Breakfast Topic: Realm (in)stability

by Allison Robert Nov 17th 2008 at 8:00AM

In general I've been pleasantly surprised at how stable my own realm has been since the launch. Yes, we've had queues, restarts, lag, and yes, we've also had an insanely annoying subgroup of people with absolutely no scruples over stealing quest spawns (to be fair, this isn't Blizzard's fault, unless you count their refusal to allow us to kill members of our own faction. I have been sorely tempted over the last few days). But in general, play has been pretty trouble-free apart from the crowds you'd expect at all the usual quest hubs, and the response to the expansion has been universally positive from everyone to whom I've spoken. Wrath, at least on my own realm, has gone live to a very happy and excited bunch of players.

But with a look at WoW Insider's inbox, I'm not sure it's worked out that way for everyone. We've seen a spate of recent complaints about server crashes and giant queues, and this weekend we've gotten a lot of them from people playing on Oceanic servers particularly (one of our readers, James Flannery, wrote in to tell us about an Oceanic server queue that went from 86 to 161 minutes during the half hour that he'd already been waiting). While in general I think it's safe to say that Wrath's launch went much more smoothly than Burning Crusade's did, I'm not sure everyone's benefited despite Blizzard's efforts. Possibly it's a function of Wrath being even more popular than anticipated in certain regions. If you play on multiple servers, which realm(s) seem to be doing best and worst? Have queue times (if they existed) and server lag improved for you?

Tags: oceanic-realms, queue, queues, rolling-restart, rolling-restarts, server-downtime, server-maintenance, wotlk, wrath, wrath-launch, wrath-of-the-lich-king

Filed under: Realm News, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Breakfast topics, Expansions, Wrath of the Lich King

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

Trugzilla Nov 17th 2008 8:05AM

Might be best to not broadcast player's login names....

Hudders Nov 17th 2008 8:09AM

The worst culprits for kill stealing are those classes that can AoE. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

I can't be held responsible for "accidentally" enabling myself for PvP and then standing under the rain of fire you're relentlessly casting on the spawn point...

Gnosh Nov 17th 2008 8:24AM

See, that's funny, but I've had alliance assholes actually get me KILLED by tagging a bunch of mobs and kiting them into my (legitimate) Volley, instantly siccing them on me.

Before anyone says "Feign Death"... all it takes is ONE to resist it. And when there's 15 guys two levels above you... that's fairly likely.

Damntheman Nov 17th 2008 10:09AM

I'm not sure you understood his post. He's saying he flags pvp and kills the douches (read: you) who aoe on spawn points. Adding the qualifier "legitimate" to YOUR aoe doesn't make it special.

Gnosh Nov 17th 2008 10:27AM

I didn't say I was AOEing SPAWN POINTS. I pull three or four mobs and blast them down, then go back for more.

If you want to flag yourself and drop into combat with me, that's great, may the best man win, but don't exploit game mechanics because you want the zone to yourself.

Damntheman Nov 17th 2008 4:14PM

Wow, you're dense. This is precisely why we are having spawn-camping drama, apparently everyone ELSE is the jerk. You were doing exactly the same thing as a spawn camper, only you were on a quest that involved multiple kills. I do the same thing with my turkey: starfall, run around, barkskin, cyclone. The point is that when I do it I'm taking a risk. Standing in someone's aoe flagged is not an exploit of game mechanics, you attacked an entire area and everything that is in it. If that caused more trouble than you can deal with then stick to single target killing.

Pål Nov 18th 2008 5:48AM

If you're not flagged for PvP yourself then your AoEs don't hit PvP targets, unless you're in combat with them, which only happens to NPCs with an aggro radius.

ROB13 Nov 17th 2008 8:10AM

Oh damn, since when was it a good idea to show off players login account names?

Well, Dragonblight sometimes has a que, it's just the lag on my crappy connection that finish's me off

Dightkuz Nov 17th 2008 8:13AM

On the european servers we just group up with those who need the same quest objective, and thus get the kill together.

Hudders Nov 17th 2008 8:55AM

Works only as long as there's less than five of you and you're all in the same faction.

Bryan Meseiks Nov 17th 2008 8:16AM

Mal'Ganas has been having queue times of 1.5 hours+ after 6pm. I am finding myself having to try and login early just so I can play at a specific time. I have contemplated switching realms, but why should I be forced to leave friends behind? That is my only obstacle for moving. I just hope the server populations start to decrease around that time because it is getting ridiculous.

Wendy Nov 17th 2008 8:16AM

Argent Dawn has had a que everyday, versus my other realms have been doing ok. Last Friday I couldn't get into any of my servers without waiting. Its gotten better since them except for Argent Dawn, it still has a que dailey :(

TonyMotorola Nov 17th 2008 8:19AM

"people with absolutely no scruples over stealing quest spawns"

You don't own spawns. Seeing a spawn doesn't make it your property. Nobody is stealing anything from you. Tag it if you want credit. "OH! I need that mob and I see it, it's my property!" isn't the case.

Gnosh Nov 17th 2008 8:30AM

Hi there. If you run into the room where the named guy spawns, and I'm already there tapping my foot waiting for it to respawn, and YOU decide to tag it with a macro the moment it spawns, and /wave at me as you leave, you're a douche.

Kaawn Nov 17th 2008 8:34AM

Do you also cut in front of people in line at a coffee shop? It's common decency and courtesy to allow people waiting for a turn in order of arrival to get their mark before you. You're just an ass.

No real queues on Zangar yet. Just mobs of 14 year olds being ass wipes at spawn points.

Sarg Bjornson Nov 17th 2008 8:36AM

Of course, you are technically right.

But I hope we will all agree that it is better if none of us acts like an asshole.

Tseran Nov 17th 2008 8:49AM

So, if I walk up to the herb or node you are standing beside fighting three mobs at and take it because you are otherwise occupied, knowing full well you probably wanted it, that is fine?

Same concept with quest spawns, show courtesy, if someone is waiting before you, let them have it, it will respawn for you too. If you are so impatient as to not be able to wait for it to respawn, then go do whatever it is you need to be doing, you certainly don't need to be questing.

Cautivo Nov 17th 2008 8:54AM

IMO it is perfectly acceptable to tag-steal from an opposing faction, but not your own. Simple as that.

KenMo Nov 17th 2008 9:26AM

I agree with Cautivo, and I have had the occasion of clearing away all of the "trash" around an elite I need only to have someone else walk in while I was fighting the last guy and take the elite.

I have also had people offer to group with me to share the kill. There are both kinds out there.

I check to see if anyone else is obviously waiting for a spawn before I tag it, but I don't wait long or look too hard. If you need it you better be Johnny on the spot and tag it. I got leveling to do.

Nintai Nov 17th 2008 11:10AM

I level with a pally friend and we gladly steal spawns from allys, but try to get as many horde guys in the group as possible to share the kill.

Also pretty damn long queues on Burning Blade.

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