Weekly server maintenance EU times?

[Khelien]

Keadin's post is very well written. It is logical and well thought out.

 

What really grinds my gears is the lack of any response from Bioware on this.

 

I looked at the new coming soon video this morning. Can I quote from James Ohlen

 

 

 

That quote doesn't really tally up with the response on this issue.

 

To be honest, that quote doesn't really tally up with responses on many issues.

[BadBits]

What really grinds my gears is the lack of any response from Bioware on this.

Their lack of response is their way of saying that they do not care.

[Kaarina]

Their lack of response is their way of saying that they do not care.

 

Same good to know their feeling in the pocketbook,

 

 

http://t.co/L3dAq0E1 and incase you are scared to click links the original is

 

http://toroz.com.au/2012/01/why-financial-analysts-need-to-be-force-choked/?utm_campaign=twitter&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitter

[Keadin]

And another 9am - 3PM maintenance slot on the 24th, hurray...

[Fumanchu_Fow]

Im sorry, but this seems really strange to me...

 

In the thread made yesterday http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=691258#edit691258 bioware announced the weekly maintenance and that they would try their best to keep these weekly maintenance's on off peak-hours.

 

And that seems correct in the US, but in europe the time is 10AM to 4PM.... How is that in anyway during off peak-hours. Its in the middle off the day.

 

They even have physical servers in europe so why cant we have maintenance on those servers when its the best time for us and not when its the best time for the US?

 

I really dont understand their reasoning for this and its rather annoying knowing that the servers will be unavailable every tuesday afternoon.

 

Hopefully we can get some clarification on this or maybe its just me overreacting?

 

 

I imagine that most people that aren't just a drain on their society are working between 10am and 4pm and thus it is an off peak time.

[Gomla]

Keadin's post is very well written. It is logical and well thought out.

 

What really grinds my gears is the lack of any response from Bioware on this.

 

I looked at the new coming soon video this morning. Can I quote from James Ohlen

 

 

 

That quote doesn't really tally up with the response on this issue.

 

To be fair, James Ohlen is pretty much like an Ostrich.

 

He buries his head in the sand and hopes all the problems will mysteriously go away.

 

I think the best thing to do is ignore anything that he says until he stops bending over and talking out of his backside.

[PenguinXI]

I really have a hard time feeling sorry for Europeans.

Yes I am an American and the current maintenance times don't often overlap with my free time, however in my 7 years with WoW I found on most occasions it did.

It's certainly annoying to want to play a game and have it not be available to you. I just had to suck it up and deal with it, and now so do you with SWTOR.

 

European here, I really really want Bioware to start cycling their down times to times like 10am EST to 16:00 EST because then for my whining annoying fellow European players they can have the down times at 15:00 to 21:00 GMT. Maybe if they do move to these times they some of the European players might actually realise "Gosh darn it we shot ourselves in the foot here did we not with out 75th forum thread on EU times....."

 

And for the lets have seperate maintenance for EU and NA shards crowd, thats all good and well but what generally happens on that cycle is the NA shards get their patch a day earlier than you do, get to experience the new stuff and then get all the world first kills. Just stop flogging this dead horse already. The times are fine as they are. Go to school/work on a Tuesday.

 

Sorry Australian players, I know you guys get really overlooked in all of this, I am surprised they dont make shards in the Oceanic region.

[LordRaevin]

Isn't it obvious we Europeans are second hand costumers that don't deserve equallity ?

 

We're paying more per month to play, we paid more to purchase the game and we have to pay ALOT more for the damn security key too!

[Keadin]

I imagine that most people that aren't just a drain on their society are working between 10am and 4pm and thus it is an off peak time.

 

Such a typical comment. Thing is though, not only are you wrong, you're missing the point entirely.

[Nerk]

European here, I really really want Bioware to start cycling their down times to times like 10am EST to 16:00 EST because then for my whining annoying fellow European players they can have the down times at 15:00 to 21:00 GMT. Maybe if they do move to these times they some of the European players might actually realise "Gosh darn it we shot ourselves in the foot here did we not with out 75th forum thread on EU times....."

 

And for the lets have seperate maintenance for EU and NA shards crowd, thats all good and well but what generally happens on that cycle is the NA shards get their patch a day earlier than you do, get to experience the new stuff and then get all the world first kills. Just stop flogging this dead horse already. The times are fine as they are. Go to school/work on a Tuesday.

