Oh no. I bought World of Warcraft, fed all four CDs to my computer, and now the sign-up website won’t load. I suppose I should wait and try again in half an hour but instead I keep trying again and again. Sometimes I get to the first page, even the second page before it tells me there’s an error or that the server’s not responding. Sometimes I don’t get that far, either.
It was Hilde talked me into it. “We should write something together,” she said, and walked down to the gamestore with me after work today so I could get my own copy of the game. I suppose the last thing I need is more things to fill my time, but I’m curious!
I might go build some cupboards instead. Plenty of hands-on jobs in a freshly renovated flat.
torill
All the European servers are down tonight. check http://www.wow-europe.com for the realms status. Only you can’t, because even the server that runs their page is down.
Jill
Hm, that’s not a great start – but I guess they’ll be up tomorrow.
I managed to make an account in the end, but obviously can’t log in. Better go finish that cupboard…
ÿyvind
Congrats, only you might regret it when you discover how time-consuming it is. GL HF!
Knud
I also bought this time-eating game a few weeks ago, and I love it. But then again, I used to be a D&D geek when I was a bit younger. The playing experience within WoW can be differ quite a lot, depending on the kind of server you play on. I recommend a Role Playing (RP) server, since people there actually try to act like the characters they are playing (i.e. don’t talk about game mechanics, don’t use lots of abbreviations, etc. Basically they try to avoid anything that would destroy the immersion). Also, you don’t get so many young and potentially annoying players. Argent Dawn and Earthen Ring (I think) are RP servers. Have fun!
Knud
david
Have you heard that there are people accumulating things in that online game and then selling the things for real money? I have a friend in the software business that says there are people actually concerned about the economic impact of sales like that. Bizarre.
torill
They did it in EverQuest, no surprise that they do it in WOW or any of the other multi user games. In some games (don’t remember the reference right now) there are organised “sweatshops”, people who commercially utilise the low cost of labour in cuntries like Mexico or China. Here it is a job to play and create or gain objects which are then sold on for flesh-world currencies. Characters as well. Want to play, but sick of going through the vulnerable stage in the beginning? Buy a top level character. First time I heard about that was in 1999, and the price was 10 000$, in EverQuest.
Jill
So this morning it works, but I’ve stoicly limited myself to downloading the patches in the background while writing adna draft for a promised short essay (pat on the back to me) and answering email about administrational complexities.
Can I switch servers, or will I always be stuck on the one I start off on?
torill
You can use different servers, but you have to make a new character for each server. I just made one at the server where Hilde plays, so I can hook up with her once it has enough levels to travel.
Knud
Here is an interesting article about MMOPRGs and sweatshops.