Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsCompensation for last week's extended downtime
by Michael Sacco 
Dec 4th 2009 at 11:00AM
Even after having worked at Blizzard, I'm unsure as to how the decision is made to or not to offer compensation for downtime, but I'm glad that it does get offered periodically. It's no fun to have a day off or a light workday and then discover that the realm that houses your main is down, again.
Regardless, if you were on any of the realms listed after the cut, you should see that a 24-hour credit has been added to your subscription on your Account Management page. Take this, your blue badge of courage, and hold it high to the heavens, your karmic reward for not pitching a fit. "We cool, Blizz. We cool."
- Antonidas
- Anub'arak
- Blackwater Raiders
- Bladefist
- Borean Tundra
- Cairne
- Cenarion Circle
- Cenarius
- Darrowmere
- Drak'Tharon
- Drenden
- Echo Isles
- Farstriders
- Fenris
- Garrosh
- Hydraxis
- Hyjal
- Korialstraaz
- Lightbringer
- Maiev
- Misha
- Mok'Nathal
- Moon Guard
- Nazgrel
- Nesingwary
- Nordrassil
- Quel'dorei
- Ravenholdt
- Rivendare
- Shandris
- Shu'halo
- Sisters of Elune
- The Forgotten Coast
- Tortheldrin
- Uther
- Vashj
- Winterhoof
- Wyrmrest Accord
Filed under: Realm News, Realm Status, News items
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
ZMES_Matt Dec 4th 2009 1:24PM
@Colin
Yeah, I agree even though I QQ'd up top a little when I saw this. I didn't complain or fret one bit when my Battlegroup went down for a day earlier this year, I moved on and did something else with my free time. It's really not that big of a deal to me, I understand that this stuff happens and I'm okay with that. I only got upset that the same thing has happened to lots of servers/Battelgroups, but this is the first time (to my knowledge) that Blizz felt the urge to compensate for it. It's just kind of a "WTF" moment, you know? What makes this particular case more special than the rest?
jrizutko Dec 4th 2009 1:53PM
I'm not personally upset about the downtime. I was playing that night on farstriders and was sad to lose the play time, but fortunately it wasn't a raid or event night of any kind.
I think what is conceptually disappointing about a day of game credit is that it seems to trivialize what some folks experience as a significant frustration. I think part of what plays into that is someone at blizzard making an announcement a few days later that there will be a credit.
It might help smooth public relations if there was a clear public policy that established the conditions that would trigger a game credit so that it would be an expected norm. If your server is unavailable for an hour or more for any reason other than regularly scheduled maintenance or population queue, AND you made a valid attempt to log into the game at any point during that time, you will automatically get one day of game time credited to your account.
I'm sure blizzard has some reason for doing it the way that they do, but as long as its a news item, people will react to it emotionally. When its a predictable event, people will have an anticipation for how it will be handled, and become less likely to get their woolies in a bunch.
Nicknin10do Dec 4th 2009 11:20AM
QQ
Nicknin10do Dec 4th 2009 11:23AM
Sorry, that was a reply to all the people bitching about getting a little something for free
AltairAntares Dec 4th 2009 11:24AM
Seriously people I just don't get your problem. Tech breaks, it's what happens, it doesn't matter if you're the FBI, the President, the Mafia, or Blizzard. I enjoy WoW as much as the next guy, but if you can't find something else to do instead of playing Wow for a couple hours then you probably shouldn't be playing the game.
LeggMyMuoio Dec 4th 2009 12:03PM
I remember back in vanilla their idea of compensation was giving you a full rested bonus. Considering how fast you lost your rested bonus back then (at least it seemed like it was fast), it was a nice bonus. A free day is nice too, I can't figure out why so many people are complaining about it. Take what you can get, they don't owe you anything (pretty sure the ToS or EULA or something says downtime happens, deal with it).
uncleernie50 Dec 4th 2009 12:04PM
This is a nice gesture but as people point out.. with a monthly subscription all they are doing is adding a day at the end of when we will be wanting to play WoW anyways. Personally id like to see them apply it monetarily. i.e. 50 cents off next months subscription (per day they want to comp me for servers being down.)
