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Penny Arcade comment on WoW servers :)
metalfoxus
Member Posts: 805
Quoted from www.penny-arcade.com
"In other news, we hereby revoke 2004 Game of the Year status for Blizzard's "World of Warcraft," effective immediately.
If you are familiar at all with the newspost, you know that it has been a spigot of almost unmitigated goodwill towards the title. We've been playing it for months in another form, and even chose to write thirteen comics for the guide. Understand that we don't need to take or even entertain projects if they are not utterly delicious, your readership of the site itself guarantees that. We took it because we loved the game and had faith that any hitches in the experience would be ground down before release. This has not been borne out.
I would not disagree with you if you said that the game was good - indeed, as delivered, I still maintain that in the Massive genre it provides the greatest reward for the least nuisance. It also succeeds in many ways corollary to that, but I've said plenty of things along those lines, and the puff piece phase is over - particularly with the European launch en route. Now is actually a good time to appraise their technology. It is, in a word, wanting.
I'm putting aside issues like class balance or Gamemaster abuse, because honestly those things are only a problem when the fucking server is up. They will no doubt be very interesting topics eventually, but it's actually four and five times a week at this point that I can't even log in to the game. It's not like I'm sitting here trying to connect at odd hours so I can catch them in something, either - this is in prime time, or on a weekend. The mail system works when it is good and ready. The servers themselves appear to have other things on their mind.
Every week, there is some new calamity that necessitates some huge response on their part, servers are coming down, but if you think that the servers coming b"ack up again will represent an improvement in the basic functionality of the game you're mistaken. They took them down most of the day Thursday (and again for "emergency service" on Sunday), and when they came back up it should have been something supernatural but it was actually utterly imperceptible. It should have been like when the Genesis device hit and a lifeless rock became a fucking paradise. That didn't happen. So, if I say, as I'm about to, that their emergency service amounts to parlor tricks, what evidence can they give to the contrary? Because near as I can tell they've been doing "emergency service" since release, only they used to credit people's accounts for it.
If this happened in Galaxies, or Dark Age, or AO, of course it'd be everybody everywhere piling on. But it's Blizzard, and since they made a few good games years ago now they can do whatever the fuck they want to. Great policy, and it totally serves consumers. Good job. Where's Lum The Mad when you need him.
When a young person comes into a noticeable sum of money, it is often the case that strictures are placed on its expenditure. The thinking is that such a person will plow their inheritance in things that are critical to them at the time but do not represent a wise long-term investment, such as Sweet Tarts. A trust fund protects this amount and purifies its purpose. So it can be said for the coveted Game of the Year award - it was given too early, and they have squandered it. It is now withheld. It will be released only when they prove themselves worthy stewards of it.
(CW)TB out."
"I just wanted to say that I agree with Tycho on this one. My opinion is that WOW is the best MMO ever made. The problem is that I don't get to play it nearly as much as I'd like. I think it's important to note that the only reason we're so upset here is because we want so desperately to play Blizzard's awesome game. It's the fact that these server outages and crazy bugs are keeping us from their masterpiece that makes us so frustrated. Even when I am able to log in it's often the case that the terrible lag makes their game equally unplayable.
I do not share the opinion of so many WOW forum goers that Blizzard is indifferent to our complaints. I honestly believe they want to fix their broken game and I think they are trying hard to do so. I just wish they'd give some real information about what's going on. I'm sick of reading the worthless puff pieces and interviews with questions like "How awesome is your game?" I don't want to read anymore about how Battle Grounds is going to revolutionize my ass. I want them to address the crippling technical issues with the game I am paying monthly for in an honest way, and tell me what they're doing to fix them.
-Gabe out"
WoW = Great game
WoW Servers = Ruining great game
Comments
Wow thats pretty bad. I think Blizzard should give all its players like a month free or something for all the downtime they have given their players. Well you cant have the best of both worlds, I play EQ2, not the best game but very good performance. In your guys opinions its the best game with bad performance.
EQ2 Qeynos Guild- http://www.imperium-arcanum.com
I miss EQ2
Then why dont you play it? Overall its a good game, just not offering any thing new like all other games of the same genre.
