Here's what the announcement should say
jeffsmith
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I think they're making a big mistake using the word "maintenance" for this downtime. It makes it seem like it was expected and planned for, and I think that's why so many people are pissed about the lack of an ETA. They should be calling it "an emergency repair," which would set the right tone and give people the right expectations.
And their announcements are just as bad. They keep promising to give information and updates, but then the next update just says "We'll give you more information and updates soon."
They should have done something along these lines.
First this:
"During this early release period, we have encountered an unexpected error which resulted in our bringing the server down immediately. While we are working as quickly as possible to restore service, right now we can't predict how long that will take. We will update you with more information as soon as possible."
Then, an hour later:
"We apologize for this extended downtime. The problem has turned out to be difficult to track down, and while we still can't predict when this will be solved and hope to have the server up any moment, it's now looking like it will be a longer process that might last several more hours. Please check back often, but in the interest of not wasting your time, we want to inform you that this looks like it might take a while."
Then, some time later:
"We apologize again for this extremely long downtime. We are doing everything that we possibly can to fix this, but obviously it's not happening as fast as we'd like. We won't be issuing any more updates, because the only news we can give at this point would be to repeat that we are working feverishly on this. Our next update will be when we happily inform you that the server is back up."
Notice that I do not thank you for your patience anywhere in there, because nothing is more offensive than being thanked for your patience by someone who is pissing you off and making you feel impatient.
If they did that, the players would be in the loop, but they still wouldn't have had to promise anything, or explain anything that they don't want to get into.
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babylon✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Yep they should copy paste your words exactly - people would be a little more understanding with a little more info.0 -
Invisioblack✭✭✭The road to learning Business Analysis is one fraught with peril. You only learn by making mistakes - and no one wants to pay for those mistakes.
Communicating in the proper tone is one of those things that can only be learned the hard way. I think they are doing fairly well. Honestly - we know it's not scheduled - we know there were issues. I am impatient sure, however I also know that whatever is broken has to be fixed. Since I am pretty sure that there was a server issue of some type breaking the quests [They told us it was a server issues surrounding "Synchronization" during one of the betas] I am willing to wait.
Hell, I have never worked on an issue free software application. I have never even heard of one. I think that they deserve props for how well this is going.1 -
Grimth✭✭Yes better wording would cut out some of the hatred on the forums over this issue but not all. We are gamers and we want it now. If we can't have it now we are going to rage on the forums. Yes some people are posting valid concerns and others are just venting.0
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tbh its early stages of the game ... ive played mmos at launch that have been down for a day or so its to be expected .. deal with it ... early access is anouther form of beta except they have roped u into paying for it ... would u rather everyone exploit the game and have an advantage to those that didnt or lose a few hours of gaming0
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be gratefull your still able to play when the server goes live and not suffering with a suspension with no cause behind it .... get suspended for nothing and ill let u qq
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jeffsmith✭✭karldavy149b16_ESO wrote: »be gratefull your still able to play when the server goes live and not suffering with a suspension with no cause behind it .... get suspended for nothing and ill let u qq
The QQ thread is somewhere else, this is the "This would have been a better way to handle it" thread.
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there is no better way of handling it it is was it is the servers are down for maintenance ... hence maintenance .. there is a game breaking exploit floating around better to have the game down for 10 hours than be up against someone whos exploited the arse end of a game is it not ...
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Brydion✭Query: When you make emergency repairs do you know how long they will take?
Query 2: Do Community Managers stay up all night long so they can tell us that they don't know how long repairs will take?0 -
jeffsmith✭✭Query: When you make emergency repairs do you know how long they will take?
Query 2: Do Community Managers stay up all night long so they can tell us that they don't know how long repairs will take?
1) Obviously you can't know how long the repair is going to take, but you probably have some sense of how big a problem it is, especially as you start narrowing down what it isn't. And there's no harm in overpromising the downtime by saying "This looks like it's going to take a while." If you're wrong and the server pops right up, that's great news.
2) I don't know that it's the community manager posting their updates, but someone was apparently "up all night" as you put it, telling us the nothing that they did tell us. They posted those three updates, and I'm suggesting that whoever did that, should have done this instead.
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on anouther note all u yankees should download and install the pts or the eu server as those are currently up ..
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Absofrickenlutely!It's not the fall that take your breath away...it's the sudden stop at the bottom0 -
jeffsmith✭✭karldavy149b16_ESO wrote: »on anouther note all u yankees should download and install the pts or the eu server as those are currently up ..
Good tip!
To do that, for those following along, click the options wheel on the launch window, and change the dropdown menu from North America to Europe. Click apply and the download will start. Your north american server version, as far as I can tell so far, isnt affected.
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i just downloaded the game once ... i installed the eu version .... then started the download for the us version then cancelled copy and pasted all the files from the depot i said files not folders i removed the the file that contained the dl files opened up the launcher and patched the remainder of the game ... took about 10 mins to dl all remaining files ... i did tr a diret copy of all files and folders from the entire elderscrolls eu directory but the us wanted to dl the full game im guessing somewhere is a file containing server info
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Alphaeus✭Agreed!!! I just got up and tried to get on two hours ago. At first I thought it was just a maintenance issue and didn't worry about it.
After waiting a while with no results, I finally got on the forums to see what was really going on. I'm not really happy about the way they chose to convey that message. I feel like I was being deliberately deceived.
I'm not mad that it happened. These things do happen in launches. I just wish they communicated it better.0 -
Pixii✭✭✭The lack of communication has been daunting to say the least.
Honestly, if I had seen a thread that simply said:- NA Server Down
- Reason: Unexpected Error
- Unscheduled Maintenance Estimated Time Frame: 14 hours
- Notes: Please check back every 1-2 hours for additional updates
I would have felt much more informed
Thus far, all of the updates have been once per 'maintenance' time (with 12+ hours of zero update notifications) and they've basically said
"Servers going down for scheduled maintenance that we didn't tell you about. Peace out homies. See you whenever"1
! Congrats Jeff !