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Bumping your recruitment posts
Many guilds out there have their recruitment posts up on both the realm forums and the global recruitment forums. One of the big keys to a recruitment post is to keep it up on the top of the forums so everyone sees it, and sees it before any other posts. This means that you and your guildies have to bump the post to the top of the list, and bump it quite often.The global recruitment forums recently underwent an upgrade, where the forums were split into Alliance and Horde factions. This has helped a bit with the number of posts per day, and has thus lessened the number of required bumps a recruitment posts needs to keep it on the front page.However, you still have to bump it quite a bit.
Many realms down for extra maintenance
On top of the already extended maintenance today, many US realms, as it turns out, will be undergoing even more extended maintenance. The ETA for completion on this is 1:00 PM PDT. The Reckoning, Vengeance, and Bloodlust battlegroups are affected. This includes my own realm -- there go my plans for leveling my druid this afternoon. Realms not on this list are currently up and available for play, so maybe I'll go hang with ICftB on Zangarmarsh. The complete list of affected realms is: Aegwynn, Akama, Aman'Thul, Arathor, Barthilas, Blackrock, Bonechewer, Caelestrasz, Chromaggus, Dath'Remar, Dragonmaw, Drak'thul, Draka, Dreadmaul, Eitrigg, Eldre'Thalas, Firetree, Frostmane, Frostmourne, Frostwolf, Garithos, Gurubashi, Hakkar, Jubei'Thos, Khaz Modan, Khaz'goroth, Kil'Jaeden, Kilrogg, Korgath, Kul Tiras, Malorne, Mug'thol, Muradin, Nagrand, Nathrezim, Ner'zhul, Proudmoore, Rexxar, Runetotem, Scarlet Crusade, Sen'jin, Shadow Council, Shadowsong, Silver Hand, Silvermoon, Skywall, Smolderthorn, Spirestone, Terenas, Thaurissan, Thorium Brotherhood, Tichondrius, Vek'nilash, Windrunner. Again, these realms will allegedly be up at 1:00 PM PDT/4:00 PM EDT.Update (4:15 PM): All realms appear to be online and operational.
Oceanic maintenance moved away from prime time
We've posted about this issue quite a few times, and strangely enough, though Tseric told us way back that things would never change, it just might be fixed. Oceanic players, including Chri who kindly tipped us about this, are reporting that their maintenance has been moved from the usual Tuesday evening prime time (which is early Tuesday morning for us in the US) to early Wednesday morning their time. In other words, they didn't have to suffer their servers going down during playtime this week.Unfortunately, there's no official word on this yet, so we're not sure if it's just this week, or if Blizzard just didn't have to restart this servers this time around, or what it was. But we do know that Oceanic players are cheering loudly that they didn't have to suffer mistimed maintenance this week, so hopefully Blizzard is taking action as promised on this one.So very good news for Oceanic players, especially since the lag and shutdowns have been a huge problem for them in the past. If this really is a official change, hopefully we'll see Blizzard confirm that they've finally responded to all the player problems down there.
Server crashes plague Ruin battlegroup and others
It seems to be an unfortunate reality of WoW, if not MMORPGs in general: When a new patch goes live, more often than not, it's going to be a bit rocky on the servers for a while. Patch 2.4.2 is no exception, Many servers are having trouble staying up, including most of the Ruin Battlegroup, which according to a few our tipsters has been having more than its share of trouble lately. Blue Poster Vrakthis has assured posters on the Customer Service Forum that the Realm issues are being looked into, but so far, there does not seem to be a solid reason for the downtime other than, hey, it's patch day! EDIT: It has now been confirmed that the downtimes were intentional for the purpose of emergency maintenance. The downtime should be minimal. As of the time of this writing, the following servers are down:
Bloodlust realms down to fix latency
As of 10:50 AM PDT, 1:50 PM EDT, Blizzard has brought down all the realms in the Bloodlust (US) battlegroup for brief maintenance "to address issues relating to high latency and disconnections." The affected realms are expected to be done after about an hour, which means they should come back up around 11:50 AM PDT/2:50 PM EDT, which is in twenty minutes. The affected realms are listed as: Aman'Thul, Barthilas, Blackrock, Caelestrasz, Dath'Remar, Dreadmaul, Frostmourne, Frostwolf, Khaz'goroth, Kil'Jaeden, Kilrogg, Nagrand, Ner'zhul, Proudmoore, Sen'Jin, Silver Hand, Thaurissan, Tichondrius, and Vek'nilash. Note that as far as I can tell the Dreadmaul realm does not actually exist. Edit: Never mind, it's the new Oceanic realm. It's just not listed on the Battlegroups page for some reason. I kind of wish they'd do some maintenance on my own realm (Shadow Council), since I've been having relatively high latency myself recently (150-200ms as opposed to my usual 60-100ms).Update (3 PM): Not entirely unexpectedly, the realms are not fixed yet. The new ETA from Bizzard is 1 PM PDT/4 PM EDT.Update (4:30 PM): The realms are back up, but still experiencing issues. Blizz promises to provide more updates as they are available.Update (8:15 PM): Realms down again. They were supposed to be back up at 5 PDT/8 EDT, but apparently that is not the case.