EQ2 Qeynos Guild- http://www.imperium-arcanum.com
I thought WoW would be better
My EQ2 account is cancelled and I miss my 31 Berserker
Oh come on man, this is nothing.
So the servers go down every once in awhile (ok, pretty frequently lately) ...what's the big deal?
1. Blizzard is new to MMORPGs: once they get more than, what, 2 months experience? They'll be doing better.
2. Just play another game for chrissake.
3. Read a book, go outside, play with a kitten... it's just a game, man.
i suppose this is all caused by the crazy christmas selling spree. Plus, blizzard has been a bit silent since Christmas. The latest patch was more than a month ago! (of course they did some fixes in between, but just small things, no patch).
I wonder if they already added the server they promised? (i am in final Euro beta so no idea what's going on in the Us part, here we have 0 problems at all, no queues, no crashes, nothing. works like a clock.. ok it is still a beta, we did had a 10 mins rollback, but is really really small thing compared to what seems to be happening in the US area).
Oh well, Bad servers can be fixed, a bad game can't. So i'll take the first over the second anyday. (as long as they do not stay bad forever!)
"If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime"
Found your replies kind of irritating.
1. This is one lame ass excuse i seem to hear over and over. The fact is, this is NO excuse. Its the people who love blizzard just because of the name who give this excuse. My reasons for why this is not an excuse: From your reply, I dont think you have ventured into the corporate world. Being new and inexperienced sure as hell isnt an excuse in a competitive market. Being new and inexperienced is what gets you smashed by leaders in the corporate world. Where i work, if i made mistakes and held up the process for how fast customers are put through the system, there wouldnt be anybody saying "oh hes new, give him a few months to get experienced". The fact is that when you enter a market, such as the MMORPG market, you should have the knowledge that makes it look like you have some experience.
2) I dont get why i keep hearing this reply. I wouldnt be paying montly if i didnt want to play this game. No i dont want to play another game, I give them $15 a month so that i can actually log on and play when i want to. I tell you if i heard a blizzard dev/mod tell me to "go play another game while we fix our crap servers that you pay us for" i actually might go on a killing spree. Thats a BS reply.
3) Its not that people dont do other stuff, such as reading a book or going outside. In my case, I go to classes 5 days a week from 9-3 pm. Then usually i go to work after classes until 6 or 7, and usually one day on the weekend for 5 hours. In my spare time I do other stuff such as read, hang out with friends, watch a movie, or play games. The thing that irritates me is that whenever i decide to use my spare time to play WoW, the servers are either down for "emergency maintnance, or they are lagged or screwed up somehow.
Its not just these problems. Recently i had my highest lvl char crashing my computer every time i tried to log onto him. So there we go, had to delete that char, there goes $15 and a months worth of time down the drain.
Recently and some what in the past, the servers have been packed. So i wait in a 500 + person line, play for a little bit, and then get kicked out by the server. So....now im supposed to wait in an even larger line to play and get kicked out?
In all honesty i really love this game, but I find it irritating when excuses such as "they are new to MMORPG's" or "go play another game" are given in an attempt to mute the problems with this game.
I dont own WoW nor have I ever played it but here are some points about your comments
1. How long will you allow them to screw up because of their inexperience? (are they charging you less while they learn at your expense?)
2. So pay for 2 products and only use 1! Genius
3. Its a service that you pay for....and youre not getting.
I take it someone elses credit card pays for your sub then? Either that or you dont seem (or need) to care much about where your money goes (in which case can I have some please)
Gamespot took a shot, also:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/18/news_6116566.html
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"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
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"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
Hmmm...Lets see... WHO FUCKING CARES!!!!! This whole EQ vs WoW Bullshit is just like saying my dad can beat up your dad kiddy stuff you did as kids. Play the game you want and if you dont like a game then don't play it! Does this stem from some need in people to be playing the newest bestest and most shinyest game because if they arent then they feel that some how there life is not complete. Good Gawd!!
Dedthom has always been ded, thats why they call him Dedthom.
