Zhiitake@Splitpaw wrote:
I'm afraid this was a once-in-a-EQ2-time occurrence...
Nope. I'll pull back the curtain a little so y'all can see more about my end of things and what I'm going to try to do for you.
Whenever the U.S. servers are going to be updated/hotfixed I have a main line to that information. I can walk 20 meters to Kirstie's desk and prostrate myself before her grandness while I humbly request information. She makes all the updates happen, so she deserves that level of worship.
Whenever you note an emergency outage, or a "Very short notice" on the game servers going down for a hotfix or maintenance, that means we had an actual emergency that we didn't plan for, so I wasn't able to give advance notice. Otherwise, I'm in on the emails and the sneaker net communication loop, so I usually know when the U.S. servers are going to be brought down and can give ample warning.
The U.K. servers are different. They are handled by the International Team who takes care of all the non-U.S. servers in terms of making sure that whatever changes were done for the U.S. servers are going to work in the localized (international) servers, QA testing that localization to make sure it does not implode, and then scheduling an update in the most appropriate time possible (which isn't always the best time for you guys, but they do what they can).
That update gets communicated to the International Community team and noted on the Network Status page, and players from the French, German, and Japanese communities know where to go looking for that information, because we have special pages localized in the language for them. With the U.K. we don't have a separate page at EQ2Players.com where we communicate this information to you, because English is English and even if I say "Elevator" when you would say "Lift" we all tend to be able to understand each other at the end of the day.
End result of all of that is that the U.K. community does not have a standardized place to go looking for the information, and it wasn't on my radar to even notice and go "Hmmmm, that's strange." as I don't deal directly with our international communities. Which is what led to my recent embarrassment of not noting that Splitpaw is for English speakers. The first English speakers. So I chewed on some shoe leather and reflected upon this.
My French, German, and Japanese Community Reps are doing their best to take care of their communities, but I don't have a "English" Community Representative on the team. Oh wait... I do. Me. So while I was working the taste of shoe leather out of my mouth with a healthy washing of shame, I decided that I needed to be more alert to your needs, and keeping you guys in the loop. I don't need to be on the International team to communicate with you and share what you need to know.
So I've dug into the system, and think I know exactly where to look to find your hotfix and update plans, which I can cross check with the French and German reps as it's going to (usually) be on the same schedule (your servers are all in the same location I think), and then I can come to the forums and let you know.
All I ask is that you forgive me if I miss one since it's not in my normal communications flow, and that you tell your friends to keep an eye on the UK forums so they know the score as I post it. I'll do everything I can to post your hotfix/update times when I know those times (which is usually going to be after I post for the U.S. folks as the International team has their own schedule).
I'm also talking with the International Community manager to see if we can't find more ways to communicate to you about these things. We actually like ya! Heck, most of my ancestry is from the U.K!
LINK
(Grimwell) Re:Thanks Grimwell
