Excessive maintenance is starting to piss off the casual, non-raiding players.

[LianaThorne]

It's not a massive issue but it is definitely annoying that being a Japanese company, maintenance times are always convenient for JP and inconvenient for NA.

They're going to base their maintenance times around their own time zone....because duh...? Why would they cater to the US market in terms of that? It's just logical that a JP company would do maintenance during JP timezone convenience. Why is that annoying or an issue? Just play something else or binge watch YouTube if sleep isn't an option for you.

[hagare]

It's not a massive issue but it is definitely annoying that being a Japanese company, maintenance times are always convenient for JP and inconvenient for NA.

maybe it's because it's their time of work? *shrug*

[einschwartz]

You call this excessive?

The previous mmo I played does a bi-weekly maint. And they always extend it at least 2 hours.
Without fail. Every single time.

[Awarewolf]

most casual players are not that reasonable
when maintenance hits them at 7PM all the way to 3AM they get really pissed off

That’s not what’s pissing them off. It’s maybe triggering their anger, but the original source of the anger has nothing to do with the game.

A non triggered person would shrug it off and find something else to do. But this type of reaction, assuming we aren’t exaggerating here, runs way deeper than extended maintenance.

“Getting really pissed off” is a natural reaction for someone in a flight or fight state of mind. My advice is to reaffirm to those players that maintenance is a normal part of MMO gaming, but if it’s bothering them this much, perhaps this genre isn’t for them right now. Maybe they need a break.

I just can’t imagine sticking to something that gets me “really pissed off” week after week. I’d rather take the time to reflect and figure out why it’s making me so angry. Because the problem, and the solution, lie within the self — not changing the game to suit their currently emotional condition.

[VerdeLuck]

They're going to base their maintenance times around their own time zone....because duh...? Why would they cater to the US market in terms of that? It's just logical that a JP company would do maintenance during JP timezone convenience. Why is that annoying or an issue? Just play something else or binge watch YouTube if sleep isn't an option for you.

It's not a big ask to want a company that operates globally to consider and listen to players outside of their own region when they make decisions.

[Silverbane]

We have had in the last 3 weeks, 3 maintenance periods, and it started to affect those casual players too. ... I do not believe this is a good idea.

I think that the least they could do would be to refund us or add 1 extra day of play to each maintenance because it prevents us from playing while we pay ...

Sorry, but occasional maintenance is part of what you agreed to when you decided to subscribe.
You're getting 98% uptime. You may think you want better, but go research what contracts for 99%+ uptime services cost, and think again. It's doable, of course, but most of the player base couldn't afford it.

And the alternative, of not having maintenance when it's needed?
A lot of us have lived that on other MMOs, and it is ugly.

[Silverbane]

... it's not like I get free playtime just for clearing savage.

I don't do Savage raiding, but I think you have a good idea there, Impishwerth.

My spouse and I each got 15 days of free playtime for getting our first new characters to L30 on a Preferred world, so it's already an incentive SE uses.
Giving a modest amount of free playtime for a player's first clear of current-endgame Savage content might get more people to attempt it, and that would be good for the game I think.

[Crimen]

If it's maintenance they justify to be necessary, they'll do it. I get that people may get annoyed but, ya know. What can you do? Unless it's emergency maintenance they usually give at least a couple days' notice for you to plan around.

[Ransu]

It's not a massive issue but it is definitely annoying that being a Japanese company, maintenance times are always convenient for JP and inconvenient for NA.

7pm PST to 3am PST isn't really all the inconvenient. Sucks for west coasters, but its really not that bad of a time frame.

[Kes13a]

It's not a big ask to want a company that operates globally to consider and listen to players outside of their own region when they make decisions.

there is another global game company, perhaps you have heard of them? Blizzard, a small indie studio

they typically do maintenance during their normal business hours. since the world is not one time zone, that tends to inconvenience people world over. you would think they would consider people outside their business hours in your world.. but they do not. why? money. after hours work generally means overtime which is more money to pay out.

plus there is generally a belief that all regions should get the updates at the same time (not time zone wise) so the idea of staggering maintenance is a non starter. sorry.