Will ESO+ members get any compensation for the downtime during maintenance?

Dock01 · August 4

So is this game literally in maintenance mode? lol

JavaRen · August 4

Based on history, nope.

Although, also based on history there should be five or six comments insulting the OP for asking by now, do maybe things are changing?

redlink1979 · August 4

Nope. It's coverred by ToS.

Kappachi · August 4

most games have maintenance where they take the game down, especially before updates, and none of those games ever provide reimbursement on your paid time unless it goes extremely far out of the predicted window. FFXIV has entire DAYs where they take the game down and you don't get reimbursed (worst system); this one is more similar to WoW and WoW only reimburses you like a single time during an extended maintenance, once you get that single day added there's like no additional freebies.

LunaFlora · August 4

No, version 853468 of this post.

and maintenance mode is when a game only receives maintenance to maintain the servers, no content. So no, eso is not in maintenance mode.

Soarora · August 4

Someone makes a post about this every time we have maintenance or the servers have problems nowadays. No, sometimes players get compensated for wrongful actions on their accounts or bad timing with events and server downtime. I’m not even sure how they would compensate for ESO+.

valenwood_vegan · August 4

So I haven't been here since the very beginning, but as far as I know eso has never compensated eso plus members for scheduled maintenance. I doubt they're going to start today.

GMdoghunter · August 4

In a few words they will give us Absolutely nothing.
Never have done,more than likely they never will do either.

It is beyond a waste of money at this point in time.

Raanbury · August 5

I sincerely doubt it.

It's never apologies for the inconvenience but always thank you for your patience - as if we have any choice but to be patient.

scrappy1342 · August 5

not usually, no. or ever to my knowledge. we've gotten nice extras for daily bonuses and they have extended events 1-3 days (but not in the last few years >.>). but as far as i know, the kind of issues they are having on EU servers are unprecedented. we are pretty lucky on NA with just the regular announced maintenances and the one screw up today... EU has been down almost as much as it has been up the last few weeks and that's just crazy. and unacceptable

wolfie1.0. · August 5

Dock01 wrote: »

So is this game literally in maintenance mode? lol

Read the terms of service for ESO. Then read the Terms of service for ESO+.

You will note that access is never guaranteed.

Attorneyatlawl · August 5

wolfie1.0. wrote: »

Dock01 wrote: »

So is this game literally in maintenance mode? lol

Read the terms of service for ESO. Then read the Terms of service for ESO+.

You will note that access is never guaranteed.

This, plus what would be the compensation? A quarter, for the $0.25 worth of downtime considering eso plus as a $15/mo service? It's negligible to us as players in my opinion. This is a complaint as old as mmorpgs and even dialup internet muds.

Rishikesa108 · August 5

wolfie1.0. wrote: »

Dock01 wrote: »

So is this game literally in maintenance mode? lol

Read the terms of service for ESO. Then read the Terms of service for ESO+.

You will note that access is never guaranteed.

Yes, but it's like tipping... there's no written rule, but it's simply appropriate to do so.
What I don't understand is why I know of some free games where players receive regular compensation for maintenance, including many valuable in-game items for extended maintenance.
Here, however, all players pay, and ESO Plus players pay twice. But no one ever receives anything, despite the fact that the servers aren't up to par with the game, which is a grave injustice to paying players.

Ratzkifal · August 5

wolfie1.0. wrote: »

Dock01 wrote: »

So is this game literally in maintenance mode? lol

Read the terms of service for ESO. Then read the Terms of service for ESO+.

You will note that access is never guaranteed.

And then you read some laws and you realize that TOS is void and that at a certain point you are eligible for a refund. Granted, one day is usually not enough for that, but this hasn't been the only day that we've had major issues within the last 30days now has it.
I'm not part of the camp that demands ZOS compensate us, but I certainly respect other game companies more that do compensate their players whenever unexpected (or sometimes even expected) downtime occurs. ZOS is alright, but rather than stating how thankful they are to have us as their community, I wouldn't mind them showing from time to time that they actually mean that.

Hapexamendios · August 5

Expecting compensation for scheduled maintenance 🤦🏼

moderatelyfatman · August 5

If maintenance goes on for a week or more, everyone gets a Guar.
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/63249

Mathius_Mordred · August 5

No, do you get compensation if your Amazon order is a day late?

