More Progress, some frustration. WoW

Well after a terrible login lag issue for almost all last night I was able to get online and get most of the way to level 98, then this morning level up to 98. Root cause was not communicated, and there was a 4 hour lag between any updates on the issue from any Customer Service team. Not playing a game between 8pm – 10pm is extremely frustrating, and Blizzard needs to up the service and improve their communications to players. I was not trying to raid, but most Oceanic raids would have been totally wiped out last night. Eventually the @BlizzardANZ twitter account had the update and after a reboot the server returned to almost normal. I still found some parts of the UI slow, especially when in a Garrison.

I’m in the Spire now and enjoying that zone. The quests are more haphazard and I think there is more flexibility in what order quests are unlocked. I prefer this. My Death Knight was 93 on 25 Nov, and I’m 98 10 days later, so allowing for Christmas feasts and parties I’ll be 100 in about another week to 10 days.

Hopefully that is enough to then get to average ilevel 615 for the Molten Core revamped raid and get the special mount and helm. I have an heirloom weapon which will be 620-ish when I’m 100, and then it means grinding through Dungeons and hoping I get lucky with Follower quests.

I’m enjoying the game, Warlords so far is great. It will be interesting to see what the long tail game-play is like for a non-raider (aka LFR Raider).

Happy logins to all, TyphoonAndrew

Silly Authenticator Observation #1

Silly Authenticator Observation #1 – I’m only asked to authenticate now when my mobile is at the bottom of a bag or in another room. How does it know?

Yup, its Tuesday maintenance.

FYI Authenticator change already applied

If you’re wondering why you were not asked for your Authenticator on login, the game now looks to see if the IP and Etc are all typical, and if so – does not ask.

I freaked a little, as I thought it was being applied with patch 4.2. and almost expected to see my toons naked.

WoW Server Outage

Seems the servers are borked, meaning that folks like me had to find something else to do on a Sunday apart from play warcraft. I ironed some shirts, read a book, talked to my better half, and was generally pretty bored. Even the slurry of crying in the official forums was not entertaining after the 4th page, and when I last looked there were 101 pages and counting.

Some folk were demanding financial or playtime compensation from Blizzard, and I think there is no chance of that; it is just not within the bounds of probability. May as well ask for a pony, and if you do please hold your breath too.

It made me contemplate a different hobbie, one which was not so tech dependent; but then I’m a nerd and tech is something that just make so much sense.

AFK watching grass grow. Grumble.

The Zen of Login Queues

I hate waiting. A lot. When something can happen in an automated and efficient manner involving a computer, I see only one reason why we would be waiting in queues. And that reason is money.

The realm queues on Nagrand are impressive, unless you’re on very early or very late you can expect a 20-45 minute pause in your schedule, and if you only plan on playing for 1 hour, that is a no deal. We’ve had 500s to 1100s in line to get on. And that is not the worst of it, other servers have the same or worse stats.

So why money? Well hardware = money, tech time = money, and skill = money. The demand from the player base is clearly huge. I can see why, Wrath of the Lich King is already starting out better than The Burning Crusade, and I loved tBC. Every old player and casual has stepped up to visit WoW again, and others may have taken the opportunity to switch Main toons or even servers. Demand is basically through the roof, and Blizzard should release a ramp up plan to the community to let us know they are aware and care.