Tuesday April 29th maintenance
...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!
Many realms still down
The saga of the Rampage and Shadowburn (US) battlegroups continues. All realms in those battlegroups have been down since at least 11:00 AM EDT this morning. Blizzard says they're working on it, but so far all we've seen is an ETA given, which was promptly missed -- that ETA was 1:30 EDT. The new word is to expect an update roughly now; I'll be keeping my eye on it and will update this post if there's any news.Once again, the affected US realms are Agamaggan, Alexstrasza, Alleria, Azshara, Baelgun, Balnazzar, Blackhand, Cho'gall, Dark Iron, Destromath, Dethecus, Detheroc, Emerald Dream, Garona, Gorgonnash, Greymane, Gul'dan, Hellscream, Illidan, Kael'thas, Kalecgos, Kirin Tor, Lightninghoof, Maelstrom, Malfurion, Moonrunner, Nazjatar, Ravencrest, Sargeras, Spinebreaker, Staghelm, Stormreaver, Twisting Nether, Ursin, Whisperwind, and Wildhammer.Zul'Jin is also reportedly down, as well as Burning Legion and Lothar; I'm unsure of the status of the rest of the Ruin and Vindication battlegroups.Update: It looks like Ruin and Vindication are down in their entirety. Meanwhile, Blizzard updated to let us know they're still working on it, and they expect the Rampage and Shadowburn realms to be up by around 1 PM PDT/4 PM EDT.Update 2: Apparently the Ruin and Vindication issues are a hardware problem; Blizzard knows about it and expects to have those realms back up by 3 PM PDT/7 PM EDT.
36 US realms down
Starting at least half an hour ago, and continuing through to now, 36 US realms, comprising the battlegroups Rampage and Shadowburn, are down. Blizzard notes that they are "currently unavailable and are being worked on," and that they don't have an ETA right now, but will give us an update around 8:50 AM PDT/11:50 AM EDT. So we should hear more about this in 15 minutes or so, at which point I'll update the post with any new information.The affected realms are: Agamaggan, Alexstrasza, Alleria, Azshara, Baelgun, Balnazzar, Blackhand, Cho'gall, Dark Iron, Destromath, Dethecus, Detheroc, Emerald Dream, Garona, Gorgonnash, Greymane, Gul'dan, Hellscream, Illidan, Kael'thas, Kalecgos, Kirin Tor, Lightninghoof, Maelstrom, Malfurion, Moonrunner, Nazjatar, Ravencrest, Sargeras, Spinebreaker, Staghelm, Stormreaver, Twisting Nether, Ursin, Whisperwind, and Wildhammer.[Thanks, Laz]Update (12 PM): Blizzard provided an update to let us know that they will provide another update at 10 AM PDT, which is in an hour. They're working on it and appreciate our patience.Update (1 PM): Now they think they've figured out what's wrong, and they're saying the realms should be up by 10:30 PDT/1:30 EDT.
Some EU realms get a free day
A bit over a month ago, all the realms in the European battlegroups Crueldad, Hinterhalt, Némésis, and Nightfall suffered some extra downtime, and players on them received a credit for a free day of playtime to compensate. Looks like it's happened again. In exchange for for six hours of downtime on April 6, members on those battlegroups will once again get a free day. Here's a list of the affected realms: Crueldad: C'Thun, Dun Modr, Los Errantes, Minahonda, Shen'dralar, Tyrande, Uldum, Zul'Jin Hinterhalt: Arygos, Der Mithrilorden, Dethecus, Forscherliga, Norgannon, Teldrassil, Todeswache, Un'Goro Némésis: Arak-arahm, Confrérie du Thorium, Eitrigg, Garona, La Croisade écarlate, Medivh, Uldaman, Vol'jin Nightfall: Alonsus, Anachronos, Bronze Dragonflight, Burning Steppes, Darkmoon Faire, Darkspear, Kor'gall, Lightbringer, Molten Core Enjoy your free day, folks. I'm just glad I get to use my "1up" image again.
