I think folks, that this isn't going to change. At best, they will adjust some events to end and start differently.
I disagree. I think there is a chance for it to change now.
You see, Nexon doesn't actually gain anything from the current situation. They don't make money off it, nor it is easier for them to operate. I believe that they made the decision on the spur of the moment, possibly because during the merge maintenance it became apparent that all game servers, including Luna, must be on the same timezone. They didn't want to force the Europeans to run on American time, so they chose a "neutral" timezone. Whatever the reason, nobody consulted the CM (who was on family leave at the time) or anyone else who knows anything about what effects "server time" has on gameplay, and it was just done. And now they don't want to admit they were wrong, so they keep it, confusing as it is for both company and players. And they keep making it worse by moving some events to run on PST or PDT while the others don't.
But now we have a new CM, and I believe it would be quite the feather in his cap to get this decision reversed. It's important both for him and for Nexon that he gain player gratitude and approval, and this would be a way to do it without Nexon losing a penny.
So, he gains that feather, Nexon gains the ladder to climb down from the tree they got stuck on (while getting credit for "listening to the players' concerns") at no cost in projected cash sales or developer time, and players get a predictable and consistent game clock. Win-win-win.
If Nexon really wants to keep UTC time, then THEY NEED to reschedule Kritias Invasion and Flag races!! So, ppl in America, the majority of GMS players, can play these contents. The first Invasion is at 4am EDT so 1am PDT. First flag race is early as well. It is not a great move changing UTC.
(Way late, but...) I agree with what AKradian and many others supporting his position said, and I'd like for it to switch back to PST/PDT... But just two points:
1. To me, not only is the execution of UTC being server time a problem, the way they let the players know was. I'm pretty sure in the Nexon Launcher update notes they basically only inserted one line of text regarding the matter, despite it being a huge change...
2. The only good point to this mess of a situation is that if you end up missing your dailies for a large portion of your day, then you could do them the next day before *whenever reset for your time zone is... PST 4PM/PDT 5PM* but that's beside the point. It's still a huge mess overall...
Finally, I know that many players, myself included, want PST/PDT back... But... there's so much that they still haven't completely fixed... ._. hopefully it's possible to be changed back... and hopefully they actually get around to fixing any of the other stuff...
(Way late, but...) I agree with what AKradian and many others supporting his position said, and I'd like for it to switch back to PST/PDT... But just two points:
1. To me, not only is the execution of UTC being server time a problem, the way they let the players know was. I'm pretty sure in the Nexon Launcher update notes they basically only inserted one line of text regarding the matter, despite it being a huge change...
2. The only good point to this mess of a situation is that if you end up missing your dailies for a large portion of your day, then you could do them the next day before *whenever reset for your time zone is... PST 4PM/PDT 5PM* but that's beside the point. It's still a huge mess overall...
Finally, I know that many players, myself included, want PST/PDT back... But... there's so much that they still haven't completely fixed... ._. hopefully it's possible to be changed back... and hopefully they actually get around to fixing any of the other stuff...
You're right that there are many issues with the game, but all we can do is keep bringing them up and asking for things to be fixed.
That's hilarious. And some of Europe's reset time+everything else just got pushed forward an hour. We have ours like a week after the US daylight savings. So since PDT is now an hour ahead of the old times, plus my hour now... That means sales and some events are now +2 hours from the old times for me...? I think. Wait...? Confusing as hell. It's 2 hours off the old regular times, but just one hour off when comparing to PDT's current salestime (that has been modified due to PDT for no reason, didn't they just change the sales to fit PDT's midnight before?).
How does time work. How does Nexon work.
I'm already confused. It won't matter much for in-game times, since those will just have shifted an hour for me (reset used to be at 1, now it's at 2 etc). But things like sales, hot week, hot day, and I assume 2x times and whatever other events that still go by PST and now modified to PDT, will be two hours ahead... I think.
I don't get how it would be so hard to just set everything at server reset, or everything back to PST/PDT. Seems like plain laziness or lack of interest in the players sanity.
I wouldn't even mind the extra downtime for daylight savings maintenances at this point, because I'm effectively "losing" 2 hours anyway, for the summer at least. I'll get them back in the winter, but that'll be just as confusing.
Edit: Tried to make sense of the times by comparing to last year, but couldn't so I just erased a chunk of my post that made no sense at all to me or anyone else probably.
