I’ve been playing WoW since the open beta, and after the 9C servers started having frequent, mysterious and unstoppable energy fluctuations that made the game really unpleasant to play, I gradually went AFK.
After TBC launched, I went back in and played casually for quite a while, but in the end I left again. I once thought WoW could no longer tempt me, but now that I’ve lost WOW, I feel an unprecedented sense of powerlessness — like the Kaldorei Moon Guard losing the source of the Well of Eternity.
At the end of the battle a while back, Netwing and 9 Village channeled the magic that the nobles had used so carefully into chaos. On June 7, the unstable vortex deep in the lake waters exploded catastrophically, and a huge chain of shockwaves tore the world apart — wreaking enormous devastation on Kalimdor and on all living beings of the world of Warcraft: the servers went down!
The explosion shredded the surface of the land and polluted the skies. The shockwaves shook the very bones of the world, and seawater filled the wounds in the earth. 80% of the continent of Kalimdor was ripped open, forming scattered continents centered on the newly created sea. At the center of that sea — where the waters of eternity once were — churned a force of rage and chaos. This terrifying scar, known as the Maelstrom, records that chapter of history…
Four years of an ideal world, gone for good.
Now countless beings yearn for the Well of Eternity. “Give me some bread, give me some water — oh, just give me some damn magic…” Longing for the source of magic, longing for rebirth.
Fortunately, someone saved the water of the Well of Eternity before the great explosion — as the fighting inside and outside the temple escalated, the Blizzard folks appeared at the edge of the spring. They knelt by the spring, filled a magic bottle of their own making with the water that shimmered with energy, and captured a snapshot of this world at the very last moment. Thinking that the demons would destroy the whole civilization of World of Warcraft, they decided to stockpile this holy water for later use in restoring the world. It wasn’t until I lost WOW that I wanted to go back and play properly again, and I’m now actively preparing to set foot in World of Warcraft once more.
HOHO. To welcome the rebirth to come, I’ve been recording the process of this rebirth: —
6.7 The great explosion — the servers went down; the official site was flooded with sorrowful memoirs
6.8 Reminiscing about World of Warcraft, downloaded CampaignsCN.exe from the internet, and played through the Warcraft III campaigns properly once more
6.10 Took out the War of the Ancients trilogy I hadn’t finished before and kept reading
6.12 NetEase’s brand-new Battle.net account system for WOW
6.13 Planning my gear, playstyle and so on for after the rebirth
6.14 Heard a rumor that World of Warcraft opens on the 23rd and that NetEase has obtained the complete player data:
- After verification, the player data from before the servers went down at midnight on June 6 has been confirmed as retained (meaning it was checked for both human tampering and accidents). The next time you log in, things will be exactly as they were when you logged off.
- Blizzard China’s general manager and the NetEase crew worked overtime to get the data transfer and server setup done. To boost morale, in the manner of Mei Lanfang: until WoW goes live, no male employee shaves.
- The currently confirmed launch time is the 23rd.
The player data NetEase obtained this time will include all of every player’s virtual items in World of Warcraft. When players log in, they will see themselves exactly as they were when they logged off in the old World of Warcraft.
(Not to be trusted, but having hope is always nice)…
6.18 Game-card rumor: the new version of the World of Warcraft game card can be used starting on the 19th; the rumor mill speculates that Battle.net will be usable on the 19th
6.19 The rumor that Battle.net opens today also turned out to be false
6.20 NetEase hasn’t surfaced at all since 6.12. Players are getting anxious, and plenty of forum posts are venting frustration.
6.23 The legendary news of a launch on the 23rd also turned out to be false. I downloaded the Taiwan server’s WLK.
6.24 Finally, some official news:
Latest Bulletin on Hardware Installation and Data Status
Dear players:Today we would like to brief everyone on the latest developments in the World of Warcraft transition. Over the past few weeks we have made smooth progress in a number of key areas, and we recently reached an important milestone. Thanks to the tireless, round-the-clock efforts and close cooperation of the engineers at NetEase and Blizzard Entertainment, our brand-new hardware infrastructure has been 100% installed. Configuration and testing of the new facilities are also now proceeding in an orderly manner. We wanted to share this good news with you now, and to have you witness this important moment together with us.