More migrations for Europe
It seems like there have been free character migrations for Europe constantly for the past few months. Well, this week is no different. Thundgot announced the following free moves, available from today, April 9th, to next Wednesday, April 15th, all for PvP realms (I think): From: Frostmane, Grim Batol, Magtheridon, Twilight's Hammer To: Bladefist, Dragonmaw, Spinebreaker From: Molten Core To: Stonemaul Those of you who want to switch, get your move on soon, because transfers may close early if they get the population balance they want (although I can only remember this happening once). Out of curiosity, European readers: what countries are you in?
Realm progression rankings for the Shattered Sun questline
The efforts to retake the Isle of Quel'Danas proceed apace. Some realms are going faster than others, but Drysc assures us that even the low-population realms will get the phases auto-completed for them eventually if they don't have the manpower to get there fast enough on their own. What if you want to see exactly how the realms stack up? We talked last week about a manually maintained forum post; however, that has problems with trustworthiness and the difficulty of keeping it updated.Edur, of Gorgonnash-A (EU), has created a web site that relies on game data form participants to rank the realms according to their completion of the Sunwell questline, and a very nice site it is. You can see all the US and European realms and where they stand both on the main phase quests and on the side accomplishments, like constructing the portal from Shattrath to Quel'Danas. There are also nice progress charts for each individual realm, and, most usefully, ETAs for when the objectives might be reached given current rates of completion.
Do you read your realm forums?
Do you read your realm forums? Simple question, eh? Personally, I make sure I at least take a look at my realm forums once a day, even if I don't post.Admittedly, realm forums are quite often just a pile of drama. Who cybered who, who ninja'd from who, who ganked who. Blah blah blah. Hidden behind all of that, though, there is usually a lot of helpful information. Patch note discussions, recruitment notices, maybe even server progression lists or charts of who on the server has rare crafting recipes. I've been amazed a few times by people that desperately search for raiding guilds to join on the server, but have not once looked at the official realm boards to see who is even recruiting. Plus, as an officer in a raiding guild, it's just a little bothersome to find out there are so many people that may have been interested in that open spot you had for two months, you just had no way to reach them or know about them.I've been under the impression that most people who play more than a few hours a week read their realm boards, but I'm not so sure that's the case. That would be a lot of people, when you think about it. So what about you guys? Do you read? Do you post? Patch 2.4 sounds great, but what's in it for you? Find out on our Sunwell Isle page where we list the impact on classes, professions, PvP, Raiders and many other playstyles and interests including walkthroughs on the new Sunwell Daily Quests. Looking for more great info? Check out the WoW Insider Directory for the best of our guides and analysis.
Rolling restarts extend; multiple US servers down
Bornakk posted on the forums about rolling restarts for all realms to affect an issue that was preventing the proper display of realm names in the Battlegrounds. Instead of realm names, players from other servers would have their names displayed with cryptic tags such as US1B-BG, which -- aside from being unintelligible -- prevented identification of premade groups. The issue had reportedly been present in the PTR builds but seems not to have been addressed completely when Patch 2.4 went live.Although the rolling restarts were estimated to affect each realm for approximately 15 minutes and take a total of around 2 hours for the entire process, some realms -- roughly half of all US servers -- continue to experience further issues, necessitating more downtime. As of this writing, Bornakk reports that Blizzard estimates that all realms will be available for play at 4:30am PDT. Interestingly, it seems that the issue is not Battlegroup-related as some Battlegroups have both up and down servers.
Massive amounts of realms offline [UPDATED]
The realms were up for a bit, but several have come down rather quickly. There is a news alert when you log on giving a long (very long) list of realms that are offline.Blizzard says that they're performing additional maintenance to resolve some issue. However, unlike most every other time they've taken down realms, this time there is no ETA on when they'll be back up.We can only hope that this will be a quick fix problem. I had a dream that Kaz'rogal will be dropping Kaz'rogal's Hardened Heart for me finally, and I'm going to be mighty disappointed if I can't raid tonight and get some of that phat lewtz.Take a look after the break for the long list of realms that are offline. And remember, stay tuned to WoW Insider, we'll let you know when these realms are back up!Updated 8:01 EST: The realms down are now only as follows: Alextrasza, Balnazzar, Blackhand, Cho'hall, Destromath, Dethecus, Garona, Gorgonnash, Gul'dan, Hellscream, Illidan, Kael'thas, Kirin Tor, Ravencrest, Smolderthorn, Spinebreaker, Stormreaver, Whisperwind. The rest of the realms are back online!
