Posts with tag realm

Compensation for last week's extended downtime

by Michael Sacco Dec 4th 2009 at 11:00AM

In what will surely please anyone who follows or was affected by extended realm downtimes, Blizzard has quietly announced compensation for the realms affected by it last week. We covered the downtime last week as it occurred.

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."

Filed under: Realm News, Realm Status, News items

Guildwatch: The waiting game

by Mike Schramm Nov 11th 2009 at 7:00PM

More and more guilds are becoming just like Zen, above -- they're downing Anub in Trial of the Crusader, and then wondering just what's next? The answer, of course, is Icecrown, but even our best estimates have that release a month away still. Not that anyone's blaming Blizzard yet -- quite a few guilds are still working on hard modes, and more people are worried just what'll happen after Icecrown (though I wouldn't be surprised if Blizzard still has a few cards up their sleeve for that one). But still, at this point, guilds are reaching their limits, and we're starting to see the calm before the storm of raiding in patch 3.3.

That doesn't mean Guildwatch isn't busy -- we've got the usual downed, drama, and recruiting notices from around the realms. And if your guild is still active, be sure to tell us about it: send a tip to guildwatch@wow.com, and you'll see it here in the future. Read on for more.

Filed under: Fan stuff, Guilds, Odds and ends, Instances, Raiding, Guildwatch, Factions

Maintenance for Tuesday November 10th

by Adam Holisky Nov 9th 2009 at 10:30PM

There will be a round of realm maintenance for everyone tomorrow, Tuesday November 10th from 5:00 a.m. PST / 8:00 a.m. EST until 11:00 a.m. PST / 2:00 p.m. EST. This is more or less the "normal" maintenance time we've all come to know and love.

The downtime tomorrow should not be taken as any indication that patch 3.3 is dropping; that event is still a couple weeks away at best. The patch tonight was a "tools patch," that while temporarely screwed things up for the majority of people, wasn't anything that changed things significantly -- at least as far as we all can tell.

If anything else develops of this downtime, we'll be sure to let you know.

Filed under: Realm Status, News items

The login server is currently busy [Updated]

by Robin Torres Aug 25th 2009 at 7:10PM

Many people have been writing into our tip line that they are unable to log in to their servers at this time. Both Battle.Net and non-Battle.Net users are complaining that authentication is down for them. I received the above error message myself, however my husband is able to log in just fine.

We'll keep you updated should Blizzard say anything officially or other developments arise. In the meantime, I will be trying again later as the message asks me to do.

Update 7:46PM: Most people are reporting that the authentication issues are fixed.

Update: The following message is currently displayed upon login.

Filed under: Realm Status, News items

The Queue: Are you a god?

by Adam Holisky Jul 20th 2009 at 4:00PM

Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today.

A simple question instead of an introduction.

Go get her, Ray!

Some music too which you can listen to while reading today's Queue. And some more. Don't watch the videos, they're dumb. But the music is great.

Angus asked...

"Why is there a defense channel for every zone? Specifically, why would anyone be attacking the Twisting Nether? I found this to be my most amusing channel. The raid or instance ones are funny, but this one always cracks me up."

Filed under: The Queue

Maintenance for Tuesday June 2nd

by Adam Holisky Jun 1st 2009 at 10:00PM

Maintenance, you say? Unheard of! After all, what is wrong with a Paladin standing upright while riding her horse? Or what's wrong with constant errors telling intrepid adventurers additional instances cannot be launched?

Well, okay. Something might be wrong with those things. Hopefully tomorrow's maintenance will bring fixes to them. But more importantly based on all account it'll be bringing patch 3.1.3 with it as well.

Maintenance will last from 3:00 a.m. PDT until 11:00 a.m. PDT. Unless, of course, you on one of the few dozen realms listed after the break. For those special realms, maintenance will last from 12:01 a.m. PDT until 12:01 p.m. PDT. Why is it starting at the :01? Because Blizzard wants you to have an extra minute to complete raids tonight. That's how much they care. And you know what? So do I... (Click it... I dare you.)

