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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Blizzard vs. Pessimism
Welcome dear sports fans to this exciting event in which Blizzard tries to beat the pessimism of Tobold's Burning Crusade release day chaos predictions. The rules are simple: I try to buy, install, and get running a copy of the Burning Crusade expansion on his computer. Blizzard scores a point for everything that goes right, pessimism scores a point for everything that goes wrong, regardless of whether it is Blizzard's fault or not.
The game starts with an early goal for pessimism, when on Saturday before release date the online retailer where I pre-ordered my copy of Burning Crusade in September (!!!) has some problem processing a perfectly good credit card, and the order is dropped out of the waiting queue. In spite of giving another credit card number, the order is stuck in "processing" still 5 days later, and I have to call them to cancel it. 0:1.
Blizzard evens the score when I go in the afternoon to a local major retailer, and there is a complete wall full of Burning Crusade boxes, in both French and English. Apparently the normal BC boxes are in abundant supply everywhere, only the collectors edition is nowhere available. I give that point to Blizzard. 1:1
Starting the installation Blizzard scores a quick and highly unexpected goal by opening a window in which you enter your account name, password, and BC key. On clicking OK the application connects to Blizzard and updates your account in less than 5 seconds! Being mentally prepared to have to wait for hours on the account upgrade page, this is a big point to Blizzard. 2:1
Blizzard scores another point when I visit their website to see whether it is up, and find the site completely redecorated. The WoW homepage is stripped down to a minimum, offering all the services important on launch day, like account upgrade, technical support, and the forums, leaving out all the bells and whistles that only create unneccessary bandwith usage. Clever idea, one point to Blizzard, 3:1.
Pessimism catches up when I have installation problems, the installation gets stuck on disc 4. I copy all the discs to a hard drive and install from there, which works. But a friend calls me in panic, haven gotten stuck on disc 2, same problem. Apparently the installer is a bit sensitive when you click OK too fast. Not good, one point to pessimism. 3:2
I finally get everything installed and start patching. No points for anyone, the patch process is long and annoying, put you can reuse the previously downloaded huge 219 MB 2.0.1 to 2.0.3 patch file. Lets call that a draw, still 3:2
Finally the game is patched, and I expect the login server to be down, and a huge queue on my server. But Blizzard scores a final point by getting me into the game immediately. I give only one point, because it isn't prime time yet. But this brings the final result to 4:2 for Blizzard, scoring them a clear win over my pessimistic predictions. Grats, Blizzard, well done!
- posted by Tobold @ 4:30 PM Permanent Link
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Gotta admit, my install and experience was right up there. I did get bounced of the server at 11:59 CET but was able to log straight back in and hey presto - all was good. I was gonna take it easy but got the questing bug and just went round like a crazed kid in a sweet store.
Good experience all round.
Good experience all round.
What?! I could have used the 2.0.x to 2.0.3 patch?! Now you tell me.
CJ's BC Exp. went something like this.
Thursday (BC-4 days) Wife tells CJ to pick up Pizza on the way home from work. Pizza Hut's online system failed so CJ has to manually place the order. Store Manager checks his computer, finds CJ's wife's order from the previous week and honors the "online-only" special deal. -1 + +1 = 0 so no points for Pessimism there. This is relevant because across the road from the Pizza Hut is a Gamestop. With 15 mins to kill CJ wanders into the Gamestop and enquires about their BC Pre-order list. Oddly enough it's not yet full so CJ places his order and gets a free WoW novel!
Blizzard 1 - Pessimism 0
BC-3 days - CJ's final attempt to upgrade the hard drive on his computer (to ensure he has space for BC) leaves his PC dead on the floor. Although the lights are on it appears nobody is home, or at least there's no signal making it to his 6-month old LCD monitor. (not Blizzard's fault, but 1 to Pessimism anyway).
BC-2 days - CJ convinces the wife to let him buy a brand new PC and while he's now $700 poorer he's also the proud owner of a smoking PC with dual Athlon64 4200+ CPUs and a 250Gig Hard Drive. (1 to Blizzard? Or 2? It is a pretty hot system ;)
Installation of WoW (the original) goes without a hitch, but CJ is forced to use Fileshack.com to get the patches because the Blizzard downloader thinks having a Firewall is a bad thing. (another point to Pessimism)
Blizzard 2 - Pessimism 2
BC-10mins. - CJ leaves the warmth of his house for the Gamestop store where he shivers his arse off for 15 minutes (Literally. Don't try to picture it, it's not pretty) because the two Gamestop clerks refuse to allow more than two customers in the store at any one time (One freezing cold point to Pessimism).
