Hofix changes¿

[GregJL]

Usually with a hotfix to game mechanics they say in the hotfix announcement what they are fixing. This one has none, so it may have to do with something on the back end that isn't supposed to be general knowledge (e.g., security issues). It could also be that they aren't sure it will actually fix the issue, so why get people's hopes up. Oh wait, that could NEVER happen with Turbine!

I am personally hoping for lag fixes. Having a lot of hitching lately. Course, that was happening before the expansion, but what wasn't happening was the load icon.


Edit: Sapience, cut that out!

[Domine]

Actually there's a lot of time zone confusion going on here... technically EST (Eastern Standard Time) is -5 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)... but right now, it's actually EDT (Eastern Daylight Time - despite the server messages claiming it is EST) which is -4 GMT (what the server messages are claiming is conversion from EST), but still -5 BST (British Summer Time - which is what England is on right now)...

So to answer the question, the servers were brought down at 8 AM EDT until 10 AM EDT, which will be 3PM BST when they should be back online. Or about 42 minutes from now...

[Floxxx]

Actually there's a lot of time zone confusion going on here... technically EST (Eastern Standard Time) is -5 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)... but right now, it's actually EDT (Eastern Daylight Time - despite the server messages claiming it is EST) which is -4 GMT (what the server messages are claiming is conversion from EST), but still -5 BST (British Summer Time - which is what England is on right now)...

So to answer the question, the servers were brought down at 8 AM EDT until 10 AM EDT, which will be 3PM BST when they should be back online. Or about 42 minutes from now...

actually it only says "Eastern", not "EST"

[Domine]

actually it only says "Eastern", not "EST"

Touche.

It was another poster than said EST. My mistake.

[Floxxx]

Touche.

It was another poster than said EST. My mistake.

My post said EST, the mistake is mine

[Loriandra1979]

about half an hour to go guys, it's about 9:30 over there...

seems I was wrong about the time after all... *mutters* stupid time zones...

[Sapience]

Touche.

It was another poster than said EST. My mistake.

My post said EST, the mistake is mine

We try not to use EST and EDT designations because it just leads to more confusion. This is why we use the GMT offset when posting down times. Pretty simple thing to take the stated time, add back the offset and then add in your own country's offset.

We do this because so many people complained about the use of EST and EDT and wanted to see the GMT offset so they could do the math themselves.

[TizianEnel]

We try not to use EST and EDT designations because it just leads to more confusion. This is why we use the GMT offset when posting down times. Pretty simple thing to take the stated time, add back the offset and then add in your own country's offset.

We do this because so many people complained about the use of EST and EDT and wanted to see the GMT offset so they could do the math themselves.

I think a simple solution would be to code a clock into the launcher, then refer to that clock for the notes. This clock would take the time not from the users local machine but from some turbine source. Then people wouldn't even have to do their own timezone conversion math anymore, particularly if the following idea is also coded:

When there's a countdown until a downtime or event starts or ends, there could be an additional (or replacement) clock displaying the amount of time left.

Or the launcher clock and notes get converted to the timezone set for your machine automatically. With an option to disable that if people should want to. There is always one!
---

And as an offtopic sidenote, could you please fix daily quests to show cooldown for servertime instead of local time? Somewhat frustrating to have quests actually come off cooldown 8 hours after the displayed value.. or require a logoff to fix. If you're online when the quests would end their cooldown (in your local time) they'll even show up as available.. but nothing happens when you try to talk to the npcs with the pretty ring symbol above their heads.

[Fruinjuice]

We do this because so many people complained about the use of EST and EDT and wanted to see the GMT offset so they could do the math themselves.

Bullocks! People never want to do math themselves!

But I do agree with the EDT / EST confusion as I was trying to explain in-game that how CDT related to EST and I believe I confused us both.

[Rafalek]

Hello Guys,

To escape any confusion about timezones, I always drop into the german section of the announcements and check time there. Celestrata posts it in local time, which happens to be the same also for my country (to get the UK time, simply deduct one hour).

Die HdRO-Spielserver werden Dienstag, den 4. Oktober von 14:00 Uhr – 16:00 Uhr MEZ (GMT +2) wegen eines Hotfix heruntergefahren. Vielen Dank für eure Geduld und bis bald im Spiel!

[Sapience]

Hello Guys,

To escape any confusion about timezones, I always drop into the german section of the announcements and check time there. Celestrata posts it in local time, which happens to be the same also for my country (to get the UK time, simply deduct one hour).

Yep. We have pre-written text for downtimes in English, French and German with times expressed in the appropriate manner (like the use of a 24 hour clock). Whoever ends up posting the information just updates the times from a little chart we made up.

[Korrigan]

actually it only says "Eastern", not "EST"

I can assure you server time in LOTRO is "EST". Put a Vista/7 clock widget with "EST" time on it and you'll be fine.

But Sapience cleared it up in the meantime too

[Kaynith]

I can assure you server time in LOTRO is "EST". Put a Vista/7 clock widget with "EST" time on it and you'll be fine.

For folks in Europe and the rest of the world, this is probably the best suggestion I've seen.

I have one of these set for Queensland, as I have some Aussie friends, and it's nice to know when they're actually awake to talk to them online, and when it's midnight there.

I have some good friends in the UK and Ireland as well so adding +5 hours is easy for me to remember. But, for most folks, the best bet is what was suggested above. Set that little widget, and your problems should be (mostly) solved from here on out.

[Merilda]

I can assure you server time in LOTRO is "EST". Put a Vista/7 clock widget with "EST" time on it and you'll be fine.

But Sapience cleared it up in the meantime too

All the years I've been MMOing and trying to clear up the confusion that timezones cause, it hadn't ocurred to me to do something so simple before!

I now have 2 clocks on my desk top: UK and EST times.

[Korrigan]

All the years I've been MMOing and trying to clear up the confusion that timezones cause, it hadn't ocurred to me to do something so simple before!

I now have 2 clocks on my desk top: UK and EST times.

Hehe I'm used to it since I work with the US (both coasts) regularly. I have both EST and PST time clocks on my desktop for years now.

You can also do this on your Android phone (and I suppose on your iPhone too, but I don't own one so not sure).

[defrule]

I want to know the fixes!

[HampshireMick]

It was much easier to know what time fixes were due to be completed when we had codemasters.

[ragein]

maybe they fixing when i wear a certain helmet my face fur disappears

[Dereck9o9]

... and the IUA problem preventing to use the plugins ?? Nothing ...
... the item names (like 'sword 1', 'sword 2' or 'To Be Defined') ?? Nothing ...
... the translation in French/German of all quests and movies ?? Nothing ...

You know, it's not serious for a company like Turbine. Of course, I remain a fan of Lotro and understand it will require more time to solve every problem but I'm disappointed of your contempt for the French and German players. Codemasters was criticized in his time but the translations were clean, with a very good translation.

Today, implemented only a small fix to solve a problem with the servers is RIDICULOUS while the game has become unstable with a lot of important bugs ...

I'm really disappointed ...

PS : sorry for my English but it is not my native language !

Have a nice day