Why do All major MMO Buisnesses do this?

Why is it that in almost every single MMO out there, Eve, EQ, UO, Second Life. Why do they always wait untill 'after' they bring the 'world' back up to release the update to the public?... Why do they never make the update available while the 'world' is down to ease the burden on the servers when the game is brought back online?

Is there some kind of hidden 'rule' somewere in corperate thinking that makes them want to do things the hard way? =T Insead of haveing 3 million people trying to log in as normal with the updated software, they now have 3 million people trying to log in, some just to get the update, some to actualy play, and others simply trying to get the game to run.

Wouldnt it be a bit easier on everyone (includeing the servers) if they'd make the update available to download the instant they take the world down? I mean i know they cant do it while its still up, or you'd ahve people trying to log in with a different version than what is currently running.. but if the servers are down.. there's no way for them to log in.

Drum roll please!
*drum roll*
You can get the updated client on the downloads page.

I know that, and i have the updated client... though i still cant log in *sighs* i HATE patch days..

But thats becide the point. what im saying is That update wasnt even available till after they'd already restarted the servers right? Why didnt they let people download it while the servers were down instead of waiting till they come back up to finaly allow people to get it.

=8-o

Dunno, I downloaded and installed it some hours prior to the grid coming back up.

Did you try to log in whilst the grid was down? It won't let you log in, but it will check your viewer version and let you download/install the latest update.

It's to prevent pain if things go wrong - if the update turns out to be borked and the client is revlocked with the server, everyone who installed the new version will have to go back to the old one.. When companies wait to release the client, they wait until they're pretty sure that the server is going to work.

Actually, the new client was available by 10 AM PST(SLT). It's always available about 2 hours before they open the grid up to the users.