Free migrations for Europe
Man, you European players just can't seem to balance server load, can you? /cast Evasion. Once again, here's a round of free character migrations for European servers, open from yesterday to next Tuesday, March 18 (my birthday!). From: Burning Legion, Crushridge, Kazzak, Magtheridon, Shadowmoon To: Auchindoun, Jaedenar Standard disclaimer: the transfers may be closed early if the desired population levels are attained, so transfer ASAP if you want to. However, I'm not sure that this happens very often; in fact, last time the transfers were extended for another week because not enough people had taken advantage of it. Standard closing questions: if you're on one of the "from" realms, will you be taking advantage of this? If you're on one of the "to" realms, do you welcome the newcomers?
Select realms to undergo maintenance (updated!)
Drysc reports that a number of realms are under investigation for performance issues and will be undergoing a scheduled maintenance at 5:00 AM PDT on Wednesday, March 12 with a foreseeable downtime of 1 hour (update: Zorayn notes that downtime will be extended to 2 hours as opposed to one). As Drysc edits the thread, realms are added (or removed) regularly. From a quick perusal of the realms, it seems as though it is the Nightfall Battlegroup that is affected. Blizzard currently lists the affected realms as follows:Aerie PeakAltar of StormsAlterac MountainsAnvilmarArygosBlackwing LairDeathwingDemon SoulDoomhammerGnomereganIcecrownJaedenarKel'ThuzadLethonOnyxiaSentinelsTanarisThe Venture CoUldamanUndermineDrysc further notes that other Battlegroups are under close observation and will be taken down for maintenance should any issues arise that might require it.
More realm issues today
Bornakk announced today on the general discussion forums (why he didn't do this on the tech support forums, I don't know...) that they are having a number of realms randomly drop people. Indeed, this happened to me over on Eldre'Thalas this morning.If you are having issues, remember that you can go to the Blizzard's tech support forums and ask a question there. You can also check out our guide for solving all these connection issues, if Blizzard doesn't come through with a solution for you.We'll keep you updated on this weekend hiccup – stay tuned to WoW Insider for the latest!
Central US woes [updated]
According to Drysc, there's a Blizzard-external network problem in the central United States that is currently affecting several WoW realms. Symptoms include high latency, packet loss, disconnection, or inability to connect; side effects may include broken keyboards and bruised fists, or in severe cases, deciding to stop playing WoW for the evening.I'm not sure which realms are affected, but it's nice to know that this is being worked on anyway; the glowing tree promises that they are actively receiving updates from the (unnamed) parties involved. There is currently no ETA on a fix. I'll keep you posted if I hear anything else. In the mean time, let's start building a list: if your realm is acting up, let us know in the comments.Update: Drysc is saying the issue "appears to have been resolved," but they're still keeping an eye on it.
Playtime credit for some EU realms
Apparently there was some extra downtime (7 hours!) for some of the European realms on Wednseday. To compensate, Blizzard is giving a one-day playtime credit to anyone with an active character in the affected battlegroups: Crueldad, Hinterhalt, Némésis, and Nightfall. That's one of the things I like about Blizz -- they may mess up, but when they do, they try to fix it (except when it comes to Life Tap).In case you're not sure what battlegroup you're in, here's the realm listings. If you have an active character on any of these European realms, you will be credited a day of playtime. Crueldad: C'Thun, Dun Modr, Los Errantes, Minahonda, Shen'dralar, Tyrande, Uldum, Zul'Jin Hinterhalt: Arygos, Der Mithrilorden, Dethecus, Forscherliga, Norgannon, Teldrassil, Todeswache, Un'Goro Némésis: Arak-arahm, Confrérie du Thorium, Eitrigg, Garona, La Croisade écarlate, Medivh, Uldaman, Vol'jin Nightfall: Alonsus, Anachronos, Bronze Dragonflight, Burning Steppes, Darkmoon FaireDarkspear, Kor'gall, Lightbringer, Molten Core So are all the Spanish realms really in that one battlegroup? The things you learn researching blog posts...
New US PvE realm
For the first time in a very long time , we are getting a brand-new non-transfer realm, open to create characters on and explore its untouched reaches. As a non-transfer realm, character transfers to it are disabled for six months. I believe this is the first such realm since Burning Crusade launched, though we did get a new transfer realm at the end of last month. The realm is called Cairne, and it's a PvE realm, in Central time, in the Emberstorm battlegroup. Reroll locusts, start your engines.Do you need a new beginning? It's kind of tempting to go roll on a realm where nobody's been out of the noob zones yet, where the Dark Portal has yet to be traversed by players and everything is ripe for the conquering. But then again, it's also nice to be on a realm with a mature economy and people I know, so I will probably not be rushing out to Cairne myself. I know, however, that many of you have been clamoring for a new realm for some time -- go to it.Update: Bornakk adds that there are no plans for new PvP realms, "as there are several low population PvP realms you can transfer or re-roll on right now."
