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WoW Fighting Losing Battle Against Popularity
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Posted by: Shalome
Blizzard has removed World of Warcraft from its online store, and has asked retail stores to stop selling the game for now.
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“We haven’t requested that any retailers pull the games they already have off their shelves,” Gil Shift, public relations representative, said. “We’re just being careful not to release additional copies to be sold until we feel the game servers can support additional players.”
Blizzard declined to comment on how long it would be until more copies of World of Warcraft would be shipped to retail stores.
Some rumors had been circulating that Blizzard had pulled copies of World of Warcraft currently on sale from the shelves of video game retailers across the country, specifically Best Buy, to limit subscription growth. As for now, large retail chains such as Best Buy and Walmart currently do not have any copies of the game available. Even Blizzard’s official on-line store currently says that they are out of stock.
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The game is so popular that the Blizzard servers are already having trouble handling the load, and an upcoming flood of new players is expected from the Korean release date.
Continual problems with the game servers (including frequent crashes and last weekend's apparent 20-server failure) have lead Penny Arcade to revoke the game's status as 2004 Game of the Year.
Posted by: Canis Lupus
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Originally Posted by Shalome
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Ouch!
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Originally Posted by Shalome
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Lame...
Posted by: SKYHN
VU needs to give them some server money, really really badly. Grossly underestimated the popularity of the game.
Posted by: Sn0w
would not be the first time blizzard has done this
Posted by: SKYHN
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Originally Posted by Sn0w
would not be the first time blizzard has done this
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Which other of Blizzard's MMOs did they do this with?
Posted by: Wacheif
ARGH so im gonna have to wait LONGER then the month ive already waited from my order @ amazon? this is rediculous im wondering if i should just cancel my order all together and spend the money on something i can have now, not half a year from now....
Posted by: Sn0w
um basically all their online games lol...... then again you can never prepare for popularity
Posted by: Shalome
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Originally Posted by Sn0w
um basically all their online games lol...... then again you can never prepare for popularity
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Blizzard temporarily never stopped selling or reduced availability of Diablo II or Starcraft because the game servers were overloaded.
Posted by: Sn0w
no but the servers were down due to server load
Posted by: 9:35
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Originally Posted by Sn0w
would not be the first time blizzard has done this
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You seem like a nice person but you have no idea what you're talking about
Posted by: Boggy B
They should only let 56k users like me on, then they'd have no problems whatsoever. 
Posted by: SKYHN
They wouldnt, because on MMOs, your connection only lags yourself, not others. All data, except for chat, is Client to Server and not Client to Client.
Posted by: redwench
1000 players with t1 connections use the same amount of server resources as 1000 56k players. the servers just handle basic number crunching, its your computer doing most of the work. the amount of data the server is sending is relatively small. you can easily surf basic websites while playing a mmorpg, even on a 56k.
Posted by: Gunslinger
It wasn't even until Diablo 2 that they started using a client/server model. And even then (and in Warcraft 3), unbearable lag was rare and unbearable outages were never.
Posted by: Wacheif
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Originally Posted by redwench
1000 players with t1 connections use the same amount of server resources as 1000 56k players. the servers just handle basic number crunching, its your computer doing most of the work. the amount of data the server is sending is relatively small. you can easily surf basic websites while playing a mmorpg, even on a 56k.
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im lookin around on here while playing FFXI right now 
Posted by: Memnoch
This news story could have been a carbon copy of any of the blizzard games.
Replace WoW for any blizzard game title and its reads the same.
Blizzard has over the years proven one simple thing.
They can sell the crap outta thier games.
They just can't manage or support them.
Come on, were any of you surprised by these events or the news stories?
It's a given.
It's Blizzard.
Kinda like a Munson.
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
Hey Memn, do you have Half-Life 2 Death Match? I want to cave your skull in with a flying toilet. 
Posted by: 9:35
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Originally Posted by Memnoch
This news story could have been a carbon copy of any of the blizzard games.
Replace WoW for any blizzard game title and its reads the same.
Blizzard has over the years proven one simple thing.
They can sell the crap outta thier games.
They just can't manage or support them.
Come on, were any of you surprised by these events or the news stories?
