Patch Times

The patch times are getting earlier and earlier. Tomorrow is 6pm PST and lasts until 10pm PST. This encompasses the entirety of PST prime time, and cuts into the prime time in every other North American time zone.

This game has players across the world. Why isn't there some variety worked into the patch times so there's a rotation of who will be affected?

I'm starting to come to the conclusion they just don't care much anymore. Look at the lack of care they put into the companion app and lack of features put into Pagos. My faith in the game and the company is starting to fall.

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Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

The patch times are getting earlier and earlier. Tomorrow is 6pm PST and lasts until 10pm PST. This encompasses the entirety of PST prime time, and cuts into the prime time in every other North American time zone.

This game has players across the world. Why isn't there some variety worked into the patch times so there's a rotation of who will be affected?

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Patch times almost always start around 1-2am EST its very weird for it to different.

They probably are doing it earlier this week to not have it at the same time to inconvenience the same people as the last couple of weeks.

No matter when they time the patches, someone is going to be troubled by it. For me personally, I game from game 10pm pst - 1am pst. I love the new patch time because for the first time in several weeks, I don't lose an entire day of playing on patch day.

It lets SE handle the patch during their normal working hours in Japan.

I'm losing an entire day of progging Ultima, it hurts my soul ;;

But ftmp I'm really just curious about the change. If the usual was a rotating timeslot it'd be one thing, working to accommodate people each time. But they sort of rooted in 1a-4a in almost every other maint. So somethings got them doing it earlier this time and it's got my imagination abuzz.

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Originally Posted by Dualgunner

I'm losing an entire day of progging Ultima, it hurts my soul ;;

But ftmp I'm really just curious about the change. If the usual was a rotating timeslot it'd be one thing, working to accommodate people each time. But they sort of rooted in 1a-4a in almost every other maint. So somethings got them doing it earlier this time and it's got my imagination abuzz.

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My thoughts exactly. It's annoying that my static is losing an entire night of raiding, but I'm mostly just curious why they did it.

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Originally Posted by Claviusnex

It lets SE handle the patch during their normal working hours in Japan.

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That's a weak argument. I'm a software engineer. We monitor usage on our system and will adjust our maintenance periods to affect the least number of users possible. If we need to have people available in off-hours, well, that's the job.

That's not as easy on an international game with users across the world, but they don't even try to modify their schedules to rotate the effect. This may be slightly earlier, but the pattern is kept in mostly the same place. Why don't these ever happen during the day in North American time, for instance? Yes, that will hit prime time someplace else, but this system is affecting the same segment of users every time.

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Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

That's a weak argument. I'm a software engineer. We monitor usage on our system and will adjust our maintenance periods to affect the least number of users possible. If we need to have people available in off-hours, well, that's the job.

That's not as easy on an international game with users across the world, but they don't even try to modify their schedules to rotate the effect. This may be slightly earlier, but the pattern is kept in mostly the same place. Why don't these ever happen during the day in North American time, for instance? Yes, that will hit prime time someplace else, but this system is affecting the same segment of users every time.

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Because middle of the NA day is EU primetime. Current maint times effect the least amount of people.

And i say this as someone who is being heavily effected by tomorrows maintenance time.

Eh, I would rather have a static time every week, even if it is an inconvenient time, than try to keep track of and work around a rotating time. Makes it easier to plan things around the downtime. Not sure why this week is different but I highly doubt they are doing so arbitrarily, even if they don't deign to explain why.

6pm to 10pm right when I would be playing. What happened to there 11pm to 3am pst maintenance.

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Originally Posted by Rymm

Eh, I would rather have a static time every week, even if it is an inconvenient time, than try to keep track of and work around a rotating time. Makes it easier to plan things around the downtime. Not sure why this week is different, but I highly doubt they are doing so arbitrarily, even if they don't deign to explain why.

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Basically, this. My UwU static cannot go more than an hour before our scheduled time because people are at work, and while we’ve managed to at least salvage one lockout, we lose out on another, and we’re already running fairly late as most of us are EST. This isn’t the first time that they’ve changed up the hotfix time slot; it has just been the same 1am EST to 5am EST for long enough that people got used to it.

I’d rather have static times for hotfixes. I’d also like for things like what they’re doing right now (e.g., “Pagos hotfixes coming in later updates”) to be consolidated for less maintenances overall. I’m fairly confident that the maintenance tomorrow night is to make more adjustments to that content... and I’m sadly not optimistic enough to believe they’ll be enough to salvage its current state, which means more will probably be had down the line.

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Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth

Because middle of the NA day is EU primetime. Current maint times effect the least amount of people.

And i say this as someone who is being heavily effected by tomorrows maintenance time.

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Exactly the normal 1am EST main time is the best possible time it hits late PST, very late EST, early-late morning in the EU and daytime in Japan there really is no better time.

I wonder if they just throw darts at a board for emergency maintenance sometimes...

Real talk, as someone who works IT and supports changes like this all the time, it's likely down to resource scheduling. For whatever reason the people they needed for this couldn't adjust to any other time is my guess. I suppose I'll be doing the seasonal event later in the week instead... and still ignoring Pagos since the basic design won't be fixed during emergency maintenance.

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Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

That's a weak argument. I'm a software engineer. We monitor usage on our system and will adjust our maintenance periods to affect the least number of users possible. If we need to have people available in off-hours, well, that's the job.

That's not as easy on an international game with users across the world, but they don't even try to modify their schedules to rotate the effect. This may be slightly earlier, but the pattern is kept in mostly the same place. Why don't these ever happen during the day in North American time, for instance? Yes, that will hit prime time someplace else, but this system is affecting the same segment of users every time.

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I'm a retired software engineer. That designation and compsci degrees hadn't even been invented when I started in OS development. I'm not trying to make an argument just a statement of fact that SE schedules maintenance for their convenience not the NA/EU players. For some reason they have scheduled this maintenance earlier in their day than others. Why? I couldn't tell you but I think SE is doing this to allow plenty of time during their normal working hours to get the update completed. To be honest SE reminds me of a college I had as an account very early in my career. If I needed the system or I/O device for some reason or another it wasn't a problem as long as it only impacted students and not their business processes. Their attitude was students were the bottom rung of the ladder and could wait. I think SE has a similar mindset. Thankfully I didn't have to answer the poor kid halfway through processing his card deck so he could turn in his classwork the next day. That was the operator's job.

i'm guessing someone is on holiday and/or the department is scheduled to do something more important at the usual time so it was shifted. you agree to the ToS when you play the game. *shrug*

It could just be that it's a one off on this occasion and usually the main time would be much later, besides it may not even last the full duration and could be completed earlier than expected Not that it should matter seeing as it's part of the ToS anyway. But you can bet it inconveniences US players the most, because of course they are the only players that matter.... yes that is sarcasm.

Really pleased with the new patch times, but appreciate it doesn't suit others.
Just goes to show.....

I'm asleep/going to work when it goes down. /EU

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Originally Posted by Kurando

But you can bet it inconveniences US players the most, because of course they are the only players that matter.... yes that is sarcasm.

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You know North America is more than the US, right?

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Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

You know North America is more than the US, right?

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And you know the majority of players in NA are from the US, right? And that the game doesn't revolve around US time zones? Besides, Americans have more of a reputation for making their thoughts known...