On the live stream, @SavageAce said this:
"The reason we switched our service to UTC was to standardize the time zones between our European and North American servers, and make it easier for us to plan out event times and such. Now, we do realize it did cause previous events, previous reset times, to be a little bit inconvenient, so we are looking into that. Future events like 2x, spell trace fever, we've already adjusted the times a little bit, to account for UTC and the different players playing all around the world. But we do want to make it convenient for, not just people in North America, or Europe, specifically, but all of our players all around the world."
However, in reality, that is not what is happening.
In particular, we see that Nexon still thinks in PST. Event notices have the PST time listed first, and UTC isn't listed at all. And for 2x, for example, the notice shows 3 sessions for Saturday and 3 for Sunday - but in UTC it's actually two sessions on Saturday, 3 on Sunday, and one on Monday.
As for planning events for European players: GM events were scheduled so well that the Luna ones always happened at like 3AM CET on Monday, of all days. Clearly, posting the times in UTC didn't cause any red flags to pop in the mind of anyone at Nexon.
Hot Days still happen on PST time, and Cash Shop sales reset by PST time. But most in-game resets go by UTC.
And then there are the things that even Nexon itself doesn't know what timezone they're scheduled for, like the New Year's Shop...
Finally, there is the issue of server maintenances. I understand that they're still in the morning PST because the staff that do them is in California. However, it means that if a patch maintenance runs overtime - as they all too often do - it can easily go past the daily reset, effectively cutting out a day of play for whatever new events are introduced in said patch.
There is no such thing as a truly "neutral" or "global" timezone. Any clock chosen is bound to be more natural to some players than to others. I believe that the majority of GMS players are still in America, and therefore a server reset that occurs during American nighttime is natural to them.
I believe it would be best for both Nexon and the players if the servers were put back on PST. It would make everything reset at the same time, and it would make scheduling easy for Nexon and clear for the players.Edit: This is the original announcement and discussion thread for this topic: http://forums.maplestory.nexon.net/discussion/4197/game-server-time-changes
And in particular, my take on it: http://forums.maplestory.nexon.net/discussion/comment/12428/#Comment_12428 and 9 others.
and 9 others.
Comments
Event scheduling is still problematic and confusing.
For example, we currently have Bingo and XO events running - from midnight to 3PM PST. That's 8AM - 11PM server time, which makes sense if server time coincides with player time (as it does in Korea). But when the server time is "standard", it makes it extremely inconvenient for Americans to participate, since it all falls on the time when they're asleep or at school/work. Why not make the event run around the clock, as befits a global service?
And yet, not even the person who wrote the event notes and put in 12AM-3PM PST (the UTC time isn't even listed there), realized something was amiss.
For another example, we have the Maplehood Watch event. Many people missed the first day because they read "log in on Saturday" and didn't realize "Saturday" ends at 4PM. It doesn't help that Hot Days still run on PST, and so did the VVeekend benefits (50% off honor, etc). So usually when a web notice says "log in on Saturday" it's PST. But no, this time it was Saturday UTC.
Please bring the server time, at least for the North American region servers, back in sync with Nexon time and the time of the majority of your players. It will be so much more convenient for everyone. (Yes, even Europeans, because they, too, won't have to wonder whether any particular event goes by UTC or by PST).
And yeah, every day-specific event there seems to be a new batch of players asking why they aren't able to participate at, say, 5PM PST lol.
Calling Orchid is especially problematic because game maintenances now start in the afternoon (UTC), and if it's a patch maintenance or just a long regular maintenance, it's going to last through the Orchid calling window.
It's time we revert back to PST. It's seriously getting out of hand and the are no benefits from keeping UTC.
Change server time back to PST. Nexon
http://maplestory.nexon.net/news/20423/updated-hot-weekend-1-28-1-29
But idk. whats the point of choosing NA or Europe if the times are the same. If its because you have servers locally to no have latency issues in the EU.. ok then its not on the same server as NA so change the NA server time to reflect that, if they are in the same server room whats the point of having us pick which to be on.
