Let the delays begin!
by Elizabeth Harper 
Dec 5th 2006 at 4:30PM
Of course having the servers back online as scheduled was too good to be true. And at 12:09 PM PST, Blizzard announced that maintenance would be extended by an additional four hours in order to deal with issues arising from the patching process. Yes, that means you shouldn't expect to be online and playing before
Update: Drysc, always trying to outdo me, posted an update by the time I clicked to post this. We are now looking at 5:00 PM PST.
Update 2: All realms should be online and accepting players as of 6:00 PM PST.
Filed under: Patches, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Freehugz Dec 5th 2006 4:38PM
i'm predicting another 3 announcements of delays today and servers finally coming up sometime tomorrow
White Rabbit Dec 5th 2006 8:44PM
I have no problems with this at all
will give me more time to plan out my respec
Keegan Dec 5th 2006 9:52PM
QFT Freehugz
Jamatron Dec 6th 2006 7:59AM
The time down doesn't really bother me seeing as I wont have the patch downloaded until tommorow.But come on,this always happens don't act so suprised.
Kahja Dec 5th 2006 5:25PM
That's ok in my books... I've got shopping to do.
OutlandishTrendz Dec 5th 2006 5:12PM
If you honestly expected to play tonite then you had to much faith in Blizz. I figured it would be delayed at least once or twice before the servers came up, as well as some rolling restarts to fix bugs even after they come up.
Mar Dec 5th 2006 6:34PM
I'm hoping for the "I fell into the center of the world" type of bugs!
Tigraine Dec 6th 2006 5:11AM
That's why we never raid on Wednesday (Europe has it's Maintenance between Tuesday and Wednesday) :)
I guess the first raid on Thursday night will be quite interesting with all those new Talent specs and with 50% of the raid having a broken UI ;)
Furrius Dec 5th 2006 6:06PM
I really don't think its too much to ask for, having the realms back online around the time Blizz had originally planned. After all, yes, we all pay the exorbitant (if fully accepted by now) fee to play monthly, so why doesn't at least some of that go to a scheduling department? I mean, television goes live every night - there are people with headsets screaming at other people to make things go right, and 99 out of 100 times, they do.
With a live server based game like this, Blizz should be treating it more like the evening news. 7 million people tune in daily, right? I dunno. I just think everyone getting a little lax in their expectations with Blizz, if for no other reason than to fly their 'I'm too cool to get worked up over a game' flag.
Bob Dec 5th 2006 6:19PM
"'I'm too cool to get worked up over a game' flag."
I'm flying it proudly.
OutlandishTrendz Dec 5th 2006 6:20PM
Furrius, a patch this size and the changes it involved and you expect it to not have any delays? I'm not lax over being pushed back, but I would rather have a 4 hour delay than 4 hours of rolling restarts and server crashes.
Deathtrain Dec 5th 2006 6:33PM
So with these delays that happen does that mean that there will be a discount on how much i will have to pay for my next schedualled payment? Or when times like this come up how about some free in-game discount/item, like a free epic mount for my pally, it's the least they could do for making me wait this whole 4 hours. LOL jk. Seriously take the time needed and get it right the first time rather than hurry to get it up and have realm shutdowns everyday for the next week. I can only imagine what delay there will be when the expansion is released.
Mar Dec 5th 2006 7:22PM
*4 hours of rolling restarts and server crashes.*
Don't worry.. that comes AFTER the delays!
: )
Chris Gardner Dec 5th 2006 6:38PM
Not to really defend Blizzard's decision to give a unreachable maintenance window, but this is the single biggest change Wow has had since it launched.
* They're completely rewriting all of the maps, models, etc. to use more efficient textures. Hence the 3.8 GB requirement (it's literally rewriting the game on your hard drive).
* They have to completely rebuild the live realms' databases to include the new race choices, larger banks, bigger keyrings, etc. Not to mention replacing the entire loot table with the updated one including the new stats.
This is not a simple undertaking.
Prauche Dec 5th 2006 6:59PM
I agree this is a big change. And I agree that it's a HUGE undertaking. That being said, I somehow think perhaps with a multi-billion dollar company, you might have been able to figure out a way to do this in the allotted time, by, oh, I don't know, maybe making some dry runs on equipment in the basement?
Perhaps half the staff is Christmas shopping today, who knows.
Salisbury Dec 5th 2006 7:11PM
I'm one of those that was willing to understand and defend Blizzard when new patches came out ... but you have to admit that at some point ... you need to get your act together.
I'm past the point of understanding ... The game has been out long enough that this process shouldn't be repeated every patch.
In all honesty ... I think we're helping beta test the new talent pools ... and like the initial release ... we'll play the little sheep we are because we're addicted to Blizzard branded crack.
Do I like it? Absolutely not. Will I cancel my account? Nope ... not going to happen anytime soon. Will I continue to put up with this when someone invents generic-branded crack? Nope ... in the words of 80's icon Huey Lewis, "I want a new drug."
Ghostle Dec 6th 2006 9:38AM
I love how they ruin the eastern time zone play time, man, i can feel the blizzard love for us
Ngnsewa Dec 5th 2006 7:29PM
it can crash for the next 8 hours for all I care...
Im stuck at work O_o
Furrius Dec 5th 2006 7:36PM
Okay, I expected some of you to jump down my throat, but its socially irresponsible to use 'well this is a big undertaking' as an excuse.
Driving to work at a shitty little video game store in two feet of New England snow is a big undertaking. That doesnt mean my boss will think its okay if I show up four hours late - and damn, he doesn't pay me as much as Blizz makes. What do I do when a big job lies ahead?
I GET AN EARLY START. I organize my stuff, I leave an hour or two early, I ask friends and associates for help - I do what needs to be done. Its such standard fare for Blizz to have the cushy 'it's-a-big-job' pillow to land on. Boo-hoo. Cry about it to someone who doesn't pay for your services. I know its a big job - we all pay you to make sure the big job is taken care of in a timely fashion.
And just so we're clear, I wasn't really that miffed about not being able to WoW today, my only day off this week (that comes with the territory.) I'm actually more miffed that some of you think this behavior is acceptable for any type of business.
I understand problems arise, but I really don't think Blizz has ever had a bigger deadline to meet and subsequently has never blown it by this big of a margin.
Natali Dec 5th 2006 8:25PM
Egad, and now the EU servers are down for the patch too. Good thing I went through withdrawal over the weekend. I *can* survive the next 24 hours. I can! I can! I can!