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Fixing Downtime for Australians
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Darius Caliente
The Pinecone Squad
United Federation of Conifers
#1 - 2014-06-12 11:36:49 UTC
I'm a USTZ player, I'm seldom around for DT unless I pull an all-nighter and sitting here tonight, experiencing DT I realized that if I was Australian I'd be pretty upset. DT is during peak playing hours for them, which must be a complete pain. There must be a way to slightly adjust the schedule to better support Australia (shifting a few hours earlier shouldn't be too detrimental to any major timezones).

If not, then that's 7.6 days lost each year if your peak gaming time is during DT. Maybe that time should be given back to Australian players... Sign up for a 1 year subscription and get those 7.6 days added to your game time if your billing address locates you in Australia.

Just my thoughts after experiencing this.
Meditril
Hoplite Brigade
Ushra'Khan
#2 - 2014-06-12 11:40:36 UTC
As far as I remember the long term goal of CCP is to completely get rid of downtime. They already reduced it to half hour and I think they even want to further reduce it to 15 minutes before finally getting it down to 0. There was some long long time ago a dev blog about this when they first time reduced it from one hour to half hour.
Fer'isam K'ahn
SAS Veterinarians
#3 - 2014-06-12 12:31:15 UTC  |  Edited by: Fer'isam K'ahn
I never have problems with DT no matter where I am, always good to use the time to get food, deliver wastes, check some mails or stretch the legs, feed the cats etc., though I do understand the feelings of disappointment from having to break up a good incursion fleet or other op, but hey, such is life.

And DT is very much minimzed as it is, in the week usually less then 10-15 minutes and on the weekend even less then 5, since its jsus a quick reboot.

The bigger issue of DT that I see is rather for people playing till DT, cause all the regular asteroid belts are empty like 6 hours before. I would rather see 2 DTs or a 12 hour respawn cycle for those, maybe with a bit less density. Or like Ice belts, 8 hours after depletion and on DT again.
Kaarous Aldurald
Black Hydra Consortium.
#4 - 2014-06-12 12:48:09 UTC
This game's downtime is hilariously low anyway. Even when I am on night shift times, I just use the time to take a bio break, make myself a cup of coffee, etc.

"Verily, I have often laughed at the weaklings who thought themselves good because they had no claws."

One of ours, ten of theirs.

Best Meltdown Ever.
Arsine Mayhem
Doomheim
#5 - 2014-06-12 13:14:26 UTC
Kaarous Aldurald wrote:
This game's downtime is hilariously low anyway. Even when I am on night shift times, I just use the time to take a bio break, make myself a cup of coffee, etc.


I would think the big problem is you can't just pick up where you left off.

Maybe rotating downtimes.
Fer'isam K'ahn
SAS Veterinarians
#6 - 2014-06-12 13:19:47 UTC  |  Edited by: Fer'isam K'ahn
Arsine Mayhem wrote:

I would think the big problem is you can't just pick up where you left off.

Maybe rotating downtimes.


Why not ? I usually never dock up or warp out... everything disappears anyway... almost zero risk.. just be the first to log back in 8).

And why rotate downtimes, now its during early workhours for the staff, why make em come in the evening or the night for 10 minutes...
Kaarous Aldurald
Black Hydra Consortium.
#7 - 2014-06-12 13:20:24 UTC
Arsine Mayhem wrote:
Kaarous Aldurald wrote:
This game's downtime is hilariously low anyway. Even when I am on night shift times, I just use the time to take a bio break, make myself a cup of coffee, etc.


I would think the big problem is you can't just pick up where you left off.

Maybe rotating downtimes.


Aside from day long uber fleet fights, why would you need to? It's not like you are unaware of when downtime is. Just dock up a few minutes beforehand, come back, resume gameplay.

"Verily, I have often laughed at the weaklings who thought themselves good because they had no claws."

One of ours, ten of theirs.

