Forced Servers=Yay!

[Wickedly_Evil]

All I can think of is.... Thank God!

Say all you want but you and I both know what ruined Diablo 2. Asians and Americans all trying to play on the same server made things largely unplayable. You really have no idea what I mean unless you tried to play D2 on a thursday night (friday night in Asia). Seperate but equal is a must in my opinion for online games. I know half of what killed d2 for me was the unplayability of the game on the weekend.

I can imagine WoW will recieve as much attention as Diablo 2 if not more. Who here wants WoW to be so congested that you can't even register to pay for a subscription (Do I need to even mention the pos that is SWG?).

Sure you can play an mmorpg with a higher latency compared to say a first person shooter, but wouldn't you rather have less lag in general?

Looking at the stress test people got to level 40 in 10 days. Don't even try to tell me that you won't be able to catch up to your friends. If they are your friends guess what.... they'll help you catch up. For example, they can pl or twink you.

In reading the recent post on the beta boards it seems that most people are against forced servers. I for one proudly say yes please.

[Calvin]

I don't like this. I met a friend in the stress test that was european. Now I'm not going to be able to play iwht him in the beginning. Yes thats right, in the beginning, because they did say that after a period of time they would allow you to chose other servers.

Which is all well and good, I can get a few other games out of my system before going to WoW.

[Pai Mai]

I think it's an extremely stupid idea. The fact of the matter is, most Asians would prefer to play on Asian servers anyway, so why force the matter for the minority of European/Asians who don't want to and speak English just fine?

I can imagine WoW will recieve as much attention as Diablo 2 if not more.
If by attention you mean people who bought the game...no, not even close. The *main* reason that those games sold so much, other than them being only better than average is the fact that you did not have to pay a monthly subscription fee to play on Battle.net, that is all. You will not have even 1/3 of the amount that play Diablo 2 and WC3 on a daily basis playing WoW.

[GreenArmadillo]

You will not have even 1/3 of the amount that play Diablo 2 and WC3 on a daily basis playing WoW.

I don't know what those daily numbers are now, but if WoW gets anywhere NEAR a third as many subscribers as they sold copies of D2 (the only three year old PC game still on the shelves anywhere that I've seen) they'd eclipse every MMORPG currently in existence. I doubt that'll happen, but I'm thinking the 4-500,000 mega hit status won't be too hard for them.

[ScytheNoire]

i think i met some Diablo II / Battle.neters in the Stress Test. they were the ones alway shouting and swearing and acting like morons.

i sure hope there is an ignore feature.

[ZaxGreia]

I also hope the standard Blizzard red-headed fan child does not survive long with their evil habits in the full release. The thing that killed WC3 for me was idiot children who spent every hour of their dropped-out-of-gradeschool days climbing ladders. I don't have a problem with power gamers - if you wanna spend your time that way, it's up to you. I just can't stand the kids who get angry if you're not as "good" as they are, or if you do things differently. Too many of those are Blizzard fans, and swamp the b.net message boards, games, etc. Seen too many exploits, cheap shots, cheating, swearing needlessly (look at the new word I learned, Mommy) to want to see it anymore.

/rant - sorry - I tried to keep it short.

[WiglyWorm]

d2 vs WoW

D2:
no central server
WoW:
game served to all players from a central location

Lag isn't as big an issue in WoWs situation.

what exactley made the game "unplayable"? the fact that you were forced against your will to come to terms that american's aren't the only people on this rock we call Earth? The fact that you couldn't communicate with them? what communication is needed in Diablo2 anyway? turn on the minimap and it shows you were they are, now just play smart and you don't ever need to talk. WoW will need more communication, granted, but Pai Mai already covered that.

[Pai Mai]

I don't know what those daily numbers are now, but if WoW gets anywhere NEAR a third as many subscribers as they sold copies of D2 (the only three year old PC game still on the shelves anywhere that I've seen) they'd eclipse every MMORPG currently in existence. I doubt that'll happen, but I'm thinking the 4-500,000 mega hit status won't be too hard for them.
They could hit 500,000 easily, but not right at release. EQ ended up with around 1.5 million accounts (*note accounts, not users) worldwide, but it's been out for over five years now.

[ViS.tups]

If by attention you mean people who bought the game...no, not even close. The *main* reason that those games sold so much, other than them being only better than average is the fact that you did not have to pay a monthly subscription fee to play on Battle.net, that is all. You will not have even 1/3 of the amount that play Diablo 2 and WC3 on a daily basis playing WoW.

I seriously doubt where you came up with this logic seeing a number of times people have written:


There was 10 times the European interest in WoW that they were expecting, and they are taking the market very seriously. Apparently in 2008 the number of MMO gamers in Europe will equal the US market – and I think they want a piece of the action!


locked servers is good for the reasons Wickedly_Evil stated and also bad for the reasons that the rest of you stated. Personally I think the locked servers is a good idea.
As for Wiglyworm: you took Wickedly_Evils comments the wrong way, twisted it and insinuated he was racist, WTF?

[Pai Mai]

There was 10 times the European interest in WoW that they were expecting, and they are taking the market very seriously. Apparently in 2008 the number of MMO gamers in Europe will equal the US market – and I think they want a piece of the action!
This quote means absolutely nothing without having a number to base "10 times" off of. Ten times what 100...1000? And the European market will be equal in 2008 to which US market, today's or the US market in 2008?

And my guesstimation is indeed based upon something called "logic". It's not hard to follow the progress of Blizzard games and fans and how many people played across Battle.net over the years. You really think that somehow the European market alone is going to surpass what has been seen already with the US/Asian/European market up until now? And you are also assuming that more than 65% of the hundreds of thousands that play on Battle.net are teens or adults with a JOB, or at least have parents that don't mind blowing the money for the monthly fee.

[faik]

So for the western servicemen playing stationed abroad and expatriate communites are forced to play with people of another language and not their friends and families at home.

And what happens to the international guilds, i for one planned to play this game with a group of friends from all around the world, if the servers are forced then i can't see this happening.

[FlareCDE]

There will always be a fair share of morons on any server, regardless of location. There's just as many asian idiots as American idiots as European idiots, given proportions to population. You learn to ignore them, become one of them, or go insane. Nothing will change that. Pay to play systems won't help (much). Nor will fixed servers.

Blizzard's problem:
Server overload. Everyone jumps on (example) USEast, because thats where everyone's friend plays. Now the USEast server cluster is performing poorly, and people blame Blizzard.
Latency. While those of us blessed with broadband can prolly get a playable connection to any server in the world, not everyone is so lucky. Who gets blamed for lag though, even if the user is dumb enough to try and connect halfway around the world? Blizzard.
GMing. It makes it easier for Blizzard to monitor the server if they know when it's peak load times are. This is fairly easy to predict with forced servers. It isn't when multiple (drastically different) timezones are connecting.

You want to play with your international friends, but you have to take into account that this is still a relatively new and untested server structure. Unforced servers potentially means possible outages, poor performance, or major downtime during understaffed hours. Once Blizzard is sure their hardware and software is up to the task, I'm sure they will "unlock" the servers. Either you wait a few months to play with friends, or you wait a few months to possibly play tolerable at all... Blizzard is obviously unwilling to take that gamble.

[WiglyWorm]

I just wanted to know why, to paraphrase the poster, D2 was unplayable when asians were on in numbers?


I agree with the tech support issue, and that's the only reason i'm not complaining about this.. i enjoy the shot at going and meeting ppl from different cultures in a medium we both enjoy.