 

Sorry Australian players, I know you guys get really overlooked in all of this, I am surprised they dont make shards in the Oceanic region.

 

i honestly can't make sense of what you're saying in the first part, but fyi afaik oceanic servers are gonna open in march. what then?

[PenguinXI]

i honestly can't make sense of what you're saying in the first part, but fyi afaik oceanic servers are gonna open in march. what then?

 

Europeans moan that maintenance falls at 10:00 - 16:00 GMT So if we move maintenance to 10:00 - 16:00 EST (Eastern Standard Time) Places like New York I believe) that will make the time of maintenance in GMT (London) 15:00 - 21:00 GMT Thats prime time.

[Keadin]

i honestly can't make sense of what you're saying in the first part, but fyi afaik oceanic servers are gonna open in march. what then?

 

Obviously each region where the game has been launched officially, including the Oceanic region later on, should have its own maintenance schedule.

 

This thread is mostly about Europe because it affects Europe now as an official launch territory. The argument would apply to any officially launched-in territory down the road though.

[Keadin]

Europeans moan that maintenance falls at 10:00 - 16:00 GMT So if we move maintenance to 10:00 - 16:00 EST (Eastern Standard Time) Places like New York I believe) that will make the time of maintenance in GMT (London) 15:00 - 21:00 GMT Thats prime time.

 

No one's asking to move the maintenance. Read the thread please

[Nerk]

Europeans moan that maintenance falls at 10:00 - 16:00 GMT So if we move maintenance to 10:00 - 16:00 EST (Eastern Standard Time) Places like New York I believe) that will make the time of maintenance in GMT (London) 15:00 - 21:00 GMT Thats prime time.

 

and why would they move maint in that timeslot? O.o

[Kaarina]

None are asking it be moved to that time

 

People CBA to actually read what we are asking for and then post silly crap that just makes the thread go off in a different direction

 

 

EU does not want to change NA maintenance time, we want a separate time, one that is our middle of the night time.

 

Other games (big names) have separate times and handle the na/eu game play just fine. Players can switch between the 2 if they want. Though I am sure on both sides (na/eu) those who would be up in the middle of the night are not many and would not really effect the server stability.

 

Besides which so many players are unsubbing I am sure there is plenty of room on the servers for extra casual players

[Samuval]

-Do Bioware / EA have a single server location for swtor which is in U.S ?

 

-No. Europe and U.S servers are different.

 

the problem EU players have about maintenance is actually while US servers are down while U.S is in their beds. yet Eu players have to suffer during day time. not only working ppl play this game so 10:AM GMT till 16:00 GMt is not off peak hours for Eu simple as that.

 

as BW have seperate servers for U.S and EU they have to make seperate Maintenance hours for these.

 

we European players also want down time while we are sleeping as americans do is it too much to ask?

 

don't answer i guess i know the answer a big YES!

[Keadin]

It's simple:

 

- Hiring a nighttime maintenance crew is more expensive than letting them work during the day.

- BioWare is paying more money to ensure the maintenance is done during the night.

- In essence, they pay more for maintenance because it's part of the service for US customers.

- Not inconveniencing US players is worth more money.

 

The question is then: why not do Europe the same courtesy?

 

If service is not a concern, but money is, they would do it during the American day, since putting the maintenance crews to work then is cheaper than letting them at it at night. So clearly a decision was made to cater to one half of the playerbase, and not to the other.

[Aardevark]

Why waste time even bothering with this there not going to listen.

 

And the way they treat us EU players is nothing short of discrimination, it wont make any difference soon anyway as there will only be 6 servers left in EU.

[PenguinXI]

No one's asking to move the maintenance. Read the thread please

 

Neither did I read my post please. I want them to just to shut up all the whiners in this forum. This forum is a PR disaster, if someone come here looking for information about the game and the quality of it they would not touch it with a barge pole. There are 3 options to appease the small minority of EU players that are inconvenienced by maintenance taking part when the majority of the EU is at work or school.

 

Cycle maintenance times. Not going to happen, they’re fine as they are thank you.

 

Split NA/Oceanic/EU shard maintenance to the middle of the night. Could happen but it depends where your technicians are located, if the majority of the team is in the US and its only really hardware that’s located in the EU then you need to pay your technicians in the US to stay awake all day and night to patch servers as and when it’s convenient for that regions player base.

