 
Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs: | Is it just me or.... Is at&t being blamed for everything here lately? | |
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rudnicke
Premium
join:2004-10-23
Rantoul, IL | Re: Is it just me or.... Yes, but AT&T has been guilty of just about everything lately. | |
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Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:
| Re: Is it just me or.... said by nixen  :said by Cheese :Is at&t being blamed for everything here lately? Even if AT&T was having outages, why the f*ck are they only using one networking provider?? -tom Good question, maybe that's all they can afford? | |
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join:2004-07-09
Olathe, KS
clubs:
| Re: Is it just me or.... I usually defend Blizzard. But keep in mind they have over 5 million subscribers each paying on average $13-15 a month. That's just about $70 million per month, or $840 million a year. I would say they need to spend some more on the networking side of it.
As a current player, I would say that this is the only issue that most players are really concerned with. | |
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Kompressor
Premium
join:2002-02-12
Huntington Beach, CA
| Re: Is it just me or.... Not to mention all the users had to pay at least $50 for the first month, to buy the game in the first place, which is something I disagree with. Either charge to buy the game or a monthly charge, but not both. But considering how successful WoW is, I'm obviously wrong here as people are more than happy to pay both. | |
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LinuxJunkie
join:2005-01-19
Cyberspace | Re: Is it just me or.... I totally agree with you. However, I did end up buying the game and subscribing to it for three months beyond my one month "purchase" period. After that, I couldn't justify close to $15/month for a game I maybe have time to play but once a week. | |
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uoplayer
@adelphia.net
| Play Ultima Online , servers havent had issues in years , they do 15 minutes maintence and its cheaper, sure graphics are sub par but still is a real fun game..I must say I have never played WOW , but alot of my friends have , only to come back to UO , after 4-6 months , they all got board and sick of login issues. | |
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Vericima
Beautiful But Deadly
Premium
join:2003-01-07
Manchester, CT | It probably has something to do with the fact that at&t has been providing for battlenet for years. | |
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join:2002-10-16
Seneca, SC | Was reading on the wow forums and blizzard is making at least 17 million a year off of wow alone. It seems with 17 million you could keep network issues to a minimum. | |
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antdude
A Ninja Ant
Premium,VIP
join:2001-03-25
|  Re: Is it just me or....
said by mythology :Was reading on the wow forums and blizzard is making at least 17 million a year off of wow alone. It seems with 17 million you could keep network issues to a minimum. Same here. I am taking a break and recoverying from being a WoWaholic. I have no free time to play ANY games these days. So, I put my subscription on hold for now.
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Ant @ The Ant Farm: »antfarm.ma.cx ... Please do not IM/e-mail me for technical support. Use the forum (I check almost daily)! Disclaimer: The views expressed in this posting are mine, and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer. | |
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guitarzan
Premium
join:2004-05-04
Skytop, PA
 ·epix
| said by Cheese :said by nixen :said by Cheese :Is at&t being blamed for everything here lately? Even if AT&T was having outages, why the f*ck are they only using one networking provider?? -tom Good question, maybe that's all they can afford? AT & T should be able to place positive spin on this as proof a 2 tier network is needed.Either that or lay the blame on Google or Genova 
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Bass....the glue of rhythm and harmony...the heartbeat of the band.! Shaking the earth with deep,sonorous vibrations.The dark ominous thunder of an approching storm. | |
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Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:
| Re: Is it just me or.... said by guitarzan :AT & T should be able to place positive spin on this as proof a 2 tier network is needed.Either that or lay the blame on Google or Genova And that is just what they may do. I wouldn't put it past them. | |
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phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Winter Park, FL
 ·Verizon Wireless B..
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| said by Cheese :said by nixen :said by Cheese :Is at&t being blamed for everything here lately? Even if AT&T was having outages, why the f*ck are they only using one networking provider?? -tom Good question, maybe that's all they can afford? Maybe because it's NOT stupid to expect business class service when under contract. Maybe because your ISP who requires you have a contract for the bandwidth, should actually provide UNINTERRUPTED SERVICE. Either way, who said their ISP is AT&T anyway, they might have referred to that LARGE AT&T backbone that stretches all across the world. | |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
2 edits | Wrong WoW forum.. oops. | |
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Steimes
I make internets
Premium
join:2002-01-08
Belle Vernon, PA
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Is it just me or.... said by tc1uscg :Sprint provides VoIP backbone to WOW, at least in the Detroit METRO area. WoW has VoIP functions now? Didn't know that (stopped playing beginning of fall semester).g
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Are you Distractd by Shiny Objects? A website for the simple minded. | |
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koitsu
Premium
join:2002-07-16
Mountain View, CA
| AT&T is one big outage, basically.