BC+20mins. - CJ is back home in his toasty warm house and installing WoW:BC. Compared to the 4 WoW CDs, the 4 BC CDs install in rapid time (1 to Blizzard) but WoW decides CJ needs to download another huge patch, which does not appear to be available on Fileshack. Once again Blizzard's downloader chews out CJ for having a Firewall. (1 to Pessimism)
Blizzard 3 - Pessimism 4
BC+80mins - CJ fires up WoW, logs straight on to Kilrogg (no queue, at 1:20am, go figure ;) and creates his Dranei Shaman. One final desperate point to Blizzard.
Folks, it looks like Blizzard and Pessimism are tied at 4 apiece.
But if we add in Tobold's and Craig's good BC exp. that pushes Blizzard out to a commanding lead.
Blizzard 9 - Pessimism 6
Anyone else care to share ;)
CJ's BC Exp. went something like this.
Thursday (BC-4 days) Wife tells CJ to pick up Pizza on the way home from work. Pizza Hut's online system failed so CJ has to manually place the order. Store Manager checks his computer, finds CJ's wife's order from the previous week and honors the "online-only" special deal. -1 + +1 = 0 so no points for Pessimism there. This is relevant because across the road from the Pizza Hut is a Gamestop. With 15 mins to kill CJ wanders into the Gamestop and enquires about their BC Pre-order list. Oddly enough it's not yet full so CJ places his order and gets a free WoW novel!
Blizzard 1 - Pessimism 0
BC-3 days - CJ's final attempt to upgrade the hard drive on his computer (to ensure he has space for BC) leaves his PC dead on the floor. Although the lights are on it appears nobody is home, or at least there's no signal making it to his 6-month old LCD monitor. (not Blizzard's fault, but 1 to Pessimism anyway).
BC-2 days - CJ convinces the wife to let him buy a brand new PC and while he's now $700 poorer he's also the proud owner of a smoking PC with dual Athlon64 4200+ CPUs and a 250Gig Hard Drive. (1 to Blizzard? Or 2? It is a pretty hot system ;)
Installation of WoW (the original) goes without a hitch, but CJ is forced to use Fileshack.com to get the patches because the Blizzard downloader thinks having a Firewall is a bad thing. (another point to Pessimism)
Blizzard 2 - Pessimism 2
BC-10mins. - CJ leaves the warmth of his house for the Gamestop store where he shivers his arse off for 15 minutes (Literally. Don't try to picture it, it's not pretty) because the two Gamestop clerks refuse to allow more than two customers in the store at any one time (One freezing cold point to Pessimism).
BC+20mins. - CJ is back home in his toasty warm house and installing WoW:BC. Compared to the 4 WoW CDs, the 4 BC CDs install in rapid time (1 to Blizzard) but WoW decides CJ needs to download another huge patch, which does not appear to be available on Fileshack. Once again Blizzard's downloader chews out CJ for having a Firewall. (1 to Pessimism)
Blizzard 3 - Pessimism 4
BC+80mins - CJ fires up WoW, logs straight on to Kilrogg (no queue, at 1:20am, go figure ;) and creates his Dranei Shaman. One final desperate point to Blizzard.
Folks, it looks like Blizzard and Pessimism are tied at 4 apiece.
But if we add in Tobold's and Craig's good BC exp. that pushes Blizzard out to a commanding lead.
Blizzard 9 - Pessimism 6
Anyone else care to share ;)
yeah...I haven't seen any bad news regarding this launch guys. Looks like Blizz did their homework on this one, which I give kudos for.
Yes, its not prime time yet. I think the real test will be tonight or tomorrow when we know for sure that everyone has their copies.
D
Yes, its not prime time yet. I think the real test will be tonight or tomorrow when we know for sure that everyone has their copies.
D
Haha, I love the scoring system for optimism vs. pessimism points.
