Discussion: Extended Live Server Maintenance - Thursday, September 22, 2011

I don't see anyone whining or crying. I see people outraged they are spending real live money for something that isn't delivering what they are paying for. They have every right to be angry. Myself included.

Now you know theres going to be another one in the next few days to fix something it'll break

Really though, they should have stated at the start of the month that there was going to be numerous long periods of downtime for server upgrades instead of just going "oh btw your losing your play time tomorrow".

Perhaps it changed since you read it, but I see it as saying Expected Finish Time:11:30 a.m. PDT.

Yes, I snipped that portion directly from the post.

Of course you can, I'm just saying that as a consumer it makes no sense to do it. I could understand if employees of Paragon Studios or NCsoft would argue (and I'd find even that strange), but why would any player want other players not to get compensation?

No, we're playing "maybe if we could come up with a scenario which did affect you then you'll be able to see the other side of the argument." Seems not to have worked, unfortunately.


Frankly it would cost little for NCsoft to issue 7 day VIP codes and e-mail them to players, and will probably generate more income than not doing it.

C'mon Damz on the CoH homepage there is a News link/Known Issues link that was last updated 30 November 2010 - the mere fact we get any warning is amazing!

Haha kis so true

Thanks.. so much for getting off work early. Now I'll have to do things around the house.. grrr!

Translated:
I pretty amazes me that the German side is actualy getting slight bit more attention, but it remains silent on the (majority) english side.

(havent checked french part).

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

Trying to think of a clever way to echo this without just adding an addition sign and a numeral one. Be that as it may, Aggelakis and I are of a similar mind on this.

Valid point. However, the people that are tired of hearing it, have also paid their subs and can complain about people complaining. And then others can complain, about those complaining about the complaining. And then yet more others can... Etc. You get where this is going. Nobody expects people to be happy about downtime. But complaining is really fruitless on this particular topic. So it's a frustration to have to hear it again and again. And I'm in the same boat as everyone else about being far from thrilled about yet more down time. I just realize that (after a calming breath or two) that my complaints serve no purpose, and just grate on the people that have to listen to them. That being said, I do acknowledge everyone's right to complain via this medium as much as you like. If it becomes too much for me to bear, instead of telling anyone to stop complaining, I'll just stop reading. But, bear in mind, the Dev's may take my approach, too. So pick your battles..


I pretty much said all I can on this topic above. I'm sorry you're disappointed, and yes, perhaps some folks should have been more tactful. But, it is hard for many folks (myself included) to be as tactful as might be best in situations where the complaints seem unreasonable, and unending. All of us here, I think, would love for your reason for complaining to disappear. And not just because that would mean that my downtime problem would go away, too. But I and everyone else here, is powerless to help you. So the complaints, coupled with the powerlessness to do anything about them breeds a frustration that can easily have people lose their tact, and just beg for the complaints to cease.

You are right, the forums would explode. Everyone knows the forums would explode. That is exactly why they don't schedule the maintenance for the peak time for their largest player base.
If there were a theoretical MMO you enjoyed and paid for based in Europe, that also sold subscriptions only, in say, Fiji, and the servers were based in say, Berlin, and that company scheduled maintenance in the middle of the prime playtime for the European players (in the process making local workers come it at very odd hours local time) to accommodate and demonstrate to the Fiji players that the weren't second class citizens, what do you expect the general response would be?

True, but for the most part, those people inconvenienced have already been compensated above and beyond the value of the downtime. NCSoft knew that server upgrades would be warranted in anticipation of F2P. They also knew that this would lead to downtime. I don't know for sure their reasons, but I can speculate. It was about this time that NCSoft announced that people that maintained subscriptions up to the beginning of Freedom and F2P would accrue Paragon Points even before the official system begins. So, if you've been about during the whole time you've already got at least 800 PP. Which, if purchased, have value of appx $10. Which is the equivalent of 20 days worth of sub time, more or less. The downtime, while admittedly starting to stack up, hasn't yet reached 20 total days. I think it's safe to assume and read between the lines that the reason NCSoft offered these free goodies was compensation for the problems and inconveniences that would quite likely arise during the transition to F2P. They did not, in any way, have to offer free Paragon Points prior to the launch of F2P. The very people getting those free points are the ones that are having to put up with all the downtime. I think it adds up, but I can't prove it. But, even if that wasn't the reason, regardless of why, all the folks here are getting extra value above and beyond what NCSoft had to deliver, and that is something that should at least be remembered.



30+ hours sucks. I totally agree, but as I said above, they've given everyone one of us that paid for a sub even if just 1 month the equivalent of at least 2 days (48 hours) worth of compensation. It does suck that NCSoft might have lost new customers. Perhaps you might explain that stability during a transition is the exception, and certainly not the norm. They can then try it again at no cost (and if they didn't uninstall, they won't need a huge download, just a patch, too) and see if the stability after the transition meets with their approval.. I don't know if it will or not. I don't even know if I'll be happy with the way things turn out, but I think we all know that they based their judgement on a non-standard section of time.

Well, as always, feel free to disagree.

Speculation on the part of paying customers should not be required. If the points given during these months were intended to compensate for planned excessive downtime, that should have been explicitly stated at the start.

Seriously you just compared Europe to FIJI !! your just asking to be trolled

No legs is good!

Sorry but the leg has been very annoying the past few weeks, mapserver and rubberbanding, leg got worse. Even after several downtimes, leg still was around, even on empty servers like Defiant.

So i want no more legs!

its an entirely different situation, hes not payin 4 medical care n such, the fact that ppl like u even attempt to compare a vet with no legs to a subscription fee based game is absolutly insane and childish, there is no comparison because its simply far out and nonsense, i genuinly feel sorry 4 the guy but this is a different scenario and the poverty and no legs guilt trip do not work on me, ppl who pay 4 a service are entitled to complain as part of their statutory rights plain and simple.

Exactly. I was just about to rant the same.

Why would they want to do that? If I said, "Expect things to suck for a while, a month or so," that would be a very unwise business move. Especially if the down times ended up being small or non-existent.

We may not like it better this way, but it's much smarter business.