Many servers not yet up after all
The previous post about the servers coming back online seems to have been slightly premature. Many, if not most servers are still offline, and the current target for bringing them back is 6 PM PST/9 PM EST. Be aware that this target has been pushed back three times since being originally set for 2 PM PST/5 PM EST today, so I wouldn't count on being able to play any time tonight necessarily. And when the realms do come up, I wouldn't expect them to be super-stable; the few realms that are up right now are having all manner of crashes and other difficulties.
That said, I'm can't really be mad at Blizzard for any of this. This is possibly the largest patch in MMO history, as one astute commenter pointed out; it would have been extremely optimistic to expect it to go off without a hitch. We'll be back sooner or later (unless they decide to just leave the servers off until Wrath hits), and we'll have plenty of new toys to play with. In the mean time, why not check out our voluminous coverage of the patch, or our handy all-in-one FAQ?
Filed under: Patches, Realm Status



















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 22)
Edamil Oct 14th 2008 8:12PM
Aerie Peak is finally up, still have to wait a million years at the loading screen.
Shucks Oct 14th 2008 8:40PM
It's not like they had a PTR to work the bugs out first. Or automated server patching, or ....
Welcome to the brave new world of 11 million PAYING beta testers.
vlad Oct 14th 2008 8:43PM
normally throughout the day people log on and off in a trickle.
when there is signifigant downtime what was normally a trickle becomes a flood behind a fragile dam.
once the servers come back on, that dam breaks and whoosh!
all those trickling players are now flooding the servers at one time.
be patient grassshopper. you will be rewarded with playing soon.
anyway, my server is fine. hang in there guys. tomorrow is another day.
Ian Oct 14th 2008 8:54PM
Shucks, these problems only show themselves under the stress of millions of players. It's not really possible to predict everything when so many things are being changed.
Vrogy Oct 14th 2008 8:55PM
Right, but they could have come up with a method to reduce the flood to a trickle.. IN THE PTR.
Honestly, announce a "special testing session", host everything on fewer machines, and start working on ways to make it workable. Queues, if need be.
I'm addicted, so it's not like I'm going to quit.. but that doesn't mean this isn't piss-poor game design.
Also, locks are effing nerfed, QQ, etc. WTB purple pew pews...
AlexW573 Oct 14th 2008 8:57PM
They did think of something up: The Background Downloader. Unfortunately, not everyone let it run. I had the entire patch downloaded days ago.
Also, the loads on the PTR are nothing compared to the rest of the servers. I'm sure there are many server-side updates needed.
storment Oct 14th 2008 9:06PM
Looks like the authentication server is down now... Not letting me even log in at this point. Sad times.
Krack Oct 14th 2008 9:33PM
Most of their sites are down based on bandwidth issues for sure. worldofwarcraft.com, WOW news loader, forums, etc. My tracert timeout once it hit a hop or two from worldofwarcraft.com. Telling me that we have created our own denial of services attack based on a flood of people all swamping their authenticating and login servers. Best thing to do is take a deep breath and come back later.
Grekkor Oct 14th 2008 9:36PM
GG Blizzard $140 Million made last year and cant get a patch working
Rexigar Oct 14th 2008 9:34PM
I am still patching and its 9:33 PM EST. I try to access www.worldofwarcraft.com but no go, I try my realm forums and no go, the realm status gives me a 404 error.
Is anyone else having this issue?
realmreaver Oct 15th 2008 8:41PM
Love how you pay to play and they will NOT let you play and they lock you out.
Disturbed Oct 14th 2008 10:13PM
Illidan is broken. It says its "online" but it took forever to get to the character screen, and it won't even load the world when i choose a character.
breaklance Oct 14th 2008 11:12PM
you can blame "surges" all you want, blizzard has had WoW live for how many years and still hasnt fixed this problem or their patch downloader? Seriously some blizz exec's should be wondering about this, since its a repeated problem that gets a lot of paying costumers pissed off.
adeeil Oct 14th 2008 11:21PM
This is pathetic for any company to have 10 million ppl paying 15.99 a month to have incompetent tech's. 160 million a month and they cant solve these bugs? pathetic to say the least.
adeeil Oct 14th 2008 11:26PM
This is pathetic for any company to have 10 million ppl paying 15.99 a month to have incompetent tech's. 160 million a month and they cant solve these bugs? pathetic to say the least.
Matindo Oct 15th 2008 5:42AM
It makes me happy knowing other people haven't been able to enjoy patch 3.0.2, after a couple of hours downloading and installing the patch i log on with tears in my eyes at the new screen (though i'd seen it on wowinsider already it was still epic).
I log in and behold! Account out of game time...GG, it's 8:30PM here so no WoW for me till tomorrow morning, fuck lectures i'm lining up outside of EB games for my goddam gamecard.
zlickrick Oct 14th 2008 8:13PM
Does that mean I have to go......outside?
xenothaulus Oct 14th 2008 8:13PM
No, outside is the devil.
adbiku Oct 14th 2008 8:31PM
Blizzard has stated that due to health concerns faced by many of its subscribers, going outside is not recommended unless the sun has already set. Due to the lack of exposure to ultraviolet radiation common amongst their players, extreme care should be taken when exposing oneself to 'The Sun'.
Recommended gear includes sunblock rated at least 1500SPF, welders googles, and clothing dark enough to blend into a hidden corner if unexpected social contact occurs.
coplice Oct 14th 2008 9:22PM
you can watch the canadian election if you cant play wow!
thats what i do while crying :'(