I don't mind the UCT time, as both are pretty inconvenient for me (Australian) so I can almost never participate in timed events regardless - but what I would like to see implemented is an in-game clock, regardless of which timezone Nexon chooses.
Oh look, yet another event that even Nexon didn't know would start on midnight PDT : the Burning Project, which was originally announced as starting at midnight UTC.
Please stop this farce.
And if it takes an 8-hour maintenance to move the server clock back, then take those 8 hours. We've survived longer outages before. Doing that once is better than constantly confusing both us and yourselves with multiple "system" timezones.
Oh look, yet another event that even Nexon didn't know would start on midnight PDT : the Burning Project, which was originally announced as starting at midnight UTC.
Please stop this farce.
And if it takes an 8-hour maintenance to move the server clock back, then take those 8 hours. We've survived longer outages before. Doing that once is better than constantly confusing both us and yourselves with multiple "system" timezones.
but if they do that, they won't be able to parade around how "global" their audience is now
even if that does require sticking your fingers in your ears and going LALALALALALALALALALA when things go hilariously wrong because of an idiotic decision
looking for this because i dont need those "sale may start at 12pm or 1am or something like this" when server time is at 5pm? pst now i think. Like how about you make ONE time the TRUE SERVER TIME and ALL sales/RESETS happen at this time -,-?
This event was originally described (in the Update Notes) as starting and ending by UTC. Then it inexplicably failed to start until midnight PDT, so the update notes were amended.
But then it did end on midnight UTC.
Nexon, what is it going to take to convince you that you can't handle multiple timezones in the game servers?
Put the servers back on California time, please. Even Luna if you have to. Being able to know when things start and end is infinitely more important than being "global".
Same thing with Maple Leaf High starting at UTC, but additional keys not being available until the sales start at PDT. It's unnecessarily confusing. Either make everything UTC or make everything PDT, or any other timezone, but make sure it's all on the same one.
There still have been no changes made to flag race times, invasion or other time related quests such as calling Orchid. We've been on UTC for how long now? And how long has it been since these changes were promised?
Same thing with Maple Leaf High starting at UTC, but additional keys not being available until the sales start at PDT. It's unnecessarily confusing. Either make everything UTC or make everything PDT, or any other timezone, but make sure it's all on the same one.
And I fully expect the keys to still be sold in the Cash Shop after the school has closed, leading to people crying about being ripped off.
There still have been no changes made to flag race times, invasion or other time related quests such as calling Orchid. We've been on UTC for how long now? And how long has it been since these changes were promised?
They were promised in the same stream I was referring to in the opening post of this thread: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/107526285
Four months ago. (Might have been promised earlier than that but I can't find a post about it).
The only things that were done were changing and adding 2x, Spell Trace Fever, and Miracle Time slots. Which is nice, but nowhere near enough.
I disagree, I am satisfied with the way our timezones are set already. Please do not take this personal in any way. The current timezone is simply more conveniently structured around when I work, when I get home, etc...
I disagree, I am satisfied with the way our timezones are set already.
You are satisfied with some content/events going by UTC, some going by PST, some going by PDT, and some going by an unpredictable combination of the above?
Funny how Nexon is more interested in catering to the EMS players, a minority of their population, than their GMS players.
There's a political joke here somewhere.
I am satisfied with them because they are convenient to me.
It is convenient to you that Attendance resets at midnight UTC, but Hot Days reset at 1AM PDT?
Or that the Burning Project started at midnight PDT but ended at midnight UTC?
The problem we're having isn't with UTC as such. The problem is that Nexon can't seem to pull it off. If Nexon were consistent about making everything work by UTC, we'd be fine with it. Everyone will have adapted by now.
The problems are:
1. Inconsistency. See above.
2. Time-dependent content (like Flag Races etc) running at inconvenient times for the majority. Nexon promised, 4 months ago, to look into scheduling and make content accessible to everyone, whether they're in America, Europe, or Australia. But very little has been done.
Comments
I disagree. I think there is a chance for it to change now.
You see, Nexon doesn't actually gain anything from the current situation. They don't make money off it, nor it is easier for them to operate. I believe that they made the decision on the spur of the moment, possibly because during the merge maintenance it became apparent that all game servers, including Luna, must be on the same timezone. They didn't want to force the Europeans to run on American time, so they chose a "neutral" timezone. Whatever the reason, nobody consulted the CM (who was on family leave at the time) or anyone else who knows anything about what effects "server time" has on gameplay, and it was just done. And now they don't want to admit they were wrong, so they keep it, confusing as it is for both company and players. And they keep making it worse by moving some events to run on PST or PDT while the others don't.
