Free play-time given for server trouble
by Michael Gray 
Apr 16th 2009 at 3:30PM
If you're one of the people who tried to play this past Tuesday, you experienced the same thing as the rest of us. The servers, they were just plain dead. Even since then, the instances and world servers have been a little less than friendly. This was all to put in Patch 3.1, but there were definitely some hiccups along the way. The game just hasn't been running smoothly, and some folks haven't been able to play at all.Bornakk dropped by the forums to tell us that they plan on doing something about it. All World of Warcraft accounts in good standing will get one day's free play time. Your account has to be based in the North American, Latin American, or Oceanic servers, but it will definitely show up in your Account Management login within the next few days. Totally classy move on Blizzard's part, in my opinion.
EDIT: EU and Russian servers, too!
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jason Apr 16th 2009 3:43PM
Nice! I was really hoping they'd do this. Glad to see that Blizzard is aware of the inconveniences several players have had.
bod Apr 17th 2009 6:27AM
OK, can't believe I'm saying this....but this is madness. There will be no end to it.
As a customer, I can see the attraction and yet - do I really want a whole new admin department from bliz tracking down server downtime and compensating people for it? No I'd far rather bliz used that money to make smarter decisions about the game.
This is a silly precident, it'll never stop.
Mark Apr 16th 2009 3:43PM
Hey, I saw that Freudian slip in the original title!
Brian Apr 16th 2009 3:47PM
"Free down time given for server trouble"
BulletzBill Apr 16th 2009 3:44PM
Classy? How bout: necessary. :-P
Ichigo Apr 16th 2009 3:44PM
First to post and first to fail. Well done.
OT: This is a very good move on Blizz's part to recover from some of the ill will the player base has demonstrated over the issues with the patch.
Iceveiled Apr 16th 2009 3:46PM
I would say classy. They don't HAVE to do this. But they are. To me that shows class.
WAKa is a tool
gunn Apr 16th 2009 3:46PM
A classy move? Fat lot of good them giving me a free day of play does. What about the time, frustration, wondering, etc....
Free day of play is like an insult to injury. Classy would be them admitting for once that they need to take the servers down for an entire day or some other realistic expectation of down time. Classy would be someone getting their heads out of their ass to update people even if it's to say "wait longer".
1 day of free play, whoopty doo. That's like $0.50
LandMineHare Apr 16th 2009 3:55PM
You must have missed all the login notes saying "Server trouble, we'll update you again in an hour" etc...
Me, I went out and did something with my day!
I watched Super Troopers :D
FifthDream Apr 16th 2009 3:57PM
They did say "wait longer".
And if you don't want the extra day, don't play that day. And don't complain about down time, i mean, after all "whoopty doo. That's like $0.50", right?
Dusseldorf Apr 16th 2009 3:58PM
Then don't play the first day of the server being up? Man, people are so whiny.
gunn Apr 16th 2009 4:09PM
I'm not whining I'm just saying.
A free day of play is bullshit. They want to compensate me? How about releasing stuff that works. Blizzard only had an extra 6 months from release to get this stuff right.
$0.50 can't even buy me a candy bar.
Jehosaphat Apr 16th 2009 4:21PM
Look at it this way...$0.50 times 11 million subscribers is $5.5 million. Not exactly a small price to pay.
Lyraat Apr 16th 2009 4:22PM
Adding insult to injury would be Blizzard charging us twice for the servers being down. As my coworker likes to say, tis better than a sharp stick in the eye.
Fifty cents ($1 for my household's two accounts) is nothing to us individually. Collectively, Blizzard just lost $5.5 million. Yeah, that's nothing.
Seriously people, be thankful we got anything at all and stop QQ'ing.
gunn Apr 16th 2009 4:46PM
Again, It's not whining. I'm just saying they aren't doing me any good by crediting me one day of play. So pretending they're classy or doing something totally awesome for me or anyone else is ridiculous.
KUDUS WHERE KUDUS is due. It's not due in this respect and telling me I shouldn't state this is beyond dumb.
Hanako Apr 16th 2009 4:49PM
Also just wanted to mention you should try getting a cable company to pay for interrupted service; I've gone a better part of a winter weekend without it - and they provide my internet (or not, depending on the day). You could also try pushing mass transportation to reimburse you when the train/rail/bus breaks down and you have to catch a cab. They don't. So in my opinion this is classy.
gunn Apr 16th 2009 4:56PM
As a matter-of-fact I work for a cable company and we do compensate our customers when the service is to go down unexpectedly. In addition to that, when we know our service will be down for a home, area, etc... we will email and send a letter to them in advance so they can make arrangements if necessary. Also we give the expectation of a longer time then average on work related problems, Because and get this. People are always happier to see stuff online, get more money back , to have something cost less, then vice versa.
Blizzard makes great games, but their customer service skills need a butt kicking.
krypt0n1te83 Apr 16th 2009 5:22PM
gunn: QQqqqQQQqqq..qqQQq..qQQQ..QQQQ.....QQQQ.qqqq.qqqqQQ
QQQ..qQQqqqQ $0.50....QQQqqqQQQqqqqq
Jason Apr 16th 2009 3:46PM
You must be so proud. Your children's children will remember this day and the glorious accomplishment you have achieved.
krutch Apr 16th 2009 5:20PM
Yeah really nice. One free day for not being able to play for three days.