Some realms suffer extended downtime [Updated]
by Zach Yonzon 
Jun 2nd 2009 at 6:10PM
[UPDATE: Nethaera reports that Blizzard "encountered a serious error" with the listed realms and are working towards a resolution. Unfortunately, there is still no estimate for when the realms will come back up and more details should be available at 5:30pm PDT. The situation has a small silver lining, however, as Blizzard is considering "appropriate compensation" for the additional downtime experienced by players on those realms. Stay tuned to WoW.com for further updates.]
[UPDATE 2: Nethaera updates her post to explain that the network improvements intended for all realms resulted in a connection error which has taken some time to identify and fix. While she notes that the connection error itself has for the most part been resolved (which is why some of the affected realms now show up on the realm list), the affected realms have yet to undergo the regular weekly maintenance and patching procedure. This means a much, much longer downtime than anticipated. Nethaera hopes to give further updates by 7:30pm PDT. Time to reroll, I guess.]
[UPDATE 3: Looks like they're doing a little more work tonight on all realms to address a few issues. More information in our post here.]
Aegwynn
Akama
Aman'Thul
Arathor
Azjol-Nerub
Barthilas
Blackrock
Bloodscalp
Bonechewer
Boulderfist
Bronzebeard
Caelestrasz
Chromaggus
Crushridge
Daggerspine
Darkspear
Dath'Remar
Draenor
Dragonblight
Dragonmaw
Draka
Drak'thul
Dreadmaul
Dunemaul
Eitrigg
Eldre'Thalas
Feathermoon
Firetree
Frostmane
Frostmourne
Frostwolf
Garithos
Gundrak
Gurubashi
Hakkar
Jubei'Thos
Khaz Modan
Khaz'goroth
Kil'jaeden
Kilrogg
Korgath
Kul Tiras
Malorne
Mug'thol
Muradin
Nagrand
Nathrezim
Ner'zhul
Perenolde
Proudmoore
Rexxar
Runetotem
Saurfang
Scarlet Crusade
Sen'jin
Shadow Council
Shadowsong
Silver Hand
Silvermoon
Skywall
Smolderthorn
Spirestone
Stonemaul
Stormscale
Suramar
Terenas
Thorium Brotherhood
Tichondrius
Uldum
Vek'nilash
Windrunner
We'll provide updates on the "issues" as they come.
Filed under: Realm News, Bugs, Realm Status, Blizzard, Forums
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Death Knight Jun 2nd 2009 6:29PM
ugh....I am suffering from so much boredom right now any games I could play while waiting for my world of warcraft fix?
Kettu Jun 2nd 2009 6:41PM
Plants vs. Zombies. It is addicting!
Arktic Jun 2nd 2009 6:43PM
http://us.media.blizzard.com/blizzard/falth/failocalypse.html
You're Welcome!
Laynne Jun 2nd 2009 6:16PM
Not sure if this will help anyone, but here's how I got the patch. My launcher would open like it was going to download the patch, but after a few minutes it would revert to the normal launcher with ads and news. I entered the game like normal, and after logging in it told me I needed a new patch, and asked me to restart. After restarting, the old Blizzard Downloader popped up. It seems that the downloader is working properly (for me at least), and within 3 minutes I had the new patch installed. However, Vek'nilash is still down, so no WoW for me :)
Derek Jun 2nd 2009 6:19PM
Color me surprised. A multi-billion dollar company and they seem to have blind retarded one armed chimps upgrading their hardware.
I mean honestly... 15 hours to apply a 7mb patch and upgrade some hardware? That's a complete joke. And this is the second week in a row for my server to endure this.
In regards to the patch issue... WHY exactly do they have a PTR? Oh I forgot.. its not for actually TESTING to make sure things work code wise.. its to let the no life having uber guilds be able to finish content first. How bout you actually TEST stuff Bliz.
jurandr Jun 2nd 2009 6:37PM
When it comes to computers, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Learned this the hard way over the past year as I take computer science classes.
uncaringbear Jun 2nd 2009 7:42PM
I have to agree with Derek on this. While WoW may not be a mission critical application, it's reasonable to expect Blizzard to apply industry best-practices when it comes to planning and deploying changes to their platform. These practices would include review and approval of all planned changes, comprehensive internal testing, deployment and testing on test environments, and much more.
Based on Blizzard's dismal track record when it comes to rolling out changes, it's difficult to defend whatever strategy they use to deploy their changes. Certainly, things can go wrong, and they will. However, any business who follows even the most basic operational practices can go a long way towards minimizing these problems.
Tealavenger Jun 2nd 2009 6:23PM
Blah, I had no trouble downloading the new patch. What kills me every time this "extended maintenance" happens there's never a accurate time of being done. It just says refer back at such and such time in 30 or 60min increments. It wouldn't frustrate as much if Blizzard said "ok maintenance on these selected realms are going to take up to 18 hours, I would rather than that logging in at the end maintenance just to see "EXTENDED MAINTENANCE." That's my two cents, if i had to guess were looking at 6pm PST for those realms to be online.
Kraigen Jun 2nd 2009 6:28PM
Agreed...
Under Promise.... Over Deliver
Pexxle -=Silver Hand (RP)=- Jun 2nd 2009 7:42PM
Customer service...
You don't tell people the longest possible time, that is a turn off, majorly. Not taking sides but when i was younger and waited tables in some of NYC finer restaurants, you'd be surprised at the amount of Fat Americans/Tourists/Businessmen-women that butcher meals by ordering things like steak Well Done. 5 minutes later, these same ppl are asking when their food is ready...
Um, McDonalds....is that way>>>
I see your point though not ranting, just saying i rather see "X" time than 18 hours...
adshiel Jun 3rd 2009 9:56PM
I tried to log in my game client last night (AEST about 10pm) and my game got patched no problem. I always login before going to bed on patch night just to see.
Im on Aman Thul so no look playing though!
Quidamtyra Jun 2nd 2009 6:25PM
Hello, Ner'zhul
almost always effected by the "extended maintenance"
good thing I'm on server time and am at work during the majority of this
xeromus Jun 2nd 2009 6:44PM
i hear that.
Cheeze Jun 2nd 2009 7:53PM
Wish i had the same situation...my server is 2hrs ahead of me so when they say 5:30 thats 7:30 for me and raids start at 8:30....as a guild leader this is quite stressful
Vikenti Jun 2nd 2009 6:25PM
Lame
-Drexel- Jun 2nd 2009 6:28PM
I think it's time the PTR became the ITR (Internal Test Realm). It's very apparent that the player testing isn't happening on a scale that can weed out even the biggest of issues, let alone any of the obscure, hard to reproduce problems. I don't blame the progression guilds or arena teams...they are just using something that is made available to them. I blame Activision/Blizzard for not having their own QA department. It is NOT EVER the responsibility of the paying playerbase to make sure their patches and new content launch smoothly.
kelly Jun 2nd 2009 11:20PM
thorium brotherhood affected by maintenance 0_0 WTF were rare to be on the list
treecarfrog Jun 2nd 2009 6:29PM
"but will provide more details at around 2:30pm PDT"
"by Zach Yonzon Jun 2nd 2009 at 6:10PM" 3:10pm PDT...
Derek Jun 2nd 2009 6:32PM
They just changed that to 530pm PST
Jason Jun 2nd 2009 6:40PM
So, my realm has been affected by close to all day "extended maintenance" every week for the last month and a half. Being as I pay for a recurring 30 day subscription, it would be nice to actually get to play for 30 days. Anyone else think the affected players should be receiving some sort of compensation for this lack of planning on Blizzard's part?