In the past they have compensated players with Seals, the last time was 1000 seals at the start of this year, but there is no obligation for them to do so, would be nice though.

MarioMario · August 6

Hapexamendios wrote: »

Expecting compensation for scheduled maintenance 🤦🏼

Not for scheduled maintenance, unscheduled downtime in Jule on PC EU was embarassing.

I understand that the Terms of Service exclude refunds in most circumstances. However, under applicable European and Italian consumer protection laws – which take precedence over contractual clauses – I am entitled to request compensation when a digital service - ESO+ Subscription - fails to meet contractual expectations.

MarioMario · August 6

wolfie1.0. wrote: »

Dock01 wrote: »

So is this game literally in maintenance mode? lol

Read the terms of service for ESO. Then read the Terms of service for ESO+.

You will note that access is never guaranteed.

I have read the Terms of Service for ESO and ESO+. I am aware that they state access is not guaranteed.

However, as clearly acknowledged within the Terms themselves, these limitations are “subject to applicable law”.

Under the EU Directive 2019/770 a paid digital service must meet basic standards of availability and conformity. These are mandatory consumer rights and cannot be waived or overridden by a private contract — including terms of service.

So while ZeniMax may legally include such disclaimers in its ToS, they do not exempt the company from its legal obligations under European law, which protects consumers from paying for services they cannot access or reasonably use.

Therefore, I maintain my right to request compensation for the repeated service disruptions, in accordance with applicable consumer protection laws.

NoticeMeArkay · August 6

They extended the event for us. I dont see any reason to be unhappy about it.

DenverRalphy · August 6

MarioMario wrote: »

wolfie1.0. wrote: »

Dock01 wrote: »

So is this game literally in maintenance mode? lol

Read the terms of service for ESO. Then read the Terms of service for ESO+.

You will note that access is never guaranteed.

I have read the Terms of Service for ESO and ESO+. I am aware that they state access is not guaranteed.

However, as clearly acknowledged within the Terms themselves, these limitations are “subject to applicable law”.

Under the EU Directive 2019/770 a paid digital service must meet basic standards of availability and conformity. These are mandatory consumer rights and cannot be waived or overridden by a private contract — including terms of service.

So while ZeniMax may legally include such disclaimers in its ToS, they do not exempt the company from its legal obligations under European law, which protects consumers from paying for services they cannot access or reasonably use.

Therefore, I maintain my right to request compensation for the repeated service disruptions, in accordance with applicable consumer protection laws.

You're confusing Basic Standards of Availablity with Exacting Standards of Availability.

But hey, if you can prove otherwise, go ahead and sue for the .50cents you're out of pocket.

Djennku · August 7

ZOS is not obligated nor should they be required to 'compensate' us for any maintenance downtimes, yet very often they do, which is extremely rare in the video game world. They very much care for their community, and demanding things for unexpected maintenance is selfish and entitled.

Realize the extra effort they take to make sure they support the ESO community, and in turn give them the support they need to continue being the amazing company they are, and just how special this is.

KiltMaster · August 7

Games have regular maintenances, we shouldn't expect 'compensation' for the server being fixed unless it's a ridiculous amount of time.

MarioMario · August 7

@notimetocare @DenverRalphy @Djennku @KiltMaster

Guys, what are you talking about?

I'm not referring to just the evening after the maintenance.

I am referring to the period from approximately July 10th to 24th in which the service was unusable due to, as Kevin admitted, a connection problem between the american datacenter and the Frankfurt servers, in addition to all the other random problems connected to scheduled maintenances.

I want a two-week extension on ESO+, and if they deny my refund request, you can be sure I'll take legal action. Not out of greed, but out of principle.

And everyone who loves this game should do the same, or this will become the norm.

If we want the service to maintain high standards, when they fall short, we need to assert our rights.

SolarRune · August 7

Remember the EU servers have had repeated issues over the last monththat the NA servers have not. So there may be less understanding of the issues/complaint depending which region you use.

Ttree · August 7

You have asked a valid question and yet you have had no reply . This game has only a couple of years left IMO

Mathius_Mordred · August 7

MarioMario wrote: »

@notimetocare @DenverRalphy @Djennku @KiltMaster

Guys, what are you talking about?

