All Day Maintenance and Compensation: My Thoughts

[Okamimaru]

If you're internet drops out for a day due to weather issues or a down line do you also demand they reimburse you for the time you couldn't get online? Good luck with that

[GunksFoy]

If you're internet drops out for a day due to weather issues or a down line do you also demand they reimburse you for the time you couldn't get online? Good luck with that

I don't know about you internet company, but mine takes a day or however long the net is out off my bill, or comps me the days the following month. Unless I broke it.

[Elamys]

I don't know about you internet company, but mine takes a day or however long the net is out off my bill, or comps me the days the following month. Unless I broke it.

It is really dependent on the company. I have never received reimbursement for any of my utilities going down for scheduled maintenance or even when weather causes an outage, unless it was their fault or it was an extended downtime. I would say most companies do have that policy to reimburse people if the customer asks for it. And after we attempted to explain to them that it's a part of what they agreed to. I used to work for a cellphone provider and we got those calls all the time, we would give them a credit towards their bill, but we never did it automatically.

To most people, that isn't worth the hassle to call in because we've accepted that there isn't a single service or utility in the world that's going to be available with 100% uptime. I don't lose much of my money when my cell data blips out for 5 minutes or whatever for reasons unknown. Last year the electric company had to disconnect our power for almost an entire day because they were doing some work. We weren't reimbursed for that. They warned us a few weeks in advance that they would do it, sent us another warning, then did their work. It sucked but we just went to town to take care of some errands while the power was out. Life goes on.

[GunksFoy]

Snip

Sure, fine. But does that make it wrong to ask? I don't think so.

[Elamys]

Sure, fine. But does that make it wrong to ask? I don't think so.

It doesn't make it wrong but it does make it completely pointless and honestly sounds kind of ridiculous. When most people ask for a refund or credit towards their utilities, they are thinking of the money that was lost. Those are a lot more expensive, so a day without service is generally more than a few cents, which is what a lost day in FFXIV is.

Moreover, as people mentioned, it doesn't matter in the end, because it's what he agreed to in the ToS. He can complain all he wants, but it doesn't change the fact that he checked the box that said he understood that the game would sometimes not be available and that he would receive no compensation for things like maintenance. If he does not agree with this (reasonable) practice, he does not have to play this game.

[GunksFoy]

You're missing the point. Obviously the ToS say it's that way NOW, but it can change. And are you seriously going to complain about a free (that you already paid for), compensatory day if they decide to do it? It might be pointless, they may not change their stance, but if they do, who does it hurt? And don't say content because that's honestly ridiculous.

[Elamys]

It doesn't hurt anyone, but it's a needless complication to a system that is already working perfectly and as intended. Again, no service in the world is going to have 100% uptime. As someone who is subscribed pretty much all the time (I've let it lapse like twice) a free day is of such small benefit to me that I'd rather they just go the easy route as opposed to dealing with issuing free days out to eligible accounts.

If the only argument is "well, it wouldn't hurt anything" for a gain this marginal, I'm not sure it's worth the trouble.

[GunksFoy]

I'm not sure it's worth the trouble.

I agree. However, that doesn't mean he should be attacked for asking. As I said earlier, I'm not going to be the one making the petition, but if someone handed it to me, I'd sign. So thus far, the situation is someone else doing the work to benefit(if only slightly) everyone else, and being attacked for it.

[Elamys]

No, I don't think he should be attacked for it, or that people should really belittle him. While I think the request itself is ridiculous, I don't think the OP is stupid for asking it.

I think a far better conversation to be having in regards to these long maintenances is why they are happening in the first place. As Tridus mentioned a 24 hour maintenance for a patch launch is extremely nonstandard for MMOs, and while I think it's an improvement over the shorter maintenances with more emergency maintenances tacked on, that's also not normal. FFXIV is a very successful MMO, probably second only to WoW (an absolute behemoth), run by a huge company with a ton of revenue. Why can't they make things run more smoothly?

[GunksFoy]

No, I don't think he should be attacked for it, or that people should really belittle him. While I think the request itself is ridiculous, I don't think the OP is stupid for asking it.

I think a far better conversation to be having in regards to these long maintenances is why they are happening in the first place. As Tridus mentioned a 24 hour maintenance for a patch launch is extremely nonstandard for MMOs, and while I think it's an improvement over the shorter maintenances with more emergency maintenances tacked on, that's also not normal. FFXIV is a very successful MMO, probably second only to WoW (an absolute behemoth), run by a huge company with a ton of revenue. Why can't they make things run more smoothly?

I actually mentioned this a couple of pages ago, and I agree. An 8 hour maintenance, or perhaps shorter, should be more than sufficient. And would make things like this total non-issues.