The full list of realms under the extended maintenance after the break.

Filed under: Realm News, Realm Status, News items

Free EU character migrations

by Adam Holisky Apr 8th 2009 at 2:00PM

There are a handful of free EU character transfers to report on today, all focused on the faction differences on the realm Magtheridon.

Now Magtheridon was always a pain in the butt in the days before his colossal nerf. It was a big challenge when BC was released to coordinate a couple groups of five people to click on cubes all at one time. I'd always say on vent very calmly: "Three, two... one... click-click-click. Good work. Break." Or "Three, two... one... click-click-click. Terrible. Wipe it."

Does that obnoxious and repetitious pattern which still haunts me in my dreams have anything to do with the character migrations? Probably not.

The full list of realms after the break.

Filed under: Realm News, News items

A guide to shutting out the world (of Warcraft)

by Amanda Miller Apr 8th 2009 at 1:00PM

WoW is a very social game, and you might think that there is no getting around it. Fortunately for those who relish their alone time, there are several ways to minimize contact with other players and have some quiet time.

While some people will argue that you should stop playing social games like MMORPGs, there are plenty of solo activities, and if that is what you want to do, more power to you.

Today, I will be answering some reader mail from Heidi who desperately wants some peace and quiet.

Filed under: Realm News, Analysis / Opinion, How-tos, Guides

Realm maintenance for Tuesday March 31st

by Adam Holisky Mar 30th 2009 at 10:05PM

The winds swept across the frozen plains making swirling geometric patterns in the snow laden prairie grass. This was a cold day in the northern land, both in weather and in heart. For it wasn't only the snow, but the chilled waters which were causing the kingdom concern; up and up they went, rising over the rivers banks. The land's people thought they could hold them at bay but none could be sure.

The engineers flew over the homesteads of their countrymen, working diligently in their flying machines to hold back the mighty waters. And while things were quiet now, it was predicted by those with foresight to not be quiet for much longer. More movement in the waters was coming, and it was something that no man wanted to see.

The kingdom was under the protection of the councilmen and councilwomen, yet they were impeded in their efforts at every turn by the maniacal Lich King, laughing and taunting them with his powers over the frozen wastes.

"Petty mortals, do you really think you can withstand the power of the mighty Scourge?" he chided the citizens who dared brave the cold north. Sitting atop his ice crowned citadel there was nothing he couldn't see, nothing he couldn't do. For the domain of the north was his and his alone.

Except upon this day the voice of the gods and the wizards of Dalaran opened up their mouths and spoke in unison.

Filed under: Fan stuff, News items

Realm maintenance for Tuesday February 24th

by Adam Holisky Feb 24th 2009 at 12:01AM

"I'm not looking forward to this," Fargor grumbles as he rests his heavy two-handed Paladin mace on the side of his legs. "I know that when I awake tomorrow things will not have improved." He shuffles his chest plate around, getting more comfortable for the forced sleep ahead of him.

"And damned if I do even wake up!"

Fargor slams his hairy Dwarven fist down on the wooden table, angry at the ruling Wizards of Dalaran for their impositions on him and everyone else.

All Osull and Marcella can do is look back and nod in acknowledgement, as they too feel more and more angst at the Wizards for their mysterious ways.

"At least it will only be part of a day," Osull offers up in comfort of the Dwarf. Marcella lays a supportive hand on the Osull's shoulder and nods her head in agreement, "Indeed kind Dwarf, it's only for eight hours."

The platitudes seem to do nothing for Fargor, as he shakes his head and says "Eight hours or eight years, it doesn't matter lass. No one should have a right to tell a Dwarf what to do!"

And as he says that the Wizards can suddenly be heard throughout the city, "The realms will be down from three to eleven in the morning, as the mighty pacific clock tells time. Sleep well now citizens of Azeroth, for when tomorrow you awake things will be fresh and new..."

The voice trails off into nothingness and across the realms everyone stops what they're doing and falls asleep as they are.

The Wizard's maintenance has begun.

One week ago...

