devtrackers.gg
So here we are, 1 year after Black Sunday Part I when all of the guild traders could be hired for 10k after the first attempt of multi-bidding went horribly wrong... Following this, there were posts claiming that it would happen again, then, incredibly, it happened again in May. Now after 2 Black Sundays ZOS has surprised us with their "solution". And not in a very positive way as far as I am able to judge. For all of you who haven't read it yet: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/540142/updates-to-guild-trader-swap-times
1. First of all: Could we talk about the general lack of clear communication again?
During the huge maintenance issue last Monday (11 hours!?) there was 0 communication, just extended maintenance announcements. Now a HUGE change to the current guild trader system is announced and we get this fuzzy text? No offense to Gina here!
August 3rd is today, a Monday, not yesterday when traders actually swapped. Was there no proofreading involved in such an important announcement?And why bother changing something now in the first place, months after the last issue and then only change the time of the swap instead of the code behind it? Don’t get me wrong - changing something that obviously had to be changed is good but not in this way. When will real changes actually be made?
2. Why do the guild kiosks still say 6 days, x hours left when trying to bid on guild traders, when it should be 8 days?
Sirinsidiator already asked about this in the original announcement post but AFAIK there has not been an answer yet - another communication issue.
3. A Tuesday? At 14:00 UTC? Really??
3.1 Tuesday has 0 connection to a “normal” week.
It’s not Sunday or even Monday. It’s Tuesday. How are casual players supposed to understand that the week finishes on Tuesdays now? We GMs have had enough problems teaching the casual gamers that the deadline for reaching their weekly minimum sales or make their donations was 19:00 UTC. That so many time zones are mixed up on the PC EU megaserver makes it even more difficult. And now somehow we're supposed to make everyone understand that the week finishes on Tuesdays at a time when most people are still at work?
3.2 This is very detrimental to the players.
So far, we've had the advantage of being able to use the weekend to make the large number of players who are particularly active on the weekend aware that they'll soon have to meet the weekly revenue requirements through mails or messages in guild chat. This won’t be the case anymore if the week finishes on a Tuesday. Furthermore, who wants to hear about their lacking sales at the weekend when only half of the trading week has already passed?
3.3 The guild leaders lose out again.
Many of the guild leaders will not be at home at the time of the new guild trader swap. Of course, some of them were working or going out on Sunday night also, but the whole idea is that Tuesday noon is less busy, so everyone is aware that many guild leaders will not be there, right? This is something ZOS voluntarily and consciously accepts.What if the expected Black Sunday Part III happens? If nothing is changed in the code, I don't think this is impossible on a Tuesday either. And if you aren’t at home, you won’t have the possibility to hire a trader if they are free again (although last time this also wasn't possible for the guilds that won...). This means that if you lose, you probably won't be able to look for a free trader and all traders will be gone by the time you get home.
Usually on Sundays or at least on weekends, all necessary decisions are made in peace. Events like sales events are planned, bids are discussed, members get reminders to sell and donate and you also just want to play the game yourself... it takes 30min to get to all zones and place all bids, especially with several trade guilds you have to bid for. Lots of time is needed for that, time you usually don’t have on a Tuesday morning.
Already placing bids on the weekend might not be the smartest move. First of all I don't have all the gold available and therefore can't properly decide where I want to bid. I can't change much on Monday/Tuesday, because deleting bids is still not possible. So should I wait until Tuesday to avoid that? And what if I come home late on Monday and don't log in anymore? Or there are unexpected delays during maintenance again? Should I log in at 4am on Tuesday before I go to work to place my bids?
3.4. What about the add-ons?
ZOS doesn’t provide any tools to monitor trade guild members’ sales or track donations. GMs have to rely on add-ons like MM, ATT and SGT. Will the new trader swap time break them? How long will it take for all the add-on developers to find the time to fix them if they haven’t done it already or if problems occur? Why hasn’t ZOS given them more time to adjust their essential add-ons? This week is already messed up regarding weekly requirements due to it being 9 days long instead of 7 and the uncertainty about what what the add-ons will track now. Will the next weeks be messed up too? That would be a huge issue for every serious trading guild.
Conclusion:
- Just moving the guild trader swap to a less populated time might help for now but it’s not a proper fix for the underlying issue
- ZOS hasn’t given us a say in this nor have they cared about our opinions or the issues it will bring for us. There is no talk about server improvement. It’s just hoping it will run smoother if fewer people are online
Why is the community not involved in decisions like this? Why is only the time being changed and not the code? Would it also be too heavy on the servers to let the switch happen earlier on a Sunday? Or on a Saturday? So we could at least have the weekend to take proper care of the guild management. Even Tuesday evening would be better than Tuesday noon when most people are still at work.
