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On World of Warcraft's Network Issues

alphaneutrino writes to mention a C|Net article discussing some of the recent problems the World of Warcraft playerbase has experienced. From the article: "'Being a system administrator myself, I have some understanding of what goes on in a corporate data center,' said Evgeny Krevets, a sometimes-frustrated WoW player. 'I don't know Blizzard's system setup. What I do know is that if I kept performing 'urgent maintenance' and taking the service down without warning for eight-hour periods, I would be out of a job.' Blizzard blames some of the problems--such as the disconnection, for several hours on Friday, of players linked to several servers--on AT&T, its network provider. (AT&T did not respond to a request for comment.) "

20 of 407 comments (clear)

  1. Ahhh.... by popeguilty · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...so THAT'S how Blizzard is combatting server lag.

  2. 8 hours? Coincidence? by ziggamon2.0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe it's the Blizzard guys' moms that come in and say "Enough of those stupid games already, go to bed!"? ;)

    Or are they too cool to be running the servers out of their parents' basements like the rest of us?

  3. Re:A typical week on Mal'Ganis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    What are Friday and Saturday? Go outside in the scary real world days?

  4. Last heard from the WoW datacenter... by fuyu-no-neko · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Well, at least I have chicken!"

    --
    Don't take the above poster too seriously. He doesn't.
  5. Re:$15/mo times six million users.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Blizzard, I can guarantee this: if you spend $35 million per month on refactoring, hardware and bandwidth, all your shareholders go away. Guaranteed. I promise.

  6. Re:It seems... by plastic.person · · Score: 2, Funny

    I tend to agree, today's net users are so spoiled. Back in 1993 AOL went down every Tuesday and Thursday at 11PM for six hours- at least. And AOL isn't even a recreational service as WoW is, it is vital things like email and stock tickers.

    The above poster needs to learn to become tough like valient AOL users did, and who were also the tip of the spear that tamed the net for WoW players to come a decade later.

  7. AT&T have a right to provide poor service to W by Odiumjunkie · · Score: 2, Funny

    Those communists over at Blizzard want to use Edward Whitacre's pipes for free!

  8. Re:$15/mo times six million users.... by stevesliva · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just like with nine women you can have a baby in one month.

    --
    Who do you get to be an expert to tell you something's not obvious? The least insightful person you can find? -J Roberts
  9. Re:It seems... by Armando_Mcgillicutty · · Score: 4, Funny

    No one except the 6 Million users that play the game.

  10. NSA Agents Hot on the Trail of Horde Terrorists by Anubis333 · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's hard for AT&T to cater to so many millions of users *AND* filter/direct all of their customer data illegally and directly to the NSA.

  11. Re:Network and other WoW performance issues by EnronHaliburton2004 · · Score: 3, Funny

    This was a business decision, not a technical descision. Probably an exclusive agreement made with the PHB in charge of WoW.

    "But why do we need two providers? ATT has assured me that they can provide all the bandwidth we need, and that they have failover capability! *plus* their datacenters are built on SPRINGS!"

  12. Re:$15/mo times six million users.... by otis+wildflower · · Score: 3, Funny

    Given their reliance on only ATT as their network provider, this is precisely the problem they have _now_, and what they need to spend bucketloads of cash fixing.

    They need multiple sites around the world, with multiple OC192s to multiple providers, all BGP'd to the gills. They need to buy dark fiber and light that shit up.

    Then again, why bother, it's not like it's a free market out there and there won't be any competitors to WoW that can get their act together, right? I mean Blizzard owns the patents on MMORPGaming, right?

    Oh wait.

  13. Re:A typical week on Mal'Ganis by Hal_Porter · · Score: 2, Funny

    That reminds me of a song,

    I'm waiting for my man
    Twenty-six dollars in my hand
    Up to Lexington, 125
    Feel sick and dirty, more dead than alive
    I'm waiting for my man

    Hey, geek boy, what you doin' online?
    Hey, geek boy, you hackin' our servers with third party addons?
    Oh pardon me sir, it's the furthest from my mind
    I'm just lookin' for a dear, dear friend of mine
    I'm waiting for my man

    Here he comes, he's all dressed in black
    PR department and a big EULA
    He's never early, he's always late
    First thing you learn is you always gotta wait
    I'm waiting for my man

    Up to a Brownstone, up three flights of stairs
    Everybody's pinned you, but nobody cares
    He's got the works, gives you sweet taste
    Ah then you gotta split because you got no time to waste
    I'm waiting for my man

    Baby don't you holler, darlin' don't you bawl and shout
    I'm feeling good, you know I'm gonna work it on out
    I'm feeling good, I'm feeling oh so fine
    Until tomorrow, but that's just some other time
    I'm waiting for my man

    --
    echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  14. thank you AT&T! by tidokoro · · Score: 5, Funny

    WOW server downtime is saving my marriage.

    --
    tidokoro
    what turns a man's karma neutral? lust for gold? power? or just a heart born full of neutrality?
  15. Re:System Administrative Failure by groundround · · Score: 2, Funny

    I feel much better about their lack of quality service now that I know I'm helping to subsidize disadvantaged WoW players in Asia. Can I at least get a postcard with their picture, telling me how their doing?

    Seriously, one of their biggest failings is communication and there is no excuse for that. It's cheap and easy and would at least keep people hopeful that their lost gaming time is being spent in the pursuit of greater future stability.

  16. Re:A typical week on Mal'Ganis by CTachyon · · Score: 3, Funny

    They BROKE a continent? I hope it was still under warranty...

    --
    Range Voting: preference intensity matters
  17. Re:$15/mo times six million users.... by chowsapal · · Score: 2, Funny

    um, this is slashdot -- good luck getting one baby in 90 years with one woman! there's always adoption.

  18. Translated by Danathar · · Score: 3, Funny

    "My crack pipe...My crack pipe!....suck...suck....It's not working right!"

  19. Well, no, but... by mbessey · · Score: 4, Funny

    With proper pipelining, you CAN get one baby after an initial nine-month delay, then a baby a month of throughput until your cache is depleted.

  20. Re:$15/mo times six million users.... by C0rinthian · · Score: 2, Funny
    Just like with nine women you can have a baby in one month.

    They've had nine months. They should be having a baby every month now.

    Downtime is either being caused by poor design, hardware/software limitations, or bandwidth limitations.
    You know, those causes are suprisingly funny when speaking about childbirth...