Best Meltdown Ever.
Darius Caliente
The Pinecone Squad
United Federation of Conifers
#8 - 2014-06-12 13:36:10 UTC
Fer'isam K'ahn wrote:
I never have problems with DT no matter where I am, always good to use the time to get food, deliver wastes, check some mails or stretch the legs, feed the cats etc., though I do understand the feelings of disappointment from having to break up a good incursion fleet or other op, but hey, such is life.

And DT is very much minimzed as it is, in hte week usually less then 10-15 minutes and on the weekend even less then 5, since its juts a quick reboot.

The bigger issue of DT that I see is rather for people playing till DT, cause all the regular asteroid belts are empty like 6 hours before. I would rather see 2 DTs or a 12 hour respawn cycle for those, maybe with a bit less density. Or like Ice belts, 8 hours after depletion and on DT again.



Today, for example, was 30 minutes of downtime.

I think extra downtime or added respawn for belts makes little sense... travel a little, I can show you plenty of systems with full belts.
nGR RDNx
Beta Crucis
Endeavour.
#9 - 2014-06-12 13:37:13 UTC
I understand the challenges of DT more than most... and yes CCP have the long term goal of removing DT completely, which we (in the AUTZ) really appreciate.

However, realistically, from what I understand, DT is unlikely to be completely removed in the short to medium term (from my conversations with the technical people at CCP) for the foreseeable future.

Consequently, CCP "hiding behind" the excuse of "we are trying to get rid of DT" for the past 4-5 years still doesn't cut it or address the current issues of ...

1. DT varies between 6 minutes and 35 minutes!
2. DT happens at peak gaming time (ie 9pm - 9:30pm) for a large percentage of the AUTZ

Point 1.. how about if CCP can give us some indication of whether we can 1. just take a short bio break or 2. maybe make a three course meal :) .. any sort of predictability/guidance would be awesome!

Point 2.. move DT to a few hours earlier and interrupt the Tongan peak gaming time... cos I suspect the Aussies represent a larger player base than the pacific island nations... just asking?

OR

Thirdly .. as Darius suggests in the original post ... some sort of "discount" for the long suffering AUTZ players of EVE-Online - who, don't forget, get screwed over every time CCP introduce a patch/upgrade as the server is down for longer than normal!

Cheers

RD

EVE Down Under - www.evedownunder.com - AUTZ = Best TZ
Fer'isam K'ahn
SAS Veterinarians
#10 - 2014-06-12 13:46:12 UTC  |  Edited by: Fer'isam K'ahn
Darius Caliente wrote:
Today, for example, was 30 minutes of downtime.

I think extra downtime or added respawn for belts makes little sense... travel a little, I can show you plenty of systems with full belts.


Well, thx for the offer ,)

And in regards for today... well, I had to eb at work at 11:00 so I missed the one time it was more, hehe. And I bet either a patch has been delivered or another issues was at hand. I would not take this as regular.

Anyway, with the foresight of DT rather being removed then moved, I think this whole thread is at an end....

at least for me o7

Edit: Yes, as far as forseeable DT come, there are examples of estimated DTs on other 'services' server uptime threads. Could be implemented as a sticky in the tech support forum or elsewhere.
Hasikan Miallok
Republic University
Minmatar Republic
#11 - 2014-06-12 13:46:29 UTC
Aussie Downtime is a mixed blessing

The Pros
**********

1. You can farm a good mission by almost completing just before downtime and rerunning after.
2. If you are fast to login you can get out to losec and grab PI from Pocos, dock/undock from dangerous stations or setup a gatecamp before anyone else gets on.
3. For miners all the belts including Ice respawn.

The Cons
***********

1. You lose a small amount of playtime.
2. For PvPers things can be pretty quiet when you first relog
3. For missioners farming LP there is often a rush to complete a mission before downtime or waste time redoing it after reset.
Dave stark
#12 - 2014-06-12 13:46:46 UTC
not sure if i want to call it a "nicest beaches in the world tax" or some reference about australia being a prison.

either way, since the australian players are the lowest percentage of the player base, it makes no sense to move it in to any other timezone's prime time.
nGR RDNx
Beta Crucis
Endeavour.
#13 - 2014-06-12 14:10:49 UTC
Dave Stark wrote:
not sure if i want to call it a "nicest beaches in the world tax" or some reference about australia being a prison.

either way, since the australian players are the lowest percentage of the player base, it makes no sense to move it in to any other timezone's prime time.


