagine it involves a mix of server patching, swap/fix, database cleanup for orphaned items or something similar.

jedtb16_ESO · October 2016

human151 wrote: »

AzraelKrieg wrote: »

Oh look. Another "woe is me, maintenance is during my gaming time/day off" topic. Get over yourself. I finished work for the day a few hours ago, got a little time to log in, check mail, craft for a guild mate and logged off. I knew maintenance was coming, and I accept it. I don't come on here and complain because of entitlement. I do something else. I just let the launcher sit in the background while do something else like watch some stuff that I've been mean to watch or play another game. So seriously, get off your high horse. I want to be playing right now, I know I can't but I don't complain.

So youre putting down customers who are not happy with being inconvenienced by a company they are giving money to for a service or product? I subbed for over a year to this game and regularly buy stuff out of the crown store. I am a customer.

Are you telling me I dont have a right to be upset that I cannot use the product I paid for and continue to pay for?

i suppose someone has to do it......

did you read the tos?

AzraelKrieg · October 2016

human151 wrote: »

AzraelKrieg wrote: »

Oh look. Another "woe is me, maintenance is during my gaming time/day off" topic. Get over yourself. I finished work for the day a few hours ago, got a little time to log in, check mail, craft for a guild mate and logged off. I knew maintenance was coming, and I accept it. I don't come on here and complain because of entitlement. I do something else. I just let the launcher sit in the background while do something else like watch some stuff that I've been mean to watch or play another game. So seriously, get off your high horse. I want to be playing right now, I know I can't but I don't complain.

So youre putting down customers who are not happy with being inconvenienced by a company they are giving money to for a service or product? I subbed for over a year to this game and regularly buy stuff out of the crown store. I am a customer.

Are you telling me I dont have a right to be upset that I cannot use the product I paid for and continue to pay for?

I've subbed since launch and still continue to sub to this day. I buy stuff from the crown store regularly as well. I give money to ZOS. Do I feel inconvenienced from the downtime? Sure but I accept it because it needs to happen. And I don't come on here and complain about it and act like I'm entitled to some form of compensation because of missed game time. You're entitled to be upset but to complain about something that you should know is going to happen on a weekly basis is complete self-centered. You aren't the only one affected by this but the large majority of players just accept it because it is a necessary evil so again, get over yourself and stop whining about a necessary evil

manny254 · October 2016

Updating the game to fix bugs, make improvements, and push content is inexcusable?

No matter what, someone is going to be inconvenienced, but what else do you really want from them? To change the schedule to fit your personal needs?

Taternater · October 2016

Considering how much lag I was experiencing right before the server went down, I'm glad they're doing maintenance. And I wouldn't be surprised if it takes hours. Anyway, maybe you should pick up a copy of Skyrim and maybe play it when the server's down. You'd get your elder scrolls fix and would probably have fun. Or maybe watch a movie on Netflix as you say you sometimes do.

SienneYviete · October 2016

manny254 wrote: »

Updating the game to fix bugs, make improvements, and push content is inexcusable?

No matter what, someone is going to be inconvenienced, but what else do you really want from them? To change the schedule to fit your personal needs?

523e063332ab76b05359072f39c93ce7089b8f30e6fb83090d0a1bac2bca1895.jpg

Wolfhammer · October 2016

human151 wrote: »

AzraelKrieg wrote: »

Oh look. Another "woe is me, maintenance is during my gaming time/day off" topic. Get over yourself. I finished work for the day a few hours ago, got a little time to log in, check mail, craft for a guild mate and logged off. I knew maintenance was coming, and I accept it. I don't come on here and complain because of entitlement. I do something else. I just let the launcher sit in the background while do something else like watch some stuff that I've been mean to watch or play another game. So seriously, get off your high horse. I want to be playing right now, I know I can't but I don't complain.

So youre putting down customers who are not happy with being inconvenienced by a company they are giving money to for a service or product? I subbed for over a year to this game and regularly buy stuff out of the crown store. I am a customer.

Are you telling me I dont have a right to be upset that I cannot use the product I paid for and continue to pay for?

You have no right whatsoever as you gave up those rights when you signed up.. Maintenance has to be done or we don't get a game at all and ZoS have the right to do it at a time that is best for them, not you or anyone else.

ElBiggus · October 2016

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Anyone who says downtime "needs to happen" to run maintenance or that it's ZOS "doing their job" has plainly never worked anywhere with a large server infrastructure. There are many ways of doing maintenance without requiring that everything be shut down for eight+ hours a week, and if they were "doing their job" then things would never get so bad that it requires 5% weekly downtime.

As for the "well it's been like it forever, so there's no point complaining" argument, that's just dumb -- the fact that even after all this time they've not got a better system in place is more reason to complain.

You wouldn't put up with your internet only working 95% of the time or if your car didn't work on Mondays every week and the dealer wasn't able to fix it after two years of trying you'd kick up a stink, but game developers are apparently blameless if their products are so unreliable, and I find it confusing...

WanderingBeithe · October 2016

I'm at work now. So the down time is perfect for me. I will be very disappointed and sad if they change it.

:'( <---- my sad face preview.

ConeOfSilence · October 2016

Playing ESO and watching Netflix while you are meant to be working. When I go to work I do this thing that is called work I am not there to play games and watch Netflix even if it is quiet I find something to do.

