www.Tobold.com
Tobold@GMail.com
A blog with my thoughts regarding games I am playing and other stuff in life. Please read my Terms of Service
RSS Feed
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Blizzard background downloader
I have two World of Warcraft accounts, and run the game on three different PCs: two desktops for my wife and me, and the laptop for when I'm traveling. Unnecessary to say that downloading and installing big patches can be somewhat of a headache. But not this time. Due to the Blizzard background downloader 694 MB of the 697 MB patch were already downloaded in advance. This morning, while the servers are still down for maintenance, I could simply log in, download the last tiny bit of patch, and apply the patch in less than 10 minutes. On all three machines. I'm quite happy with that background downloader.
Nevertheless I prefer the way in which for example Microsoft patches my computer. In spite of Microsoft having a lot more customers than Blizzard, I can download the Microsoft patches directly from their site, at very high speed. Blizzards website tends to be down during patch day, and the patch distribution is via peer-to-peer. As most people have asymmetric DSL, with low upload speeds, this automatically limits the possible download speed of peer-to-peer. Downloading a 697 MB patch from Blizzard takes a lot longer than downloading a file the same size from Microsoft, even if that Microsoft file is a recent update and many people download it at once. The Blizzard background downloader is nice, because it distributes the slow download over the two weeks before the patch. But if you missed that one, or have to reinstall WoW, the Blizzard downloads are a pain.
One warning to all Europeans who used the European Language Pack (EPL) additional download to change the language of their game. Apparently in this rare case the patch erases the screenshot folder. So backup your screenshots elsewhere before patching.
- posted by Tobold @ 8:21 AM Permanent Link
Comments:
<< Home
Newer› ‹Older
Tobold, it is possible to save all the Update-Patches on a Disk and then apply them after a fresh install, to be up-to-date.
The Patches are usually stored in your WoW Folder.
So actually if you have 3 computers, it wouldn't be necessairy to download the patch 3 times via Background Downloader, but only once, and then share it to the other machines.
They are sites who offers direct download, like you wish. Also full Updates (like from 1.0 to 2.0 Packages)
I however prefer the background downloader, while you are right that the download speed is slower (which is normal for a p2p method), it's alot hazzle free, and time doesn't really matter , as we seen with the 2.0 patch, which started to download more than a week before the patch came online, so usually enough time, to download it with a slow speed as well.
So you either let your PC download it over-night, or let the downloader download while you play, if you prefer to shut-down your PC's over-night.
The Patches are usually stored in your WoW Folder.
So actually if you have 3 computers, it wouldn't be necessairy to download the patch 3 times via Background Downloader, but only once, and then share it to the other machines.
They are sites who offers direct download, like you wish. Also full Updates (like from 1.0 to 2.0 Packages)
I however prefer the background downloader, while you are right that the download speed is slower (which is normal for a p2p method), it's alot hazzle free, and time doesn't really matter , as we seen with the 2.0 patch, which started to download more than a week before the patch came online, so usually enough time, to download it with a slow speed as well.
So you either let your PC download it over-night, or let the downloader download while you play, if you prefer to shut-down your PC's over-night.
# posted by 
: 6/12/06 08:52
: 6/12/06 08:52
The background downloader is ridiculously slow. In my case it took 4 days (!) leaving the computer on for the patch to download (cable high-speed internet). But with two weeks lead time, that was ok. Then we copied the patch to the download directories of our other two boxes in the house, and we were good-to-go.
I have a fast cable modem connection but the Blizzard downloader is always god awful slow and seems to complain that it has something to do with my Firewall. Well the Firewall doesn't stop me playing WoW with a double-digit latency, so why does it affect the downloader. Like drinkitt I also get my larger patches from a third party site.
What still takes a while on my machine though, is the actual patching. The 2.0 patch seemed to take almost an hour before it was done. I got home, turned on my PC and booted up WoW knowing it needed to patch. Fed the dog, took out the trash, folded some laundry, checked my mail (both E & Snail), surfed the Web a bit, and read the Patch Notes before the patching was finally done.
Post a Comment
What still takes a while on my machine though, is the actual patching. The 2.0 patch seemed to take almost an hour before it was done. I got home, turned on my PC and booted up WoW knowing it needed to patch. Fed the dog, took out the trash, folded some laundry, checked my mail (both E & Snail), surfed the Web a bit, and read the Patch Notes before the patching was finally done.
# posted by : 7/12/06 20:38
: 7/12/06 20:38<< Home