[ViS.tups]

This quote means absolutely nothing without having a number to base "10 times" off of. Ten times what 100...1000? And the European market will be equal in 2008 to which US market, today's or the US market in 2008?

And my guesstimation is indeed based upon something called "logic". It's not hard to follow the progress of Blizzard games and fans and how many people played across Battle.net over the years. You really think that somehow the European market alone is going to surpass what has been seen already with the US/Asian/European market up until now? And you are also assuming that more than 65% of the hundreds of thousands that play on Battle.net are teens or adults with a JOB, or at least have parents that don't mind blowing the money for the monthly fee.

Ok the 10 times figure would be based off of other MMO games numbers, previous blizzard games' success and predicted changes in popularity (your second sentence basically); that is unless blizzard is lying to us :scratch:. Obviously interest doesnt automatically translate to a sale but you would assume increased interests would increase sales to some extent.

I never said that the europe market would be the sole driving force behind the game, and it definitely wont be. Remember WOW will pull a lot of ppl from the rts genre over to play a MMO for the first time as well as other MMO players that play/are fed up with stuff like EQ, are number of whom post in these forums.

As for the money side of things before I got a job (before I was 15, hardly an adult) if I really wanted to buy a game I would do chores, collect loose change and beg my arse off to get it. I dont think money will be as big a problem as everyone is making out.
/end rant

[FlareCDE]

Further more (on the idiot side), I've met 30+ year olds that are complete 'tards, and 13 year olds that are more mature than you might expect by a longshot. Access to money != maturity.

[Pai Mai]

As for the money side of things before I got a job (before I was 15, hardly an adult) if I really wanted to buy a game I would do chores, collect loose change and beg my arse off to get it. I dont think money will be as big a problem as everyone is making out.
/end rant
Not everyone is completely helpless or lazy before they are able to get a job, but really, how much of the "b.net kiddie crowd" do you think are in that same situation? How many of them do you think will be able to get $10 - $15 a month from their parents to play a game? How many of them, soley based upon their actions over the internet (I know how that sounds) are actually going to be the types that will want to work (chores/job) towards getting that money?

Not everyone on Battle.net is a moron, but there are more than not and the reason being because you don't have to pay to play on the servers, so anyone of any age can get in. You say that the monthly fee is not that big of a deterrant? Yes it is. I've seen plenty of tards in MMORPG's but nowhere near the same ratio as what you find on Battle.net. Not every parent will shell out the money, and those that are not 18 or above with a CC will be sol. Even if they have pre-paid game cards, it's still going to affect them.

Also age does make a difference. The 13 year olds that are more mature than the 30 year olds are the exception, not the rule.

[FlareCDE]

I don't think it has as much effect as some might think. The internet skews things too. Normally mature people become complete arseholes on here, for some odd reason :P.

I agree that the B.Net "kiddie" crowd will likely be culled substantially. I ran into very few "problem players" during the stress test, and there probably would have been fewer if not for Blizzard's folly of a contest. Which leads me to believe it's some other factor that's decreasing the number of troublemakers, since sign up was free and you could easily lie about your information. The open beta will tell a more telling tale.

The point I think there was to make though, and it's kinda been lost by me and others, is that forced servers will have no effect on the moron population.

[ViS.tups]

How many of them do you think will be able to get $10 - $15 a month from their parents to play a game?

We'll haveta agree to disagree on this point, $10-$15 is nothing.

You say that the monthly fee is not that big of a deterrant? Yes it is. I've seen plenty of tards in MMORPG's but nowhere near the same ratio as what you find on Battle.net. Not every parent will shell out the money, and those that are not 18 or above with a CC will be sol. Even if they have pre-paid game cards, it's still going to affect them.

Agree with you here that it will be a deterrant, I just dont think it will be as big as everyone is making out, although what is 'sol'.

Also age does make a difference. The 13 year olds that are more mature than the 30 year olds are the exception, not the rule.

Most definitely.

[Arkhon]

Forced servers seem to be a pretty poor idea, depending on how they're implemented.

I'm from that tiny little landmass down there called "Australia". I know most of the gaming/international market doesn't seem to care we exist but you know, we do make up a significant amount of gamers and a definate chunk of the profit they stand to make.

If we're forced onto Asian servers, which is the area we're closest geographically to, then I guarantee 99% of Australians will just pass on this game. Sucks to say, but that's not the server I want to be on considering the majority of our population is english-speaking. We're basically America's 51st state anyway, mirroring culture's and social similarities. All we ask is that we're allowed to play on your servers :P

Ping times is just a ridiculous argument anyway considering our fibre-optic lines go straight into the West coast of the US and go to Europe/Asia from there so we'd get the best ping on the US-West server anyway.

[FlareCDE]

I am sure Blizzard will not do something so foolishly dumb as drop Australians on the Korean/Asian servers. I'm not sure where they'd put you, but likely Europe or US (West). Language would have to come before locality in the end.

It's a purely technical decision though. They know players won't like it, as they've already stated it should be only a temporary solution. But I'll tolerate it because I'd rather be playing solo than not playing at all.

[Boing]

Server overload. Everyone jumps on (example) USEast, because thats where everyone's friend plays. Now the USEast server cluster is performing poorly, and people blame Blizzard.
I seem to remember reading in one of these country a day interviews that each region (ie USEast) will support up to 4x the number of servers used in the stress test (they provided 12 servers for the stress test if I remember rightly).

We currently have 2 servers in the beta, they are planning for a possibility of 192 servers worldwide...

[Arkhon]

Pah, drop me on a Europe server and I quit =/ :( Hate to but considering most of the guild I'd like to play with is US-West...pah. We segregated ourselves from the UK for a reason! Don't stick us on a server with them! ;)

[FlareCDE]

Better safe than sorry :P.

If everything works out, then maybe the servers will be "unlocked" very shortly after European launch.

[Incite_Riots]

This is TOTAL b******t.

I want to be able to play with my US friends, my UK friends I can go see any time IRL.

Sony can manage to have people from Europe using their San Diego based servers just fine and if they can manage it Blizzard should be able to as well.

[Sarcastic]Surely they must have noticed that there is internet backbone between countries these days?[/Scarcastic]

If there is not a quiet work around for it then screw WoW, I'll go play EQ2 and talk who ever I can into joining me there.

This is totally game-breaking for me.

[SynthetiCyclone]

...I'm going to hate this.
I'm in New Zealand so going to be forced to play in the nearest server (Asia) Since I have no grasp of Korean, Japanese, Chinese or Mandarin i'm kinda screwed.
and did they ever think of the Asian's that have emigrated to places like America. I know that I would want to play with my old friends in Asia not to American's that I can't understand.

[WiglyWorm]

Ausies will almost definatley not get dumped on asian servers...

and besides.. read the worldofwar.de interview.. if you want to buy an american account, they won't be able to stop you. I just imagine this being said to the interviewer with a very large wink and a big 'ol nudge.

So if it's a "game breaking" issue for you.. i'm sure you can figure something out to work around it.

It almost seems to me like they are making excuses in their reasoning.. customer service avaliabilty is all well and good.. especially for release.
Low ping times is basically not an issue, IMO, but it could stress the servers during launch i guess...

I dunno.. it all strikes me like they are just doing all this to ensure a release that doesn't get lambasted by gamers/media as that has proved to be very bad for the health of some highly touted MMOs. On the same point but from the other side.. if they manage to get an MMO release to go off without major hitches? well that in itself is worthy of press attention.. it's rarely, if ever, been done before..

[ViS.tups]

Aussies and NZ servers are going on US WEST!!!!!!!!!!

