Emergency Maintenance would solve nothing.

[Wildsprite]

If they don't do maintenance, people will eventually get tired of the waits, log off, and go to bed which is exactly what needs to happen.

people logging off and going to bed so others can do the quests does not really fix the issue, that is a workaround which in the long run only allows the problem to come back. they need to find a real fix for this. redunancy server clusters should be in place and the fact that their twitter indicates they expected this kind of thing shows how unprepared they actually were. so please OP stop trying to tell people to log off as that is just a bandaid workaround that wont fix anything.

Maintenance is not the answer. It would only make matters worse.

it is possible that a maintanance would fix the problem IF they actually did it properly

[Hatman]

Besides, at the rate people are getting kicked out of the game, the logging off is happening anyway. :P

[savageink]

people logging off and going to bed so others can do the quests does not really fix the issue, that is a workaround which in the long run only allows the problem to come back. they need to find a real fix for this. redunancy server clusters should be in place and the fact that their twitter indicates they expected this kind of thing shows how unprepared they actually were. so please OP stop trying to tell people to log off as that is just a bandaid workaround that wont fix anything.

it won't fix the underlying problem. no. but it does fix the problem symptomatically. you won't even know it's there once people get through it, since it's always been there.

[Gramul]

people logging off and going to bed so others can do the quests does not really fix the issue, that is a workaround which in the long run only allows the problem to come back.

The thing is, it's only an issue with a major surplus of users, which is a very rare occurrence that doesn't last very long.

I don't get why people keep treating early access to the release version of the expansion the same as an open beta or a stress test weekend event.

Because a stress test is practically what it is. Companies sometimes do this to partly split congestion so it's not that bad on release. They just dress it up as a fun bonus, because if you tell people that some users have been selected to play before you, they'd be way more upset than people are now.

[Asphexius]

Because a stress test is practically what it is. Companies sometimes do this to partly split congestion so it's not that bad on release. They just dress it up as a fun bonus, because if you tell people that some users have been selected to play before you, they'd be way more upset than people are now.

This would be a valid point if this was an actual pre-order bonus that ended some time before release. As anyone can buy this game at any time and get the access immediately right up until 'release date' its not really going to do anything/split up the congestion. This system turns the 16th into the default release date as so far as server loads and the general player base go. You say 'companies' like this is industry norm, but pretty much every other triple A studio MMO utilizes Beta phases to stress test, not convoluted early access. This might be more akin to what you get with early access for a crowd funded Indie title... (Or maybe a triple A from a decade ago).

[Gramul]

This would be a valid point if this was an actual pre-order bonus that ended some time before release. As anyone can buy this game at any time and get the access immediately right up until 'release date' its not really going to do anything/split up the congestion.

Well, that's why the "real" release date is in name only. Totally for the sake of splitting up the userbase.
It's all about the pastiche. The illusion of consumer reward. Convincing those that come in "early" that they're getting something special, while those that don't care as much will just buy it when it comes out "officially". It's all for show to try to mitigate the rapid influx so that issues can work their way out before the "official" release date when the mighty eye of the media casts its judging gaze.

[Asphexius]

Totally for the sake of splitting up the userbase.The illusion of consumer reward. Convincing those that come in "early" that they're getting something special, while those that don't care as much will just buy it when it comes out "officially". It's all for show to try to mitigate the rapid influx so that issues can work their way out before the "official" release date when the mighty eye of the media casts its judging gaze.

I totally agree with this likely being a way to mitigate bad media impressions, but I really doubt this is going to fool the players into buying and accessing the game 4 days later for no real reason, do you? I also agree that the 'early access bonus' certainly could have snagged extra pre-orders early on, but I just really doubt anyone is just sitting around for the 'release date' if they intend to play it instead of just getting it then/now/whenever and getting instant access (to the first half an hour of content).