Patch day survival guide

Patch day can be a trying time for everyone concerned. Patches, updates to the game, often contain code changes that are not visible to the average player and in some cases, changes to network code that can not be fully tested on the Singularity test server. In any case, when armed with some basic information regarding patches and patch time, things can go much smoother all around.

Getting Ready for a Patch

Set Skill Training

Before patch day, start a long skill on your character. Should there be difficulties in patch deployment you will at least be using the time to train skills. Lost skill training time is not reimbursed by customer support.

Read the Patch Notes

The patch notes contain detailed information about the contents of the patch. This includes information on changes to the user interface, ship and weapon specifications, new ships, new modules and more. Reading the patch notes ensures you are aware of in-game opportunities that might otherwise pass you by and of dangers which might otherwise take you by surprise. Losses that could have been avoided by studying the patch notes are not eligible for reimbursement by customer support. Also check Known Issues for problems that may have appeared after the patch deployment.

Don't Panic

If you log in and find all your assets gone, your character nude and a pack of Amarrians reading your mail, don't panic! Check the forums, the in-game Help channel, known issues, and the patch notes to see if there is a reasonable explanation for the problem, or barring that, a workaround or fix available.

Unfortunately, sometimes things can go wrong when patching and chances are that the issue is already being addressed or that it's purely cosmetic. If such a thing happens you should:

Clear Your Cache

Changes to the database can result in your cache becoming corrupt or outdated. Deleting your cache folder is a reliable way to be sure that this is not the case. Clearing your cache can also improve game performance, as the cache can become rather bloated with time.

Petition Responsibly

If you run into a problem which you believe needs the attention of support staff, please first check the news and the forums, as well as the in-game Help channel to see if it's a known issue. In many cases, you can find solutions to your problems without filing a petition.

Please do not file multiple petitions about the same issue. The GMs must process every petition, so multiple petitions will result in slower service and longer answering times. Remember that although we will do everything we can to help you, not all issues can be addressed by the GMs and some temporary clusterwide problems will have to be hotfixed by the developers."

Applying Patches

There are two ways to patch the client:

Autopatching

Every time you start the EVE client, it will check to see if you have the correct version to play. If you do not have the correct version you will be given the option to patch the game.

The Autopatcher will download the patch file into the cache folder. Once the download is complete, you will get a dialogue option where the Autopatcher asks if it should apply the patch. Once you accept and everything is downloaded and applied, the game should be up and running in a matter of minutes.

Manual Patching

In some cases autopatch does not detect that an update is available. You will get the following error message: 'Status: Incompatable' under the server selection dropdown menu. This is rare.

The first thing you will have to do is to go the patch page at the EVE website http://www.eve-online.com/patches/patches.asp. Find the patch that will bring your client to the correct version. If you are unsure what patch you should download please refer to the patch notes. These will tell you what the most current version of the game is. Once the patch has downloaded, just install it. Double click the patch file and choose your EVE install folder which by default is C:\Program Files\CCP\EVE. When the patch has been applied, you'll be ready to logon and play.