Connection problems strike WoW
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Mar 27th 2009 at 10:27PM
While some people are positing that this is a merged battle.net account problem, it's worth noting that we also know of many people, including a couple of our bloggers, are still able to log in fine with a battle.net account. At the same time, some posters in the aforementioned thread are saying that they can log on fine when they use an unmerged pre-battle.net account from a family member or roommate.
Once we get a clearer idea of what the problem is or when it's been fixed, we'll let you know.
UPDATE, 10:30 PM EST: Okay, This is Daniel again, and I can log on with a battle.net account. This is the same one that wasn't working not 10 minutes ago, for the record.
UPDATE, 11 PM EST: It looks everything is working fine again. Play on!
Filed under: Bugs, Realm Status, Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Serneum Mar 27th 2009 10:34PM
I had the BNet account issue and did some debugging mentioned in the WoW Help popup. After some of their testing and realizing I wasn't connecting to their servers, I looked at my modem and saw some lights weren't flashing (Send and Receive). A quick reset of the router and I was back on. Perhaps all timing coincidence?
Horris Mar 27th 2009 10:37PM
I was having the same problem, but I'm now able to connect.
I was on the phone with Blizz support when it still wasn't working and they indicated it was a problem with all battle.net accounts. The support rep I spoke to told me he couldn't even log into his account from Blizz's own offices.
No matter, everything seems to be just fine again.
MatrixQuest Mar 28th 2009 2:23AM
I got kicked off twice...rebooted and then everything was fine...regular acct is all I have.
Andrew Mar 27th 2009 10:56PM
Just flush your dns and release/renew your IP. worked for me
Go into the CMD (Start > Run (on vista, go into all programs > accessories and right click command promp and run as admin) > CMD)
Type -- [enter] = the enter key
ipconfig /release [enter]
ipconfig /renew [enter]
ipconfig /flushdns
That worked for me, hope it helps you.
Horris Mar 27th 2009 11:50PM
The problem is fixed now but believe me, this is the first thing I tried.
Of course, on the Mac it's:
For Leopard: $ dscacheutil -flushcache
Older versions: $ lookupd -flushcache
georgeasmith Mar 28th 2009 8:26AM
you can actually just type cmd (or CMD if you like) into the search window from the start menu. Click ok if or when prompted and proceed as normal.
Marc Sleigh Mar 28th 2009 8:48AM
Yeh, from the comments read looks like a DNS issue.
Who knows though ;)
Alex Mar 30th 2009 1:31PM
Worked for me too, thanks buddy
Mike Mar 27th 2009 10:57PM
When you have toons on multiple realms and when some realms are available and some are not, you can change the realm you log into.
Go to C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\WTF directory. Open the config.wtf file in notepad. Your realm name will be listed near the end of the document. Change it to a different realm (preferably one you have an alt on), save it, then log into WoW!
Thander Mar 28th 2009 1:18AM
You can change your realm from inside the game. Once it tries to login to your last realm and fails, you can choose another one from the realm list. Click on the US checkbox (or whatever region you are) and click suggest realm. At the top are all the realms you have characters on.
Serneum Mar 29th 2009 8:48PM
@Thander
The problem was not being able to get that far at all. You have to be able to go through authentication to get to the realm list
Neelyung Mar 28th 2009 12:15AM
OMG! I got home from work, at 11pm, ready to game, and the first post I see on WoWInsider is this! And then I refresh the page, and the update says everything is all clear. Phew! I didn't know one blog post could be such a roller coaster.
asra Mar 29th 2009 1:16PM
yeah they've had some weird issues today about 5-6 hours ago my latency spiked to over 25000 ms and the rest of my internet was running smoothly
Ultranator Mar 28th 2009 2:32AM
I had this problem Thursday night. I reset my modem and router, and it worked fine.
I guess I could've tried a release/renew, but I just wanted to cover all the bases at once.. :D
Risa Mar 28th 2009 4:14AM
I had a problem connecting a few days ago. This was after I merged my accounts. I was in game when I did this and when I logged off I was not able to log on.
My problem was this. I attempted to log as my old account. After I provided my password I was asked to provide my authenticator number. I would then be informed I needed to log on my Battle Net account.
However using that account I never connected to the log in server. So I did connect with the old account, but could not use it. The new account did nothing.
I called Customer Service to verify my account merger went through well. They confirmed this.
I was then asked to call tech support. I asked why could I not be transferred instead. The response was they were not able to.
Calling the non toll free tech support number I found it interesting that the automated message repeated that if there was a billing concern that tech support could not assist but that I could push a button to be transfer to customer service.
I was connected to a representative about 15 min of waiting and I was informed that this was a known issue but that the cause was not known. The rep informed me that some folks could not provide specific feedback due to some issues with their computers (none admin access etc).
He then requested I create a brand new user account with admin permissions (XP OS) and attempt to start the game from the directory itself. Not the launcher.
Under the new user account on my PC I was able to connect with my new account. He stated he found this interesting and would document this. I then told him I would try it from my original account and use the launcher. I was able to log on again.
So I don't know exactly what is happening now but I would advice attempting this if you can't find another solution. Also I don't suggest you merge your accounts just yet. Take your time.
I found the Blizzard reps to be professional and courteous. However I am puzzled why I can't be transferred from one service to another. I also wonder why the Tech Support line is not toll free while the Customer Service one is. Why the inconsistency?
Reverno of Horde Deathwing (EU) Mar 28th 2009 4:32AM
Bodes the question what will be the april fools day joke this year?
I'm hoping for Archerus will be falling out the sky and zombies will raid Azeroth and give us connection problems
waggsy Mar 28th 2009 10:36AM
I also was unable to connect with my battlenet account. So I started screwing around and tried logging onto the PTR which still had my old blizz account name saved and I was able to log on. So I went back to the regular version and used my blizz account and I was able to log on.
So it's obvious something on Battlenets end or the auth server was jacked up.
Schadenfreude Mar 28th 2009 1:42PM
I had this problem, and one of the lines in my realmlist.wtf folder was incomplete. Copying and pasting the correct lines from the support site fixed it for me.
Ferarro Mar 28th 2009 9:37PM
It's still happening as of 3/28/09, 6:40pm, PST.
Ghetterix Mar 28th 2009 10:51PM
Tried all suggested fixes, and Blizzard support. Still cannot log in as of 10:50pm EST.