realm-maintenance
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Tuesday Morning Post: The BlizzCon cometh edition
Good Tuesday morning, everyone! So it looks like we have at least one more week of Patch 3.1. But here's the good news: We're just about to hit August, and August is BlizzCon month! And of course, I know you're all looking forward to the premiere event of BlizzCon, the WoW.com meetup. That's right, we're back and better than ever, and we got a sweet new spot for the shindigs. You can see all the details here and then proceed to make your plans or be jealous as your ability to attend dictates.But seriously, we still got a ways to go until BlizzCon, and hopefully a shorter ways to go until Patch 3.2, but in the meantime, we have a few rolling restarts and a handful of short downtimes to get through. With that in mind, here's some news to keep you busy while you wait for your server.
Realm maintenance for July 14th
The Breaking News box has recently cropped up in-game, announcing tomorrow's maintenance for North American realms. As you can see in the image to the right, servers will be down from 3:00 AM PDT until roughly 11:00 AM PDT, assuming all goes well. If you're not sure what time this is in your timezone, use this timezone conversion tool.You know the drill, guys. WoW.com will, as always, be here all throughout the maintenance to cure your boredom. For you European readers, remember that some of you will be hit with an extended maintenance later on, which we've posted about already.
Maintenance for select realms tomorrow
Maintenance came and went today, and many people were initially pleasantly surprised to see their realm up early. However this quickly became a thing of disappointment as they found the instance servers were laggier than normal, and the realms themselves were rather unstable.While there were a series of quick restarts to correct many of the problems, several issues still existed. And of course another maintenance period has gone by without any fix to the dreaded "Additional instances cannot be launched, please try again later," error. Those words are nearly burned into my monitor now.Tomorrow morning from 5:00 a.m. PDT / 8:00 a.m. EDT until 8:00 a.m. PDT / 11:00 a.m. EDT the following realms after the break will be down for additional maintenance and hardware upgrades. These short downtimes usually mean that nothing too special is happening, but in case there's a cataclysmic event we'll be sure to let you know. (See what I did thar?)The list of affected realms after the break!
Tuesday Morning Post: Cataclysmic Edition
It's time once again for weekly maintenance, and not only do we have the standard 5 AM - 11 AM Pacific downtime for most US servers, there's also a handful that are down from midnight to noon today. With all that extra time on your hands, you'll have time once again to read up on WoW news.The big news, of course, is the Cataclysm. Blizzard went on a trademark registering spree around this word, which has everyone abuzz with speculation. Are we seeing the name of the new, maelstrom-related expansion? Or is this another secret project, perhaps even that new top secret MMO? Only time will tell, but it's fun to guess anyway. Once you're done being all atwitter over that little bit of gossip, here's some more stuff to read until your server comes up:
European server maintenance for June 24th
Lesley, our European writer, is out of our virtual office at the moment and isn't available to write up the EU maintenance notice for all of you. So I'm doing it. To try and make the experience authentic, please read this post in a very poor fake English accent. No, wait! A fake German accent. Yeah, that's way more awesome. Do that.Like the (or should I say das) North American realms, European realms will largely consist of rolling restarts with only a few exceptions, which we'll get to in a moment. Rolling restarts will begin at 05:00 CEST and should be finished by 07:00 CEST.However, there is a set of realms that will need an extended maintenance period that will begin at 03:00 CEST and last until 15:00 CEST. The affected realms are: Auchindoun, Ghostlands, Hellfire, Karazhan, Nagrand, shattered Halls, Sporeggar, and The Sha'tar.If you're unsure of what these times are in your time zone, please refer to the World Clock.Should you need entertainment throughout the maintenance period, just take look at Daniel Whitcomb's latest edition of the Tuesday Morning Post, which rounds up our site's best and brightest posts of the week.Au revoir!
Realm maintenance for Tuesday June 9th
There is a set of server maintenance announcements tonight from the login screen.First and foremost, the authentication systems will be undergoing maintenance from 3:00 a.m. PDT until 5:00 a.m. PDT. While Blizzard's announcement on the issue seems rather optimistic that you'll be able to login during that time, don't count on it.Secondly, all realms not listed after the break will be undergoing rolling restarts beginning at 5:00 a.m. PDT, with Oceanic realms being restarted at 10:00 a.m. PDT.Finally, the realms listed after the break will be going under maintenance from 3:00 a.m. PDT until 9:00 a.m. PDT.