""But Coyote, you could learn! You only prefer keyboard and mouse because that's all you've ever known!" You might say right before you hug a rainforest and walk in sandals to your drum circle where you're trying to raise group consciousness of ladybugs or whatever it is you dirty goddamn hippies do when you're not busy smoking pot and smelling bad."
Coyote's Howling: Death of the Computer
This isn't about EQ vs WoW, this is about WOW's servers being crap point blank, that's it. You'll notice in the original article EQ2 was NEVER mentioned. Not even in passing.
To the person who said play something else, how would you feel if you went to a movie theater, paid for your ticket, and someone came out before the show and said, "Sorry we're new to this whole movie thing, go play with a kitten instead, oh and thanks for the money."
After all of this, I truely doubt that it's a hardware issue at all. I would bet Blizzard is using the latest hardware money can buy, and if they didn't start out with that they sure would have them by now. This leads me to believe that it's not a hardware problem at all, but their server code is hosed. That can be just as bad and take just as long to fix as having a crap game.
I refer you to the second and third posts.
Dedthom has always been ded, thats why they call him Dedthom.
""But Coyote, you could learn! You only prefer keyboard and mouse because that's all you've ever known!" You might say right before you hug a rainforest and walk in sandals to your drum circle where you're trying to raise group consciousness of ladybugs or whatever it is you dirty goddamn hippies do when you're not busy smoking pot and smelling bad."
Coyote's Howling: Death of the Computer
and I refer you back to the first post.
What's going to happen when they add more servers for Euros and Asian markets open up? Did they even give a though to all this before hand?
In beta all we heard how the game was basically bug free and was going to run so smooth, yet as we all can see WoW has probably the WORSE opening of any MMORPG to date. Guess even the great Blizzard can't be perfect.
I play World of Warcraft, I have had no problems WHATSOVER so far. HOWEVER, I'm a European playing on US servers, thus off peak times. And I guess peak times is when most problems happen?
"Everything between these floating comma type things is my sig. Not part of my above text.
If ignorance is bliss, you'd think people would be happier when you point out what morons they are!"
Reading thru the site I would not even dream of taking a review from them seriously to begin with.
By revoking the award ,they have even made themselves even look more worse.
I still just dont see what all the big hype is all about over Blizzards Servers!!! I must be one of the very few poeple still congratulating Blizzard on all their success and their Servers!
Everyone seems to be crying and whining over not being able to play the game over whatever time period they decide to get onto the game and play! I play all the freaking time! Just look at my little xfire thing. I dont notice any server down time at all! If I do, they give us a freaking warning for christ sake and they give us an estimated time!!!! Yes, I know sometimes they say like 4 hours and it turns out to be 6 or 8 or something, but jeeze! Over the course of how much the server time has been up compared to the time its been down, I would have to say that the downtime is less than 5%!
All you people who complain about the servers being down just like to hear yourselves whine and watch all the hype come in after! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!!!
Lets take some facts into the picture first of all.
Blizzard has a CRAP load of people in the game, Blizzard has a CRAP load of servers to take care of, Blizzard also Gives us extra time when our servers are down!!! I havent noticed other Developers doing that for us!!!
"I fear no enemy! For the Khala is my strength! I fear not death. For our strength is eternal!" - Fenix
"I fear no enemy! For the Khala is my strength! I fear not death. For our strength is eternal!" - Fenix
You're obviously on one of the less-populated servers, or a server that wasn't part of the 1-day downtime last Thursday.
It's easy to bash people who are on crappy servers, while you're playing on a good server, isn't it?
You're right, they do have a "CRAP load" of people on servers, but that shouldn't be an excuse for their servers always being down.
And plenty of other developers have given free time... EQ2, SB, and AO to name a few.
----------------------------------
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
----------------------------------
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
I play on Bleeding Hollows one of the most populated servers. While their is down time I don't see what the big deal is. And if you miss Eq2 go back and play it.
I waited for WoW for a year and a half. These down time seems little compared to it. It might be just me but I'm still having fun and last I check that's what makes games great. These people from the Penny arcades made such a big deal out of some crap like this. And who listens to Penny Arcades reviews anyway.
