Midnight Performance Update

Players were surprised when servers went down at midnight PST last night for a Hotfix. This hotfix is targeted at Performance issues which continue to dog EQ2. From the EQ2 Forums by Rothgar:

Tonight’s hotfix introduced a few changes that have been on the test server for a few weeks. I’d like to hear your feedback to see if any of these performance issues have gotten better after tonight.

First, we made a change to the zoning processes that should hopefully speed it up. In addition we’ve extended our logging in this area to help us better troubleshoot long zoning times. If you’re someone who occasionally hits long zoning times, let us know if you see an improvement after tonight.

Second, we’ve made some changes to the game servers related to the spell system. This should hopefully improve server lag but the amount can be difficult to quantify. Let us know how your lag situation looks after tonight.

These are only the first changes to come. We will continue to look at performance improvements over the next few updates.

Thanks!

As for why the downtime happened at midnight instead of at the usual 6 or 7am time, the cause is related to the Free Armbands promotion which we’ll be posting about momentarily. Rothgar again with the great communication:

Sorry for the miscommunication about the downtime. There was a last minute change to avoid two downtimes in a single day.

Due to a marketing promotion that begins tonight at midnight, the servers needed to be rebooted. Rather than taking them down again at 7am for the hotfix, it was decided that we’d update the servers with the hotfix during the midnight downtime.

So in essence, you’ve been saved a downtime.