 

With that option you also get the “It’s unfair that Region A gets their patch before Region B and gets all the World/Raid Boss kills first and ……..” crowd moaning on the forum.

 

Final option, leave things as they are, it works fine, it really does.

[Keadin]

Neither did I read my post please. I want them to just to shut up all the whiners in this forum. This forum is a PR disaster, if someone come here looking for information about the game and the quality of it they would not touch it with a barge pole. There are 3 options to appease the small minority of EU players that are inconvenienced by maintenance taking part when the majority of the EU is at work or school.

 

Cycle maintenance times. Not going to happen, they’re fine as they are thank you.

 

Split NA/Oceanic/EU shard maintenance to the middle of the night. Could happen but it depends where your technicians are located, if the majority of the team is in the US and its only really hardware that’s located in the EU then you need to pay your technicians in the US to stay awake all day and night to patch servers as and when it’s convenient for that regions player base.

 

With that option you also get the “It’s unfair that Region A gets their patch before Region B and gets all the World/Raid Boss kills first and ……..” crowd moaning on the forum.

 

Final option, leave things as they are, it works fine, it really does.

 

Hiring a European crew to work in Europe on the European servers located in Europe in the official launch territory called Europe also works fine.

 

We even pay more than the Americans ($15 vs $17), so it's the least they can do. It works better than leaving things as they are.

 

It's a matter of service, it's not a matter of who works when or who is a majority or a minority. US customers get nighttime maintenance as part of the service. We pay more, and we get jack squat. That's what we don't like.

 

PS: If BioWare had not put all its eggs in the smooth launch basket, but actually bothered to invest in actual customer support half the complaints wouldn't even exist.

 

People are fed up with being ignored by BioWare.

People are fed up with getting lousy GM responses from BioWare.

People are fed up with being told to suck it up by BioWare.

 

Yes, SW:TOR had a smooth launch, yay for BioWare. And now, post-launch, the whole thing is crumbling at the foundations of it.

Edited January 21, 2012 by Keadin

[spudbynight]

Active players seems to have fallen off a cliff. Certainly in the EU at least. Servers last night were all standard or with a couple of exceptions heavy - the week before I had a 1 hour queue to get on.

 

From talking to people I know in person and online one of the big reasons for people not subbing is the truly appalling customer service from Bioware/EA on this.

[EmbracedDead]

 

This thread shows the many many people that feel *entitled* to get something their way.

 

I work third shift, and on my days off, my play time is NIGHT, as in, right during regular maintenance hours. I also, when I get off work, play mornings....during...regular...maintenance hours.

 

There are a lot of people that play during those times. But not NEARLY as many that play on weekends, and in the afternoons, evenings.

 

I however, realize that I am in the minority, and that asking Bioware (or really, any MMO) to reschedule their times around MY off time is silly. No matter what, SOMEONE SOMEWHERE will be affected. Asking Bioware to adjust for YOU PERSONALLY will, of course, SCREW SOMEONE ELSE.

Edited January 21, 2012 by Yvin
rude

[GHeissi]

Why is complaining selfish? Are we in a forum where I can express my oppinion or not?

 

I will certainly not try to invalidate other people's oppinions.

Edited January 21, 2012 by GHeissi

[ThunderZtorm]

Seeing as how BioWare is formulating a response apparently, I'll give them a list of points and counterpoints that have been seen in this thread (I may miss some).

 

The suggestion is as follows: leave the US maintenance schedule as it is. This does NOT affect American players. What we want is a second, separate schedule for European servers (and by extension obviously a schedule for Oceanic servers once they go up). Some of the replies:

 

 

- Europeans should suck it up, be glad you get to play at all.

 

* BioWare has launched The Old Republic officially in America and Western Europe. Not just America. In fact, the European servers are located in Ireland (which is in Europe). However, the maintenance times are tailored entirely to players in the CET zone.

 

The question to BioWare is why? Does your fabeled "BioWare level of quality" not extend beyond the US borders? How will this be handled when you officially launch in Oceanic countries?

 

 

- LOLz0rx if they split maintenance schedules the Euros will swarm our servers and we get bogged down, so no way!

 

* The fact of the matter is that if our solution is implemented, most people would be asleep. The few that are not will not bog down servers, if they even bother to start all over with fresh characters on a server on the other continent. And people that work night shifts usually roll on the other continent's servers anyway, to ensure a social playing experience, so they won't actually be "added traffic".

