On the hour, backups get fired up and it sucks down a copy of the database.  With our new servers and updated versions, we decided to try a new method which overall completes really fast, but locks up the tables a little too long that it creates lag at the :00 times.

I'll be exploring some alternate methods shortly to hopefully get the best of both worlds, but worst case we may go back to the old old method which took dramatically longer but never affected the players experience.

So long story short, hang in there for a few more days, site will be a tad slow during the :00's as does its backups until we can get a new method put in and tested.

Thanks for your patience!