Why is scheduled downtime not announced on the game's launcher?

Discussion in 'The Newbie Zone' started by Dreven, May 16, 2018.

  1. Dreven Lorekeeper

    I cannot believe I let myself again be caught on being disappointed when I got those couple of hours extra to game some, only to find the server are down six hours (till 9:30pm in my time zone). Why do you not announce this clearly in the game's launcher so people are not surprised? I try to check the forum section frequently, but come on!
  2. Thesehips Journeyman

    I seen it on the Launcher this morning. My guess is you logged in before they put it on.
    Plus the test notes went up last Tuesday (the 8th). Patch day usually happens a week later, or the third Wednesday of the month.
  3. Aurastrider Augur

    Every patch day people post something similar. 3rd Wednesday of every month is typically patch day. Mark it on your callander and there shouldn't be any suprises.
  4. Baykun New Member

    if only there were a way to go back and look at the dates of other patches to find out when the next one was going to be ?
  5. Febb Augur

  6. Dreven Lorekeeper

    The fact every patch day there is a similar post like this, strengthen my point even further. No harm in improving communication and via what channels it occurs - the game launcher client seems pretty much no-brainer to me and I have not seen any announcements there - if there was it must have happened during night time, which is late given how this is all per usual recurrence as you say.
    Quatr and toodlem like this.
  7. Zhaunil_AB Augur

    meh... I do not see much room for improvement really.
    As was said above, the test-patch notes have been up for a week - everyone checking the boards during last week knew what was coming.
    That said, they could perhaps add an entry into the /calendar - but then: when i think back to the questions in general about how long Anniversary tasks go they might just forget about that, since players do not even use the existing means of top-down communication.
    Should they send you an email each month with the next month's schedule?
    klanderso likes this.
  8. Dythan Ban Lev in Plane of Fire guy

    I would prefer a personal phone call from Prathun both 24 and 3 hours before every patch.
  9. CatsPaws No response to your post cause your on ignore

    Geez and I just figured out where they moved Burning Woods each week. Now you want me to remember that 1 out of 4 possible Wednesday's in each month is going to have a patch?
    Xianzu_Monk_Tunare and Herf like this.
  10. Kruler Journeyman

    Just a personnel phone call ? Come on, you want your tummy tickled, you have dreamt it.

    Sarcasm aside and these comments are not aimed at Dythan because he was joking to, even checking forums once a week one give you some clue, I check Test forum every once in awhile, mainly because I play a Necro and like to tease myself while at the same time whipping myself with barbed wire and nettles....BUT seriously FORUMS page.
  11. Roxxlyy Augur

    The downtime is up on the launcher - the "News & Announcements" forum is tied directly to it, so as soon as the thread is posted it should automatically hit the launchpad (give or take a few moments to update).

    I can see the post there myself, so you may have had your launchpad open prior to when the announcement post was made?
  12. Dreven Lorekeeper

    Indeed that is probably it. I know for sure it was not there when I logged on yesterday when I started playing EQ during what is prime time in my central European time zone. That would be the time when I typically see such warning on the game launcher.

    If this maintenance is so set in stone like everybody claims, why not make the announcement a couple of days in advance to give (international) customers a fair warning, because the 24 hours is quite possibly insufficient to finds it purpose of notifying everyone internationally in a timely fashion.

    I know there is a small insignificant US demographic playing at 6:30AM, but that is like 4:30pm where I live. With 6 hour downtime, that means for most with a normal job no EQ for you today. That is how things roll and I do not ask for a change in maintenance window, just a little reminder bit in advance. And yes, as expected some pull the " go read the forum" card, I guess some cannot see in perspective.
  13. moogs Augur

    When you attempt to log into the game, receive a message that the servers are down for maintenance, and you decide that you would like more information, the forums are the place for that. Always have been.
  14. Prathun Developer

    This is a good opportunity to review the Game Update FAQ.

  15. Aneia Master

    Wait, people use the launcher on days other than patch days?
    Gyurika Godofwar likes this.
  16. Aurastrider Augur



    The fact that on every patch day there are posts like this strengthens your point maybe for new and returning players who don't know but it also points out how oblivious some of us vets are to a common theme that occurs on the same day every month. Sure communication could be better but that is true for almost everything in life. Maybe a pop up on the in game announcement window where things like bonus xp and special events go 24 or 48 hours in advance to the patch might be helpful for some? As stated maybe posting something in the in game calendar might be helpful? I play on Tunare which by all means is not a high populated server and people are usually talking about the patch well in advance but maybe its different on your server? This is how I usually know about anything new in game that I have not seen on the forums. Any disruption to a persons game play sucks but this is a necessary loss. With the limited resources especially after last month I am just grateful we still have patch days and the folks remaining are there to provide it for us.
  17. Gialana Augur

    Yes. That way I can save my password, and I don't have to enter it every time I log in to the game. When bypassing launchpad, I know we can make the shortcut automatically enter our username, but I don't think there's a way to automatically enter the password.
    Xianzu_Monk_Tunare likes this.
  18. CatsPaws No response to your post cause your on ignore

    Bah these folk who can't remember when patch day is once a month also forgot my birthday. But that is once a year so I forgave them. :D
  19. moogs Augur

    System Wide Message of the Day seems like a logical place to make announcements about scheduled down time. And I don't mean the "SERVER IS COMING DOWN IN 1 MINUTE LOG OFF NOW" type.
  20. Prathun Developer

    We discussed putting scheduled Live update events on the in-game calendar, and it seems like an OK idea.
    The duration of the downtime will be an estimate, as it can change depending on a variety of factors.
    Gyurika Godofwar likes this.