We also have the latest news for you regarding the game and player data, which we know you have all been eagerly awaiting. We have safely received the final data snapshot at the moment the servers went offline, and we are now doing everything we can to test and analyze the data to ensure its integrity. The preliminary test results look good. We hope that when players return to World of Warcraft, they can start playing immediately from the state they were in before the shutdown. However, World of Warcraft is a highly complex game, involving a massive amount of account information, character details and data across multiple servers (including the auction house, quests and more), so there is still a great deal of analysis and preparation to do before the final answer is revealed. Our top priority is to ensure that players get the best possible experience when they return to World of Warcraft. As we complete the key steps of the transition period, we sincerely thank you for your continued patience.
Once again, thank you to all players for your boundless enthusiasm and long-term support. We look forward to your “return of the heroes.” Please stay tuned to the official transition website for the latest progress during the transition period.
The World of Warcraft Transition Team
June 24, 2009
Basically the effect of looking at plums to quench your thirst… we still have to wait
6.30 Since the official announcement on the 24th — that thirst-quenching yet meaningful notice — discussion among industry folks and players has only grown more heated. The impatience is understandable, but there’s nothing to be done about it. I’m sure NetEase is even more anxious than we are and will do its utmost to resolve this as soon as possible. With WoW on holiday during this period, why not brush up on the history and the storyline? According to related news reports, the approval process for NetEase’s World of Warcraft has already been suspended, or at least there has been no response. It looks like The9’s lawsuit really has had some effect.
Under China’s Provisions on the Administration of the Publication of Electronic Publications, the process for an operator seeking to submit an imported game-type electronic publication for review is to first submit an application to the local press and publication bureau, and after approval is granted, for the local copyright bureau to report it up to the General Administration of Press and Publication. As for NetEase’s filing for World of Warcraft specifically, the public reply from the Beijing Municipal Press and Publication Bureau was that NetEase’s application was approved on June 8 and submitted to the General Administration of Press and Publication.
Article 26 of the Provisions on the Administration of the Publication of Electronic Publications states that, within 20 days of accepting an application to publish an electronic publication authorized by a foreign copyright holder, the General Administration of Press and Publication shall make a decision to approve or not to approve; if it does not approve, it shall state the reasons.
“If we count from June 8, when the Beijing Municipal Press and Publication Bureau reported it to the General Administration of Press and Publication, then the 29th will be the deadline for the General Administration of Press and Publication to give its reply,” said a person familiar with the matter. “Whether it approves or not, the General Administration of Press and Publication will give a clear answer. But there are now signs that the approval of World of Warcraft has been suspended, so there is no such thing as approval or non-approval.”
7.2, early morning Battle.net registration is open, and you can bind your account!
7.13
News from July 13: according to people familiar with the matter, the General Administration of Press and Publication recently instructed the Shanghai Municipal Press and Publication Bureau to conduct an in-depth investigation into matters relating to the joint venture set up by US-based Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase to operate games. If it is true that the joint venture operates games, then NetEase and Blizzard will be penalized for violating relevant domestic regulations.
Under Chinese regulations, foreign companies may not operate online games in China, whether through a wholly-owned entity or a joint venture. Since April 16 this year, when Blizzard and NetEase jointly announced that the operating rights to World of Warcraft in mainland China would be transferred to NetEase after the contract between Blizzard and The9 expired, there has been much industry speculation about how NetEase obtained the right to operate this “world’s number one” online game in China. Two of the most closely watched points: first, NetEase paid a sky-high revenue-share amount, increasing Blizzard’s income fourfold compared with its partnership with The9; second, Blizzard and NetEase set up a joint venture that, under the name of technical support, actually operates World of Warcraft and other games. Especially recently, media analysis of the relevant information disclosed in NetEase’s 2008 annual report (Form 20-F) drew the attention of the industry and the relevant regulatory authorities.