The worst part is that this only applies to some events. Others are still working on the PST schedule, so I have no idea when events are actually supposed to end at 3AM like they have been for 15 YEARS, or if they're going to end at 7PM just because someone coded in UTC instead of PST...
Overall I'd say the switch to UTC has been a failure. Please return to PST until functional adjustments to schedules, in-game and out, can be made.
Did you even read what I wrote, or what the others wrote, or the original discussion thread?
Nexon itself is inconsistent about times (some things work on UTC, some on PST), the event times are inconvenient for the majority of players (I mean sure, a player can Google and find out that Flag Races now run at 3AM their time, but it's illogical to expect them to set an alarm to participate), and did you know you'll have to Google all over again next month and get used to a new reset time (because UTC doesn't observe Daylight Savings Time)?
UTC just makes things more complicated than they have to be, and more error prone. Absolutely nothing is gained by using it. So there is no justification for making everyone learn to live with it.
1. "The reason we switched our service to UTC was to standardize the time zones between our European and North American servers..."
While showing consideration towards our European counterparts is a very good thing to do, there's nothing you can do about them being an entire ocean away and thus operating on different times, which means that no matter what time you pick, you'll never be able to sync our time zones for optimal play for everybody. No matter what time zone you pick, there'll always be some inconvenience. So if there's going to be inconvenience anyway, why not pick a time zone that would give consideration to the greatest amount of people rather than their geographical location.
2. "...and make it easier for us to plan out event times and such."
You did not make things easier on yourselves because you never got rid of your PST mindset so now, you're operating on two different time zones rather than one. Server resets are UTC and whatever the hell else is PST. As the New Year's Shop fiasco has demonstrated and the fact that this Valentine's event didn't even start at UTC midnight or PST midnight for some inexplicable reason, it's clear that even you can't keep track of your time. And if you can't do it, what makes you think your players will? It's like planning half your life in one time zone and half your life in another. Operating two different time zones is complicated and unnecessary.
3. "Now, we do realize it did cause previous events, previous reset times, to be a little bit inconvenient, so we are looking into that."
Things are still inconvenient three months later. This whole thread is about how inconvenient it is for everyone. With this new setup, you've effectively wrecked many people's ability to participate in events or finish whatever they need to finish before the reset. Even your workaround regarding the 2x and Spell Trace by dividing it up into three parts is unnecessary if you just made the event last a whole day (but don't do that before you fix this horrid, horrid The Lag).
4. "But we do want to make it convenient for, not just people in North America, or Europe, specifically, but all of our players all around the world."
You cannot please everyone so stop trying. By trying to cater to absolutely everyone by finding middle ground, you make things equally unsatisfactory for everyone instead. As previously stated, show consideration to the greatest number of people rather than their geographical locations.
v183 Update Notes http://maplestory.nexon.net/news//20967/ specify for each event whether it ends at midnight UTC or midnight PDT.
What?
Why can't you make up your mind and have everything in-game consistent?
Why do players need to keep three different clocks in mind (their own, UTC, and PST/PDT)?
Are we even sure the event will go by midnight PDT, if the servers don't observe daylight savings time (UTC never moves)?
And will the in-game event list be correct, or still be a day off for some events?
Please, just go back to how it was, everything on California time (PST or PDT) and take out the neverending guesswork.
Players in Australia, Europe (pre-split accounts), and the Middle East managed perfectly well with the servers being on PST/PDT for all these years. We can do it again. Just move back to something that Nexon America can stay consistent with.
That's my thought.
LETS MAKE NEXON REVERTING SERVER TIME BACK TO PST IN THE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME foward 1 hour. THIS IS A GREAT MOMENT FOR ASKING since the maintenance is about to change server time !!!!!
EDIT: @AKradian Mind if you post a poll asking if we want revert time to PST in daylight time maintenance? Seems like a good oportunity to do it lol. But just make sure Nexon won't mess up with 2x EXP & Drop events.