While we've had some fake Wrath of the Lich King login screens before, this one is the real deal. It's being reported on by numerous sites, and several people have confirmed its authenticity. The image itself is of a ice fortress. You can see the version, 3.0.1, along with the latest build number and date: July 15, 2008.
Many people will notice that you have to sign in via an email address. This is part of a new system that Blizzard has put into place for the Wrath beta. Essentially, you'll have to create a new "Blizzard Account" to log into the beta. This account is separate from your retail WoW account, however you still have to have a retail WoW account and a beta key to get one. There's not a ton of information out on the new account system they are using for this, but when we have more information on it we'll post it.
The problem with keyloggers and other methods of account theft has been well documented here at WoW Insider, and it seems like a constant problem. Even the most conscientious of players has fallen prey to it. However, at the Worldwide Invitational, Blizzard is introducing a little piece of hardware that could make those problems vanish. Say hello to the Blizzard Authenticator.
The Authenticator is a small piece of hardware that you can associate with your World of Warcraft account. Once the Authenticator is associated with the account, you will need it to log on. Every time you log on, you press a button on the Authenticator to generate a six-digit code that you must input to log on. Since only you know the code, and it's generated apart from your computer at the time you're ready to log on, it will be safe from trojans, keyloggers, and other hacks.
The Authenticator will be available at the WWI to start, then eventually at the Blizzard Store. The starting price being quoted by Blizzard is $6.50 -- a small price to pay for safety from a ransacked bank and naked server transferred characters, for many.
Is this the big announcement though? It's possible, of course, but we like to think there's more in store at the WWI. Stay tuned here, and we'll let you know.
The WoW login screen acknowledges that some services may be intermittently unavailable due to "website maintenance and upgrades." As we've reported, Blizzard sites have experienced maintenance periods earlier this week. The current news blurb says that they are working on the web infrastructure to provide "new features" and "increased performance and security." The features impacted are:
account creation
password recovery
paid character transfer
adding payment
The message says that these services may be unavailable "intermittently." It does not indicate how long the website maintenance will continue, but promises to provide updates. The maintenance is also confirmed on Blizzard's home page.
...and Bornakk looked upon the World (of Warcraft) in its seventh day and said: "Let there be maintenance." And so it was.
Bornakk posted on the General Discussion Forums this afternoon that there will be maintenance tomorrow on all realms from 3:00 a.m. PDT until 11:00 a.m. PDT. Additionally, the forums themselves will be undergoing maintenance from 5:00 a.m. PDT until 8:00 a.m. PDT. You will not be able to log in to the forums, but you will be able to read them.
Patch 2.4.2 was announced last week and is on the PTR right now. However, it is unlikely that the patch will come tomorrow. The PTR phase of minor patches almost always lasts two weeks. Of course with that said, I'm sure I'll be eating my words tomorrow as 2.4.2 goes live. We'll all just have to stay tuned and find out!
People are reporting trouble logging onto the game tonight, and quite a few threads have hit the forums. Drysc reported at 11:41 pm PST that the problem was all solved, but I still had trouble logging on for a while after that, perhaps due to the volume of other players also trying to get on and play as well after taking most of the holiday off.
What really amazes me, however, is the shocking level of vitriol you can witness over this. I guess Blizzard could take it as a compliment that if people experience even a few hours of login trouble, they get, well... extremely testy.
Now, I love WoW and I had trouble getting on tonight. But instead of, well, losing control of my temper I went and played Mass Effect for a few hours. I am awful at it, but it's still kind of fun. Then I managed to get my insomnia freak on once the servers finally came back up. (One level to go and my second shammy is 70! Woot!) I guess what I'm saying is, there's a right way to react to this kind of thing, and this is not it.
I know, when you log on to the game those first messages tend to fly by so fast that you might not notice them at all. But these yellow text messages tend to be important... unlike the nonsense that's likely to come after. Yellow text informs us of emergency reboots and these login messages usually informative of things so important that everyone needs to see them. But this one? It tells us to make sure our contact information is up to date -- you know, in case they need to contact us.
Now, I know I'm getting dangerously close to the realm of conspiracy theory, but why would Blizzard need to contact us? And why would anything be important enough to make an in-game alert to advise us to update our contact information? The obvious answer to me is beta invites -- though I may just have Burning Crusade on the brain. It would not at all surprise me, however, to see the beta opened up to a larger and larger pool of players as the expansion release nears, giving Blizzard a heavier stress test of the Outlands zones. Of course, this may not actually be a sign of that. Maybe Blizzard just thinks it's really important to update your account information.
