Everyone has a fighting chance
Thanks to over 3.3M in sales on launch day, World of Warcraft subscriber numbers have soared over the 10M mark, probably a large factor in the server issues for the first several days of the Warlords of Dreanor expansion. These are the highest subscriber numbers since 2012.
We’ve all seen the signs before: ‘limited time only’ the words say, usually with a McDonald’s McRib sandwich plastered on it. We dismiss the idea of a ‘limited time only’ experience. Holiday events come along like the seasons they represent and we don’t truly find it devastating if we missed out–it will all come back next year. However, what if a feature, a paid one, was truly here for a limited time only… should players be punished for the lack of participation?
Blizzard has issued a public apology for the World of Warcraft technical issues after the launch of Warlords of Draenor. In addition to admitting to a poor launch experience, Blizzard is also giving a good faith gesture to its community by giving all subscribers in all regions five days of game time in compensation for the frustration.
Over the weekend, the largest World of Warcraft subReddit was shut down temporarily by one of its moderators. The shutdown was seen as a way to protest the recent server woes that World of Warcraft has been undergoing since the launch of the Warlords of Draenor expansion last week. Once this particular editor was able to log into WoW, the subReddit was reopened but the backlash against his decision has been a phenomenon all its own.
There’s nothing that kills procrastination on writing an article more than the fact that the game you’re supposed to be writing about is, well let’s just say "non-functioning". Yes, I’m talking about the latest World of Warcraft expansion, Warlords of Draenor and, yes, it’s been one of those days.
In what is becoming sadly normal on a game’s launch day, Blizzard has confirmed that World of Warcraft servers are under DDOS attack from an outside source that is resulting in server disconnects and lag rendering the Warlords of Draenor expansion unplayable by many. Blizzard is undertaking a series of fixes in order to return server stability and will be keeping the community informed.
On Wednesday November 12th, hours before the launch of World of Warcraft’s fifth expansion Warlords of Draenor in Europe and the rest of the world, Lead Game Designer Ion Hazzikostas and Lead Class Designer Kris Zierhut from Blizzard took part in a live Q&A hosted on Twitch by WoW Community Manager Josh Allen.
World of Warcraft will be welcoming the Iron Horde on November 13th with the Warlords of Draenor expansion. To celebrate the imminent release of Warlords, Blizzard has sent out a brand new trailer to set the stage for one of the most anticipated expansions in its history. Check it out!
Blizzard has posted a fun new image on its Twitter and Facebook pages. If pictures are worth a thousand words, then this one speaks for itself. Enjoy!
During BlizzCon 2014, we caught up with WoW’s Cory Stockton, Lead Game Designer, to chat about the game’s 10th anniversary and the future of Azeroth as it prepares for its 5th expansion.