Winter Storms Hitting Middle Atlantic States

 

 It was just a week ago that a huge winter storm slammed into the Midwest and South of the USA, knocking out power for almost a million. Now another storm is bringing harsh weather to Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and parts of neighboring states. 

 

Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories are in effect for parts of the Southeast. In general, the worst weather will be where blizzard warnings or winter storm warnings are in effect on the map ...

Significant snowfall is likely in some of these areas this weekend. Travel is expected to become dangerous and power outages and closures are likely, some of which could last multiple days. Wind gusts closer to the North Carolina and southeast Virginia coast could drop visibility significantly.

 Yours truly is in the path of the storm, and there is the possibility of lost power. So we'll see how bad the conditions get.

 

Source: weather.com 

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Further Reactions To Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

 *

It's been about a month since we last discussed how the Russian invasion of the Ukraine was being reflected in Second Life. Since then, there continue to be fundraisers to help out the Ukrainians, such as the one at Union Passage posted here a few days ago. The Marketplace has dozens of Ukraine-related items. And people are continuing to dress in blue and gold, or wearing blue and gold items, such as this back pocket cloth seen at a Relay for Life event (left).

Of the protests in the Moscow Island sim in which the demonstrators found themselves restricted to one tiny out of the way corner, returning to the place, there was one large sign asking people to please stop.

Our island does not belong to any country, it is a private territory. We are not a political organization, this iz just a historical sim, so please do not gather here whit political slogans! Thanks

One question that I've heard is what happens to Russian residents in Second Life? I've had people tell me that friends from the country are being IMed with insults. While the invasion has been marked with atrocities by Russian soldiers against Ukrainian civilians, it's also seen other soldiers sabotage equipment, thousands of Russians being arrested for demonstrating against the war, leaving the country, and Russians taking up arms in support of Ukraine against the invasion. 

With Paypal stopping business in Russia, as well as other means to trade Rubles for Lindens and vice-versa, Russian residents are increasingly unable to buy Lindens or cash in on any Second Life businesses. Hamlet Au recently interviewed one, whom had taken part since the start in helping out Ukrainian residents, and stated he was seriously considering leaving the country as his business was so successful compared to real-life job prospects. But some others who don't have that option may end up having to close their places down due to inability to pay, or possibly leave Second Life for a while if not being able to access money from a Second Life business leads to economic hardship.

The gaming industry has also seen a number of reactions, such as Blizzard and Epic Games halting sales in Russia. It should be noted that Wargaming, best known for "World of Tanks" and "World of Warships," got it's start in Belarus in the 1990s, but since moved its headquarters out of the country. Following the invasion, it fired one of the staff whom made some comments in support of the war. And a few days ago, it announced it was withdrawing completely from Belarus and Russia. The following was posted on it's Discord channel:

Over the past weeks, Wargaming has been conducting a strategic review of business operations worldwide. The company has decided it will not own or operate any businesses in Russia and Belarus and will leave both countries.

Effective March 31 2022, the company started the process of closing its studio in Minsk, Belarus and transferred its live games business in Russia and Belarus to local management of Lesta Studio that is no longer affiliated with Wargaming. The company will not profit from this process either today or going forward. Much to the contrary, we expect to suffer substantial losses as a direct result of this decision.

Going forward, in all other countries Wargaming will continue to operate World of Warships as before. The game servers will be operating as usual, and players' accounts, as well as their in-game property accumulated through purchase or any other means, will remain unchanged.

No doubt there will be more developments in this ongoing story.
 
Sources: BBC, New World Notes, Time , Reuters, PC Gamer, Wargaming 

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Microsoft Announces It's Buying Activision/Blizzard

 

In what would be the biggest computer gaming business acquisition in business history, yesterday on Tuesday January 18 Microsoft announced it was buying Activision/Blizzard. The deal would be at 68.7 billion US dollars, or about $95 a share.

“Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms,” Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella would state, “We’re investing deeply in world-class content, community and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all.”