After a few hours' extended maintenance, most realms are starting to come back online. Not coming back up yet are the realms involved in the migration. At 11:10 AM PDT there was an update saying that we should expect the migrating realms (Cenarius, Cenarion Circle, Hyjal, Lightbringer, and Uther) to be down for 10 more hours. Several realms from the migration site (Blackrock, Frostmourne, Frostwolf, Khaz'goroth, Kil'Jaeden, Kilrogg, Ner'zhul, Proudmoore, Sen'Jin, Silver Hand, Tichondrius, and Vek'nilash) will be down for another 4 hours. All other realms should be online by 12:10 PTD, so within the next ten minutes or so.
You can't have played World of Warcraft long without noticing that there are login issues - times when the servers are up, and your friends may be playing, but you are not able to connect. These problems are with the authentication system, which has become more and more overwhelmed by the amount of traffic it's handling. However, these troubles may be coming to an end - during Tuesday's US maintenance, Blizzard will be bringing online new authentication hardware, which will hopefully make a difference.
I
had thought maybe it was just me who has been getting the 'Unable to Connect' message for the last half-hour, but it
looks like plenty
of other folks have had the same problem this evening, so it seems the login servers are indeed down once again, at
least on this side of the Atlantic, as of 9:30 PM CST.
So, if you happen to be reading this while you're in
the game, for god's sake...don't hit that logout button! And let us know, dear readers, what kind of luck you're having
out there...
It should be no surprise to
anyone that the authentication servers are having issues lately - the servers themselves may be running fine, and
perhaps you have a few friends whom you know are connected and playing, yet you can't get past login. Or perhaps
your server doesn't even appear on the server list when you do manage to log on. Well, Eyonix has made a post in the
general forums providing some clarification on the problem. Apparently last night's troubles were due to a
hardware failure, and because the failure occurred during peak playing hours, all players will be receiving a day's
credit to their account. However, while the hardware failure was fixed, we should continue to expect slow logins
during peak hours. However, there is hope - they should soon be moving to an improved authentication platform,
which should reduce the login lag. No ETA on this system, but at least it's coming.
I
knew I should have just gone AFK when I went to get something to eat. Because, sure enough, as soon as I come back
& try to log on, I get the good ol' "unable to connect" message.
There is a
message from Blizzard on the login screen that states 'We will be performing emergency maintenance on our login
server this evening which may result in an inability to log in to the game', along with a bunch of other stuff
that doesn't make me feel any better. Apparently, the maintenance is extended until 11PM PST. And there's not a darn
thing on TV....
*UPDATE* The message has been changed to read 1:00 PDT, as of a few minutes
ago. Totally weak...
I
really like this game. I like it enough that I actually schedule time into my busy days, nights and weekends to play.
And until about two weeks ago, this system worked for me. When I actually had an hour or two to play, I'd be able to
log into the server of my choice and play for my scheduled time. However, the combination of a huge influx of new X-mas
gift-receiving players and the 1.9 patch has rendered my scheduled playing time unusable. The simple fact is that it's
been taking 20-30 minutes just to log into a server, and then if I'm lucky, I won't be booted out shortly thereafter
because I made the egregious mistake of trying to enter the commons area in Ironforge.
I'm a reasonable guy.
I know Blizzard is aware of the problems. I know they continue to open up new servers to help reduce the demand on
existing servers. But I also know that I'm not alone in my login frustrations. The message boards are rife with people
complaining about not being able to log in in a reasonable amount of time, if at all. Sometimes you get stuck at the
receiving character list screen, sometimes at the end of the loading screen, and sometimes it doesn't load at all and
just disconnects you from the server.
I'd call technical support except that it wouldn't help. It's not my
system or my internet connection, which hasn't changed one iota in months. The problem is on Blizzard's end, and they
need to fix it. Period. I'm not yet on the verge of quitting the game and closing my account (as some have done), but
it's becoming extremely annoying. I'm paying good money to play and should be able to play when I want to, not only
when there are open slots on the server. It's not my fault that the servers are full. I'd consider transferring my main
characters, but then it'd fracture the social aspect of the game, the part of the game I like the most.
The WoW login screen acknowledges that some services may be intermittently unavailable due to "website maintenance and upgrades." As we've reported, 
...and 
People are 
After a few hours' extended maintenance, most realms are starting to come back online. Not coming back up yet are the realms involved in the 
I
had thought maybe it was just me who has been getting the 'Unable to Connect' message for the last half-hour, but it
looks like 
I
knew I should have just gone AFK when I went to get something to eat. Because, sure enough, as soon as I come back
& try to log on, I get the good ol' "unable to connect" message.
I
really like this game. I like it enough that I actually schedule time into my busy days, nights and weekends to play.
And until about two weeks ago, this system worked for me. When I actually had an hour or two to play, I'd be able to
log into the server of my choice and play for my scheduled time. However, the combination of a huge influx of new X-mas
gift-receiving players and the 1.9 patch has rendered my scheduled playing time unusable. The simple fact is that it's
been taking 20-30 minutes just to log into a server, and then if I'm lucky, I won't be booted out shortly thereafter
because I made the egregious mistake of trying to enter the commons area in Ironforge.
Subscribe