It's a given.
It's Blizzard.
Kinda like a Munson.
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Yeah, I'm sure the problems Diablo 2 and Starcraft and Warcraft had were all the same, certainly the same as World of Warcraft which, of course, has the same format as the previous three games combined.
The server problems were created by groups of 300-400 people creating level 1 characters and running to opposing side's heavy transportation hubs (ship docks). Having hundreds of level 1 players concentrated in these zones creates huge lag and eventually crashes the server. I know this because I've been on two of these mini raids, both of which ended in server crashes. If you really believe the fact that Blizzard did not prepare for that many people in such a small area means they are a crap company that hates customers, you're completely wrong.
Not only did they come up with a quick fix for it, but they extended EVERYONES playtime credit so no customers lost money. I have seven extra days of playtime from two seperate crashes. Please show me a better company that treats customers this well, if you think Blizzard is that bad.
edit:
http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img6...052152057ln.jpg
http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img6...052207187un.jpg
http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img6...052232330bm.jpg
http://img50.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img5...052246024tu.jpg
edit2: I should add, when there was that much lag in the shipyards, boats that went in and out of the zone would suddenly blink out of the gameworld, therefore dumping everyone who was on board into the ocean. They would then have to swim back to the docks (above water - if they were below water and the server crashed or they disconnected in the lag, they would drown) which of course would make a person mad. Certainly it angered them enough because Blizzard took down the servers and replaced the boats with NPCs who will instantly teleport players to the locations the boats would have brought them.
Now, Memnoch, was Blizzard at fault with the customers by bringing down the servers, yet fixing a major issue for many players and crediting everyone's playtime at the same time, or did it actually benefit the customers?
Posted by: jmikem825
http://www.penny-arcade.com/ second front-page news article is an 8-question interview thing penny arcade sent to Blizzard which basically explains all the server trouble and what is being done to fix it.
BTW: That Pokemon guild/raid is awesome :P.
Posted by: EMU
*Me thinks I should jump back in ye olde saddle and see what all the talk is about*
Posted by: Seishin
I have been playing WoW since it went Retail and not before. Yes, the first couple of weeks was rough, but not unbearable. It seems that within the first week they hit 650,000 subscriptions. The European opening a week ago had 385,000 subscriptions in the first week.
Several factors have caused issues. First, there is a lot of thrashing of the HDDs unless 1 GB of memory is installed. Second, as you would expect, the 650,000 people all wanted to play at pretty much the same time. Third, each individual chose the server they were going to play on.
Choosing Servers:
In the beginning the list of servers were based on time zone and game style. PvP (vs player), PvE (vs player if you want), and RP. I initially chose the Eastern time zone because it would be later for those in the eastern time zone and thus reduced population. However, my friends had started on a Central server so that is where I have landed.
The servers told everyone if the population was high, medium, or low. Some seemed to WANT high population servers so the most packed servers were further packed. Those servers still have issues today. (These next numbers are only estimates as I have never counted.) There are about 6 of them out of 30 servers.
Now, on the server that I play only rarely are there problems with logging in or lag. Yes, there have been some. The problems have been fewer IMO than in Asheron's Call. There have been a few crashes, including one that reboots the system. That is a nasty one and hits me about twice a month. (Note: I think the computers memory is failing and purchasing a new computer to get better video performance. This might account for the crashes.)
So, now throw a party and get 50 RSVP's and then have 2,000 show up and see if there are issues!
Posted by: Superfly3176
Its unacceptable. You pay like 15 a month and blizzard doesn't even have their crap together. This is why I don't play MMO's (and i think they are no fun). But 15 a month for lag.
Posted by: SKYHN
Ive had maybe a handful of times where I couldnt play because of lag. Generally thats acceptable to me, since the 4 months Ive been playing. Primetime crashes and heavy lag is not though, but luckily there hasnt been much of that on my server.
What I dont like is their solution to many problems are server restarts. Well thats fine, but thats a temporary solution and a server restart in primetime is annoying. Find out what causes the problem in the first place and get rid of it.
IMO, they should have just launched in U.S. only for the first 6 months to see how things could be done differently, etc and then launched in Europe and Korea. The beta was long, but it looks like they didnt catch several things durring it.