If Blizzard's AT&T connection utilises the AT&T MPLS network (and I have no idea if it does), then it doesn't surprise me that they've seen a series of outages recently -- I can confirm there's been major problems within the MPLS network within the past 3 weeks.
The MPLS incident count at my workplace is somewhere around 10 in the past 3 weeks, and we de-peered with AT&T because of it (we've been using Abovenet MPLS instead, which so far appears stable, while Abovenet is incredibly responsive when it comes to outages or even minor reconvergence).
AT&T is completely and entirely incapable of determining what the problems are, for what it's worth. Their monitoring systems are configured in such a way that short outages (i.e. reconvergence) does not generate alerts or notifications of any kind, and they have absolutely *no* historic records kept for their IP network. What I'm saying is, if there's a BGP flap that lasts 10 seconds, they have absolutely no knowledge of it -- but if it lasts 10 minutes, they do.
Nothing like turning a blind eye as a solution...
Either way, your comment is right on the ball -- why is Blizzard relying solely on one specific transit provider and ONLY that provider? Their cash flow and profit margin is humongous. I see no logical explanation for why they're ""stuck"" with AT&T.
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Making life hard for others since 1977. In memory of 2005... | |
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koitsu
Premium
join:2002-07-16
Mountain View, CA
1 edit | Re: Is it just me or.... said by Rogue Wolf :Contractual obligations of some sort? Only reason I can fathom....  That'd be *literally* the only explanation (and still quite unjustified). In this day and age, the Internet is broken (read: "flaky") 24x7x365 -- anyone who has worked at least 3 years in this field knows that -- and hence decent peering is required.
Many of these relationships (re: "contractual obligations") were created based on what I consider voodoo anyways. Sometimes it's purely financial (i.e. AT&T saying "Well if you exclusively use us, we'll give you a discount..."), but other times -- believe it or not -- it's more bizarre, such as network administrators having friends at a peering providers and "cutting corners" to turn up circuits + peering, yadda yadda... Basically, friends within the business working exclusively with one another.
In the 2nd example, severing these bizarre almost cult-like relationships is nearly impossible. I work for a place where we have relationships (business-wise) with two companies and rely *exclusively* on their products (hardware). Myself and a few of my co-workers have recommended that we consider other vendors or other products not made by those companies -- and we get shot down in very strange/uncomfortable ways (including being ignored or walked away from during a conversation), simply because the individuals doing the shootings have personal friends or personal ties with the vendor in question.
Basically it's an elitist sort-of cult-like thing; I don't know how else to describe it, other than it being creepy and downright destructive.
I'm really hoping that's not the case with AT&T and Blizzard, but based on the fact that they've exclusively relied on AT&T for their connectivity since the days of Battle.net (those who used it will remember the AT&T-centric ads which appeared in the Bnet clients, too  ), I'm left wondering if there's like two dudes at AT&T and two dudes at Blizzard who're causing all of this. It sounds silly, I know, but in my experiences (see above), it happens.
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Making life hard for others since 1977. In memory of 2005... | |
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Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:
| Re: Is it just me or.... said by justbits :I really think the problem here is that all the WoW packets are being directed to the NSA for inspection and it's adding too much latency because the NSA is having a hard time understanding the Chinese gold farmers. --justbits LoL! | |
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guitarzan
Premium
join:2004-05-04
Skytop, PA | Excellent post, that is frickin hill lary ous | |
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tapeloop
1959. I try to kick the ball. I miss.
Premium
join:2004-06-27
Airstrip One | Heh. And here I thought that AT&T was using WoW as a test bed for its two-tier internet.  | |
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| Kearnstd
Elf Wizard
Premium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ
| Blizzard has used ATT for ages, lots of the free Bnet servers were hosted by ATT.
however i dont see how its possible to have a contract worked that nobody else can provide blizzard bandwidth unless ATT owns the data center. infact blizzard could bring in an MCI feed or Verizon feed and ATT wouldnt even know.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports | |
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gatorkram
Spelling and Grammer impared
Premium
join:2002-07-22
Winterville, NC
clubs: | AT&T Yes, no wait, no, well.... hmmm
(AT&T messed up my message)
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Give me bandwidth or give me death! | |
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sman83
join:2004-11-09
Urbana, IL
| Signed a contract I remember reading in there forums that they had signed a contract saying that only att could provide service and bandwith for wow. They also get charged for any extra bandwith that they use, which means they are paying out of the butt, since they did not know how hugely popular the game would be. | |
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texans20
Weapons of Masturbation
Premium
join:2002-09-28
Texas!