Activision/Blizzard is best known for the well-known MMORPG World of Warcraft. But has also been successful in games such as Overwatch, Hearthstone, Diablo, Starcraft, and Call of Duty.

Microsoft had already been a company heavily invested in gaming such as with it's X-Box and having acquired the popular Minecraft some years ago. The deal would make it the third largest gaming company. It is notable that while Minecraft's maker Majong was acquired while both the game and company were doing well, in recent months Activision/Blizzard has suffered a series of blows, most notably a rash of sexual harassment allegations. It's stocks have sunk more than 37% since it's high last year. Activision/Blizzard's CEO Robert Kotick would continue for now, though is expected to step down once the deal closes, which may take as long as a year and a half to complete.

Sources: Microsoft, Reuters, The Verge

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Activision/Blizzard Sued By California, Charges of Discrimination and Sexual Harassment

 

Activision/Blizzard, the company behind some of the world's most popular games, is the target of a lawsuit filed by California. Filed by the state's Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the company is charged with having a "frat boy" culture in which not only are women paid less than men while working similar jobs and promoted less often, but are "subjected to constant sexual harassment."

The allegations are not limited to simple jokes, but include "unwanted sexual advances," being groped at "cube crawls" in which men drink plenty of alcohol then "crawl" their way around cubicles where women work, and more. Activision/Blizzard is described as not investigating the numerous complaints made by women employees, and those who complained were sometimes retaliated against, including being subject to layoffs. The lawsuit also describes, "In a particularly tragic example, a female employee committed suicide during a business trip with a male" who brought sex toys with him.

Activision/Blizzard has denied the allegations, a spokesman issued a statement saying the filing contains "distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard's past." He would go on to say, "Over the past several years and continuing since the initial investigation started, we've made significant changes to address company culture and reflect more diversity within our leadership teams." Blizzard's President sent an email to employees saying he would be meeting with a number of them about the "extremely troubling" charges. Activision's President stated "there is zero tolerance for this sort of behavior." But over twenty Blizzard employees have spoken out against this response, including one lead game designer, "The statements made by [Activision Blizzard] do not represent us. We believe women, and we will continue to strive to do better and hold others accountable. Actions speak louder than words."

Players themselves have responded with actions such as in-game protests in support of the women involved. It is not yet known how many are canceling subscriptions in response to news of the lawsuit.

Sources: PC Gamer, Yahoo News, Aboutlaw.com

Bixyl Shuftan
 

 

News and Commentary: More on Blizzard's China Controversy

This month, the players of the game "World of Warcraft" are celebrating it's fifteenth anniversary, with in-game presents, events, and bonus experience. But there's been a dark cloud over the celebrations. It was last month that the company that owns Warcraft, Blizzard/Activision, banned a player from Hong Kong in another game, Hearthstone, after when given a chance to speak on a televised stream, he called for the freedom of the people of his city. Since the Newser's first article on the subject, the situation has continued to develop. And finally at Blizzard's annual convention, the company President addressed the issue.

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

News in Brief

There's a lot going on, both in Second Life and online gaming. So while we're trying to find some time to write an in-depth article, here's a few topics in brief.

Burn2, the largest annual art and music festival is taking place on Second Life. There are numerous music events and art exhibits over the six sims. To get there, head to Burning Man- Deep Hole (174/32/25). The festival lasts to Sunday October 20, with the high points being the Burning of the Man on Saturday and the Temple Burn on Sunday.

Also going on is the Gacha Guild event. Taking place twice a year, people can purchase avatars and accessories. The hot item for this event is the Spirit Fennec avatar, of which people are selling for as low as ten Lindens on Marketplace. Starting up a few days ago was the event's "Hallows 2019 Silent Hill Hunt," which promises big scares and big prizes. The event ends on November 1, and is located at Dew Drop (189/180/1002).

The controversy over the game company Blizzard banning of a game tournament winner and stripping him of his prize money continues. A few days ago, they announced he would still get the prize money, but was still banned for six months. But this hasn't stopped the criticism from it's customers, human rights organizations, or US politicians. The company's largest annual event, Blizzcon, is just in a couple weeks and fans are planning a protest there.
Image from Vice

Stay tuned for more information.

