Updates

OK...I KNOW it's been done before. And no, it's not a major whine, but is it possible for LL's to perhaps allow ONE week a month when the update ISN'T during the middle of the Wednesday in Europe?
I own a sim. I have ONE day a week when I can GUARANTEE I am free pretty much all day. Perfect to get all the maintenance done. No, it's Wednesday. Now if the updates were monthly, no problem. OR, as above, once a month when it ISN'T European time.
Perhaps it will change now in any case. Big play was made in the blogs regarding the new registration system and how prior to it, the ratio of SL users was 75/25 US based. Now it is more like 50/50 according to LL's. If that IS the case, then perhaps any Lindens reading may consider a little leeway this side of the waters...

Like most American companies, they're happy to take our money, but don't consider our needs when it comes to inconvenience.

Lewis

What does Wednesday have to do with Europe ?

Yes, the Europeans are fscked mostly by these 'wednesday updates'. It means you pay for 7 days a week, but only get about 6 for your money

Todays update was also unannounced, so all those who had events planned, meetings, whatever, are fscked...

as always something has to eff you sideways

I"m completely behind you on this topic. One day a week I am guaranteed time with a loved one who lives halfway across the world and that one day a week includes 5+ hours of play time that we have available to us.

I've complained and begged previously that they change the days, altering them or at least the time that they are done and it seems more people have a problem with that than there are people whose windows of opportunity lie on Wednesdays.

I find it very inconsiderate and actually a slap in the face of all their clients who have this similar problem. But I"m finding the Lindens and even some citizens of SL who will reply to this to be very uncaring and rude. While this last statement sounds harsh, I"m not sure I know of another way. I've been in SL for more than six months and spent a great deal of money in the economy, yet on this topic, no one of the powers that be are willing to consider a change, much less even reply.

I feel for you sweetie pea. Truly I do. I share your pain.

how does this effect europeans any more then it effects anyone else?
i play durring the day u.s. time so it effects me alot every single week im sorry but i see posts every week about it effecting the people on european time it effects EVERYONE that plays on this time not just you

almost every game i have ever played updates on this day at this time and yes it sucks

Well I ask again. What have Wednesdays got to do with being in Europe ?

Whatever day it was, someone would be inconvenienced, though I sympathise with those it does.

It has been explained that by doing it on Wednesday it gives the maximum time both before and after to prepare for the update and then resolve any issues before the weekend. It makes perfect sense to me.

It's cuz its hump day they figure we get mad on Wednesdays by Thursday we've over it for another week ( yeah right)

I know what you mean. I called this one store in London and they are closed by the time I'm off work and at home here in the US. The nerve of them!

6 AM - noon SL time => 3 PM to 9 PM European time. That's afternoon and most of evening, it's the time Europeans are mostly online. (Who work, or study, get home during afternoon or the evening.) Sometimes it takes longer to update (with the usual database startup, load times after the system), meaning that on that day SL might be unusable for Europeans.

CJ, you're vision is through a tunnel. The man only expressed his situation in Europe. So what? Anytime you set an update at the same time, on the same day of the week, a great deal of people around the world will be affected.

Why not share the pain? Why not alter days, or just alter the times on Wednesdays? If the Lindens don't care to come into work during their evenings, then at least change the days up. I'm not so uncaring, next week, try Tuesday, during their workday....or Thursday!

This isn't rocket science and would be fair to all SL citizens.

yes its very annoying, i only just got on and got this message saying were closing for an update in 5 minutes im like doh!

CJ.... perhaps the day is unimportant (except to me...
BUT..... scheduling the TIME differently may be enough. Sure, WHATEVER day\time it is done, SOMEONE is going to be inconvenienced, but currently, it's the SAME people each time.
I suggested perhaps once a month when it may be varied, personally, I don't think that's too much to ask.

It's like the old gag "A house in London is broken into EVERY 10 minutes. The owner, is getting REALLY peed off!"...

LL is in USA, so are they expected to work at 2am to do an update?

ALL, repeat ALL online games have a day where they update, and every one I have every played has been during USA day times, none at evening, none at night.

This is a normal, and it does effect people in USA as well, but that is part of playing an online game, it does change, it will change, which makes it worth while.

