The Other Side of Patch Day

[Grimwell]

<div></div><div></div><div></div>Ever wonder what it's like to be a developer on patch day? I asked the team to share a few thoughts about their patch day before they dove into it, and put together a sampling for your reading pleasure.<div></div><p><a href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/news_archive.vm?id=1043&section=Community" target="_blank">Click here to view the thread on the EQ2 Players site.</a><span class="time_text"></span></p><p><a href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/news_archive.vm?id=1043&section=Community" target="_blank">International friendly link!</a></p><p>(let's hope I got that right)<span class="time_text"></span></p><p>Message Edited by Grimwell on <span class=date_text>01-31-2007</span> <span class=time_text>09:30 AM</span>

[EQ2Playa432]

I can't wait <span>:smileytongue:</span><div></div>

[Grimwell]

Now you don't have to!<div></div>

[Martrae]

This mean the patch is tomorrow? There's nothing on the Status page...<div></div>

[Kadurm]

<DIV>Bah! Sounds like a bunch of slackers if you ask me *evil grin*</DIV> <DIV>Seriously though, I can only imagine what you guys go through and can somewhat relate to it whenever we have worked a week of 18 hour days setting up a huge lighting rig for a major concert and I am running around like a blind chicken with one leg and a sprain in the other looking for problems or making sure everything is perfect and ready to go. And when the house lights go out, the roar of the crowd hits your ears and the first cue goes off without a hitch, then it's a momentary sigh of relief while I go about watching every moving light and par can to make sure they are doing what they should be when they should be doing it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Kudos to all you guys there, even if you do sometimes just <FONT color=#66ff33>BREAK </FONT><FONT color=#ffffff>it worse when you fix it. pfffft.</FONT></DIV>

[KerowynnKaotic]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> "Patch day? You mean that stuff I worked on a month ago? I'm already working on the next LU!"<BR><I><B>Jeremy Gess "Jindrack" - Game Designer, EverQuest II</B></I> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>*tisk**tisk* .. it's not a  " LU " ... it's a " GU "!! </P> <P>---</P> <P>Sacrifice a Fae!  Using a Ratonga is sure to bring out the bugs.   By using a Fae .. you will SQUASH the bugs .. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P> <P>Also, they look better dead and don't smell nearly as much, even after a week of laying on your bedroom floor ....</P> <P>Plus, they make great pincushions!  </P>

[Tstorm]

I love insight from the development team like this.  It helps make them more human.<div></div>

[Gethani]

Gnomes are a much better sacrifice then a Ratonga!!GethaniGuild Leader DevianceUnrest ServerProducer of EQ2's-day<div></div>

[Calthine]

That was a great read.  It's nice to hear from the behind the scenes folks.  (Or maybe they're the behind the behind the scenes folks!)<div></div>

[Jindrack]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> KerowynnKaotic wrote:<BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> "Patch day? You mean that stuff I worked on a month ago? I'm already working on the next LU!"<BR><I><B>Jeremy Gess "Jindrack" - Game Designer, EverQuest II</B></I> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>*tisk**tisk* .. it's not a  " LU " ... it's a " GU "!! </P> <P></P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Pfft... I'm old school, it's still LU to me. :smileytongue:

[Krilinye]

Grim, when posting links - could you throw in the /en/ in the url for us non-USA ppls? Pwetty please? <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Nemissis]

Hehe aye i can only imagine how stressful your jobs must be =) for some reason there is so much negitive feedback on the forums its not funny =( i just want to say that you guys are doing an amazing job with eq2! i love what you did with the Eof expansion (im an eq1 player and love being able to compare the old and the new kelithin areas.  not to mention the holidays (looking forward to Erolsie?? im sorry i cant spell it hehe) and you did an amazing job with frostfell too!  We even have fireplaces!!! and i love doing all the new quests you add =)  you really out do yourselves! Well done all of you!

[walaruss]

<P>Please Grimwell post links so that non-us browser users can read it. When using other language browsers it will direct to another page.</P> <P> </P> <P>this was also discussed on a lot of other threads.</P>

[l0rax]

Nice read...Its always cool to hear what happens on the backend.<div></div>

[nimrodblack_EQ2]

<DIV><EM>"By the time you're reading this, it's already too late! On the more serious side, I'm busy trying to squeeze in last-minute bug fixes these days, trying to get a nice, clean house before we head into <FONT color=#ff0033>spring and the next big thing</FONT>." <BR><B>Noel "Ilucide" Walling - Game Designer, EverQuest II </B></EM><BR><BR> <HR> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Whats coming in the spring?  Was that a slip?  </DIV>

[Saihung23]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Grimwell wrote:<BR> Ever wonder what it's like to be a developer on patch day? I asked the team to share a few thoughts about their patch day before they dove into it, and put together a sampling for your reading pleasure.<BR> <P><A href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/news_archive.vm?id=1043&section=Community" target=_blank>Click here to view the thread on the EQ2 Players site.</A><SPAN class=time_text></SPAN></P> <P>Message Edited by Grimwell on <SPAN class=date_text>01-30-2007</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>07:15 PM</SPAN><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>Linky no worky</P> <P>Please fixy </P>

[Ama]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Jindrack wrote:<BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> KerowynnKaotic wrote:<BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> "Patch day? You mean that stuff I worked on a month ago? I'm already working on the next LU!"<BR><I><B>Jeremy Gess "Jindrack" - Game Designer, EverQuest II</B></I> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>*tisk**tisk* .. it's not a  " LU " ... it's a " GU "!! </P> <P></P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Pfft... I'm old school, it's still LU to me. :smileytongue:<BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>All in favor of calling them LUs instead of GUs say I. </P> <P>*Best Quote Ever*</P> <P>"Sacrifice a ratonga."<BR><I><B>Joel "Zliten" White - Game Designer, EverQuest II</B></I></P> <P>*Amana Grabs Alter* If we sacrifice enough the EQ2 dev gods will be pleased!!!  :smileyvery-happy:<BR></P>