Bixyl Shuftan

News and Commentary: Blizzard's Removing Hong Kong Gamer From Tournament Sparks Calls for Boycott, Debate on Free Speech

For years, American companies have been trying to get into the Chinese market. With over a billion people, the potential number of customers for a large business is huge. However, the country is under the control of a dictatorship that does not react well to criticism or remarks in opposition to it's goals. It frequently makes demands to such companies, and penalizes those already in for perceived comments or actions against it. The debate flared up again this week thanks to three stories in the news. One of them was a tournament of players of the Hearthstone game, which is owned by the same company that owns the still noted MMO game World of Warcraft. When one winner was interviewed, he proclaimed his support for the protestors in the city of Hong Kong. Blizzard soon reacted with actions many of its customers have found troubling, including yours truly whom had recently just signed up for Warcraft again after an extended break.

Read the story in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

East Coast Hit By Winter Storm

A winter storm has blown over the East Coast, bringing in bitter cold temperatures and wind chills, and snow. For those caught in it's path, including yours truly and other Newser writers, there is the likelyhood of power interruptions. So if someone you know from the area isn't logging on, this is likely the reason.

Stay warm, and don't go on icy roads unless it's an emergency.

Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at the Happy Vixen. The already winterized beach club gets hit with a blizzard. Now just what would trigger it?

By Bixyl Shuftan

Game Review: Overwatch

Many of you have heard of "Overwatch," the latest game from Blizzard, best known for it's long running "World of Warcraft." Playable over computers and game console, the game is a first person shooter where the player is part of one or two teams fighting it out in an arena. Grease Coakes recently got his hands on the game. So what did he think?

Read Grease's review in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

"Vanilla" World of Warcraft Private Fanserver Nostalrius Shut Down

Yours truly hasn't played the MMO World of Warcraft in a while. But while I was on, I'd heard people have mixed feelings over some changes, such as certain progression systems removed, the end of the three leveling trees, the simplifying of the pet care system, etc. Many felt World of Warcraft had lost something from it's older days. I'd heard of private servers in which players could go back and play the game as it was, but never checked them out. The big problem: they were technically illegal. Blizzard never authorized any, and each was subject to being shut down.

Nostalrius was one such server. A relatively new one, it quickly became one of the most popular. According to Kotaku, it had close to 800,000 registered users and about 150,000 active users, up from 5000 in May 2015. Unfortunately, it caught the attention of Blizzard, whom handed it's Internet hosting service a "cease and desist" order. The server's managers then reluctantly made the decision to shut it down, telling it's players the last day would be on Sunday April 10. In the final minutes, hundreds of players gathered in spots to say goodbye to one another and to wait out the end.



(click here if the link doesn't work)

The server team also sent Blizzard a petition, for the company to bring back the World of Warcraft of old in "Legacy" servers, saying the sheer numbers of people whom were in Nostalrius was evidence of how many players were seeking it. "Do you think that a policy change can be made regarding legacy servers based on volunteers work, for very old no longer supported game expansion? Or do you think that legacy servers are doomed by definition since, in the end, it's hurting Blizzard trademark and communication more than anything else?"

It's been just several months since World of Warcraft's numbers had dropped to the point Blizzard would no longer publicly give out it's active user numbers. It could easily be argued that's a good reason for Blizzard to consider legacy servers.

Sources, Kotaku, Nerdist 

Bixyl Shuftan

World of Warcraft Drops to 5.5 Million Active Players, Blizzard Will No Longer Report Numbers

Shortly after the release of the total subscription numbers of "Guild Wars 2" put into question if "World of Warcraft" was still the top MMO, on November 2, Activision/Blizzard announced in it's quarterly report that it's subscriptions "remained relatively stable, ending the quarter at 5.5 million subscribers." Although a slight drop compared to it's earlier plummet from ten million to 5.6 in several months, it was another sign that the game's best days are long behind it.