Penny arcade isn't the only one complaining.
----------------------------------
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
----------------------------------
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
I'm starting to become tempted to reinstate my EQ2 account.
For now I'll stick with WoW. I still think it's much more fun than EQ2, and I haven't been able to play enough to get completely annoyed with their supposed craptastic server stability. If things remain to be poor during the comming weekend I might give thoughts for another migration.
Does anyone know if Frogloks have been unlocked on Blackburrow server yet (or anywhere else for that matter) ?
Thanks.
Penny arcade isn't the only one complaining.
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"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
What Gamespot says is true. Yes! There is server downtime in WoW. But I don't see them lowering their score for WoW. Something Penny arcade did which i felt is just stupid. They took away a award which no one cares about. Hopefully the people their quit WoW and go play something else.
I never felt I wasn't able to play for a long period of time due to server problems. Somehow what Gamespot reported almost seemed exaggerated. 22 out of 80 servers was down, why can't you go make a character on another server? I play everyday a good 6 hours per day and Servers weren't down almost at all during the time i play.
If these Servers issues are the only gripe you have with World of Warcraft, I suggest you try changing to another server. Seriously Bleeding Hollow is barely down at all.
I rather play WoW with its Server Issues and have fun while playing it then play some other game 24/7 and feel like its a job.
It's easy to bash people who are on crappy servers, while you're playing on a good server, isn't it?
You're right, they do have a "CRAP load" of people on servers, but that shouldn't be an excuse for their servers always being down.
And plenty of other developers have given free time... EQ2, SB, and AO to name a few.
----------------------------------
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
Do you even play WoW? Thats not the point, but how do you know what server I play on? I didnt say my server doesnt go down at all, but that the server done go down all the time! Yeah ok, so ( new to me ) some server went down last weak for a whole day....and?.... How many servers was it? 1.2?.... 5?....
Also, it doesnt matter what I say because everyone and their grandma who visits this site, and reads its forumns knows your the greatest Devils Advocate in all of this website. So no matter what I say, or what anyone says, you'll have some insult/comment that neither compliments that person, nor degrades that person. Its very annoying!
"You're right, they do have a "CRAP load" of people on servers, but that shouldn't be an excuse for their servers always being down."......................It shouldnt?
A million people have said it, and it seems to work, so I'll say it as well. No game is perfect, blah blah blah, but when you have a game which is forced to Increase the number of servers they have over a short amount of time ( how long has the game been out? ) their will, inevitably be problems! It just gets incredibly annoying to get on this forumn board and listen to everyone start a thread about Lag.. blah blah.. Lag... Server down.... etc...etc...
Its like listening to your boss, They never point out the good things you do, its always the bad things you need to improve on. Well all these people are acting the boss part. Only problem is, they arent Blizzard's Boss. Sure, consider we are paying their wages for "this game" but i think we've done paid everyone for the next few years already.
So maybe instead of "bashing" me for "bashing whiners", maybe you should point out some of the many good things Blizzard has done with this game, or are planning to do, or things you find good about the game instead of taking someone's post and commenting on something someone should have done a long time ago.
"I fear no enemy! For the Khala is my strength! I fear not death. For our strength is eternal!" - Fenix
"I fear no enemy! For the Khala is my strength! I fear not death. For our strength is eternal!" - Fenix
I also agree with the over exageration of so many servers being down. I play a whole lot, and while my server is on Normal load and not High or heavy, whatever it is, I cant say that the servers are really down all that much. In the past 2 weeks i think I have seen maybe 3 messages on the Log-in screen talking about maintanance or some other issues. If you ask me, Thats not a lot of time the servers have been down. And yes, When a server is down, it lets everyone know! So if your server is down for 5 hours a day every other day.. than you have a right to whine, but even than, your not doing anything for anyone but giving out headaches that no one wants!
"I fear no enemy! For the Khala is my strength! I fear not death. For our strength is eternal!" - Fenix
"I fear no enemy! For the Khala is my strength! I fear not death. For our strength is eternal!" - Fenix