If you dont believe look at this quote from Drak Knight:
Australians will play on US West.

May I remind everyone that there are guilds set up on this site to cater to people from West, East and Europe!

http://wwn.worldofwar.net

/end pimping :lol:

found in this (http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=249276) thread

[archpsi]

funny some of the issues you guys mentioned were already discredited in the bnet thread, like a day ago.

1- d2 US servers were full of asians, becuase there wasnt proper asian servers for ages(not months), so all the asians played on the US servers, if you go now and play d2 it isnt the case.

2- if ppl from different time zones play on the same server, it means the server will have ppl throughout the day and not only a 2-3 hours period were the server is busy and the rest of the day its dead.
if you make it so ppl from only one area can play the game there will be a few hour period each day in which the server is full with ppl, cause they know the rest of the day the server is dead and who ever cannot play in these hours is not gonna have fun playing on a ghost server.

[archpsi]

Aussies and NZ servers are going on US WEST!!!!!!!!!!

If you dont believe look at this quote from Drak Knight:


found in this (http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=249276) thread

latest official info.


I am working to get an answer on the original topic of this post. I do not have one yet. I am simply posting to ask that you please remain on topic -- keep discussion related to World of Warcraft, please. We have an Off-Topic forum for discussions about Australia itself.

Thanks! :)

[McStrife]

This is TOTAL b******t.

I want to be able to play with my US friends, my UK friends I can go see any time IRL.

Sony can manage to have people from Europe using their San Diego based servers just fine and if they can manage it Blizzard should be able to as well.

[Sarcastic]Surely they must have noticed that there is internet backbone between countries these days?[/Scarcastic]

If there is not a quiet work around for it then screw WoW, I'll go play EQ2 and talk who ever I can into joining me there.

This is totally game-breaking for me.

I totally agree. Lag is a non-issue (I played the ST without any lag), and I want to play with the people I choose, not those that Blizz chooses for us.
This is the first time they really disappointed me.

[Xinhuan]

Personally, I'm fairly upset at this decision of Blizzard as well. I come from Asia myself, I stay in Singapore. Singapore is the only English speaking country in Asia (English is our first language), and to be forced to play on Asian servers that speak Thai, Jap, Korean, Malay, etc, is just being ridiculous, because Singapore speaks English.

I never play on Asia servers for past blizzard titles for this reason, I frequent USWest.

[SpiritWalker]

Thanks Blizzard for making it impossible to play with our US guild mates. :cheesy:

[Pai Mai]

Why am I having Diablo 2 launch week flashbacks? Unfinished and unbalanced game with extremely laggy and near unplayable servers. Their excuse? "We didn't expect...." They don't want to have the same problems with server stability, but they are going to have a problem that is just as bad in it's own way.

So are they now just "not expecting" the rift they will cause if this comes to pass? How can a company that has sold so many games and has had so much experience with online gaming be that inept? Oh I know why; it's because most of the real Blizzard broke away long ago.

[archpsi]

also for those of you who think its ok, that after 3 months the euro players can join their US friends, well that isnt as convenient as you may think, especially when the US players would already be doing world quests and your coming as a lvl 1 and I dont think a whole guild are gonna start at low lvls just for a few euro players.

[Pai Mai]

After three months, I would most likely have two characters at level 60 with both of their dual tradeskills maxed out. :uhhuh:

[Kisenger]

You can a American account the only thhing you have to then is figure out how much your currency will be in American money, and it was even stated that they can't stop you. If they can't stop someone from another country going to American servers then East Coast players could go onto the West Coast servers and visversa. But hey that last part is just guess but I could be right.

[archpsi]

pai:
exactly, so euro players who want to play with their US based guild, will only be able to join them if:

-the US guild has enough europeans(15+), that enough ppl are starting at low lvls.
-the guild members for some unknown reason suddenly decide to all start new characters at low lvls, then the euro players can come an join in.
-all members of the guild w8t for the euro players before playing(unlikely)

the above scenarious are unlikely and wont happen that often.

ps: im not a euro, and the only 2 euro friends that I have will most likely get some1 from usa to pay for them.

[archpsi]

You can a American account the only thhing you have to then is figure out how much your currency will be in American money, and it was even stated that they can't stop you. If they can't stop someone from another country going to American servers then East Coast players could go onto the West Coast servers and visversa. But hey that last part is just guess but I could be right.

actaully since the billing system will most likely be through credit cards and pre-paid cards (the pre-paid cards you can buy at retailers wont be available, pre release in euro.. logical guess imho)
when putting in visa details you have to state your address as the one linked with the visa card(if you dont you can get in worse trouble then many alternative scenarious).
in this case the only feasible way to get an account, would be getting some1 that lives in the usa to pay for you.

[Graav Wolfsong]

Well, look on the bright side, atleast the Americans get rid of those French and German people who refuse to speak English on an English server. Theres hardly anything more irritating. I even came across those in the Stress Test, North America only and they still refused to speak English.

[deadbeat]

i am VERY glad they are doing this.

one of the reasons i left Lineage 2 (there were MANY reasons i left that crappy game) was that the servers were PLAGUED by people who did nothing but farm money (adena) to sell on ebay. these people would use every exploit in the book, killsteal like crazy, run bots, and PK you if you came near the area they were farming in.
they didn't care anything about playing the game for fun, to them it was a job.

and pretty much all these players were from asia.

i read an article (wish i could find it) about the growing industry in asia popping up that revolves around selling virtual MMO items to westerners. there are entire business devoted to this with employees that clock in and out as if they were working in a factory.

now i have nothing against playing with asians who are there for fun, but i'd hate to see the same kind of crap that went on in L2 happen in WoW.

[Pogo]

The thing I don't like about their forced server plan is they are having U.S. West and East coast servers. I have friends coming from EQ that won't be able to play together if the connectivity is going to be a problem IF Blizzard won't be focusing on making the engine allow for poor latency issues.

However this quote from the interview shows some promise if they actually live up to it, and without making us pay $50 for the move like a certain other company.

"The servers are being forced as the Producer stressed the need for a low latency, but I was told that there will be an option shortly after launch for people to change to any server (against Blizzards recommendation), as they know there are people desperate to play on specific servers regardless."

It seems North Americans can choose any server you want in east or west at the outset regardless of your geographic location:

"Servers will be split into the regions of US West, US East, Europe, and Asia (Korea)... Initially servers will be forced. This means that people in the US will have to choose between East and West. Europeans wont be able to play on the US servers and vice versa. The Asian servers will obviously also be cut off from others."

I would really prefer they have world servers spread out to the targetted geographic areas and let people sort it out for themselves, the technology is proven it really just boils down to what level of connection quality a player is willling to live with.

[McStrife]

i am VERY glad they are doing this.

one of the reasons i left Lineage 2 (there were MANY reasons i left that crappy game) was that the servers were PLAGUED by people who did nothing but farm money (adena) to sell on ebay. these people would use every exploit in the book, killsteal like crazy, run bots, and PK you if you came near the area they were farming in.
they didn't care anything about playing the game for fun, to them it was a job.

and pretty much all these players were from asia.

i read an article (wish i could find it) about the growing industry in asia popping up that revolves around selling virtual MMO items to westerners. there are entire business devoted to this with employees that clock in and out as if they were working in a factory.

now i have nothing against playing with asians who are there for fun, but i'd hate to see the same kind of crap that went on in L2 happen in WoW.

