Two questions about things I don't get

Hi,

I just have two questions to ask about tonight's grid shutdown that I don't get.

First off, when the first notice that there was a problem arrived, it said there were problems with teleporting and I believe money too. But it most certainly said nothing about Search not working. Now I know from troubles in the past, that often comes right along with the teleporting issue, but if you do not say that you know about it, then it may be worthwhile to tell you that the problem exists. So I went to Live Help to speak up and tell you that Search didn't work. I tried five different times, and every time I tried to say anything, I was very succinctly informed that I was the only person in the conversation, and that my message would not be stored or transmitted. Now, the question here is, how are we supposed to tell you that something's wrong which you may OR MAY NOT be aware of already, if there's nobody to tell? Isn't that the whole point of Live Help?

Secondly, there's already been mention in the blog of changes, including five minute warnings before taking the grid down, etc. etc. Tonight we were in fact given that five minute warning. Well, thank you for that, it helps to have communication such as that. HOWEVER, you did NOT wait five minutes afterwards before you kicked us all out. We ACTUALLY had two minutes. Sure, three extra minutes may not have made a whole lot of difference, but if you're only going to give us two minutes, then why on Earth would you tell us we have five? Some kind of accuracy would be tremendously appreciated, as well as an explanation of how five can become two with nothing more than a "hold on guys...." from Jeska.

Hi Yngwie,

Part of the issue we experienced with the heavy database load was the Live Help system not being fully operational. So it wasn't that nobody was there to hear you, just that you were unable to connect. We're sorry for that inconvenience.

As to the actual number of minutes the warning provided, I really can't say if it was 5 or 2...I will have to take your word for it, and make the suggestion here that we be more careful in providing a full 5 minutes before taking the grid down. Be aware, however that this will not always be possible in the case of exploits and that your location on the grid might affect the actual amount of time before your region goes offline.