Another WoW thread: News for EU players

[Gunner]

I'm sure there are plenty of European fans who'd like to play on the US servers, well... you can and here's how:

http://www.sps-systems.co.uk/trolleyed/141/

This website is selling the game pretty cheaply, I know it doesn't look very trustworthy but I found this
thread on their forums, and they will email you the cdkey from the box you bought and a gamecard serial on launch day. Pretty cool huh?

Although the game cards are expensive, it's an easier way to get the US version in EU without asking for someone's help in the US. I just might do this

Here's an alternative to the SPS shop:

http://www.importmadness.co.uk/cgi-bin/search?keywords=world+of+warcraft

 

[Alig]

Hmm this sounds interesting. Thanks for the information man. Me my bro and a mate are currently working out how much it would cost for another mate in USA to send 3 wow over to UK and register them before to his address and credit card and pay him via paypal but this sounds much better and cheaper.

Im just wondering though (for both websites) does that include shipping to the UK as well? and has anyone found out if the servers will let anyone bar USA/aussie and NZ IP's connect?

 

[Dedalus]

so tempting, although i'd rather go through the proper channels and play without constantly worrying about whether Blizzard will block my IP etc.

 

[Gunner]

so tempting, although i'd rather go through the proper channels and play without constantly worrying about whether Blizzard will block my IP etc.

Yeah I know exactly what you mean, I haven't ordered it yet for that reason. I think it's better to wait a few days after launch day to see how things go but I'm so impatient hehe.

 

[h00dlum]

Will it not lag like hell to play on a US server from Europe?

 

[Gunner]

Well in the Final Stress test and Open Beta I used to ping anywhere between 100ms and 350ms depending on the time of the day, around 8-10PM GMT+1 that's where the ping shot up (that's when most US players connected) but it didn't affect me at all, even with a 350ms ping I could still play normally and I didn't notice any lag. Then again there was a huge amount of lag during the last days of OB but that was for everyone, including the US players, because of some sort of item database error.

 

[Alig]

Yeah i had a 150 - 300 ping depending what time of the day it was in US and could'nt notice any lag even though technically i should of been seeing everyone jerking around.

Are they allowed to ban your IP for having an american friend whos willing to make you an account to use? I mean they must of thought about it at some point. Anyway i'm waiting till this EU announcement comes out this week before i do anything about it. It all depends when the EU OB starts and when EU retail comes out....if OB starts in a couple weeks or if it goes retail sometime in december then its not worth the hassle. There is rumours of EU OB starting very close to the official pre-order start date (the 26th) so we'll just have to wait and see...

 

[Burn]

This sounds so tempting, but I dont know... could easyly be a rip off.

 

[Alig]

Real deal NEWS FOR EU!!!

http://www.blizzard.co.uk/press/041122.shtml

For people not wanting to read basically its

- Decemeber EU OB starts

- 1 month = £9 PM (per month) / 3 month = £8.40 PM / 6 month = £7.70 PM.

- Release early 2005

Im anticipating a very early (the first weeks of january) retail release...they have no reason i can see except to throw away money by giving it a lenthy OB.

Edit/ Oh and the EU rep has said that after the EU release the forced server localization will be removed meaning we will be able to play on US servers and vice-versa w00t :E

 

[Dedalus]

cool

hopefully they'll release it in early january. no word on the open beta though?

 

[Alig]

Yeah OB starts in december

If i had to guess when i'd be quite confident it will be before christmas ...i reckon OB will start between the 5th and 15th of december.

Oh...i see it does'nt even mention the OB but somehow the guy on the WoW website im on that posted that sounded quite confident OB started in december :/ this is what he said in the first line.

If you check the EU website, you'll read that they plan on beggining the final beta state in December, and the retail version will hit the stores in early 2005.

Edit2/ Ahh...it says on the eu wow front page this :

Blizzard is pleased to announce that World of Warcraft will release in Europe in early 2005. This will follow a final beta test, which is currently scheduled to start in December 2004.

 

[Gunner]

^^ OMG Yeah! Fantastic news

 

[Sui]

wow, great news. i'll be playing on the european servers anyway (probally).

the thing is, im really glad its coming out christmas / january. that means that it will be after my mocks so everyone wont be ahead of me wehn i buy it

 

[Letters]

I can't believe I have to wait 'til tomorrow to buy it... so ridiculous...

 

[Nid Banikeri]

Thanks for link!!!

Placing order for gamecard and game very soon

Anyone know how long the game cards last?

 

[Alig]

I can't believe I have to wait 'til tomorrow to buy it... so ridiculous...

...Yeah rub our noses in it.

Anyone know how long the game cards last?

60 days.

 

[Dedalus]

I can't believe I have to wait 'til tomorrow to buy it... so ridiculous...

stop rubbing it in :hmph: ;(

 

[Gunner]

Well I'm glad I didn't rush the decision; judging by the WoW forums it seems that most servers are lagged to death and now having queues just like in OB heh.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.aspx?forumName=wow-general

 

[Alig]

I've decided to do this. The que's are'nt to bad, i was like 200th place in one once and it had a 10min wait (how it knew i dont know but thats what it said). I've seen the lack of interest and support from EU towards UK in many games and this being no exception and quite frankly i'm not gunna pay for shit customer service again. US OB client is US retail client, a mate in USA is gunna buy the game for me and tell me the cd-key and i pay via paypal and do the same with gamecards every 60days until paypal becomes active and then blizzard can't check my billing address because its confidential.

