Prime Time Window(s)

Tyrantor

Are the prime time windows that are currently outlined on the Wiki (3pm-9pm) really prime time? I've been a gamer my whole life and 3pm-6pm has generally never been a "prime time" window for me to play games going back as far as Elementary to 30+ years later that has never once been a prime window lol.

I'm curious if other people feel the same way about that as this is currently how the windows would break down across the three major US time zones.

West Coast Server comparison by player location:
3pm-9pm PST > 5pm-11pm CST > 6pm-12am EST

Central Server comparison by player location:
3pm-9pm CST > 1pm-7pm PST > 4pm-10pm EST

East Server comparison by player location:
3pm-9pm EST > 12pm-6pm PST > 2pm-7pm CST

Personally I think that 6pm-12am is a more appropirate "prime time" window for gaming - hell even just watching TV that seems like a more prime time window which is why you find all the biggest shows air time ranges from 7pm-10pm.

Anyway with this said I understand the general window concept from an individual perspective it's easy.

• If I (solo) playear logs in and has a choice between regions it becomes an easy decision to pick my time zone.
• If I (guild member) logs in and a decision is made to the benefit of the guild or majority then my individual time zone no longer matters.

I think this is an important distinction before these prime windows get locked into place as this is a "social" game the concept that playing with your guild is going to potentially restrict you from all aspects of Siege/Guild war aspects of the game seems odd to me.

If you look at the time windows above it seems unlikely anyone on the west coast could realistically participate in any server outside of their own time zone to even have a chance, unless they have absolutely no IRL commitments from noon till 7pm PST. This would seem to rule out anyone with a 9-5 job, college course/athletics commitments, high school/athletic commitments, a family that eats dinner together etc.

If we have to choose between loss of sleep or taking off work/loss of family time it seems the later window would be more practical.

daveywavey

Finish work - 4:30pm
Dinner, and time with family - 6:30pm
Kids bedtime - 7pm
Sort out house after kids have demolished it - 7:30pm
Spend time with wife - 7:33pm

....

I'd be missing most of a 3pm-9pm slot.

CROW3

The prime-time window above doesn't match my own, which is more like 10pm - 2am.

George_Black

Due to the social nature of the game, the servers will cater to better the players ping, and accessibility to prime time events.

Tyrantor

@daveywavey lol @ 3 minutes. Hopefully you weren't sharing too much here.

Noaani

Yeah, the 3pm - 9pm thing is odd. To most people, a siege starting at 3pm on a Thursday is no less annoying than if it started at 10am on that same Thursday. The majority of people would be at work then.

My hope is that regions with multiple servers offer up multiple prime time windows.

FuryBladeborne

Tyrantor wrote: »

Are the prime time windows that are currently outlined on the Wiki (3pm-9pm) really prime time?...
Personally I think that 6pm-12am is a more appropirate "prime time" ...

Primetime is based off of when the most people are on which may be difficult for a player to judge in game.

http://www.imediaconnection.com/articles/ported-articles/red-dot-articles/2006/jan/prime-time-for-video-games/#:~:text=Forty percent of Hispanic video,for both Whites and Hispanics.
However, based on that article, it seems like primetime is around 4pm - 1 am. So, it seems like your closer to right.

Of course, I don't know where IS got their metrics for measuring activity in games. Perhaps its Steven's preferred primetime?

Tyrantor

FuryBladeborne wrote: »

Tyrantor wrote: »

Are the prime time windows that are currently outlined on the Wiki (3pm-9pm) really prime time?...
Personally I think that 6pm-12am is a more appropirate "prime time" ...

Primetime is based off of when the most people are on which may be difficult for a player to judge in game.

http://www.imediaconnection.com/articles/ported-articles/red-dot-articles/2006/jan/prime-time-for-video-games/#:~:text=Forty percent of Hispanic video,for both Whites and Hispanics.
However, based on that article, it seems like primetime is around 4pm - 1 am. So, it seems like your closer to right.

Of course, I don't know where IS got their metrics for measuring activity in games. Perhaps its Steven's preferred primetime?

This might be the solution just a slight bump in the start time with a longer sliding scale for the end time frame. It would have an impact on the extremes such as West coast start on an east coast server or East coast end on a west coast server however with the range expanded it would enable substantially more opportunities to get the most participation from multiple time zones.

Xenotor

Most people in Germany work from 7 am to 6 PM.
Personally i swiched jobs 4 times during the last 6 years and was never home before 7pm and at my computer before 7:30pm.

I know some shift workers come home early but most of the time its the school kids who come online before 6 pm.
Would be sad if content gets locked out or highly reduced just be course i am are a working adult.
Most MMORPGs with prime time i played had it between 7pm and 11PM in their timezones.

Tyrantor

Noaani wrote: »

Yeah, the 3pm - 9pm thing is odd. To most people, a siege starting at 3pm on a Thursday is no less annoying than if it started at 10am on that same Thursday. The majority of people would be at work then.

My hope is that regions with multiple servers offer up multiple prime time windows.

That would be a great idea so people could localize ping and then pick the "event window" that would best accommodate their needs. The only issue I see with it if I had to guess what would happen is that most people would steer clear of those early window servers and it would create huge queues on servers with later windows.

I think it would be very helpful for IS to post up a Dev Discussion poll with several windows to see what people gravitate towards.