LeggMyMuoio Dec 4th 2009 12:09PM
This sounds like a good idea, but it's probably a lot more difficult to implement for them and it really makes no difference in the end for their wallets.
Hendrata Dec 4th 2009 12:34PM
Agreed. No matter if you use timecard of credit card, all they're doing is adding 1 day to the end of when you want to quit Wow. And chances are, by the time you've reached that point or made that kind of decision, 1 day doesn't really matter.
I can see that this type of compensation is a bigger deal in Asia where you pay by the hour.
Hëx Dec 4th 2009 12:08PM
I am disappointed that they are not compensating the Stormstrike Battlegroup for the extended Instance server outages earlier this week, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.
TERU Jan 7th 2010 2:34AM
hmmm.... I wonder how many days of compensation Blizzard will be giving us for the shit storm that will be the 3.3 ICC patch this Tuesday.
Frank Dec 4th 2009 12:49PM
as someone who plays on one of the affected servers, thank you, blizzard. don't listen to the QQers — this is a welcome thing.
Calybos Dec 4th 2009 1:33PM
So, how does it work if some of your characters were on the affected servers, and others weren't?
Mordockk Dec 4th 2009 1:05PM
i like this idea better, but as you saw in my previous comments, i think readers are tending to forget economies are consumer driven and instead believe that you shold just take what you get and shut up.
Deevan Dec 5th 2009 9:23AM
Sweet, that'll save me and the other 25-multiboxers out there $12.50 USD!
Thander Dec 4th 2009 1:58PM
I liked that they gave compensation time, but I don't like the battlegroups going down in the first place. I looked at my payment history and saw from the end of Classic to Burning Crusade, I did not receive any compensation. I know there were downtimes then but no longer than one evening 4-6 hours. Then I see in one year of Wotlk, I have gained 6 days of compensation. Some of these have come from new patches, but others have just been random extended downtime like this latest one. It doesn't make sense why stability would be worse. I attribute most of this to Wintergrasp being more than Blizzard ever expected or planned for, but you could also argue maybe Activision is the problem.
solsticesun Dec 4th 2009 2:59PM
I think the comp is a very nice gesture and I applaud their efforts to recognize the inconvenience.
I personally was just slightly annoyed at the downtime. I took the time to try out some new factions/classes on other servers. The only real major damage it caused to folks was to make it harder to achieve the holiday events since those are time-based.
I really don't understand some of the posts of great anger I have read about the matter. Yes, it's frustrating, and if the server is problem-prone then indeed new hosting locations should be sought.
Some folks wrote that they were sitting at home waiting for the servers to come back up and were mad because they didn't know if they should go out or not with real people. I don't understand that at all-- if the server is down, darnit that stinks, mutter a frustrated curse and then go do something else. As wonderful as it is, it is just a game.
Nagi Dec 4th 2009 3:07PM
I appreciate the compensation, but it still doesn't change the fact that the realms were down on the only two or three days of Pilgrim's Bounty I was able to be around for, and I was really looking forward to doing that holiday.
I'm glad they recognized that some sort of mea culpa was necessary, but...personally I would've preferred seeing Pilgrim's Bounty extended by a couple days.
Loclay Dec 4th 2009 7:16PM
Back in the old old old days they used to give everyone full rested XP states.
wdsrmail Dec 4th 2009 3:26PM
I just wonder if people would get online and cheer/complain if they went to a fast food drive thru, and the establishment was out of their preferred beverage choice, thus forcing them to choose something else to drink, and the establishment offered a 3% discount on their next visit. Some would find it to be great, some would not feel like it's a substantial compensation, but would any of them bother to post comments on a message board about it?
The fact of the matter is that problems happen, and Blizzard is in no way obligated to compensate players for loss of time. In fact, this is covered in the WoW EULA:
"Blizzard may change, modify, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Game at any time."
Under technical terms, downtime would be considered a "suspension" of play time. They could also cover the downtime under necessary measures taken in order to "change" or "modify" the game.
I would like to offer my sympathies to anyone dreaming of the day when Blizzard somehow rewards us with in-game riches, I'd love money for my alt's epic flying for sure. I'm just realistic I suppose. Considering the fast food restaurant isn't going to buy me a new car when they're out of Dr. Pepper.