 

The question to BioWare is then: is this a concern for you? What metrics would you base this concern on?

 

 

- There are more American players than Europeans, so Europeans need not be tailored to.

 

* We don't have exact numbers, but if one can infer the number of players by looking at the continent's total population (US has 300 million, Europe has 850 million) it would be a safe bet that the European market is larger than the US one. However, for the sake of argument, I will assume a 50-50 split between European and US markets. In that case Europe would be responsible for a larger portion of income, since converted we pay 17 dollars per month, versus the American 15 dollars per month. In essence, we pay more for an inferior service.

 

The question to BioWare would be: even assuming a virtually equal split in income per continent, what made you decide Europe would be the one to receive the inferior service?

 

 

- Normal people work during the day, you shouldn't be affected anyway trololol.

 

* Even ignoring the fact that the global economy is shrinking and more and more people lose their job every single day, this is a silly argument at best. As said, some people don't work for whatever reason, but other people may work very irregularly, or they may work during evenings or nights, or their job demands great flexibility in work hours.

 

Regardless, the argument in its entirety is irrelevant to the issue, because this is a matter of service. And the maintenance is planned during the US night to minimise the impact, yet the Europeans are not given the same quality level of service, even considering they are far from an inferior portion of the market.

 

The question to BioWare would be: why?

 

 

- The Europeans should just stop their entitlement and quit crying epic tears.

 

* First off, without feedback, no matter the nature, nothing would ever improve. The right to complain about a paid service is a given. We are exercising that right, most of us in a decent, well-thought out manner. Also, entitlement is implied in the fact that we pay money for this game.

 

Second, if the maintenance was planned during the American daytime, the outrage would be similar if not greater. We can all agree on this point, I believe, and so we can drop this particular style of arguing.

 

 

- Oh em gee, BioWare plans it during off-peak hours globally. How hard is that to understand?!

 

* As was said before, the game is not, in that sense, a global service. The service is officially offered only in the US and parts of Europe. Part of that service for the US means nighttime maintenance, yet Europe doesn't get that privilege, despite dedicated resource on the actual continent itself. An odd decision.

 

Linked to that is the inevitable question: what metrics is that decision based on? The decision was made to use this window during headstart, and it continued after launch. The only actual metrics BioWare could've gathered was from beta game activity. Is beta traffic really all that this decision was based on? You can see for yourself that during the European daytime all of the servers are at standard population or higher! That hardly seems to qualify as off-peak, especially considering that BioWare has no reliable post-launch average game activity metrics to base this decision on.

 

So the question to BioWare would be: why are you using global off-peak estimates based on pre-launch metrics instead of localised ones, especially considering that it is not officially a global service and you have dedicated equipment and staff on the European continent?

 

 

That concludes my little post, I hope I covered the major points here. BioWare can use this as a template to formulate their official response to the issue, making sure they covered all bases so that the Europeans can stop badgering them.

 

 

QFT.

 

How can off-peak hours be different for Americans and Europeans - it's the same culture after all. I simply don't believe that 10am to 2pm is off peak for the EU servers.

[ThunderZtorm]

 

This thread shows the many many people that feel *entitled* to get something their way.

 

I work third shift, and on my days off, my play time is NIGHT, as in, right during regular maintenance hours. I also, when I get off work, play mornings....during...regular...maintenance hours.

 

There are a lot of people that play during those times. But not NEARLY as many that play on weekends, and in the afternoons, evenings.

 

I however, realize that I am in the minority, and that asking Bioware (or really, any MMO) to reschedule their times around MY off time is silly. No matter what, SOMEONE SOMEWHERE will be affected. Asking Bioware to adjust for YOU PERSONALLY will, of course, SCREW SOMEONE ELSE.

 

 

We dont only FEEL entitled. We ARE entitled. That's strangely enough how it is when you are a paying customer and you realize somebody who pays LESS than you is getting a BETTER service than you for NO logical reason whatsoever.

 

10+ years of MMO experience clearly shows that 1am-8am is the LOWEST POP time of any given MMO. BW/EA has recognized this in the US but NOT in the EU. Why? The EU does not have a vastly different way of gaming than the US, that's for sure.

Edited January 21, 2012 by Yvin
edited quote