Well, it seems a few people keep using this kind of argument to agree with the forced servers. People can freely choose after a certain period, so this would do nothing to keep "those nasty asians" away. If people who want to exploit the game (they come from everywhere, I refuse to believe that it's just Asians) they will come to the US servers when they can anyway, because explotation competition might be lower. That is, if what you say is true and Americans generally don't farm/exploit. Either way you look at it, this 'problem' you talk of can't be fixed by forcing servers.

[Hylo]

I'm approaching this issue from the MMORPG side of the fence and I can relate what happens in EQ and the like which makes me think this is a good Idea.

As EQ stands there's a basic inequallity based on timezone. West coast players are the Have-nots and eastcoasters are the Haves. All this may be made worse by the many and oft repeated flaws in EQ, but thats basically the sum total.

Forcing people into regional servers short circuts any sort of inequallity in both PVE and PVP due to time zone or distance from the server. It also allows them to present a verified experience to the end user without having to somehow tweak the code to deal with exceptions. Kludgy spawn times for ubermobs aren't important any more since now everyone has equal access.

Decisions like this shouldn't be made for the benefit of a minority with special circumstances. The good of the many definintely outways the good of the few here.

Its similar to the discussions that came out of the stress test about the leveling curve. People were up in arms that people were able to hit 50 in 10 days. Demands were tossed up insisting that thr rate be slowed.

Blizzard made the good decision there as well. Hamstringing 80 percent to slow down 20 just isn't good math.

-Hylo

[Pogo]

i am VERY glad they are doing this.

one of the reasons i left Lineage 2 (there were MANY reasons i left that crappy game) was that the servers were PLAGUED by people who did nothing but farm money (adena) to sell on ebay. these people would use every exploit in the book, killsteal like crazy, run bots, and PK you if you came near the area they were farming in.
they didn't care anything about playing the game for fun, to them it was a job.

and pretty much all these players were from asia.

i read an article (wish i could find it) about the growing industry in asia popping up that revolves around selling virtual MMO items to westerners. there are entire business devoted to this with employees that clock in and out as if they were working in a factory.

now i have nothing against playing with asians who are there for fun, but i'd hate to see the same kind of crap that went on in L2 happen in WoW.


Supporting this forced server system with this reasoning doesn't make sense in light of the fact that they said shorty after release you will be able to switch to any server you want. So the the third world farming businesses will be able to market everywhere from their lawless bung hole of a country.

I feel our pain though, no one really likes the online farming businesses even if they buy their stuff. Will be interesting to see what a North America only server will be like while it lasts, but if they really wanted to they could order U.S. copies of the game that are keyed for our servers and start there from the beginning.

[GreenArmadillo]

At least with the miracle of instances the all-but-inevitable farmers won't be taking anyone else's spawns. Also, to the best of my knowledge it's impossible to send things server to server, so the farmers would have to set up an enclave on each one. Given that they'd probably have their own guild, and thus be easy to spot, this may mean convenient ganking of them should there be an open PVP server like there is now.

The one thing that does concern me about the time zone thing is if they're so desperate to herd people into the same time zone because there's going to be frequent scheduled downtime during what they deem to be "off-peak" hours. I tend to stay up late playing, and will be pretty pissed if I have to pay a monthly fee for a game I can't even play when I want to.

[Lord Chad]

I sorda like this.

Becuase like Graav said I dont want to have french and german people refusing to speak english.I also dont want west coast people on my server.(no offense but some people from the west coast can be annoying and swear too much).Although I will miss the aussies and English people.Because in my oppinion engilsh and aussies are the nicest people you will ever meet.Plus I will have people who live near me.And also be in the same time zones.So I like it.

[Pietoro]

I think that Blizzard is doing this to ensure the best service they can give to different timezones/regions. Its not just to 'be mean'. And they will eventually open them, so aside from having to wait, its not like its impossible to play on another server.

The fact that most people are calling this move 'horrible' just because it keeps them from doing what they want to, is just silly. Blizz is doing this for a reason, in order to better guarantee online GMs and service to people, not just to spoil your fun.

[Blackmoon]

Well, servers are often quite unstable just after launch in MMOs, so maybe they just want to ensure the servers can handle people logging in from another parts of world before they allow it. Of course, this should be done in open beta, I suppose, but...

Personally, this doesn't affect me in anyway, since I wouldn't have played with yankees anyway (:cheesy: no offence), but I do understand that some people are pretty pissed.

[RavenFirecaster]

I think that Blizzard is doing this to ensure the best service they can give to different timezones/regions. Its not just to 'be mean'. And they will eventually open them, so aside from having to wait, its not like its impossible to play on another server.
Not only for service, but Blizzard has already mentioned that there will be server-wide events that are time sensitive. Strategically placing servers in widespread geographic locations and forcing people to use their local servers is a great idea, and I'll be happy to see anyone who whines about this abandon the game. :D

a.) more people will play during the "daylight" hours of the game on their local server, making for a more realistic environment

b.) allows for Blizzard to effectively cut their support costs by 1/2, since they only need to staff support during the server's local "daytime". (indirectly allowing monthly fees to be lower)

c.) helps to keep people on the same server speaking the same language. (though there are definitely exceptions to this, as Xinhuan and others have mentioned multiple times before)

d.) allows Blizzard to plan server-wide events, such as raids, parties, holiday celebrations, etc., which will cater to the majority of people online since most people on a server will be in a relatively similar timezone. (again, there are certainly exceptions to this...)

e.) allows Blizzard time in the off-hours of a specific to perform server maintenance without affecting a large number of users, again because of similar timezones restricted to a server


So, all in all, there are many more legitimate reasons to restrict people to servers based on location than to allow people to connect to any server they want. Now, I will certainly agree that there should be at least one or two more locations worldwide to install server farms. (ex. Australia, South America, Middle East/Africa...) I will also quite freely admit I have no idea what the market is for MMORPG in those areas and if it's economically viable to sprinkle more servers across the world, but I'm sure that as demand rises, Blizzard will pony up more $$$ to satisfy that demand.

[Semidi]

This is messing up the guild I'm in. We are literaly split 50-50 between US guys and Euro (2 aussies and 1 other can't remeber) guys. Until this is changed our guild is going to be split.

Then just to add salt on my wounds when this does get changed, if ever, then I'm going to have to restart on the euro server.

Well bullhonkey Blizzard.

[BrimSt0ne M0nkey]

Ok wait a minute, Im a confused lamer. I live in California, so does that mean when I get my copy at retail i will automatically be put on a West Server? I hope so.

Ive heard some say its random which would really blow, I dont want to get dropped onto a Euro Server and have no say so about it. Im guessing that copies of the game are regionally stamped and delivered to those areas of purchase.

[Pietoro]

Its not random. You just wont have a choice of any server besides the one whose region you're in (at least for a while). After a certain undetermined amount of time, you can choose whichever server region you like.

[Squarebob Spongepants]

There seems to be some confusion about the US servers. Americans (and canadians I presume) will be able to choose among all US servers. For example, californians will not be forced to play on west coast servers. They can choose to play on an east coast server if they want to.

[BrimSt0ne M0nkey]

Ohhhh, thats cool. Thats what I was hoping for. Thanks for the clarification guys. :thumbsup:

[MegaLing]

...what? where are you guys even getting these info? ...

whatever...stupid idea. why? cause going across an ocean means slower connection anyway so any1 wanting to play on a diff server would have to be really dedicated, and why would u ever piss off ur most dedicated fans? ...

[Moichi]

Becuase like Graav said I dont want to have french and german people refusing to speak english.I also dont want west coast people on my server.(no offense but some people from the west coast can be annoying and swear too much).Although I will miss the aussies and English people.Because in my oppinion engilsh and aussies are the nicest people you will ever meet.Plus I will have people who live near me.And also be in the same time zones.So I like it.
More prejudices, anyone?