My own experience was almost all optimistic. The only downsides were: I expected only 20 people lined up at the mall Gamestop, but instead there were 200, and they made us wait outside in the cold until midnight. This is despite having called us earlier in the week saying the store would be open at 11PM. :( Also the patch 2.0.3 to 2.0.5 had to re-download for some reason. But I was in Exodar by 1:30 AM, leveled Jewelcrafting to 300 by 3:30 AM, then turned in over 20 saved quests by 7:00 AM (yielding me about 250k experience), then explored Hellfire Peninsula until 9:00 AM, then went to sleep.
My own experience was almost all optimistic. The only downsides were: I expected only 20 people lined up at the mall Gamestop, but instead there were 200, and they made us wait outside in the cold until midnight. This is despite having called us earlier in the week saying the store would be open at 11PM. :( Also the patch 2.0.3 to 2.0.5 had to re-download for some reason. But I was in Exodar by 1:30 AM, leveled Jewelcrafting to 300 by 3:30 AM, then turned in over 20 saved quests by 7:00 AM (yielding me about 250k experience), then explored Hellfire Peninsula until 9:00 AM, then went to sleep.
I went to the store, bought a copy of the stocked shelf.
The installer started, asked me to upgrade the account, that took < 1 sec. Meanwhile the game copies to my cpu.
The installation finished without error, and I was able to login right away, patches downloaded and game time ... perfect in every way.
But by the time I had my first Instance quest the server was lagging a bit, so we wiped quite a lot there, and gave up just before the 3rd boss.
But overall, an excellent performance by Blizzard
The installer started, asked me to upgrade the account, that took < 1 sec. Meanwhile the game copies to my cpu.
The installation finished without error, and I was able to login right away, patches downloaded and game time ... perfect in every way.
But by the time I had my first Instance quest the server was lagging a bit, so we wiped quite a lot there, and gave up just before the 3rd boss.
But overall, an excellent performance by Blizzard
Haven't had a chance to play much, but my purchase and install and first few quests have been fairly stress-free.
I'm still expecting things to grind to a halt tonight - but hopefully I'll be logged in and inside an instance by then!
I'm still expecting things to grind to a halt tonight - but hopefully I'll be logged in and inside an instance by then!
Add one more point for pessimism: out of the new servers, on the PST PvP server (Coilfang), there are three times as many horde as alliance, and on the EST PvP server (Auchindoun), theres something like five times as many.
# posted by 
: 16/1/07 23:14
: 16/1/07 23:14
To be fair, the first problem with your credit card(s) and the online shop was not Blizzard's fault. That would be like blaming Canon for your camera order on Amazon being delayed.
So, in the end, I'd call it a 4:1 victory for Blizzard. The only real problem was the CD install hanging.
So, in the end, I'd call it a 4:1 victory for Blizzard. The only real problem was the CD install hanging.
# posted by : 17/1/07 01:29
: 17/1/07 01:29
All rosese here-- saw a sign for a midnight release at Hastings, so I drop in on Friday and get reserved. (since I don't trust the mail system to get here in time)
Show up at 11:20 to find about seventy folks inside the nicely warm building, chatting away.
They make three lines, unreserved, A-M, and N-Z. I'm an H, and was third in line.
The entire store watches the radio-calibrated clock count down, and at exactly midnight they start hussling to get folks out.
Walk back to hotel, start a smooth instal, update account, take shower, log in to check out Blood Elf city before 1 am.
Bliz wins. *grin*
Show up at 11:20 to find about seventy folks inside the nicely warm building, chatting away.
They make three lines, unreserved, A-M, and N-Z. I'm an H, and was third in line.
The entire store watches the radio-calibrated clock count down, and at exactly midnight they start hussling to get folks out.
Walk back to hotel, start a smooth instal, update account, take shower, log in to check out Blood Elf city before 1 am.
Bliz wins. *grin*
So is this game any good?
Yes, I still haven't tried WoW, although I may be playing the trial soon -- I'm studying for a bar exam so I may wait.
Yes, I still haven't tried WoW, although I may be playing the trial soon -- I'm studying for a bar exam so I may wait.
# posted by : 17/1/07 04:29
: 17/1/07 04:29
I had a couple BSOD stop messages and wow.exe used 100% of my cpu/refused to be "end task"ed, requiring a couple of restarts, and a new graphics glitch has been introduced on one of my boxes, but other than that, the expansion itself appears to be off to a good start.