In response, NetEase spokespeople have repeatedly stressed in the media that World of Warcraft is operated by Shanghai Wangzhiyi, and that the Blizzard-NetEase joint venture (StormNet, which the media tentatively translate as “Baowang”) only provides “technical support such as anti-cheating, anti-account-theft and anti-private-server measures,” and has not broken any rules.
However, according to an analysis by someone familiar with Nasdaq financial reporting principles, based on the information disclosed so far, the joint venture set up by NetEase and Blizzard should play more than just a “technical support” role. The analyst said that NetEase’s Form 20-F mentions that the joint venture’s revenue will be consolidated into NetEase’s reported revenue. If this company only provides technical support such as anti-cheating, anti-account-theft and anti-private-server measures to Shanghai Wangzhiyi, then its revenue is simply Wangzhiyi’s expenses, and consolidating that into NetEase’s overall financial statements would create a double accounting problem and would not be reasonable; even if the joint venture provides “technical support” to other companies in the industry besides NetEase, based on what we can see now, the revenue it could plausibly generate should not be of a magnitude that warrants consolidation into the financial statements.
In addition, NetEase’s repeated emphasis that Baowang only provides “technical support” is a change of wording that came only after the media and the public began paying attention to this matter recently. Back on August 13 last year, when NetEase and Blizzard jointly announced the signing of contracts for Warcraft, StarCraft and Battle.net and the simultaneous establishment of a joint venture, the English announcement at the time said the joint venture was for “operational support,” while the Chinese announcement said the joint venture was for “technical support.”
It is reported that the government department responsible for investigating this case has already obtained a large amount of relevant information.
According to relevant sources, because the media and players have recently paid a great deal of attention to the transfer of World of Warcraft’s operating rights, and because this concerns the key question of whether a joint venture may operate games in China, the state** recently specially assigned the Shanghai Municipal Press and Publication Bureau to investigate the matter in depth. Industry analysts point out that, because it involves major laws, regulations and policy issues, the approval of World of Warcraft is very likely to be suspended until the outcome of this investigation is clear.
—— http://forum.games.sina.com.cn/index.php?topic=755396.0
If this news is true…
7.21
Sina Tech news, the morning of July 21: according to public information on the Ministry of Culture’s website, the online game World of Warcraft has passed the Ministry of Culture’s content approval stage, with the filing number “文网进字[2009]006号”.
The online game content review system on the Ministry of Culture’s website shows that World of Warcraft, operated by Shanghai Wangzhiyi Network Technology Development Co., Ltd., has passed the Ministry of Culture’s content approval, with the filing number “文网进字[2009]006号”.
7.30 NetEase’s World of Warcraft closed beta begins
We are happy to inform all players that World of Warcraft has now officially begun its closed beta! The closed beta period is currently planned to last up to one week. During this time, existing World of Warcraft players can log in to all servers and play for free, helping us test our brand-new hardware infrastructure before we receive government approval for formal operation of the game. Players taking part in this closed beta must create a Battle.net account and bind their World of Warcraft account before they can start playing. Players who have not yet created a Battle.net account and bound their account should visit https://www.battlenet.com.cn as soon as possible to create and bind one. In addition, players must upgrade their client to version 3.1.3 so that they can play on the new hardware infrastructure — please refer to our earlier notice for details. Please note that players cannot create new accounts during the closed beta. We will open new account creation once the game goes into formal operation. Since this is a closed beta, one of our goals is to keep optimizing the hardware and ensure that players get the best possible experience once the game is in formal operation. Please be aware that during the free closed beta, players may run into issues related to stability, connectivity and other performance matters. In addition, there may be unplanned downtime and/or extended unplanned downtime at various points during the closed beta. Once we receive the relevant government approval, we will announce the official launch time of the game on the official website www.warcraftchina.com. We hope you enjoy the game now that the closed beta has begun, and thank you for your continued support of World of Warcraft. The World of Warcraft Operations Team, July 30, 2009