The planned server model defeats the whole concept that makes online gaming so interesting to me. If I want to talk to people from my area - well, I get outside and talk to them. If I play on the internet I like to meet and talk to people I wouldn´t normaly meet and talk to.
There have been some good points made in this thread justifying this server model. I still don´t like it and wish that Blizz would leave the decision (with all its consequences like worse ping, less GM support, etc.) to the players.

[Wickedly_Evil]

I just wanted to know why, to paraphrase the poster, D2 was unplayable when asians were on in numbers?

Let me clarify this.... you see until they added more servers ping became 2-3 times as high on thursday night. All the regular US players+ Asian folks playing on USA East really mucked things up. The Asian servers initially were horrid. So bad in fact that Asian players played on either USA east or west so they had a faster connection. The important thing I was trying to point out here is that the server load doubled. That in essence is what I had a problem with.



So by the sound of things.... it seems as if most people want to either be on USA east or west during game launch. You people all realize that just can't be done right? I think this is definately a case of the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few. Laggy chunky gameplay really turns players off. I know thousands of players tried to play SWG on the first day and couldn't even log in to verify their billing. Lots of them didn't bother trying again.

[Sadow]

So by the sound of things.... it seems as if most people want to either be on USA east or west during game launch. You people all realize that just can't be done right? I think this is definately a case of the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few. Laggy chunky gameplay really turns players off..

I believe this constitutes the major problem. Please note that even with just North American (And, undoubtedly, a few foreign players.) playing on the stress test, the servers were experiencing heavy crashes. Try to imagine if the test had been open to everyone.

[BenTech]

i didnt take the time to read this whole thread

but if any of you played lineage 2

then you'll agree that not having asians on our servers is a very good thing

[Arkhon]

The thing is, all of you that are praising the system for keeping out the 'Asians' are just glossing over the fact that it also keeps out the rest of the world too...

I'm from Aus so I'm going to have dodgy ping no matter where I play and I think we're 7 hours off US time and 10 hours of UK/Euro time so either way we'll be out of the main GM hours.

Understand the Euro point of view too, they may well have friends in the US/Asia/Aus that they have met in out _Massively Multiplayer_ Online RPG's that they'd like to play with...this is just stupid segregation. To reinforce what other people said, if I wanted to play with people from just my country I'd go play an FPS or something...I play MMO's to interact with people from anywhere.

[Pietoro]

Well, then wait until the server lock is off, and have at it. <_<

[Havard]

I also hope the standard Blizzard red-headed fan child does not survive long with their evil habits in the full release. The thing that killed WC3 for me was idiot children who spent every hour of their dropped-out-of-gradeschool days climbing ladders. I don't have a problem with power gamers - if you wanna spend your time that way, it's up to you. I just can't stand the kids who get angry if you're not as "good" as they are, or if you do things differently. Too many of those are Blizzard fans, and swamp the b.net message boards, games, etc. Seen too many exploits, cheap shots, cheating, swearing needlessly (look at the new word I learned, Mommy) to want to see it anymore.

/rant - sorry - I tried to keep it short.

/hugs ZaxGreia

Amen, brutha! Unfortunately, this already happens in closed beta all the time. As in, say... last night. :grrr: According to this kiddie, someone in our group didn't stand in the exact correct spot while fighting a mob, so he flipped out and left in the middle of Zul'Farrak, a high lvl instance. This resulted in us having 4 only people, making the whole thing... over an hour invested... fall apart with nothing to show for it. :rant:

[El_Guapo]

This is going to be a long one, so stretch those corneas before hand...

In my time playing Lineage, I went from being a cheery, enthusiastic noob to a bitter, hardened pessimist, all in the span of six months.

Why, you might ask? Because, unbeknownst to me, MMORPGs are the national sport of certain Asian countries.

First of all, I have Korean friends in real life, and this is incredibly fortunate, as I would no doubt have been brought to dislike Koreans after my experiences with Lineage had this not been the case.

Let me start with a story...

I played on the American Lineage servers. There were something like 26 Korean servers and 3 US servers. This, however, didn't stop the Korean populace from coming over to the US servers in droves. Why they did this was initially beyond me, but I eventually learned that it was national pride.

You see, my guild leader had amassed a large guild, one capable of conquering one of the castles which existed in the Lineage world. The mere presence of this offended the Korean players. They actually contacted my leader and demanded that she make her message boards public so that they could see what we were up to at all times, if they so desired. In an attempt to enforce this, she would often find herself exiting towns only to be attacked by an invisible assailant. They wanted to hold castles on the American servers and they didn't care what it took to accomplish this goal.

If this isn't bad enough, the powerleveling was insane. I knew of three account sharers who leveled the same character 24 hours a day, each taking 8 hour shifts. I don't know if Blizzard is taking steps to prevent this, but I'm sure there will be ways around it.

South Korea is a country vastly more connected to the internet than our own, with a government which actually FUNDS online gaming so that it will be free for the populace (it keeps people off the streets). Gaming is a larger part of their culture than it is our own. Thus, the average Korean WoW player will play for far longer than the average American or European player.

I met some Koreans in my time who were genuinely nice people, despite not being able to speak the same language, but by in large, the experience was not a pleasant one.

I've also heard horror stories of FFXI players finding themselves in servers will few other players who speak English, effectively nullifying the best part of any MMORPG: communication with your fellow player.

I'd suggest this: make all English-speaking servers accessible to the English speaking regions, this includes Australia, the UK and Canada. Make the other servers accessible to their intended languages as well.

First of all, this is best because MMORPGs are about communication. There's no reason for a player to be playing with a player base which cannot speak their language. I understand that there are some English speaking people living in non-English speaking territories who would like to play on US servers, but they're just going to have to deal with it.

Second, this stops players from one region from trying to "take over" a server in another region, which is exactly what happened in Lineage. I'd love to live in a world where players who cannot communicate with each other would still be able to play alongside one another with no tensions arising, but we sadly do not live in that world today. I play to have fun, not to be chosen as a target because I speak English.

So let the languages stand as the barriers. If Blizzard had a universal messaging system like Phantasy Star Online used, then it might not be an issue. As it stands, it will certainly be an issue, especially when nations with a populace who spends a great deal more time gaming than ours decide it would be fun to attack the English-speaking servers.

I love the asian culture by in large, and I like to think that the only thing which produces this sort of mentality is many bored people who have nothing to do but be the best at gaming, not that it's a form of racism on their part against those who speak English.

I do want to see the boundaries between English-speaking nations open, but don't open the door to language barrier takeovers, please. I hope Blizzard has the foresight to prevent this from happening...

-El_G

[Pietoro]

I've heard that its common for Japanese FFXI players to totally exclude any contact with english-speaking players at all, even if those players speak Japanese too. They just want nothing to do with them. I think the grand 'integrated server' dream that FFXI had totally failed, nevermind what a nice-sounding idea it was. I think differing playing styles between the cultures fuels this too, from the stories I've heard. For instance, Japanese players are very offended if you /examine their equipment without asking, which is something many english-speaking players do all the time. Little things like that add up to making barriers between players that I don't think really does anything but make the playing enviroment unpleasant.

[El_Guapo]

It's all about communication. Without being able to properly communicate with players in a MMORPG, it quickly becomes "us and them".

I hate the fact that this is how it is, but it's sadly the case. I was so excited when I heard that I could be playing online with some guy in Japan, back when internet games were first coming around. Now, I understand that our inability to communicate would create immense rifts between us.