Filed under: Fan stuff, News items

Some realms are up [Updated]

by Adam Holisky Feb 17th 2009 at 2:40PM

The wispy voice from the previous evening greets Osull as he begins to regain consciousness. "The realms... are up... the realms... are up..." it says over and over again.

The mantra becomes stuck in his head like a mind worm as he wipes the sleep from his eyes. He looks around in a daze and realize that he's back near his home in the neighborhood's bar, A Hero's Welcome, sitting at table being served a drink by Marcella.

"What time is it?" Osull ask the waitress. His voice is rough and it's evident he needs a drink to wash away the night's forced sleep.

"It just rang 11 not a short time ago, mighty Warrior," she replies. Placing a large flagon of mead in front of Osull, the smell of the hops fills his nose with a promise of further adventure tonight. But something doesn't feel right; it's almost as if the wizards of Dalaran have not released everyone from their sleeping spell.

"Marcella!" Osull yells franticly. "Where is everyone else?"

Filed under: Realm Status, News items

Breakfast Topic: Would you join an "Anything Goes" realm?

by Robin Torres Jan 15th 2009 at 8:00AM

Some of the commenters in yesterday's Breakfast Topic talked about how we were all adults and shouldn't be bothered by adult content. But we aren't all adults. Kids play this game -- and often it's teenagers who are the ones with the adult oriented chatter.

We've discussed the concept of age restricted servers before and many have expressed that they would join them in an effort to escape what is perceived as underage offensive behavior. But what I'm proposing here is not an adult only realm to avoid adult content, but one that is age restricted because of the adult content.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Breakfast Topics

Roll a Death Knight (almost) anywhere in 3.0.8

by Michael Sacco Jan 13th 2009 at 7:00PM

Oh, you poor unfortunate souls! Forced by the cruel silver hand of fate to roll a Death Knight only on realms on which you already have a level 55 character. You've cried out in pain as the lashes of this restriction struck you, and through the anguish you've yelled "Yo Blizz! Lemme roll my DK anywhere, aight?"

Word. Big Blue's got your back.

Starting with the launch of 3.0.8, you'll be able to roll a new Death Knight on any realm as long as you have a level 55 character somewhere. The normal restrictions for character creation are still in place, though--can't make an opposite-faction DK on a PVP server, can't roll a DK on a server closed to transfers unless you've got a 55 there already, etc. All fair!

Before you ask why this feature wasn't implemented from the get-go, remember that it wasn't even very long ago that the developers were deciding "how is dk formed?" (though they did say that the restriction would be lifted soon after Wrath launched).

So fret not, ye oppressed. Soon, your chains (of ice) will be broken.

Filed under: Patches, News items, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King

New PTR build incoming

by Adam Holisky Jan 8th 2009 at 6:30PM

Maaven posted a short time ago that the 3.0.8 Public Test Realm (PTR) servers are being taken offline for an update tonight. There is no ETA when the PTRs will be back up.

There was a recent update to the PTR patch notes, and there has been a lot of activity on the PTR forums from the blues. It should be noted that Ghostcrawler once again today reiterated that dual spec will not be unveiled in 3.0.8.

There's a few of us here that will be up tonight, so check back and see what the new build brings. I'm placing my gold on more clam updates.

Filed under: Patches, Realm Status, News items

Free transfers and a new US realm

by Adam Holisky Jan 8th 2009 at 4:30PM

There was a ton of free transfers announced last night, hopefully some of this will have the effect of freeing up the long queues we've become used to lately.

In addition to the normal transfers, a large block of PvE servers have the option to get a free transfer to a new realm, Garrosh.

Garrosh is a PvE EST based US realm. It's been placed in the Emberstorm battlegroup.

Blizzard's announcement lists next Wednesday, January 14th, at 6:00 p.m. PST as the cutoff date for the transfers. However they will close the transfers early if they meet their internal quotas. Transfer early and transfer often. You can begin the transfers via your account management page at worldofwarcraft.com.

The complete list of eligible transfer realms after the break

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