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Ex-Blizzard Devs Sign With Namco, Blizzard Using BitTorrent
Thanks to Yahoo for reprinting a press release revealing the ex-Diablo creators now at Flagship Studios have signed a publishing deal with Namco, in a move that "marks Namco's official entry into the PC games publishing business" - we've previously covered Flagship Studios' formation on Slashdot Games. Elsewhere, several readers point out Blizzard's official World of Warcraft site, which has announced with regard to the upcoming WoW Beta test: "While we plan on having several ways available to distribute the files to everyone, our primary method will be through the Blizzard Downloader program, which uses BitTorrent technology." Update: 03/18 21:01 GMT by S : There's more discussion on Blizzard and other companies using BitTorrent in a recent mainpage post.
They do mention that this will just be the primary download method, and that they will have some form of direct download for those unable (or unwilling) to use the torrent file.
While BT can monopolize all of your available bandwidth, most newer clients such as Azureus, Shadows, and TorrentStorm allow you to throttle both your upload and download speeds by setting a limit on the maximum amount used on active torrents.
I have no regrets, this is the only path.
My whole life has been "UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS"
It's not exactly a *choice*. ISPs get reduced pricing from their providers by saying they'll maintain a certain upstream/downstream ratio. If they go over that, it's very expensive - as in all contracts if you exceed usage.
ISPs get that reduced pricing to offer more services, provide better download bandwidth, and of course get more profits. They decide on the ratio based on average use. They have to charge more for upstream because if they didn't, and one month everyone decides to start uploading lots of stuff, they're stuck with a HUGE bill.