Server Downtimes/Upgrades

[Zakas]

Here's something that I haven't seen much mention of. I know it's a little early to be talking about this, but it seems most MMO's have a patch process which results in extended server downtimes (sometimes days...)

Has Funcom made any improvements to patching processes to minimize server downtimes? Will the servers be all brought down at once: either globally, Internationally by Zone (ie North America, Europe), or will they be upgraded on a smaller scale (server by server?).

1 month, 23 days, 4 hours, 2 minutes, and 59 seconds
until Age of Conan is released!

[Athelan]

Originally Posted by Zakas

Here's something that I haven't seen much mention of. I know it's a little early to be talking about this, but it seems most MMO's have a patch process which results in extended server downtimes (sometimes days...)

Has Funcom made any improvements to patching processes to minimize server downtimes? Will the servers be all brought down at once: either globally, Internationally by Zone (ie North America, Europe), or will they be upgraded on a smaller scale (server by server?).

1 month, 23 days, 4 hours, 2 minutes, and 59 seconds
until Age of Conan is released!

Most extended downtimes are due to hardware or issues with a patch as it is pushed live. As this is unpredictable we can only do our best to pretest content and patching to make sure the live patches go as smooth as possible. I am guessing that servers will be brought down at certain times respective to their time zones to minimize player impact.