As it turns out, this will likely be the last time World of Warcraft's current numbers will be given out. Blizzard stated it will do so no more, "this is the last quarter that we plan to provide subscriber numbers," the company stated. "There are other metrics that are better indicators of the overall Blizzard business performance."

It seems even Blizzard has concluded "World of Warcraft" will no longer have draw it once had.

For years since it was released in 2003, "World of Warcraft" was more than just a game. It wasn't just the leader in the Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game genere, it was seen as *the* game. It became a part of pop-culture, characters in TV shows playing the game, stories of people playing the game until falling unconscious from exhaustion, and more. Many of it's features, such as players being divided into two opposing factions, talent trees, quests and quest giving NPCs, became more or less standard in MMOs as a whole. With over 12 million at it's peak, companies tried and failed to come up with a "WoW killer," and instead settled into nich markets, such as based on popular sci-fi franchises like Star Trek and Star Wars, and developed along the "Free to Play" model instead of requiring a montly subcription.

Of the news, Hamlet Au commented "The King is dead." That's a bit of an exaggeration as the game is still number one in it's genre. "World of Warcraft" isn't entirely done in popular culture. In June 2016, Legendary Pictures will be showing a movie based on the game "Warcraft" in theaters nationwide. And there is another expansion of the game in the works, "Legion." But Blizzard's announcement is clearly a turning point for the once unmatched MMO that will be seen less and less for what's going on with it now, and more and more as a historic game like "Doom," "Pac Man," and "Space Invaders" were the games of their times.

Sources: Gamespot,  Breitbart,

Bixyl Shuftan

World of Warcraft's Next Expansion Announced As Subscriptions Drop to Nine Year Low

The latest expansion of the most popular of Massive Multiplayer Online games was announced late last week. World of Warcraft's next chapter will be called "Legion," the name coming from the return of one of Azeroth's enemies: The Burning Legion. With details such as a new hero class, the Demon Hunter, the game is getting some discussion among WoW fans. But the announcement came soon after some disappointing news about it's subscription numbers.

Read more in Other Grids and MMOs.

April Fools Jokes by Linden Lab, And Others

The April Fool's article Second Life Newser did on Wednesday, about Luskwood's founder supposedly getting a job as a TV news anchorwoman, got some chatter on Facebook and in Second Life group chat (though none in the comment section of the article). Michi herself (who was in on the joke) reportedly was asked about it all day, so as usual we fooled a number of people who didn't bother clicking the link at the bottom.

But the Newser wasn't alone in pulling April Fools jokes. Linden Lab itself got into the act by saying there was a new retro 2-D viewer: "Introducing 2DSS."

There’s been a lot of excitement recently around our integration of the Oculus Rift with Second Life. The addition of HMD (head-mounted display) mode offers a new level of immersion for 3D experiences, but what about people who want less immersion? Today, we’re happy to announce a new way to explore the wide variety of community-created experiences in Second Life, without the complexity of the third dimension: 2D side-scrolling (2DSS) mode. Without the third dimension, you can enjoy Second Life just like your favorite 8-bit games from the past!

Note: while this new mode is compatible with HMD mode, we do not recommend trying both simultaneously. If you were to  turn your head 90 degrees while doing so, the world may simply disappear from view - causing a rather jarring experience that might make you feel a bit foolish. The new 2DSS mode is available as of April 1, 2015, and you can now download the Project Viewer to start enjoying some retro-future fun in Second Life!

And of course the link led to an "April Fool."

Among Second Life blogs, Jo Yardley told her readers, "A Linden Lab employee who wants to remain anonymous today send me this video that is top secret and shows what Second Life Next Generation will look like, it also seems to suggest it will be called ‘Digital World’. The video is apparently some sort of introduction video. I for one am very excited and think it looks stunning although I am a bit worried about the Sesamestreet-ish style." The link at the bottom led to the Wikipedia entry of April Fools Day.

Of other Second Life newsletters, the Enquirer didn't do an April Fool of their own, but did an article about pranks people had played on one another. New World Notes commented that with incidents such as people getting the help of a drag queen in trying to keep Facebook accounts in their avatar names, there was no need for "smartass April Fools posts."