I'm not referring to just the evening after the maintenance.

I am referring to the period from approximately July 10th to 24th in which the service was unusable due to, as Kevin admitted, a connection problem between the american datacenter and the Frankfurt servers, in addition to all the other random problems connected to scheduled maintenances.

I want a two-week extension on ESO+, and if they deny my refund request, you can be sure I'll take legal action. Not out of greed, but out of principle.

And everyone who loves this game should do the same, or this will become the norm.

If we want the service to maintain high standards, when they fall short, we need to assert our rights.

I can definitely understand the frustration with the recent server instability; it's annoying for all of us when we just want to log in and play.

When it comes to the idea of legal action, though, I think there are a couple of major hurdles that make it unworkable. The biggest one is the Terms of Service (ToS) we all agree to when we play. It almost certainly gives ZOS the right to perform maintenance and handle unexpected outages, and states that service availability isn't guaranteed 24/7.

On top of that, there's the financial side. An ESO+ sub is about £8 a month. A full day of downtime works out to about 26 pence of lost subscription time. The cost of a stamp to send a legal letter, let alone court fees, would be significantly more than any compensation you could possibly claim. A legal claim requires demonstrating a quantifiable financial loss. This amount of 26 pence is considered de minimis, meaning it's too trivial for a court to consider.

I don't think ZOS wants the servers down any more than we do – it's bad for business and their reputation. Given the complexity of running a global MMO and the recent news of layoffs, the team is probably under a lot of pressure.

Hopefully, things will stabilise soon so we can all get back to enjoying the game.

MarioMario · August 7

I don't know, a little voice in my head tells me I'm entitled to at least a two-week extension of ESO+.

And on principle, even if a legal action costs more than the possible return, I don't want to give it up.

And IMHO all European ESO+ customers should at least do as I did - support, refund request - or we will face an increasingly worse service.

valenwood_vegan · August 7

I'm certainly not familiar with all laws and all consumer rights, but the game is not guaranteed to be available at all times, that is certain. The topic of this post is about compensation for maintenance and I highly doubt there are any laws under which consumers can demand a refund for maintenance or other brief outages.

Even assuming such a law does exist, an ESO Plus sub costs ~$15 for 30 days. There are 720 hours during that period, so each hour the game is unavailable is worth about... two cents. The game being down for an 8 hour maintenance is worth about 16 cents. This is not some sort of vital service where such outages cause additional harm or financial losses.

Now if the game was actually unavailable to players on EU for two weeks (I don't play there, I don't know), ok yeah maybe that is something where a refund is appropriate. I don't think the server was down for an entire two week period, so that gets into a little more of a grey area in-between the service being available and not being available, and so it'd be good to be specific about the actual availability of the game during that time.

Anyway, I think some of us in this thread have been perhaps a little confused because a) we didn't all have the EU server issue, and b) that's different than the original topic, so there are almost like two different discussions going on now. So if someone couldn't play or could barely play for two weeks due to server issues and thinks they are entitled to a refund, sure go for it. It may also be better to start a new post about that, which is a different issue from maintenance.

But as for threatening legal action, a vague reference to a law and some legal concepts and statements like "the server was unstable" and "problems connected to maintenances" and a conclusory statement that this entitles one to a two-week refund, does not actually entitle one to a two-week refund. I would just warn folks to tread carefully before heading down that road, and seek advice from authorities / legal advice to ensure an actual understanding of relevant laws and one's rights.

scrappy1342 · August 7

i'm not in the EU either, but i've noticed what was going on by skimming through the forum posts. again, no one is demanding anything for MAINTENANCE, but for DOWNTIME. there was a two week period where the servers were down more than they were up for EU. and i think an extension rather than a refund is perfectly reasonable and a great compromise. it doesn't cost zos anything, but it gives those players back what they lost

DenverRalphy · August 7

scrappy1342 wrote: »

i'm not in the EU either, but i've noticed what was going on by skimming through the forum posts. again, no one is demanding anything for MAINTENANCE, but for DOWNTIME. there was a two week period where the servers were down more than they were up for EU. and i think an extension rather than a refund is perfectly reasonable and a great compromise. it doesn't cost zos anything, but it gives those players back what they lost