How to keep raiding when the power goes out
by Adam Holisky 
Jun 14th 2008 at 2:00PM
The thing I love most about summer is the thunder storms. Forget the constant days of 90 degree weather making my apartment bake even when the air conditioning is on, it's those storms rolling in with lightening striking a few hundred feet from me that I love. My guild-mates are going to love that too, especially when I'm raiding with them.We've had our first couple weeks of this in game, and already I've heard "Be right back, Tornado," from some guildies living down in Kansas. Luckily everything was okay and no one got hurt, but the fact still remains – we lost our head Mage for 30 minutes, and that's 30 minutes of our life we can't have back!
While a Mage having to take a break in the middle of raids isn't a show stopper, having the main tank (my role) go offline is. I've had the unfortunate situation of having that occur a couple days ago. The computer I was raiding on wasn't plugged into my UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply), so I was disconnected from everything when we lost power for about 30 seconds. However with a bit of tinkering around, I was able to put myself in a situation that lets me stay on even when the power hiccups.
What I was able to do was to plug into the UPS only the essential things my main computer needs to stay online. This included my CPU (the big box where most of the computer's hardware is stored), my monitor, my cable modem, and my router. That filled up all four spots available on my UPS. I tried this quickly one evening when the power went out early on. When it went out again later that evening, my other computers got cut, but the computer I was playing WoW on kept going – along with the internet connection.
The UPS had enough juice in it to keep going for the 30 seconds the power was offline, and luckily the cable system didn't require any local (to me) power to operate beyond my cable modem and router. So if you're in an area that has lots of storms and power fluctuations, I highly suggest you do this if you don't want your group-mates yelling out in frustration every time a storm passes by.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
brittwilson Jun 14th 2008 2:15PM
Though this is true that you can do this, and increase the chances that you can still play for a very short time, it only worked because you were lucky enough that the range of the power outage did not include your local provider, or possibly the splitter boxes they distribute around town(I think those need power). We had the same issue a few nights ago with storms knocking peoples power out, but unlike you unfortunately, theirs stayed out for hours.
Ultramagnus Jun 21st 2008 2:51PM
This happened to me on the worst possible night. I'm the raid leader for my guild and we we're about to put our first serious night into Archimonde. My wife just got home with pizza so I got up, grabbed a couple slices and a drink and literally the second I turned from the kitchen counter to go back to the laptop, power went out. My local ISP went down too so I had one upset guild.
h4xaattck Jun 14th 2008 2:19PM
or buy a laptop if you dont already own one.
Hurode Jun 14th 2008 3:00PM
You'd still have to do this trick with the router and modem.
Kaljin Jun 14th 2008 2:25PM
This could have easily been said without your story, there was no need for it.
Kaljin Jun 14th 2008 2:26PM
Oops, hit add too early lol. But yea, this is a good idea if you have storms in your area.
Lars Jun 16th 2008 3:40PM
Yeah, this may be helpful to those that live in areas prone to harsh weather. Storm... I'm not familiar with such things. You mean that brief day once a year when water falls from the sky? Scorching heat I can understand, but 90 degrees... that's almost chilly.
But seriously, good advice for those who care. I can understand power frustrations. When it gets really hot it tends to trip the breakers in my house. The breakers sit there baking in the sun and further heating up with the flow of electricity... you could probably roast a turkey in there. It at least gets too hot to touch with bare hands.
daniel.roy Jun 14th 2008 2:34PM
If you purchase a UPS because you're afraid of losing power during a storm, you have a serious dependency issue.
You're not doing brain surgery, you're raiding... If you go offline because of a power outage, people will cope. Sheesh.
Hurode Jun 14th 2008 3:05PM
The article implies that he already had one, not that he went out and bought one specifically for raids.
mensrea Jun 14th 2008 5:21PM
"The article implies that he already had one, not that he went out and bought one specifically for raids."
Try reading it all:
"So if you're in an area that has lots of storms and power fluctuations, I highly suggest you do this if you don't want your group-mates yelling out in frustration every time a storm passes by."
slimj091 Jun 14th 2008 2:39PM
will UPS's stop your machine from getting fried from a lightning strike tho? i suppose if your daddy warbucks and your machine's are expendable. then by all means keep them suckers running during severe thunderstorms. but for me (and i suspect other people with a brain) i'll save my money, and still disconnect my system when the lightning starts hitting near home.
Hurode Jun 14th 2008 3:04PM
They could potentially double as a surge protector, yes. I have all of my major electronics plugged into one, it's all that has my old 6-year-old dinosaur running still.
dracowolf Jun 14th 2008 7:25PM
depends. if there is a surge caused by a strike down the street you should be golden.
however if you get a direct hit, it MIGHT save the computer but I would not count on it. but then again if you get a direct hit you have more things to worry about than a computer.
Brian Jun 14th 2008 2:47PM
how is this new and interesting? an article on Power supplies...don't buy a powers supply thinking every scenario with be like this dudes. Power hick-ups aside if your down for more than 10-15 min your screwed regardless....save the $200 bucks and just not treat wow like is freaking surgery.....MT is really important RL stuff....lol...your a nerd to a nerd....GJ
Richelieu Jun 14th 2008 2:52PM
lrn2grammar nub...
Angry Joe Jun 14th 2008 5:12PM
Richelieu,
Learn to spell, maybe?
Stacy Jun 14th 2008 3:39PM
I've had to tell my group "Be back later. Tornado sirens." about a week ago. It was raining out, but nothing too bad. Just progressively got worse in the middle of the night and I didn't notice. Instead of getting yelled at by my group (which I expected), when I got back about a half hour later I got whispers from everyone asking if I was ok, how everything was, etc.
If your raid is yelling at you because of something uncontrollable like a storm... then they're kind of jerks.
Charlie Taylor Jun 14th 2008 2:52PM
Wow, why are people so damn hostile to Adam? It's like someone out there is keeping track when he posts just so they can come on and insult him.
Hurode Jun 14th 2008 3:02PM
Yeah, no kidding. I disagree with some of his articles, but this one is perfectly fine and perfectly informative. I'm not sure why people seem to have a vendetta against his name.
Eternalpayn Jun 14th 2008 5:48PM
A lot of his articles tend to seem like they were written in a fit of nerdrage. This one, not at all. However, I recommend only dropping the money on this one if you have a lot of