Outside Second Life, various games had their own April Fools pranks and stunts. Blizzard announced a "Patch 6.1.4" that supposedly offered options such as a "T.I.N.D.R. Box" for matchmaking Garrison followers for romance, and changes in the rules such as "All Worgen characters must wear a collar and carry around little blue baggies." "Star Wars: The Old Republic" announced they were offering "stationary mounts" for characters, such as tree logs, "why go anywhere when you can go nowhere?" Star Trek Online announced they were starting the game over, "After over 5 years and countless updates, Holodeck is going to be retired. The old girl has had a good run, but she’s tired, and it’s time to begin again."

"World of Tanks" announced that those destroying ten enemy tanks on April 1st would get a special suitcase that allowed them reguardless of tank to go into artillery mode and send a rainbow beam that would beam down to smite their enemies.They also announced that inspired by the jokes about TOG II tanks being run aground boats, they were doing a new "Waterworld of Tanks" game. They also had an actual minigame: "Operation Undead."

"War Thunder's April Fool joke was actually a one day stunt with two temporary scenarios. One was "Unrealistic Battles," in which players fought in rubber tanks and pelted one another with potatoes and carrots. If a tank was clobbered, the X-Ray revealed men on bicycles. Then there was the "March to Victory" which allowed the players to enter a battlefield as a walking tank, the "ST-1." They went as far as to claim it was an actual experimental tank, "The first world war, which was also called “the trench war”, showed an inefficiency in the usual infantry breakthrough and required the creation of an absolutely new type of ground vehicle - something that could cross destroyed roads and ground torn apart from explosions. This is what the ST-1 was about - the first and the only model of a walking tank."

Playing "War Thunder" that day, the balloon tanks were a chuckle to fight in, with their rubbery cannons flopping around as they scooted. As for "March to Victory" the ST-1s were one of several vehicles one could take to the battle, though you had to choose one of two smaller tanks first and had to earn enough points to bring the walker onto the field once you were clobbered. But taking the 1940s equivalent of an Imperial Scoutwalker, I soon found why gamers prefer low profile tanks like the Hetzer. Those tall things were a bigger target and quicker to take down. Too bad, those things looked cool, but coolness doesn't always win on the battlefield, especially once the surprise wears off.

For more April Foolery, check the article on PC Gamer.

It was a fun April Fools.

Bixyl Shuftan

World of Warcraft News: Ten Year Statue Gift and "Veteran" Accounts

There's been a couple recent news stories about World of Warcraft recently. One was a slight change to how currently inactive accounts are handled. While there has been a kind of Free-to-Play version of the game for a while, such players operate under a number of restrictions, such as not being able to go beyond level 20. And once a player has ever had a paid subscription, they can't so much as log in.

In the upcoming patch of the game, expired subscriptions will be changed to a "Veteran Edition" in which characters up to Level 20 can still be logged in. Such characters will still be under some restrictions, but will be able to join guilds. Characters beyond Level 20 will not be accessible under Veteran. Just how useful this small change is has been a matter of opinion among those responding to the post in the forums. But considering ten million people at last count had paid accounts, it's unlikely that the game will be nudging much closer to free to play.

What's gotten more attention is the present that Blizzard entertainment is giving it's most devoted customers. On January 21, Blizzard announced "As a way to thank our most loyal World of Warcraft players, we are sending a physical gift to players that have stuck with us since the very beginning." These players would have to have had started playing within 60 days of when they game was released in 2004, and kept up their subscriptions without interruption.

That the announcement had the keyword "statue" was a clue as to what it was, and as it turns out, it's a small bronze statue of an orc riding a wolf. It's gotten no shortage of comments. Some have commented considering the cash such players have sent Blizzard over time, $15 a month for 120 months is about $1800, Blizzard clearly got the far better of the bargain. Supporters counter that Blizzard didn't have to send anything, and it's better than a simple "thank you" card. It's also notable that a number of these statues have popped up on eBay, sometimes with prices in the hundreds of dollars or even over a thousand, one being offered for 2,500.