I'll be perfectly happy talking with blokes and aussies. ;) Especially since the British media does a better job reporting info about the US than the American media. I love picking the brains of those in other countries. You can learn so much which you'd NEVER find out in your own country...

-El_G

[Pai Mai]

You can't just give an explanation like that and simply expect those that cannot play with their friends to accept the "oh well, suffer" reply, just because you happen to be part of the "good of the majority".

[Pietoro]

I try to harp on the positives in a situation I can't control, so sue me.

[Pai Mai]

I try to harp on the positives in a situation I can't control, so sue me.
My reply wasn't even to you. :scratch:
And besides that, you made some good points...even though it's still not a very good idea to virtually lock out people from one another.

[El_Guapo]

You can't just give an explanation like that and simply expect those that cannot play with their friends to accept the "oh well, suffer" reply, just because you happen to be part of the "good of the majority".

First of all, from everything I'm seeing, the majority of these friends are friends in English-speaking countries which won't be able to play together, and as my post clearly states, I say let the languages decide the server arrangement. MMORPGs HINGE upon communication. When there is no communication, rifts form and they only get worse as time wears on. Both sides of the rift are equally guilty for its creation, but there's arguably very little they can do to prevent it.

I understand that a great number of people who have friends in non-English speaking countries will suffer because of it. I'm sincerely sorry for them, as keeping my online friends has always been difficult and Blizzard isn't making it any easier. However, please believe me when I say that the alternative is 100x worse than simply not being able to play WoW with your friends.

I don't pretend to understand why certain asian cultures see it as a worthwhile pursuit to "take over" English-speaking servers, but until you can show me PROOF that such a thing would not happen with open borders and WoW, I stand by my stance on keeping the Asian and English/US/Aussie servers separated.

However, I see no reason not to allow English speaking players to traverse any server they please so long as the server caters to their native language.

-El_G

[Pai Mai]

and as my post clearly states, I say let the languages decide the server arrangement. MMORPGs HINGE upon communication. When there is no communication, rifts form and they only get worse as time wears on.

I understand that there are some English speaking people living in non-English speaking territories who would like to play on US servers, but they're just going to have to deal with it.
:scratch: :scratch: :scratch:

[Elevander]

I was under the impression that MMORPGS had relatively low data transfer compared to other video games, most lag is user based. In SWG, I played on the server "Radiant", and it had a 30% Spanish population. They didn't lag at all.

Makes this seem like a stupid idea. People should be able to play with who they want, especially if they pay $10-$15 a month.

[Pai Mai]

But remember folks, WoW != casual player game, and most != casual players are not in guilds, so this won't affect them (as much). In the end it's all about the bottom dollar and who pays the bills, and it looks like it will be the != casual gamers. :grrr:

[Elevander]

But remember folks, WoW != casual player game, and most != casual players are not in guilds, so this won't affect them (as much). In the end it's all about the bottom dollar and who pays the bills, and it looks like it will be the != casual gamers. :grrr:
In Java, != means not equal to, right?

[El_Guapo]

What did I say that was too difficult to comprehend?

Players who live in English-speaking countries should be allowed to play on US servers because we can ascertain that these countries contain players who can communicate with those on the US servers.

I hear many stories about US players who want to play with their English and Aussie friends. I've yet to see one verbatim quote in which someone has said anything along the lines of, "You know, he and I may not be able to understand a single word of each other's dialect, but that hasn't stopped us from becoming the best of friends!"

I went on to say that I feel bad for those who live in NON-English speaking countries but do speak English because they won't be able to connect. However, if we were to allow those countries to connect based on the fact that they have SOME English-speaking players, we'd also invite the takeover which I'm trying so desperately to avoid.

If I'm still causing confusion, let me know and I'll try to clarify further...

-El_G

[McStrife]

@ Guapo

You do realise that everybody who wants to can enter the US based servers after some time? If Asian people are the control freaks you say they are, would a few months wait stop them to enter the servers anyway?

Also, I find your thoughts about "I feel bad about those who can't join although they speak English" slightly hypocritical. If you would really feel bad about it you would not let that minority suffer. I will be paying the same kind of money, and I would like the same rights for that.

Also, you fear a take-over from Koreans if I understand correctly? I am Dutch though, can I come? It happens to be that way that I think that about 80% of Dutch gamers can express themselves in English pretty well. Can that be a criterium? Point is that what you are proposing will always be unfair to some. We won't get a localized client, so we will be using an English client anyway. But we are not allowed to play with English people (except for the British)?

I just fail to see the problem of free server choise. They will have the same grand total of players anyway, re-allocate servers if they must. And do you think that people who don't speak English, nor understand it, would want to play on an English server?

Last thing: I believe that Lineage was immensely popular in Korea. I fail to see why, because I think the game was pure hell. Do you think that WoW will have the same appeal to them? Maybe not, and that would prevent your scenario from happening.

[FlareCDE]

I think everyone's failing to see the issue, though.

Blizzard isn't doing this out of spite. From what I'm reading, it seems that they are very well aware of the fact that the community may not like it, however large the portion of this may be. However, they are taking as many steps as possible to have a smooth launch. They are thinking about factors that the customer never thinks of themselves, because they take it for granted.

Opinions are great, but this is a technical issue and not a design decision.

[Pietoro]

In the end it's all about the bottom dollar and who pays the bills, and it looks like it will be the != casual gamers. :grrr:

Blizz has kept saying that they're the main intended market for WoW since the beginning. Getting all crotchety about it is ridiculous, since we've known all along that's how it's going to be.

[McStrife]

I think everyone's failing to see the issue, though.

Blizzard isn't doing this out of spite. From what I'm reading, it seems that they are very well aware of the fact that the community may not like it, however large the portion of this may be. However, they are taking as many steps as possible to have a smooth launch. They are thinking about factors that the customer never thinks of themselves, because they take it for granted.

Opinions are great, but this is a technical issue and not a design decision.

This has nothing to do with the launch. At least not with the US launch. The handful of Europeans that would import the game to play on US server on launch can never be that high that they can disrupt a smooth launch.
I doubt it's a technical issue. They have enough server capacity anyway. Right?

[El_Guapo]

@ Guapo

You do realise that everybody who wants to can enter the US based servers after some time? If Asian people are the control freaks you say they are, would a few months wait stop them to enter the servers anyway?

Also, I find your thoughts about "I feel bad about those who can't join although they speak English" slightly hypocritical. If you would really feel bad about it you would not let that minority suffer. I will be paying the same kind of money, and I would like the same rights for that.

Also, you fear a take-over from Koreans if I understand correctly? I am Dutch though, can I come? It happens to be that way that I think that about 80% of Dutch gamers can express themselves in English pretty well. Can that be a criterium? Point is that what you are proposing will always be unfair to some. We won't get a localized client, so we will be using an English client anyway. But we are not allowed to play with English people (except for the British)?

I just fail to see the problem of free server choise. They will have the same grand total of players anyway, re-allocate servers if they must. And do you think that people who don't speak English, nor understand it, would want to play on an English server?

Last thing: I believe that Lineage was immensely popular in Korea. I fail to see why, because I think the game was pure hell. Do you think that WoW will have the same appeal to them? Maybe not, and that would prevent your scenario from happening.

These are fair questions, and I'll do my best to explain why I feel the way I do.

I do understand that , after a period of time, players will be able to go anywhere. Blizzard is doing this to keep people from server hopping as best they can by giving people a chance to build up a character on their native server and thus reduce the chance of them wanting to switch and abandon that character.