So changing the time to AM (night), would mean LL would have to pay overtime to employees, which means they would have to charge more just to try to break even, and I know there would be more screaming about having to actually pay to play Secondlife, as can play for free right now, and actaully make money for something that cost you nothing.

So you can play for free already, and now you want LL to spend more money so you can play longer for free? lol

Ok, feel better now after getting that out..hehe

A tradition at one of my message boards I frequent involves coloring a quote lime if it speaks the truth very well. And if I could color quotes here, your quote would be as lime colored as it can get.

So just because it's always been this way, is your excuse? That is the defence you are using for the Lindens? Okay, sweetie pea...what say you to the Lindens changing the day up every once in a blue moon, and rather than spending 5 hours every Wednesday morning (their time), they do it in the afternoon?

Flexaiblity is not a word in the Lindens, nor your vocabulary. Just like asking the Lindens to do the update every Saturday, missing time out with the families seems most unjust, I believe it is equally as unfair to ask the same group of people to experience it week in and week out.

Tolerance for all.

in all honesty does it matter what time of day that they do this?
and before any one goes off into a rant about my post, i am in the UK and this does not bother me really it means i go play other games or read these forums.
Honestly this comes up alot and is getting somewhat old now.
personally i am more thankfull that they are updating as aposed to not updating, i have played games where the updates are few and far between try playing those games with bugs that remain in place for months on end and never fixed.
LL is a US based company did anyone honestly expect the updates to happen at any other time than in the morning? its early as well which means that alot of the European players will still be on their way home from work.

Okay, please do offer up a suggestion to LL as to which group of people to inconvience (other than yourselves of course).

No matter what time period LL picks to do updates it will inconvience some group by being in their main play time. So, which group shall it be? Asia? I have tonnes of friends in SL that are in Asia and Auatralia...are they less worthy than you or me or anyone? How about the Middle East and Russia? I know several friends in Turkey, Ukraine, and other areas of those time zones that would be inconvienced in their main play time. Who do we choose?

The simple solution is for LL to do the maintence on the time that is best and most economical for THEM.

Do they do this to inconvience us? Not hardly. Is it a personal attack against Brits and Euros? Not hardly. Like every business around the world, they do their matience when it makes most sense for them to do it and when its most cost effective. I am sure they are very sorry it inconviences many of us. But they would inconvience someone no matter what time they did it.

For those that live in SL as opposed to real life, I suppose it doesn't matter.

For those of us with real lives, jobs, careers and loved ones who have schedules as well, it does have more or an impact.

Zoe, you are very correct. They will inconvience people no matter when they choose to update.

The point some are seemingly missing here is, inconvenice different groups. Don't just shut down time for ONE particular group week after week after week. Stagger it so that ONE group isn't always penalized.

The only answer in such a situation is to show no favouritism. How? By offending everyone and shutting SL down for a 24-hour block during each upgrade. That way everyone gets equally annoyed

Would you like to be the people at LL that do the maintence if you work schedule was gonna have to change every week to keep from inconviencing someone "play" time? I wouldn't. It makes no logical business sense to do that and would make keeping employees in those positions near impossible. Last thing I want is LL having to hire new unexperienced people every few months to handle updates because the experienced ones couldn't reconcile having to find baby sitters at odd schedules every week and constantly reorganize their lives around updates.

bad Alazarin bad bad, to the corner for you lol.
the downside your great suggestion is that it will cause this argument all over again as they will just complain that it is offline over 2 days instead, one evening and one morning rofl.

i just can't see why this has to be brought up time and time again (not Alazarin's suggestion, but the whole time zone and SL being offline issue).
heck i would not even be home right now i would still be on a bus on my way home and by the time i get home SL would be up and running again.
oh the joys of working heh.

Sorry Zoe, I hear your arguement, but the point Im making is simply that we are ALL customers. I am being polite. I am certainly not looking at is as "jeez LL's! DO it this way or I WALK!" Merely pointing out the inconvenience on the SAME people each time.

I DO appreciate the fact that the company is based in the US. I DO appreciate the fact that they will doubtless take that into consideration as to when they update.

BUT, I don't think that as a paying customer I'm being too harsh simply asking for once a MONTH, for the update to perhaps take place on a Thursday Euro time.
How is THAT being difficult?