Servers are up
With the exception of a few servers that will require additional maintenance until 4:00 p.m. EDT / 1:00 p.m. PDT, all of the servers are up and ready for action.Last night Sacco talked about how he saw a gigantic dragon skeleton on his screen. I heard from him briefly this morning and he was rather incoherent, mumbling something about "trolls" and "lawlwut." So I have to believe the skeleton actually got him and is slowly devouring his brain.In other news, the realms are up! ...in case you missed that part. Go forth and enjoy Azeroth
Realm maintenance for Tuesday March 17th
There will be realm maintenance for tomorrow, Tuesday March 17th, from 3:00 a.m. PDT / 6:00 a.m. EDT until 11:00 a.m. PDT / 2:00 p.m. EDT. This maintenance is a little bit longer than we've seen the past couple of weeks (it's starting two hours earlier).However, don't take this as a sign. Just because the maintenance is going on and starting earlier does not mean that Patch 3.1 is going live. In fact, it probably has a few more weeks of testing. There's been a few folks at Blizzard calling it their largest content patch yet (although I'd beg to differ saying that Patch 2.4 was their largest).But if you're interested in Patch 3.1, and really who isn't, you can check out WoW Insider's Guide to Patch 3.1 for a concise index of everything, as well as our latest information.Don't forget to stay tuned to WoW Insider throughout the day tomorrow – we'll let you know if there's any extended downtime or if the mail suddenly goes missing.PS: The church sign is totally Dan O'Halloran's fault. He's gotten me hooked on these things...
Realm maintenance for March 10th
We've had clean and easy rolling restarts on Tuesday mornings more often lately, but this week we won't be so lucky.. The servers will be going down for maintenance at 5:00 AM PDT and are estimated to be back online at 11:00am PDT. Will servers be back up on time this week? Maybe, maybe not! We can certainly hope so.As usual, if anything unexpected unfolds throughout the maintenance period tomorrow, we'll be here to let you know what we know, which might not be much more than you know but you never know, you know?
Realm maintenance for Tuesday February 24th
"I'm not looking forward to this," Fargor grumbles as he rests his heavy two-handed Paladin mace on the side of his legs. "I know that when I awake tomorrow things will not have improved." He shuffles his chest plate around, getting more comfortable for the forced sleep ahead of him."And damned if I do even wake up!"Fargor slams his hairy Dwarven fist down on the wooden table, angry at the ruling Wizards of Dalaran for their impositions on him and everyone else.All Osull and Marcella can do is look back and nod in acknowledgement, as they too feel more and more angst at the Wizards for their mysterious ways. "At least it will only be part of a day," Osull offers up in comfort of the Dwarf. Marcella lays a supportive hand on the Osull's shoulder and nods her head in agreement, "Indeed kind Dwarf, it's only for eight hours."The platitudes seem to do nothing for Fargor, as he shakes his head and says "Eight hours or eight years, it doesn't matter lass. No one should have a right to tell a Dwarf what to do!"And as he says that the Wizards can suddenly be heard throughout the city, "The realms will be down from three to eleven in the morning, as the mighty pacific clock tells time. Sleep well now citizens of Azeroth, for when tomorrow you awake things will be fresh and new..."The voice trails off into nothingness and across the realms everyone stops what they're doing and falls asleep as they are.The Wizard's maintenance has begun.One week ago...
36 realms down for maintenance
We started getting a few tips about realms going down about half an hour ago, and Blizzard's now confirmed that 3 dozen realms are down to address "some instancing issues." Interestingly, the brand-new realm Borean Tundra is among them, and I recognized a few others that are relatively new, as well as the usual forum whipping-boy Misha.2 hours is the estimated downtime, so if you're on one of the affected realms, I'd start checking back around 2:45-3:00 pm EST. We'll keep you up to date if maintenance is extended. Read on for the list:UPDATE 2:03 pm EST: Anub'arak is now listed as the only realm affected.UPDATE 2:32 pm EST: Looks like all the affected realms are back up early.
It's Tuesday! Maintenance ahoy!
