Novelin wrote: »

I see the point of both sides in this argument. I also understand that these early downtimes are a necessary evil in most, if not all, MMO releases. That being said, I would place myself in the "Downtime Defender" category. However, the lack of communication in regards to these seemingly planned downtimes does need to be addressed.

SuraklinPrime wrote: »

Fair points - communication and thought is the key for ESO, so while it is unrealistic to expect a seamless downtime free roll of the 5 days it is also not unreasonable to expect clear informative communications and some thought to avoiding prime playing time for the relevant server region when scheduling outages.

This is/will be a great game, never been a bad TES game yet - but Beth/Zeni really need to learn how to communicate.

Ojustaboo wrote: »

Froobert wrote: »

To be honest. I love The Elder Scrolls Online.

The game is fun, exciting, invigorating, adventurous, mysterious, amusing, enjoyable, witty, hilarious and down right awesome.

The landscape is epic, the story indulging, the game itself pleasant and the people I'v'e met so far have been more than great to play with.

If I had anymore words to describe It, I'd have to go into a dictionary because I don't think theirs a word or a sentence to describe the entertainment I have gotten over the course of my time playing.

Today, before the "5 Day Early Access" ends, and all the Gold Spammers, Guild Runners, Chat blockers and Question askers start to play, and the community shows its true self, I'd like to talk about the Downtime we've had during the course of these 5 days.

Lets see the first side of the story, the ones who think negatively of the Downtime.
After reading and understanding what they think, I noticed that most of them think of it as a rip, a scam, unfair, and un-honest. We (or they) expected a full 5 days of no intrusion, being the first to pick a name, or the first emperor to obtain, maybe even the first Veteran player to test the willpower and skill of your gaming ability. Though they all think that its unfair to have a Downtime in the middle of their fun, they expected a finished product, a work of art, a Picasso of MMOs, (I was not disappointed) but some seems to be.

Now, lets talk about the others, the "Downtime Defenders" or, the ones who wait and converse with other players during the Downtime, making jokes, having fun, and hoping for the best of this "New Born Baby" of an MMO. (I am glad to call myself one of them )

With the Downtime Defenders and the "Cup Half Full" kind of people, they talk about how the game isn't ready, its new, other Elder Scroll games have had bugs and glitches, its true. All of these people are right.

But does this make the other people wrong? No, not necessarily. Everyone has a different view on how something is going to turn out, some of them right and some of them wrong, and as the Prophet said: "All of our fates are intertwined, and you will be the one to change it."

As for me, I think In a similar way as the Prophet does.
I think that the game has it's own road, it's own ups and downs, the bumps, the glitches, the changes, the Downtime, we are here to change its course in time, change how its road will move, and create a bright and better community for everyone.

We are the ones who will change this games future, lets get it right and stay positive while we do .

Thanks, Joseph Dovahkiin.

Like many others you seem to be completely missing what the EU players are up in arms about tonight.

We know things can go wrong at launch, if we experienced what the US experienced yesterday, sure there would be a few people complaining, there always are, but most know that sort of thing happens on release.

But tonight, at 7/8pm EU time, with zero notice, Zenimax thanked us for our time in early access and announced the servers were now going off lime for 3 to 4 hrs to get ready for the official launch.

People are annoyed because from the wording , this was PLANNED not unforeseen maintenance.

It looks to us like when we made plans last night or even on our guild forums during today deciding where we were going to group up tonight etc, Zenimax already knew our server would be down but didn't bother to tell us.

If they had crashed or taken down for an unforeseen problem, of course its annoying but most people in my guild understand what MMO launches are like. But for us to all be excited about playing, then to find with zero notice they are shut down for the evening for maintenance that was planned, well it kind of stinks.

One guild member cancelled a night out just 30 mins prior to the servers going down. . Sure they took the risk that being a new MMO there could be problems. But that is different from cancelling a night out and finding you cant play because Zenimax didn't bother to tell you in advance about it.

It's really that and only that that has most people really really angry.

When they cant give us simple announcements, it looks like contempt. An oversite could be excused if it was only recently planned, but surely someone stuck their hand up and said that they needed to inform the players?

A lot of players myself included have defended Zenimax the past few days rather like you are, but tonight was different and unacceptable,

Even on Zenimax server announcement with their cryptic message about Early access being extended until Sunday before the need to transfer to live, there's no apology and the message doesn't make any sense.

First we don't get extended early access at all as the game goes live in a few hours hence when we log on we are no longer playing earlier than anyone else..

Second, the way it's worded looks like there's a process we have to do to transfer to a live account and we don't now have to do this until Sunday. But its worded in such a way that it looks like we now have the choice to wait until Sunday, not that it's automatic. If that is the case, loads of people wont realise and will do whatever is required as soon as they log on to switch to their live accounts.

Or are they simply saying that the 30 included playtime wont now start until Sunday. I presume and hope it's this, else there will be a LOT of confused and angry people.

And to make matters worse, they have now announced that weekly planned maintenance for the EU will take place at 9am BST. Most people are not at church on a Sunday morning in the EU, that is prime time for many people. I have to say it makes my mind boggle that someone can suggest this in a meeting and others don't look at them as if they're mad. For them to agree to this, well this is the sort of thing that is beginning to ring big alarm bells for many players who were happy 24 hrs ago.

Mordenkaiser wrote: »

A good post, I also would like to point out that many people expressing there displeasure are not by any means judging the development team, but rather the finished product. I'm a big fan of respecting the opinion of others and i think everyone will benefit by doing so.

drgnmstr1962 wrote: »

I agree, the BEST ADVICE to any new start up is COMMUNICATION. Half truths and wishful thinking is a bad idea.

If the server is going to be down atleast 4 hours and that is a complete estimate. Then state that in your post. Posting that read like an after thought is the same as a "Opppsss, we forgot about you (our paying customers) And YES we are paying customers. I payed $85.00s to get a early digital download. Did I expect bugs & downtime? Honestly, yes. I have been playing MMO's for almost 2 decades. I have never seen a perfect launch or bug free game, EVER!!

I am neither a half emtpy or half full person. I am more about the reality of it. Either it is or Either it is not. The game is available or it is not. Giving us a time frame is the responsible thing to do.

By the by, I do like the game. I believe it is well thought out and developed. I hope for better days with ZOS.