But now we have a new CM, and I believe it would be quite the feather in his cap to get this decision reversed. It's important both for him and for Nexon that he gain player gratitude and approval, and this would be a way to do it without Nexon losing a penny.
So, he gains that feather, Nexon gains the ladder to climb down from the tree they got stuck on (while getting credit for "listening to the players' concerns") at no cost in projected cash sales or developer time, and players get a predictable and consistent game clock. Win-win-win.
1. To me, not only is the execution of UTC being server time a problem, the way they let the players know was. I'm pretty sure in the Nexon Launcher update notes they basically only inserted one line of text regarding the matter, despite it being a huge change...
2. The only good point to this mess of a situation is that if you end up missing your dailies for a large portion of your day, then you could do them the next day before *whenever reset for your time zone is... PST 4PM/PDT 5PM* but that's beside the point. It's still a huge mess overall...
Finally, I know that many players, myself included, want PST/PDT back... But... there's so much that they still haven't completely fixed... ._. hopefully it's possible to be changed back... and hopefully they actually get around to fixing any of the other stuff...
You're right that there are many issues with the game, but all we can do is keep bringing them up and asking for things to be fixed.
Why?
How much more ridiculous do things have to get before you realize we need to go back to simple, clear, consistent server time?
How does time work. How does Nexon work.
I'm already confused. It won't matter much for in-game times, since those will just have shifted an hour for me (reset used to be at 1, now it's at 2 etc). But things like sales, hot week, hot day, and I assume 2x times and whatever other events that still go by PST and now modified to PDT, will be two hours ahead... I think.
I don't get how it would be so hard to just set everything at server reset, or everything back to PST/PDT. Seems like plain laziness or lack of interest in the players sanity.
I wouldn't even mind the extra downtime for daylight savings maintenances at this point, because I'm effectively "losing" 2 hours anyway, for the summer at least. I'll get them back in the winter, but that'll be just as confusing.
Edit: Tried to make sense of the times by comparing to last year, but couldn't so I just erased a chunk of my post that made no sense at all to me or anyone else probably.
Please stop this farce.
And if it takes an 8-hour maintenance to move the server clock back, then take those 8 hours. We've survived longer outages before. Doing that once is better than constantly confusing both us and yourselves with multiple "system" timezones.
but if they do that, they won't be able to parade around how "global" their audience is now
even if that does require sticking your fingers in your ears and going LALALALALALALALALALA when things go hilariously wrong because of an idiotic decision
This time, a truly original combo: an event that started by PDT, but ended by UTC.
The Burning Project. http://forums.maplestory.nexon.net/discussion/11759/when-will-the-burning-project-end-forum-game
This event was originally described (in the Update Notes) as starting and ending by UTC. Then it inexplicably failed to start until midnight PDT, so the update notes were amended.
But then it did end on midnight UTC.
Nexon, what is it going to take to convince you that you can't handle multiple timezones in the game servers?
Put the servers back on California time, please. Even Luna if you have to. Being able to know when things start and end is infinitely more important than being "global".
There still have been no changes made to flag race times, invasion or other time related quests such as calling Orchid. We've been on UTC for how long now? And how long has it been since these changes were promised?
They were promised in the same stream I was referring to in the opening post of this thread: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/107526285
Four months ago. (Might have been promised earlier than that but I can't find a post about it).
The only things that were done were changing and adding 2x, Spell Trace Fever, and Miracle Time slots. Which is nice, but nowhere near enough.
You are satisfied with some content/events going by UTC, some going by PST, some going by PDT, and some going by an unpredictable combination of the above?
There's a political joke here somewhere.
It is convenient to you that Attendance resets at midnight UTC, but Hot Days reset at 1AM PDT?
Or that the Burning Project started at midnight PDT but ended at midnight UTC?
The problem we're having isn't with UTC as such. The problem is that Nexon can't seem to pull it off. If Nexon were consistent about making everything work by UTC, we'd be fine with it. Everyone will have adapted by now.
The problems are:
1. Inconsistency. See above.
2. Time-dependent content (like Flag Races etc) running at inconvenient times for the majority. Nexon promised, 4 months ago, to look into scheduling and make content accessible to everyone, whether they're in America, Europe, or Australia. But very little has been done.