On another note, the Newser will not be doing a review of "Warlords of Draenor," at least not anytime soon.

Sources: Cnet, PC Gammer,

Bixyl Shuftan

Ten Years of World of Warcraft

It was ten years ago last month in which Blizzard Entertainment released "World of Warcraft," the fantasy MORPG that would soon go beyond it's competition and dominate it's genre of games ever since. Despite the passage of time, interest remains high in the game as evidenced by the success of it's latest expansion. Bixyl Shuftan takes a look back at the game's history and a little at why "WoW" was the success it's been.

Read more in Other Grids and MMOs.

World of Warcraft Numbers Soar to Over Ten Million

Over time, "World of Warcraft," the world's most popular Multiplayer Online Game, has declined in numbers since it's peak of twelve million in 2010. It's numbers would briefly climb after an expansion, then fall again. While still the envy of other game companies, by June 2014 numbers had fallen to 6.8 million, about half of it's peak.

It was known that the latest expansion "Warlords of Draenor" was providing some boost, as 600,000 gamers signed up ahead of time. As it turns out, far more did. On November 19, Blizzard announced that the number of people subscribing to their game had passed ten million. "Blizzard Entertainment today announced that as of the first 24 hours of the expansion’s availability, more than 3.3 million copies had sold-through^† and the game’s global subscriber base had passed 10 million, with growth across all major regions." Blizzard had not seen these numbers since early 2012.

Mike Fulter of Game Informer commented, "I strongly suspected WoW would rebound, but not by this much. Whether Blizzard can hold onto these returned players in the long-term remains to be seen. Even if numbers start to trail off once more, it shows that there is still great interest in new content for the decade-old MMO." The magazine also mentioned that day that Activision, which is part of the same corporation as Blizzard but exists as a separate entity, settled a lawsuit concerning a buyout a year ago.

The opening day of the fifth expansion of the game was plagued with technical problems, blamed in part due to a Denial of Service attack traced to China. The size of the numbers of people signing up suggests that the problems were at least somewhat less due to hackers, and somewhat more about the expansion being a bigger success than Blizzard expected.

Sources: PC Gamer, Game Informer, Blizzard 

Bixyl Shuftan

Blizzard Apologizes For "Warlords of Draenor" Launch Problems, Gives Free Time to Subscribers

By Bixyl Shuftan

When Blizzard released "World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor,"the latest expansion for the worlds most popular Multiplayer Online RolePlaying game, about a week ago on Thursday November 13, they ran into trouble. Besides so many players trying to get on at once, they were hit with a huge Denial of Service attack. The result was players often having to wait in long queues to play.

It was yesterday November 18 in which Executive Producer Allen Brack offered an official statement about the troubles.

I know how much everyone was looking forward to this expansion ... all the comments I've seen indicate that this is one of our best yet. But the quality of the content does not excuse the subpar launch experience we delivered, and I apologize for that. The first two days of the expansion were not a great experience, with many of you facing high queues or significant gameplay problems. We worked around the clock to tackle the demand issues and technical challenges, and fortunately things started looking better on Saturday. While millions of you were able to get in and play over the weekend ... others still ran into very lengthy queues, particularly on the highest-population realms.

Brack stated Blizzard was expanding server capacity, "which should greatly reduce queue times for most realms if not eliminate queues altogether." They were also giving it's players some additional time free of charge.

In recognition of the difficulties so many of you ran into when trying to play over the first few days, we're adding five days’ worth of extra time to every subscription in the Americas, Oceania, and Europe that was active as of Friday, November 14.

Brack also offered his thanks to the devoted core of Warcraft fans whom have stuck with the game.

I also hope you'll accept my apology and keep your faith in us. The support voiced by many of you as we worked through the challenges was immensely appreciated. We're extremely grateful to be part of such a passionate community. We love World of Warcraft, and we're very proud of this expansion, so stumbling out of the gates like this was very disappointing for all of us.