Even if i did wait for it to come in EU i'd still be playing the USA servers...the wacky americans are better to play with and a nicer experience for me personally speaking english than the vast of EU where most countries speak a different language to eachother. What happens is alliances form and they just mess up the servers.

 

[Letters]

Well I'm glad I didn't rush the decision; judging by the WoW forums it seems that most servers are lagged to death and now having queues just like in OB heh.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.aspx?forumName=wow-general

Yeah, I'm waiting in a line of 700+ people for the second time... my router disconnected me for split second after I got in after the first one... ****ing sucks...

 

[blahblahblah]

I just finished playing WOW for 7 hours straight. Great game. I'm a dwarf Paladin. The only problem was I wasn't paying attention and I didn't select a PvP server. Most likely I'll create another character on a PvP server.

I made the smart decision and joined a server that had a low population. I joined with 0 queue. There were hardly any lag issues at all. There was a bit of lag just before I left, but that isn't too bad considering I play for 7 hours without any lag.

 

[Gunner]

This whole queue thing is partly related to the leak of some server names before the release. Rumour says a blizzard employee leaked the server name Archimonde to his fellow guildmates and it spread from there.

 

[Alig]

How does a name leaked form que's? I'm lost.

I've told the mate who gets his copy today to pick a medium/low server at prime times 'cuz at least its still like 1500 - 2000 people...which is enough people to enjoy a game with.

 

[Gunner]

Because everyone and their mother swarmed the same servers since they chose those that were leaked as meeting points for their guilds and friends.

 

[Milo 7]

so lame here in holland they dont give open beta keys with preorders :flame:

 

[Alig]

Because everyone and their mother swarmed the same servers since they chose those that were leaked as meeting points for their guilds and friends.

Ahh yeah it makes sense now

so lame here in holland they dont give open beta keys with preorders :flame:

I heard that was because your retailers didn't want to, not because Blizzard didn't want to :/

 

[Gunner]

Bleh, I can't resist... much... longer... urge... to order WoW... rising!...

 

[Dedalus]

anyone found a link to pre-order yet? i can't find it anywhere WoW and Blizzard sites just say 'pre-order coming on 26th!'....well..it's the 26th today!! ;(


EDIT: found a link to the normal retail from GAME but they don't have the collectors edition, which is what i really wanted.

 

[Alig]

GAME is our pre-orderer and only our pre-orderer for this promotion and guess what, Vivendi are selling the CE in every country in EU except for UK....****ing wankers. I hate Vivendi, they are idiots.

I think Blizzard/Vivendi hate UK. This is so badly planned out, i phoned GAME yesterday...

"Alright mate have you got WoW pre-order starting tommorow with the pre-order pack?"

"Uhh no...we have'nt heard anything about it sorry"

"Umm...your the official retailer for it *big WTF emotion*"

"Sorry mate, i can't help you there...you'll have to check the Blizzard website"

Tits (not GAME, it isn't their fault).

Edit/ Whats even worse about GAME being the only one is they've ****ing skipped the official start date for pre-orders ...so they've been taking pre-orders for a pre-order and most probably all the final beta test kits are gone by now.

 

[Dedalus]

wtf...that's ****ed up. we can't even get the CE here ;(

 

[Alig]

Yeah man it is bullshit. The only game i've ever wanted to buy a CE of and it isn't for sale is this country http://en.wow-europe.com/pre-order/ look at the lenths they've gone for Italty. Well over 25 shops all selling the CE edition as well.

 

[Alig]

Dedalus go http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/ext_shop/worldofwarcraft.asp?ref=WOW ...it seems that they are doing the pre-order thing now and have the CE edition. This was taken from the EU WoW website.

 

[Dedalus]

darn...i'll have to cancel my preorder with GAME before i order this. thanks for the link!

 

[Alig]

Yeah i ordered with GAME too. If you find the cancel button please tell me. I was trying to get my mum to buy me the CE for my birthday but she won't Do they charge you when the pre-order pack goes out or when the game gets sent next year? (i start a job on monday and get payed weekly but by the time i'm payed the CE will be sold out )

Edit/ Oh well, i ordered it anyway because there "Almost Gone!" (and this is changing often..i've seen it change 3 times) in hope i won't be billed until the game comes out. My solo has -£30 on it atm

Edit2/ Cool thanks for the info on the cancel order.

 

[Dedalus]

if you want to cancel with GAME, go to 'Contact us' link at the top of the page, and under 'Contact Subject' just select 'Order Cancellation'. make sure you paste the order number in there and make up some excuse about your cat ordering the wrong version by mistake.

usually, gameplay will charge your account just after they've mailed it out to you. so you've got a couple of months to gather together 45 quid.



EDIT: from gameplay confirmation email:

At gameplay we do not charge your card until your order is sent. If you have ordered several items then these may be sent at different times. No additional delivery charges will be made in this situation.

 

[Alig]

(Soz could'nt edit last post) Yeah i've just recieved that email now, 3 times in a row! Whats making me wonder is, will they send the pre-order pack without charging you anything? I guess i'll find out, i just hope they don't because i really do want the CE version of this game. I love everything warcraft, from tree's to faces.