clubs:
| Re: Signed a contract said by sman83 :I remember reading in there forums that they had signed a contract saying that only att could provide service and bandwith for wow. They also get charged for any extra bandwith that they use, which means they are paying out of the butt, since they did not know how hugely popular the game would be. Pure speculation, but perhaps that is the reason for all of the outages. Save some bandwidth. | |
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brooklynman4
join:2004-09-07
Brooklyn, NY | Re: Signed a contract There so muchgames that can be played on the internet why is wow so famous?? | |
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diehardspeed
Premium
join:2003-05-14
Salt Lake City, UT
| Re: Signed a contract You have not had a friend try to get you hooked on warcrack? You must really have friends that look out for you then
The stuff is addicting and when it's down you go crazy waiting for your fix! | |
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KrazyDawg
join:2001-02-07
Vallejo, CA
clubs:
| Re: Signed a contract said by Rejected One :its highly addictive and is easy to pick up even if your a RPG noob. and it will run on most old machines hell its the only RPG i can play on my bottom of the line dell laptop Is it addicting because it's a game where you can progress and build or level up your character? In contrast to life, it's a game where you see yourself grow with endless possibilities and opportunities to further your growth. | |
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| Kearnstd
Elf Wizard
Premium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | it also have 5 mil playing it, before WOW the big one was Everquest aka Evercrack(atleast in North America and the EU)
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports | |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| I did... ...vote with my feet.
I canceled my subscription a few weeks ago.
I don't know why more people don't. They keep your characters indefinitely so you won't lose anything and if we had a "Million WoW Walkout March" that would get their attention.
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I have tried to see things from your point of view, but no matter how hard I try, or what I do, I just can't get my head that far up my ass. | |
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GlenQuagmire
Giggidy Giggidy Giggidy Goo
Premium
join:2004-02-16
Grand Rapids, MI
1 edit | Re: I did... Because WOW can be as addictive as crack. I remember reading an article that stated that some people the played Everquest got on to disability just so they can play all day long. | |
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Drex
Beer..It's What's For Dinner
Premium
join:2000-02-24
La Place, LA
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: I did... said by GlenQuagmire :Because WOW is just as addictive as crack. Well considering I don't know how addictive crack is, I'll just have to take your word for it.
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My definition of an expert in any field is a person who knows enough about what's really going on to be scared. | |
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TOPDAWG
Premium
join:2005-04-27
Midland, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| I don't get this what is addictive about it? I play WOW sure it's fun but I just canceled my account cause well I'm sick of the game I find it boring and I'm sick of take this here and kill this 900 times. I'm also sick of all the issues plus that whole back-round download shit they pulled.
The game is not perfect and I find things that used to make me laugh and go that was dumb are now making me want to beat the shit out of my PC when it happens.
I don't understand this addictive stuff I mean I play the game with my wife I'm in a guild I quest with them and everything. Am I missing a part that makes the game so addictive? | |
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sivran
Long Live The Suite
Premium
join:2003-09-15
Arlington, TX
clubs: | Re: I did... No, you're not. WoW is boring. My subscription ran out a little over a week ago. I hadn't even logged in in over two months.
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Think outside the fox...Seamonkey | |
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Harddrive
Premium
join:2000-09-20
Norwich, CT | Nice of CNET to include gold seller. lol
On the right hand side of the article, there are advertisements for WoW Gold.
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Click for Adult Material
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TOPDAWG
Premium
join:2005-04-27
Midland, ON | Re: Nice of CNET to include gold seller. How do them companies get all that gold anyway and who is selling it? Is it over seas companies? | |
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Harddrive
Premium
join:2000-09-20
Norwich, CT | Re: Nice of CNET to include gold seller. overseas 'sweat' shops. it beats building widgets for Wal-Mart. | |
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| | | Anon | The companies (best bet would be off shore) sometimes buy gold at a low price from players, or more commonly hire gold farmers.
A few dozen people sit at computers only to respond to other pissed off players and Game Masters. The killing and camping of the best areas are done using automated macro programs. The selling is done by macro/human, and prices are adjusted according to the market.
I've tested out a few free macros, and they seem to work pretty well (Hey, I like to see how things work!). The automation was clunky, and I had to fine tune the timings. I'm sure the pros use more advanced macros that respond to every little action on screen and off.
Just google up "wow gold farmer" and you will find lots of stories about buying/selling on-line game currency for cash.
I don't think buying/selling gold for cash is illegal, (yet?) but it is against the TOS in most MMORPGs. "If you buy on-line gold, you are buying the time it took to earn it." "Time is money." The bosses of these gold selling companies are now filthy rich (thanks to macros and cheap labor)! | |
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TOPDAWG
Premium
join:2005-04-27
Midland, ON | Man Blizz sure likes to blame everyone else for their BS. I mean at least grow some balls and be up front people would be allot less mad if they did that.
They way the treat paying costumers like morons sure does piss me off. | |
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On WOW's Networking Headaches
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