Over fifty pages of replies followed the announcement in the thread, the peaks at a random few showing some players not having received their free time yet, but mostly people saying "Thank you."

Sources: battle.net, PC Gamer 

Bixyl Shuftan

Release of "Warlords of Draenor" Marred by Denial of Service Attack

For months, fans of "World of Warcraft," the most subscribed to MORPG, looked forward to it's latest expansion, "Warlords of Draenor." Due on Thursday November 13, a number who had let their subscriptions expire signed back on. In October, Blizzard announced membership of the game had climbed to 7.4 million, a 600,000 increase over it's June total of 6.8 million. So on the day of the release, people got their copies in game stores or downloaded them straight from Blizzard, and logged on ...

And for many, they found out they couldn't get in!

The most populated of the servers were locked. At times *all* of them were locked. This mean that anyone trying to get in would instead be placed in a queue and made to wait until enough players who were already in had logged off. This could sometimes take an hour or longer to the chagrin of players.

So what happened? Part of the problem was so many players trying to log on at once, as has been the case with each expansion release which has seen some troubles. But as it turned out there was another element. Blizzard's World of Warcraft servers were the target of a huge  Denial of Service attack. According to WoWInsider, the attacks were traced to China. The assault reportedly continued into the early morning the next day.

In no way is Blizzard responsible for the server outages on this scale - responsibility rests with the script kiddies and bot net controllers. It's hard to know just how big this attack is, but with the sustained issues it's causing and the severity of response from Blizzard, it's safe to assume that it's BIG. Battle.net is a hardened Internet service that has withstood onslaughts like this before. For it to fail at such a critical juncture is nothing but catastrophic for the short term, and could have long term implications.

Among Blizzard's actions were lowering the maximum populations allowed on high population servers, which meant high waiting times for players there. The lower levels continued for the weekend. Saturday saw queues for a number of servers still, and Sunday saw at least one having to limit the people coming in part of the time.

There was no shortage of complaints in the thread about the launch update delays. While a few of the complaints were directed at the source of the attack, most in the first dozen pages were directed at Blizzard, many blaming not an attack by hackers but by bad planning,  "You are not prepared, Blizzard." "We're paying customers and can't even access our characters to play. We're being cheated out of our money!" "Microsoft's XBox Live service makes you look like rookies." There were a few wondering if the hacks were a made up cover story by Blizzard to excuse their problems. Some people joked about it, such as the "Hallowed Gaming" gaming satire website doing a parody article about Blizzard charging a fee to avoid the queues.

For those whom made it in, they still weren't completely in the clear. Many reported bugs and glitches, notably around the garrisons, one for the Alliance and one for the Horde, which players kept having to go to.

Blizzard has dealt with technical snafus before, notably the "plague" early in it's history in which high level players hit traveled to population centers and spread it to lower level players whom quickly succumbed in large numbers.

It's difficult to say exactly what the long-range consequences of the launch day hack attack will be. World of Warcraft has had huge numbers of devoted fans which have kept it going for the past ten years. But over time it has declined from the double digit millions it once had. While it was expected that people would drop out after a while after some time of exploring Draenor and other new content, it's possible the weekend of long server queues will stick to the minds of many who will let their game time expire earlier than planned, resulting in the number of players declining sooner and to lower numbers than it otherwise would have.

Sources: Geek.com, WoW Insider, WoW Forums 

Bixyl Shuftan

Meanwhile, Back in Azeroth (or Draenor)

And so it begins. After months of anticipation, "Warlords of Draenor," the latest expansion for the popular "World of Warcraft" Multiplayer Online Game, was finally available for sale Thursday November 13. And yours truly was among those getting it.

While there is much good to say about the game, unfortunately there was one major snag. It seems Blizzard was the subject of a major Denial Of Service attack originating from China. The result's been huge queues  for players waiting to log in, and a lot of complaints.

So stay tuned for more information while I try to get my Worgen, pictured above just moments after he stepped through the portal, about this world familiar to this WoW veteran, yet so new as well.

Bixyl Shuftan