# posted by : 17/1/07 04:44
: 17/1/07 04:44
I had a similarly good experience, with little fuss.
The account page working in quick-time even put me in a good frame of mind for the disc 4 mini-adventure: three of the discs are together on the main spindle, and then after finishing disc 3 it suddenly asks for disc number 4; there was a momentary sinking feeling before a quick check of the surrounding packaging revealed the missing quest item!
The Outlands server on our realm was also surprisingly stable for a large part of the day, but eventually collapsed under the inevitable strain of the evening rush.
Still, all-in-all a much better experience that I was expecting, especially as I was one of the many who couldn't get in for a day or so when the initial release of WoW hit the shelves.
What's more, our group managed to get a Scholomance run in, and we earned XP from the quest rewards and mob kills.
Huzzah!
The account page working in quick-time even put me in a good frame of mind for the disc 4 mini-adventure: three of the discs are together on the main spindle, and then after finishing disc 3 it suddenly asks for disc number 4; there was a momentary sinking feeling before a quick check of the surrounding packaging revealed the missing quest item!
The Outlands server on our realm was also surprisingly stable for a large part of the day, but eventually collapsed under the inevitable strain of the evening rush.
Still, all-in-all a much better experience that I was expecting, especially as I was one of the many who couldn't get in for a day or so when the initial release of WoW hit the shelves.
What's more, our group managed to get a Scholomance run in, and we earned XP from the quest rewards and mob kills.
Huzzah!
Add one more point for pessimism: out of the new servers, on the PST PvP server (Coilfang), there are three times as many horde as alliance, and on the EST PvP server (Auchindoun), theres something like five times as many.
I'm not surprised the least bit. Considering that there are a lot of alliance players out there the most likely reason is that they are trying out horde now.
Anyway, I had basically no problem at all with aquiring, installing, activating and using TBC. The only thing I found irritating is that there's lag in some areas of outland. It's a bit odd really. The lag even varies within the same zone. Just in Hellfire I found several areas where I had lag from 2-3 seconds. If you mount up and move to an area right next to such a place you could be facing no lag at all. Move back and the lag is back.
I guess it can be either some sort of server load balancing that doesn't work correctly, or possibly the lag is an effect of the dynamic spawning system that I read was going to be introduced with the expansion.
I'm not surprised the least bit. Considering that there are a lot of alliance players out there the most likely reason is that they are trying out horde now.
Anyway, I had basically no problem at all with aquiring, installing, activating and using TBC. The only thing I found irritating is that there's lag in some areas of outland. It's a bit odd really. The lag even varies within the same zone. Just in Hellfire I found several areas where I had lag from 2-3 seconds. If you mount up and move to an area right next to such a place you could be facing no lag at all. Move back and the lag is back.
I guess it can be either some sort of server load balancing that doesn't work correctly, or possibly the lag is an effect of the dynamic spawning system that I read was going to be introduced with the expansion.
# posted by : 17/1/07 09:13
: 17/1/07 09:13
Apparently the installer is a bit sensitive when you click OK too fast. Not good, one point to pessimism.
The installer automatically continues after a few seconds once you put in the next cd, I think if people just wait for that they won't have an issue. Control your impatience to play ;)
The installer automatically continues after a few seconds once you put in the next cd, I think if people just wait for that they won't have an issue. Control your impatience to play ;)
# posted by : 17/1/07 15:39
: 17/1/07 15:39
I agree with the person who said it wasn't yet prime time. I had a great experience on Tuesday night (minus the part where myself and fify other blood elves were standing at the top of the Falthrien Academy trying to kill the same named NPC.
Last night was totally different. Got my 60 into Hellfire Penninsula and then participated in the most fantastic Lagfest ever. The server finally got flagged for a restart at about 10:00 P.M. EST, and no, we weren't on the original list at log on of servers scheduled for restart.
Here's hoping tonight will be better.
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Last night was totally different. Got my 60 into Hellfire Penninsula and then participated in the most fantastic Lagfest ever. The server finally got flagged for a restart at about 10:00 P.M. EST, and no, we weren't on the original list at log on of servers scheduled for restart.
Here's hoping tonight will be better.
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