It's Tuesday and that means maintenance. Realms are down, players are frolicking (read: bored), and everything seems somehow more like Tuesday. It is scheduled to last from 5:00 am PST to 11:00 am PST. If you're wondering what on Azeroth you are going to do doing downtime, while at work, or otherwise lazing about, here are a few suggestions. Enter our latest contest! Guess the patch 2.4 release date for your chance to win! Have you been feeling like a sad panda about the recent server downtimes and maintenance? You're not alone. If you're curious about what might be new with patch 2.4, then check out our official and complete Guide to Patch 2.4. It's a round-up, and has links to anything you could possibly want to know. The cooldowns for paid transfers and name changes have been reduced. Have you been weighing your options? Check out who has "teh funneh" with this past week's Sunday Morning Funnies. In fact, if you're feeling adventurous, or insurmountably bored, try some past editions as well. Read about the latest development in the saga of the Warlock Lifetap nerf. What are you doing this week during maintenance? Are you reading up on the changes to your class or profession, and what that will mean to your PvP or raiding self? Have you been inventing the next WoW /dance? Or are you trying to get more work done than you do on other days of the week?
Extended downtime this week for selected realms
Sure enough, the words that many WoW players dread to hear have been issued by Senior Game Master Khrogul. While this week should have been a quick rolling restart week, it would appear that it is not to be the case for several realms including the <It Came from the Blog> server, Zangarmarsh. Of course, you need have no worry! We will be with you through the downtime -- assuming you don't nip off and instead decide to get involved in a hardcore Chore Wars game in the meantime. For those wanting to check out the complete list of servers and the estimated length of downtime, I've copied the official Blue post after the jump for you. It's just another service we offer -- sparing folks from having to battle the slow forum servers on downtime day!
A bit of Saturday downtime...
Well, at least everyone hopes it's only a bit. Saturday morning at 4:00 AM PDT, 18 US realms are going offline for database maintenance. I always wonder what exactly they mean when they say things like "database maintenance" without further specifics, but Tseric never acquiesces to my requests for additional info, so it looks like we'll have to get by with the limited news we're given. Maintenance should only last an hour, meaning these realms should be back up by 5:00 AM PDT... so if we have any early birds in the audience who were planning to play at that hour, perhaps you should take the time to get that extra cup of coffee. Realms affected include the following: Aerie Peak, Altar of Storms, Anvilmar, Blackwing Lair, Deathwing, Demon Soul, Doomhammer, Gnomeregan, Icecrown, Jaedenar, Kel'Thuzad, Lethon, Onyxia, Sentinels, Tanaris, The Venture Co., Uldaman, and Undermine.
20 US Realms Down Friday Night
Just after 9:00 PM PDT, twenty different US realms received a 5-minute reboot warning. It was for the best, really, as everyone in my guild seemed to be able to chat, but very little else. Even the "quit" option didn't seem to do anything - the realm was an unplayable mess. However, after going down, neither my realm nor any of the realms that went offline with it, have come back. A message on the login screen vaguely states that Blizzard's technicians are working with a vendor in order to resolve the matter, but there is currently no ETA on the realms coming back online. So if you play on any of the following realms, my apologies - but playtime tonight has been interrupted: Andorhal, Anetheron, Archimonde, Black Dragonflight, Dalaran, Daivengyr, Dentarg, Duskwood, Executus, Haomarush, Khadgar, Mal'Ganis, Norgannon, Scilla, Steamweedle Cartel, Thrall, Turalyon, Ysera, Ysondre, and Zuluhed.
Select Realm Maintenance Today
If you happen to play on Cenarion Circle, Cenarius, Hyjal, Lightbringer or Uther, and were thinking of cutting out of work early for a little afternoon Warcraft action, don't bother. Blizzard is reporting that the realms are down for service and should be back online around 3:30 PM EST. Players on those realms do have something to be grateful for, as the "Urgent Maintenance" isn't taking place during prime time, and thus not interrupting nearly as many battlegrounds and raids.These realms also had some downtime yesterday, so I would think some sort of restitution will be coming to the players in the form of a free day of play. A free day sounds good, until you realize that a free day roughly equates to the price of a candy bar. However, I just prefer to block that out and instead just keep thinking "WOW! A free day!".
Brief Maintenance Wednesday Morning
A number of realms will be brought down at 4:00 AM PDT this Wednesday for about an hour to correct a database setting. So, if you play on any of the following servers, maybe that will be a good time to go find some breakfast: Altar of Storms, Andorhal, Anetheron, Archimonde, Black Dragonflight, Dalaran, Dalvengyr, Deathwing, Demon Soul, Dentarg, Doomhammer, Duskwood, Executus, Haomarush, Icecrown, Jaedenar, Kel'Thuzad, Khadgar, Mal'Ganis, Norgannon, Scilla, Steamwheedle Cartel, Thrall, Turalyon, Uldaman, Ysera, Ysondre, and Zuluhed. I recognize a number of these realms as running at the new site on new hardware, but I'm not sure if all of them are.
