Poll for selective down time

[Kinslayer]

Go back and look at the post after you asked your irrelevant question. I answered you with an ingame location. I'm gathering branches as we speak.

I listed major MMOs with downtimes directly in that window. Maybe, you just chose to ignore them.

I want this game to succeed. In order to succeed, you follow a strong business plan. With most MMOs using that window you dislike so much, it's quite clear where the "least impactful time of day" area falls into.

If Xsyon were an EU or Oceanic server and/or the majority of the population were from those areas, I'd be 100% OK with downtime in NA primetime. Why? Because, it makes sense to initiate procedures that give you the best chance of success. All of these MMOs aren't interrupting Aussie primetime just because they think it's funny, ya know.

TBH, I skipped a couple of your posts, because, well, I just couldnt stand reading the same thing again written a different way. What you dont get, which is our main point, that it doesnt need to be in ANYONE's prime time. There are plenty of times that can be used that are not primetimes, afterall, there are 3 main primetimes.

@mmoaddict: I would happily agree to your 2nd timeslot, not the 1st, cos 5-6pm is still in Aust/NZ primetime. Your 2nd is perfect, and has now been put forward by a few of us.

So as I said, if it were at that time, 7-9am PST every week day, then that wouldnt cause a problem, and I think most of us could agree. So how about we steer the conversation in that direction rather than continuing to go around in circles. All Im after is a solution, not an ongoing argument, so lets turn this thread to be a little more positive and productive, rather than us all just digging in our heals further and further.

[JCatano]

TBH, I skipped a couple of your posts, because, well, I just couldnt stand reading the same thing again written a different way. What you dont get, which is our main point, that it doesnt need to be in ANYONE's prime time. There are plenty of times that can be used that are not primetimes, afterall, there are 3 main primetimes.

@mmoaddict: I would happily agree to your 2nd timeslot, not the 1st, cos 5-6pm is still in Aust/NZ primetime. Your 2nd is perfect, and has now been put forward by a few of us.

So as I said, if it were at that time, 7-9am PST every week day, then that wouldnt cause a problem, and I think most of us could agree. So how about we steer the conversation in that direction rather than continuing to go around in circles. All Im after is a solution, not an ongoing argument, so lets turn this thread to be a little more positive and productive, rather than us all just digging in our heals further and further.

Ditto to you.

Mine is the same because you refuse to acknowledge that most MMOs, including major ones that I listed, are using that window. There isn't anything different to say. They are not doing it by accident. If you think that you know more about it than they do... Go give them a lesson.

If Jordi doesn't think it would hurt business-wise, then go for a change. It's not up to you guys to come up with time slots, unless you want to research demographics and risk assessment for his business.

[Phazaar]

Ditto to you.

Mine is the same because you refuse to acknowledge that most MMOs, including major ones that I listed, are using that window. There isn't anything different to say. They are not doing it by accident. If you think that you know more about it than they do... Go give them a lesson.

If Jordi doesn't think it would hurt business-wise, then go for a change. It's not up to you guys to come up with time slots, unless you want to research demographics and risk assessment for his business.

Only have a few secs before I've gotta go so I'll reply here as this is the only point that you're still labouring, despite that it's been undermined continually here.

Jordi's business would do a HELL of a lot better if he turned OFF twitch-based PvP, brought in classes, levels, dungeons and raids. The idea of this is -not- to use pre-existing models, because they're alienating parts of their playerbase, either through carebearitis, ignorance or bad logistical decisions, like EVE's downtime placement. Yes, it is different, but so is everything else, and that's why we're all here. I don't see why a more community-minded decision here would not be a good thing. Business, after all, isn't just about profit margins, and spending time on neglected parts of your customer base will only foster a stronger longterm bond with the company/game.

[JCatano]

It's the only laboring point, because it's really the only one to labor in this particular thread. It is one piece of the puzzle that can determine success v. failure. Losing some pieces of a very small market is acceptable when it means your larger market is being retained at a high rate. The gains of the latter normally exceed any loss of a very small market. Business isn't nice. It's never fair. This is why you can probably Google something like "Aussies get screwed with MMO maintenance times" and find a bunch of links.