I think this is likewise a bad idea because Koreans spend so much time powergaming that they are virtually immune to this. When you have account sharing happening, it takes the edge off of having to start fresh on a new server.

I understand that there is a minority suffering, and this is where tradeoffs unfortunately have to be made. Will that minority suffer because of the server rules? Yes. Will EVERYONE suffer from a US server takeover? Of course. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. I don't like the fact either, but it's just how it is.

I do think the "asian invasion" will be an issue. Starcraft is so coveted in Korea that you can earn a living playing it. Believe me when I say that Koreans take gaming to a level that select few other countries do or ever will.

Why did the Lineage Korean populace gravitate to the US servers? National pride? Angst toward Americans? I don't know. What I do know is that the only thing which will keep it from happening in WoW is if they're not allowed to do so.

Korea loves Blizzard games. They also love MMORPGs, especially when they can overpower English-speaking players in those MMORPGs. I'd be a fool to think that they wouldn't take this opportunity to gravitate to US servers and make them as unplayable as possible for the English-speakers by filling them with players who don't speak English.

If my warnings aren't enough to convince you, look at the numerous other posts in this thread who have likewise had bad experiences with asian gamers.

I know it sucks to be left out, but it sucks even worse when there's no one you can talk to and you're hunted by large groups of Korean players because you speak English.

-El_G

[Grand-Dragon]

I think it's an extremely stupid idea. The fact of the matter is, most Asians would prefer to play on Asian servers anyway, so why force the matter for the minority of European/Asians who don't want to and speak English just fine?


If by attention you mean people who bought the game...no, not even close. The *main* reason that those games sold so much, other than them being only better than average is the fact that you did not have to pay a monthly subscription fee to play on Battle.net, that is all. You will not have even 1/3 of the amount that play Diablo 2 and WC3 on a daily basis playing WoW.
Actually I can see why. There are those that will deliberately go on american server that wont speak english at all. Dunno bout you but it annoys me. Plus that's a very long distance connection, so they are actually throwing more bandwidth at the server than people who actually live in the USA. A lot more. And those types of long distance connections create lag as well. So forcing the issue is a good thing.

[KaotixGod]

\
Sony can manage to have people from Europe using their San Diego based servers just fine and if they can manage it Blizzard should be able to as well.
\

You obviously haven't played much SWG in Coronet on a Friday Night (Saturday in Australia, and OH Japan isnt online yet, AND I believe there having them be exclusive Japan Servers) , basically get off sghuttle take 15min to make it out of Starport because of the rancid spammming form 25-30 players, and then another 20min to clear far enough away to do anything.

Make you avoid the city whenever possible , cannot avoif the planet because its basically one of 2 main hubs to the galaxy

[KaotixGod]

I think this is likewise a bad idea because Koreans spend so much time powergaming that they are virtually immune to this.
-El_G

OMFG you think Koreans are the only power gamers, not a single asian in SWG to my knowledge but a whole boat load of english speaking teenagers from suburbia USA camping all the good loot spots , griefing left and right and slaughtering the english language by creating some alphanumeric jibberish language that they think is cool.

Your afraind of Koreans kicking your butt in game, hop on a Sony server and have your butt handed to you by the high school drop out that play there, LOL

[Digital-Echo]

from what i remember in the interview with blizzard done in that big ole house the other day you have a choice of what server you wish to play on. Thats how you spend the $10 monthly gaming fee, you buy an account on that server. So i think for people who want to play on other servers appart from their countries you can, you just need to purchase an account in a different one.

Personally this raises conflicting emotions. On one hand, i had fun playing with people who lived in france because i could speak french and we had fun talkin about nothing in particular in french. But then again when i wanted to play seriously and try to quest id have like a whole bunch of people from different countries comming in speaking usually asian or german or something i didnt understand and i usually had to quit the game after putting an hours worth of effort on an act.

I have nothing against people from other countries, but when you cant communicate with people and they sit there leaching exp, or blocking you, or flaming you in another language that takes up half your screen you tend to get a but flusterd. Im sure this isnt as bad as it sounds and if it is, blizzard will change it.

[El_Guapo]

OMFG you think Koreans are the only power gamers, not a single asian in SWG to my knowledge but a whole boat load of english speaking teenagers from suburbia USA camping all the good loot spots , griefing left and right and slaughtering the english language by creating some alphanumeric jibberish language that they think is cool.

Your afraind of Koreans kicking your butt in game, hop on a Sony server and have your butt handed to you by the high school drop out that play there, LOL

The only think I'm "afraind" of is not being able to find four other people who speak English to go into an instance with.

I'm perfectly aware that I'm going to have to put up with the uber-l33t teenagers, but at least I can TALK TO THEM IN MY OWN LANGUAGE. I can tell them to go to hell, or I can even trade with them. I also know if they're insulting me (even if it IS l33t speak) and I can know when to insult back.

I can still tell those same l33t teenagers where the horde/alliance is attacking as well, one of the main parts of WoW (and an important one at that). I couldn't inform Korean players that an area is under attack or that a huge group of horde was spotted heading toward an alliance town.

I'm telling you, communication is key in any MMORPG. When you lose communication, the whole purpose of the game goes out the window. If you cannot interact with the players in your faction, what the hell is the point?

To be on the English servers, English should be a prerequisite, just like being able to speak an Asian language should be a prerequisite for playing on the Asian servers. It would no less asinine and arrogant if a group of American players decided to see if they could force English presence onto an Asian server.

I say link the software clients to their language. If someone wants to buy the English version of the game and play it in English, they must speak the language and should be allowed to play on the English servers. If I want to play on the Korean server, I should have to know Korean. Simple as that.

"I have nothing against people from other countries, but when you cant communicate with people and they sit there leaching exp, or blocking you, or flaming you in another language that takes up half your screen you tend to get a but flusterd. Im sure this isnt as bad as it sounds and if it is, blizzard will change it."

No, I can attest to the fact that it's pretty bad. It sucks to be playing on the correct server yet being unable to talk to 2 out of every 3 players.

-El_G

[Pai Mai]

What did I say that was too difficult to comprehend?
Yes, a little, because it seems like you contradict initial statements left and right.

Players who live in English-speaking countries should be allowed to play on US servers because we can ascertain that these countries contain players who can communicate with those on the US servers.
Ok, I think we all agree with this. So then why go and say something like this as well?:

I understand that there are some English speaking people living in non-English speaking territories who would like to play on US servers, but they're just going to have to deal with it.

[Pai Mai]

Blizz has kept saying that they're the main intended market for WoW since the beginning. Getting all crotchety about it is ridiculous, since we've known all along that's how it's going to be.

Show me where they once said the game is intended for casual players only. They said they are making it more casual player friendly. There is a world of difference there.

And this might come as a shock, but a casual player is not someone who will remain with a game of this type for long. The reason you see "more" casual players in a game like this, is because it would be easier for someone to get into. Casual players go through a virtual revolving door in games like this, whereas the people who actually like to play more (or have more time to devote anyway) are the ones who end up remaining with the game after 6 months to a year.

Honestly, how long do you think someone who can only play an hour a day will think that the monthly fee is worth it anymore?

[FlareCDE]

This has nothing to do with the launch. At least not with the US launch. The handful of Europeans that would import the game to play on US server on launch can never be that high that they can disrupt a smooth launch.
I doubt it's a technical issue. They have enough server capacity anyway. Right?
Who can say they do or don't until the game goes live?