I really hope there will be enough employees around on Sunday, and next week on Tuesday, and that ZOS immediately takes down the servers if another Black Sunday or the first Black Tuesday occurs.
Overall another big disappointment and slap in the face.
1. First of all: Could we talk about the general lack of clear communication again?
During the huge maintenance issue last Monday (11 hours!?) there was 0 communication, just extended maintenance announcements. Now a HUGE change to the current guild trader system is announced and we get this fuzzy text? No offense to Gina here!
August 3rd is today, a Monday, not yesterday when traders actually swapped. Was there no proofreading involved in such an important announcement?And why bother changing something now in the first place, months after the last issue and then only change the time of the swap instead of the code behind it? Don’t get me wrong - changing something that obviously had to be changed is good but not in this way. When will real changes actually be made?
2. Why do the guild kiosks still say 6 days, x hours left when trying to bid on guild traders, when it should be 8 days?
Sirinsidiator already asked about this in the original announcement post but AFAIK there has not been an answer yet - another communication issue.
3. A Tuesday? At 14:00 UTC? Really??
3.1 Tuesday has 0 connection to a “normal” week.
It’s not Sunday or even Monday. It’s Tuesday. How are casual players supposed to understand that the week finishes on Tuesdays now? We GMs have had enough problems teaching the casual gamers that the deadline for reaching their weekly minimum sales or make their donations was 19:00 UTC. That so many time zones are mixed up on the PC EU megaserver makes it even more difficult. And now somehow we're supposed to make everyone understand that the week finishes on Tuesdays at a time when most people are still at work?
3.2 This is very detrimental to the players.
So far, we've had the advantage of being able to use the weekend to make the large number of players who are particularly active on the weekend aware that they'll soon have to meet the weekly revenue requirements through mails or messages in guild chat. This won’t be the case anymore if the week finishes on a Tuesday. Furthermore, who wants to hear about their lacking sales at the weekend when only half of the trading week has already passed?
3.3 The guild leaders lose out again.
Many of the guild leaders will not be at home at the time of the new guild trader swap. Of course, some of them were working or going out on Sunday night also, but the whole idea is that Tuesday noon is less busy, so everyone is aware that many guild leaders will not be there, right? This is something ZOS voluntarily and consciously accepts.What if the expected Black Sunday Part III happens? If nothing is changed in the code, I don't think this is impossible on a Tuesday either. And if you aren’t at home, you won’t have the possibility to hire a trader if they are free again (although last time this also wasn't possible for the guilds that won...). This means that if you lose, you probably won't be able to look for a free trader and all traders will be gone by the time you get home.
Usually on Sundays or at least on weekends, all necessary decisions are made in peace. Events like sales events are planned, bids are discussed, members get reminders to sell and donate and you also just want to play the game yourself... it takes 30min to get to all zones and place all bids, especially with several trade guilds you have to bid for. Lots of time is needed for that, time you usually don’t have on a Tuesday morning.
Already placing bids on the weekend might not be the smartest move. First of all I don't have all the gold available and therefore can't properly decide where I want to bid. I can't change much on Monday/Tuesday, because deleting bids is still not possible. So should I wait until Tuesday to avoid that? And what if I come home late on Monday and don't log in anymore? Or there are unexpected delays during maintenance again? Should I log in at 4am on Tuesday before I go to work to place my bids?
3.4. What about the add-ons?
ZOS doesn’t provide any tools to monitor trade guild members’ sales or track donations. GMs have to rely on add-ons like MM, ATT and SGT. Will the new trader swap time break them? How long will it take for all the add-on developers to find the time to fix them if they haven’t done it already or if problems occur? Why hasn’t ZOS given them more time to adjust their essential add-ons? This week is already messed up regarding weekly requirements due to it being 9 days long instead of 7 and the uncertainty about what what the add-ons will track now. Will the next weeks be messed up too? That would be a huge issue for every serious trading guild.
Conclusion:
- Just moving the guild trader swap to a less populated time might help for now but it’s not a proper fix for the underlying issue
- ZOS hasn’t given us a say in this nor have they cared about our opinions or the issues it will bring for us. There is no talk about server improvement. It’s just hoping it will run smoother if fewer people are online
Why is the community not involved in decisions like this? Why is only the time being changed and not the code? Would it also be too heavy on the servers to let the switch happen earlier on a Sunday? Or on a Saturday? So we could at least have the weekend to take proper care of the guild management. Even Tuesday evening would be better than Tuesday noon when most people are still at work.
I really hope there will be enough employees around on Sunday, and next week on Tuesday, and that ZOS immediately takes down the servers if another Black Sunday or the first Black Tuesday occurs.
Overall another big disappointment and slap in the face.