Regardless of the type of game <insert company> develops, they'll still want follow a gameplan that gives them the best chance of success. Maintenance time is included in that plan. Most MMOs are following a similar window, and as I've said... It's not by accident. Maintenance times and type of game are not comparable. Those are separate entities. A community minded decision is ludicrous when talking about when a company should execute their maintenance, because that solely plays to the wishes of people who simply want to play a game and not consider the business part. That isn't going to pay the bills.

If we found out that 500 Aussies were playing and only 50 people from NA had a subscription, I'd be the first person to tell Jordi to run maintenance at a time when Aussie population is the lightest. If that meant prime NA time... So be it. That's called a smart decision.

I don't think Jordi is running Xsyon to break even.

[wolf_rt]

To answer you question JC, i can't list any other mmo's i have played that have rolling downtime, because the only other online game i have played is EVE, which as has been perviously stated, has DT in the middle of my playtime, which was one of the factors that led me to leave that game.


Here is a question for everybody:

if DT was shifted back 2 hrs one week, at the current time for one week, then moved 2 hrs foward the next week, repeat...

is there anyone who feels that an arrangement like this would be a factor in causing them to leave the game?????

because this would greatly ease the burden of those who only have 3-4hours to play after work.

[JCatano]

Two hours forward is still a norm time. 5am wouldn't be out of that norm, either. Two hours back (Midnight) would be shakey. You aren't thinking of weekend playtime (later), summer (no school), and people who just play later in a few of the neighboring time zones. California alone has about 12 million (?) more people than Australia.

By the way... Didn't EVE pass 300k subscriptions a year or two ago and also get 63,170 players online simultaneously in January *edit*? That downtime isn't worrying them.

[MrDDT]

The poll speaks for itself so far, and likely its the people that are pissed off the most able to reply about it. So even still you have more people want fixed than people that dont. Its pretty simple.

You dont see stores open at 3am, why? I mean I know a few people that work and are able to goto the store at 3am because of their work times. Does that mean stores should open at 3am? It doesnt make business sense.

It sucks for you but where you live is effecting your MMO play times. Just sucks, but not much you can do about it without moving. Because companies are not going to make changes based on the few people that live in an area where it effects them. They are going to make choices that best help game and them.

[wolf_rt]

if 2am is the quietest time, then surely 2hours either side of that time is also going to be very quiet? thats how the graph that EVE provided looked to me anyway.

If not then perhaps 1am, 3am, and 5am could be used...

EVE no longer gets my money.

There certianly ARE stores open at 3am...where do you live again????

The poll doesnt speak for much other than the wording of the poll.

[MrDDT]

if 2am is the quietest time, then surely 2hours either side of that time is also going to be very quiet? thats how the graph that EVE provided looked to me anyway.

If not then perhaps 1am, 3am, and 5am could be used...

EVE no longer gets my money.

There certianly ARE stores open at 3am...where do you live again????

The poll doesnt speak for much other than the wording of the poll.

I live in the USA. As it says on my "Location".

Im sure there is a store or 2 open, but very very few. Most likely those stores are open at that time for another reason, maybe like because they are a bar or something. I dont see stores or doctors offices or anything like that open at that time.

The wording of the poll is in favor of the first option. Which is still losing.

I agree might be better to have a 4 hour window where it changes during those 4 hours. Maybe like 2am PST, 3am PST, 4am PST, and 5am PST. Would likely be a good option if you dont want to see people like you whine, but still like I said, it would be best to have it the same hour everyday whichever is the lowest amount of people on avg playing.

[Kinslayer]

Since when is an MMO a fucking Doctors surgery? LMAO. It's only the 2 of you arguing for the cause, I wonder if you really give a shit or just argue for the hell of it.

Anyway, I emailed support before I even started taking part in this thread, and their response went missing, but got back one today, here is the direct quote...

The email that we sent explained, that we are not going to have the same maintenance times every week, we will be staggering them as to make it as fair as possible.

I guess that settles it then, the devs seem to understand the argument put forth here, and agree with the most sensible side of this argument. That should wrap up this thread now I would say.