It has a lot to do with timing, more than even server capacity, and Blizzard said this themselves. Servers tend to have the most problems with peak periods. If your server caters to a few close timezones, these peak periods are easy to predict. So crashes can be easily remedied by having extra support staff. Player problems by more GMs during peak. And so on. And don't forget the synced ingame clock.

But if you have a timezone range of +-6 hours, suddenly your peak period vanishes and becomes more of a constant stream. Which means you either spread your workforce out and have longer response times, or hire more employees, which means a bigger monthly cost to us.

There is the problem of their staggered launch too. Since US players will have been playing for some months when the Europeans get their copies, many of the English speaking Europeans would possibly join the US servers, particularly USEast, to join their US friends (I don't see the other way happening as much for the same reason as people already don't want to wait for the servers to go unforced in the first place). This would slam the US servers and disrupt their population predictions, as well leave the European servers potentially empty(ier).

I don't necessarily like the forced server deal anymore than anyone else. But I can see where it will make Blizzard's initial few months far easier. And easier on Blizzard equates to more stuff for us in the long run.

[El_Guapo]

Ok, I think we all agree with this. So then why go and say something like this as well?:

Let me further clarify...

English-speaking countries should be allowed to play on each other's servers.

I mention that there are English-speaking people who live in non-English speaking countries who receive the proverbial short-stick because of this, but also, there's not much we can do. I mention this because, on the official WoW forums, there was at least one person upset with the fact that she couldn't play WoW with her boyfriend who is on the job in China, I believe.

Maybe if the servers went by client language only, like if you're an American living in Tokyo, you can play on the English servers by buying an English copy and the client would be HARDWIRED English with unique keys. That way, you'd be expected to speak English on the server.

I have no problem with asians on a US server. I DO have a problem with people who I can't communicate with on the US server as I need to be able to communicate with these people as it's necessary for factions to do this.

If I try to do a /tell to some guy and say, "There are 400 horde heading toward Stormwind keep! Tell everyone you know!" It's ABSOLUTELY necessary that that guy know exactly what I just said. It's a hypothetical situation, yes, but the problem itself is a real one.

-El_G

[SynthetiCyclone]

Aussies and NZ servers are going on US WEST!!!!!!!!!!

If you dont believe look at this quote from Drak Knight:


found in this (http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=249276) thread
eep O_O
thanks for the good news :D :clap: :drink:

[SynthetiCyclone]

Let me further clarify...

English-speaking countries should be allowed to play on each other's servers.

I mention that there are English-speaking people who live in non-English speaking countries who receive the proverbial short-stick because of this, but also, there's not much we can do. I mention this because, on the official WoW forums, there was at least one person upset with the fact that she couldn't play WoW with her boyfriend who is on the job in China, I believe.

Maybe if the servers went by client language only, like if you're an American living in Tokyo, you can play on the English servers by buying an English copy and the client would be HARDWIRED English with unique keys. That way, you'd be expected to speak English on the server.

I have no problem with asians on a US server. I DO have a problem with people who I can't communicate with on the US server as I need to be able to communicate with these people as it's necessary for factions to do this.

If I try to do a /tell to some guy and say, "There are 400 horde heading toward Stormwind keep! Tell everyone you know!" It's ABSOLUTELY necessary that that guy know exactly what I just said. It's a hypothetical situation, yes, but the problem itself is a real one.

-El_G

Or blizzard could just implement a translator :p

[linus]

Forced servers is the best thing they can have.
I can only understand English and Swedish, so join a French or German server isnt a choice for me.
Now when thay have it like this , all people on the server can understand each other.

[Pai Mai]

Forced servers is the best thing they can have.
I can only understand English and Swedish, so join a French or German server isnt a choice for me.
Now when thay have it like this , all people on the server can understand each other.
So if you lived in Asia, but still only understood English and Swedish, you would still think this is a good idea?

[archpsi]

Forced servers is the best thing they can have.
I can only understand English and Swedish, so join a French or German server isnt a choice for me.
Now when thay have it like this , all people on the server can understand each other.

lol, what does server forcing have to do with any of this??, as long as they name a german/french/british server at launch most ppl are gonna choose the server that speaks their langauge.

this is what most ppl dont understand, the only reason so many asians play on US servers in d2 and other games is becuase
1-they didnt have decent servers in the start.
2-they dont have decent servers at all.

since asia and US going live same time, I hardly see any reason asians are gonna go to the US server unless they are joining other US team m8ts and then they arent a "only asian guild" that so many of you fear of taking over the servers.

[Xinhuan]

I play on USWest servers because the Asia ones primarily do not speak English.
Singapore is a English speaking asian country (and the only one with English as first language).

Is that a good enough reason?

[archpsi]

I play on USWest servers because the Asia ones primarily do not speak English.
Singapore is a English speaking asian country (and the only one with English as first language).

Is that a good enough reason?

I was refering to the asians that the US players fear, as in the asians that dont speak english at all and dont want to.

Im sure most HK and SG players would prefer to play on uswest, maybe also the malaysians(although they will have massive lag issues).

[Eharbad]

in all honesty im a bit worried about the euro servers!

unless they promote an english speaking server(s), french speaking, german speaking etc. i can forsee communication being difficult too! (and were forced to play together - so you cant say its *just* a communication thing)

[archpsi]

in all honesty im a bit worried about the euro servers!

unless they promote an english speaking server(s), french speaking, german speaking etc. i can forsee communication being difficult too! (and were forced to play together - so you cant say its *just* a communication thing)

actaully reread the details, once europe retail is released the servers arent forced anymore, the problem for europeans will not be choosing a server(wont be forced when they start playing), its the fact they will be behind US and asians players by 3-4 months.

[linus]

I mean if people speak german or other language than english on the english server it would be confusing for the ones that dont understand.

[El_Guapo]

I mean if people speak german or other language than english on the english server it would be confusing for the ones that dont understand.

This is exactly the case.

If Singapore buys English copies of the game, they should be allowed to play on the English-speaking servers.

If the players in non-English speaking countries are willing to play the game all in English, they obviously know enough English that they can communicate with the English-speaking players on English servers, nullifying my concerns.

I don't see how anyone can argue that communication is absolutely essential in this game, especially when there are two factions who could be attacking (and now DESTROYING EACH OTHER'S TOWNS) at any moment.

Make the client software in different languages and let the languages decide where the client can connect. Make sure the language is unchangeable, otherwise it would defeat the purpose entirely.

The only division WoW should have to face is who can communicate with who. I guarantee that no one will have any friends they can't even talk to. Or they can just bind servers to languages. If you're on a US server, you can only speak English. If you're on a German server, German only, etc.

-El_G

[Rider]

personally the asia bit was annoying, although one of my best friends on diablo 2 (later warcraft 3) was from singapore, he was really cool. there is somewhat a good reason for this, not to make it forced but to have seperate servers:

on eqmac there is only one server, it was hard for european players to interact with higher level guilds from time differences. it ended up with people trying to start eurpoean guilds anyway.

forced? i dont know it could be good and bad. it would be best to have seperate reigon servers and for people to want to play on their own server, but its also fun to meet people from around the world as well.

i signed the petition anyway.

[Wickedly_Evil]

One of the things to keep in mind is that after a few months (presumably when the kinks are ironed out and they've probably added extra hardware to deal with the load....) you can play wherever you want.

Someone earlier was saying that the majority of lag was client based. That just isn't true based on my experiences in everquest. Ever go into an area with 70 people and then zone over to one with say 20? Ever have both be equally laggy? If not then it's your comp that is lagging. If so then it's the game. During most of my time playing everquest lag was not from my machine.