Sadly you are wrong sir...

Australian Players are the 6th ranked country in the world with respect EVE-Online players (http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/csm8-election-results/) ...

But all good... we are happy to "take one for the team" .. just the kinda guys we are :P

RD

EVE Down Under - www.evedownunder.com - AUTZ = Best TZ
Lucian Thorundan
House Of Serenity.
#14 - 2014-06-12 14:13:45 UTC  |  Edited by: Lucian Thorundan
Dave Stark wrote:
not sure if i want to call it a "nicest beaches in the world tax" or some reference about australia being a prison.

either way, since the australian players are the lowest percentage of the player base, it makes no sense to move it in to any other timezone's prime time.


Funnily as NGR said, there is another time zone in the mid pacific where it would be better suited.

Just a few hours earlier would be brilliant and would not really affect anybody else in any adverse way.

EDIT: except maybe a few CCP staff members who might have to start earlier, but whats that cost compared the love and affection of a whole nation :)
Velicitia
XS Tech
#15 - 2014-06-12 15:29:28 UTC
Fer'isam K'ahn wrote:

The bigger issue of DT that I see is rather for people playing till DT, cause all the regular asteroid belts are empty like 6 hours before. I would rather see 2 DTs or a 12 hour respawn cycle for those, maybe with a bit less density. Or like Ice belts, 8 hours after depletion and on DT again.



nah, this would be bad.

Better that belts only spawn on Monday and Friday again.

You want that ore, you fight for it.

One of the bitter points of a good bittervet is the realisation that all those SP don't really do much, and that the newbie is having much more fun with what little he has. - Tippia
nGR RDNx
Beta Crucis
Endeavour.
#16 - 2014-06-12 17:41:41 UTC
Velicitia wrote:
Fer'isam K'ahn wrote:

The bigger issue of DT that I see is rather for people playing till DT, cause all the regular asteroid belts are empty like 6 hours before. I would rather see 2 DTs or a 12 hour respawn cycle for those, maybe with a bit less density. Or like Ice belts, 8 hours after depletion and on DT again.



nah, this would be bad.

Better that belts only spawn on Monday and Friday again.

You want that ore, you fight for it.


DT only once/twice a week would make me a happy gamer ... Smile

EVE Down Under - www.evedownunder.com - AUTZ = Best TZ
baltec1
Bat Country
Pandemic Horde
#17 - 2014-06-12 17:53:16 UTC
CCP do it in office hours, no matter when they do it it will be in someones primetime.
Caldari 5
D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F. S.A.S
Affirmative.
#18 - 2014-06-12 18:00:46 UTC
As has been mentioned in this thread, moved the DT to a less populated TZ would be good, or at Least indicating the Approximate length of the DT would be awesome(like to the nearest 5 or 10min)

My pet peeve for DT is the removal of wrecks/containers from space. Eg finished a few anoms and mid salvaging when DT hits, all that loot/salvage gone. or doing a mining op using Enormous Freight Containers, whoops didn't pick them up they gone :( , it would be good if these stayed in space and got removed as per normal de-spawn timers. eg Wrecks/Jet Cans 2 hours from creation.
nGR RDNx
Beta Crucis
Endeavour.
#19 - 2014-06-12 18:07:10 UTC
baltec1 wrote:
CCP do it in office hours, no matter when they do it it will be in someones primetime.


Indeed... and one of my key points being .. how about we move it to Tongan primetime.. not Australia... given AU is the 6th ranked EVE country in the world.. just sayin :)


EVE Down Under - www.evedownunder.com - AUTZ = Best TZ
Kasife Vynneve
Aliastra
Gallente Federation
#20 - 2014-06-12 19:38:18 UTC
Put it in the mid of USTZ.
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