[AvalonSpirit]

<DIV>/em breaks out her big shiny sacrificial knife, and big ratango trap baited with fresh bait...........</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"here lil ratonga.....  i have a surprise for you........"</DIV>

[Mogguk]

On patch day I'm usually camping the network status page, hitting refresh like a crack fiend looking to score.<div></div>

[cyrixbrown]

<DIV>I usually stay home from work sick to only sit there until 3 or 4pm est watching the server update page, constantly refreshing, and sitting in chat to hear when we can play!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Vollux]

<DIV><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Mogguk wrote:<BR>On patch day I'm usually camping the network status page, hitting refresh like a crack fiend looking to score.<BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>QFT</DIV>

[Alphazero68Niner]

When i see the dreaded LU's and see the server going down messages, i get on my hands and knee's and pray teh almighty nerf bat stays its hand... my poor warlock.. RIP ~Warry RIP LU13<div></div>

[evhallion]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Grimwell wrote:<BR> <P>"It's a good patch day when there isn't anything other than reading update note revisions 100 times - to make sure that we don't have anything in there that isn't going in, <FONT color=#ff0000>and that we didn't leave anything important out</FONT>. Srand and Kirstie do such a good job running that part of the show now that I don't have nearly the panicking that I used to."<BR><I><B>Scott "Gallenite" Hartsman, Senior Producer, EverQuest II </B></I><BR></P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>So would this be a good example of something being missed?:</P> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> From the patcher notes:<BR> <P>*** Pets ***</P> <P>Name and Chat Bubble settings for pets are now inherited from their owners and will not behave like NPC’s.</P> <P>Pets should no longer have problems attacking while on the stairs.</P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> From the GU 31 Preview:<BR> <P>A nd we've been working on pet behavior! Pets will attack more reliably on stairs, <FONT color=#ff0000>and caster pets have learned to stand back and cast instead of running into melee range.</FONT></P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>What happened to the mage pets staying at range? Was this just overlooked and left out of the notes or left out of the patch?<BR></P>

[PakMonyet]

<P>Hey you guys who are working so hard.....I just wanted to say how much I appreciate the effort and quality that put into EQ2.....</P> <P>Thank You!</P> <P> - PaMonyet</P> <P> - Swashbuckler</P> <P> - Cool Cats Guild</P> <P> - The Bazaar Server</P>

[Grimwell]

I put in a link that will hopefully work out for our international friends! Please continue to *bonk* me when I do that. I'll get it into my habits yet.<div></div>

[Ualday]

<div><blockquote><hr>Jindrack wrote:<div></div> <blockquote> <hr> KerowynnKaotic wrote: <div></div> <blockquote> <hr> "Patch day? You mean that stuff I worked on a month ago? I'm already working on the next LU!"<i><b>Jeremy Gess "Jindrack" - Game Designer, EverQuest II</b></i> <div></div> <hr> </blockquote> <p>*tisk**tisk* .. it's not a  " LU " ... it's a " GU "!! </p> <p></p> <hr> </blockquote>Pfft... I'm old school, it's still LU to me. :smileytongue:<hr></blockquote>I'm sticking with LU too!  Not only that but I still call the normal servers the live servers too.</div>

[mystagogos]

<div></div>I also want to say thanks to all the devs, designers, artists, producers, etc.!!!  I'm sure there's much hullabaloo at SoE during these updates.  Let's not forget the network engineers, DBAs and any others that may be involed.  (That's if the aforementioned are not them as well playing their roles.  If so, then cudos to them and a greater thanks to you all!!)p.s. Welcome aboard Grimwell!!<div></div>

[Zliten]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Gethani wrote:<BR>Gnomes are a much better sacrifice then a Ratonga!!<BR><BR><BR>Gethani<BR>Guild Leader<BR>Deviance<BR>Unrest Server<BR>Producer of EQ2's-day<BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>Gethani,</P> <P>Take that back, Being a gnome myself, I would only sacrifice other races. And most importantly the Ratonga, since they are smaller than me.<BR></P>

[Isard]

<P>But Gnome is much tastier than Ratonga.  Everyone knows that!</P> <P> </P>

[Grimwell]

<div></div>It was a little late for publication, but I did get a note from our International CSM:<blockquote><hr><span class="581550716-31012007"><font face="Arial">I keep a close eye out for the USA and UK update and then anxiously wait until its time to patch the Japanese server followed by the French and German updates. The nice thing is that those are 6 to 14 hours after the American update goes live which gives the International Customer Service group plenty of time to prepare for their own update.<i><b>Ima Somers - International Customer Service Manager</b></i></font></span><hr></blockquote><div></div>

[Sebastien]

<DIV>Cool.  Next time can we have a celebrity deathmatch between devs? XD</DIV>

[VampyreRav]

<DIV>I'm usually sitting in front of my PC drinkin' a cup of coffee and waiting....and waiting...and waiting...LOL</DIV>

[Joklahar]

<P>Hopefully this will satisfy a number of moaners and whiners about the absolutely tremendous responsibility it is to keep Norrath running smoothly (well perhaps smooth may not alway fit ,but at least you give it your best shot). I, for one, applaud your efforts and thank you for bringing us an incredible world of adventure. Sometimes we forget how many hours, weeks and years you guys (and ladies) spend to bring this little piece of distraction from an otherwise chaotic and hectic world we live in. Oh and to put it all into perspective.....What is PATCHDAY???? .........sleeptime.</P> <P>                                                               Thanks again all</P>