Posted by: phake
I dont know, I think that this Blizzards fault, but also is the stores faults. Blizzard obviously should have made more servers/more efficient/ways of spreading accounts, if they expect people to pay $50, then another $15 a month. People are waiting in lines desperatly to fork over money to Blizzard, but they cant use their profits to help the people? Maybe I am not getting somehting here, but I think that Blizzard should start making some progress, and quick. I also blame retail stores for not ordering enough copies. They should know, if they are selling this game, how popular it will be.
RANT/RAVE:
WALMART.COM - Says they have it... I order it right there, of course not really trusting WAL-MART, the grocery store of carnies and white trash, but still eager to get my game. I even paid another $8 to get it shipped 2 days before the date which it said. I order it... im happy... I have been at the "Processing order" stage at the update window for 7 days now, and I think you guys can guess how good Wal-mart.coms customer service is with helping me out... "We can probably give you credit for the extra shipping becuase it will not arrive when we said it would"... you bet your ass they will. I think that Wal-mart should never be trusted again. I returned a DS so I could get this, now im stuck not only on backorder, but only at backorder for 1 store.
Posted by: Airdawg10
phake~
Why do you whittle it down to Walmart? If you've been reading the previous threads, it's not just them.... it's all retail stores....
Posted by: SKYHN
I think blizzard said the other day that they released more copies. It should be showing up in stores anytime now.
Posted by: INeedHelp
Blizzard release five new servers today, two new PvP, one new PvE, and two new RP, to meet the demands.
Posted by: phake
The reason I pick out Walmart, is because they said that they had the game when they did not. At least Best Buy, or any other reputible storew would state that they are out of stock. I just would like the truth before I buy somehting.
Posted by: SKYHN
I think what first you need to do is realize you just used the words 'bestbuy' and 'reputable' in the same sentence
But really though, walmarts website is kinda crappy. I remember not too long ago they had a sale on a DVD player and on a forum I visit for pricing deals had about 40 of the people who ordered get out of stock notices AFTER they ordered and their card was charged.
Posted by: phake
If you go to thier website, it STILL says in stock. Thats F'ing ridiculous. It's pretty obvious it's out of stock, so why cant they tell you about that before I order my product.
Posted by: Andrew7689
Hello
Well, i think they should of made there game so that you can either play on your own, in a world, or on the server with others, i do not like online only games, since you have to be online all the time, also if they are going to do this they should of invested the money in the servors first, like Nvidia do, they invest in server space all the time, Nvidia are doubling the server capacity at moment, and if the server could not handle all that traffic, why did they not put software there that only lets a predetermined amount of people on, then atleast people can still play the online, then say that we are expanding the capacity as soon as possible, this way the interest in the game is not dashed, this is just going to put people of the game now, they restrict downloiads of files if there servor is full, so why not gaming servers, then at least the more people that do register they will know then how big to increase the server, and how much to charge people later on when they bring out addons, or other things.
Thats my opinion ok.
Regards
Andrew
Posted by: Wacheif
If they limit the servers like that people would loose more interest in the game, why would they stick around if they cant get on to play. I think blizz could upgrade the servers to handle it easily but they dont wanna spend the money, at least thats what i think...
Posted by: SKYHN
WoW has 1.5 million subscribers now.
They are starting a character transfer process now, but its very limited. My server isnt even on the list so it doesnt help me at all.
Posted by: Wacheif
1.5 mil?! u serious?! geez...
games like $15 a month... thats.....wtf...
they're gettin rich off this damn game and still theres so many problems... this is crazy...
Posted by: Demicron
Everquest 2 is my solutuion
Posted by: SKYHN
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Originally Posted by Wacheif
1.5 mil?! u serious?! geez...
games like $15 a month... thats.....wtf...
they're gettin rich off this damn game and still theres so many problems... this is crazy...
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I wouldnt say they are getting rich off of it, yet. They have a ton of servers and the devs are working overtime for now. Maybe after a year(if they can fix the game) they will start getting 'rich' off of it.
Posted by: redwench
they still havent recovered their sunk costs yet im sure. running servers that large and paying all those salaries isnt cheap.
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