Tyrion87 · October 2016

Such threads are boring already... Be adults and deal with it! No matter what time ZOS would perform maintenance, there will be always people who are affected by it. If you want it to be performed e.g. during the night EU time, then some people outside EU would start to complain that it's their play time. ZOS doesn't perform their scheduled maintenance during peak hours/prime time. Nights, mornings or even early afternoons serve well as a time for maintenance.

People complain about bugs, lags and bad servers, but when there is a maintenance, people complain about... maintenance. Wow.

human151 · October 2016

ConeOfSilence wrote: »

Playing ESO and watching Netflix while you are meant to be working. When I go to work I do this thing that is called work I am not there to play games and watch Netflix even if it is quiet I find something to do.

That's the definition of a company man right there. Employers love your type.

FleetwoodSmack · October 2016

And another thread that has people complaining about maintenance times and people stating "Oh people who say this have never worked in blahblahblah". Look, it happens. They're not every other company. Get over it.

skywarnmc27 · October 2016

Mickey_Ox wrote: »

Get a new job with more sociable hours maybe??

Or perhaps next time you go to the store you should not be allowed to buy anything, since 90% of them are stocked by 3rd shift workers...Or Police will stop after 8pm, same with fire and EMS.

xeNNNNN · October 2016

You know its funny, for months now ive been wanting them to patch the game from 1am till 7pm (gives them a larger window and less people are effected which is why a ton of other games go down for maintenance at that time).

I see this thread and im like....."yeah this game is never going to get patched much at this rate" lol

ElBiggus · October 2016

Tyrion87 wrote: »

Such threads are boring already... Be adults and deal with it! No matter what time ZOS would perform maintenance, there will be always people who are affected by it. If you want it to be performed e.g. during the night EU time, then some people outside EU would start to complain that it's their play time. ZOS doesn't perform their scheduled maintenance during peak hours/prime time. Nights, mornings or even early afternoons serve well as a time for maintenance.

People complain about bugs, lags and bad servers, but when there is a maintenance, people complain about... maintenance. Wow.

Name one other product or service you use that only works 95% of the time.

Excuse the shouting, but I've said it a lot of times and people still don't listen: THE SERVERS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE TAKEN DOWN FOR MAINTENANCE EVER, AND REQUIRING A MINIMUM OF 5% DOWNTIME EVERY WEEK SUGGESTS A FUNDAMENTAL DESIGN FLAW THAT THEY SHOULD ADDRESS.

Seriously, it's not rocket science, it's server admin 101, and people have been doing it for decades; if your server infrastructure doesn't provide a test/deployment/production server distribution to allow for live maintenance then you're doing it wrong. Rather than giving us houses or other new features ZOS would be better off spending the time and effort redesigning their underlying architecture.

Gargath · October 2016

BFT88 wrote: »

Another thread about inconvenient downtimes. Come on people ZOS has been doing this for almost 2 years lol.

In these 2 years full month of playing time was lost just for maintenance

.

Cously · October 2016

It's an american game maintened by american people, supposedly. Everyone in the world has access to ESO, any downtime will affect people somewhere. I'd imagine they will perform it on the best times for their employees / company schedule and trying to affect the least amount of people possible. Most of their customers are in the US. Just go do something else. From day 1 we had maintenances most every week and long hours aren't uncommon. It's not like you have been fooled all this time.

ElBiggus · October 2016

skywarnmc27 wrote: »

Mickey_Ox wrote: »

Get a new job with more sociable hours maybe??

Or perhaps next time you go to the store you should not be allowed to buy anything, since 90% of them are stocked by 3rd shift workers...Or Police will stop after 8pm, same with fire and EMS.

Well we're apparently supposed to be happy with ESO only being playable for part of the time, so presumably he's not bothered about that kind of thing...

Tabbycat · October 2016

ElBiggus wrote: »

Tyrion87 wrote: »

Such threads are boring already... Be adults and deal with it! No matter what time ZOS would perform maintenance, there will be always people who are affected by it. If you want it to be performed e.g. during the night EU time, then some people outside EU would start to complain that it's their play time. ZOS doesn't perform their scheduled maintenance during peak hours/prime time. Nights, mornings or even early afternoons serve well as a time for maintenance.

People complain about bugs, lags and bad servers, but when there is a maintenance, people complain about... maintenance. Wow.

Name one other product or service you use that only works 95% of the time.

Excuse the shouting, but I've said it a lot of times and people still don't listen: THE SERVERS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE TAKEN DOWN FOR MAINTENANCE EVER, AND REQUIRING A MINIMUM OF 5% DOWNTIME EVERY WEEK SUGGESTS A FUNDAMENTAL DESIGN FLAW THAT THEY SHOULD ADDRESS.

Seriously, it's not rocket science, it's server admin 101, and people have been doing it for decades; if your server infrastructure doesn't provide a test/deployment/production server distribution to allow for live maintenance then you're doing it wrong. Rather than giving us houses or other new features ZOS would be better off spending the time and effort redesigning their underlying architecture.

I'm sure ZOS would be absolutely thrilled if you were to design for them for free a workable server system that never has be taken down for maintenance or patches ever.