Patch day torment

Patch days are torture. I have nearly 40 addons, 10 characters, four dual specs, and - worst of all - two computers with different screen sizes to update, which even ordinarily are a headache to manage. The pain is usually offset by the excitement of new features and content, but for some reason I just can't get worked up by this patch. Clearly there's nothing good for priests, and even the new raid hasn't got my blood pumping. It's just not that... exciting.

For the first hour last night I was stuck in a logon loop that saw me kicked instantly every time I tried to access any character in Dalaran, like some digital sisyphus. I spent some time on my enhancement shaman Uglybetty instead (female troll, natch), and was very annoyed by the earth shock change. Now I have to hotbutton wind shock too. (Who said this game was getting easier?)

When I eventually did get back on Merlot I went straight into a raid with no chance to test my addons. I discovered the hard way that dotimer had decided to helpfully display EVERY debuff on the boss and EVERY raid-wide buff on ALL 25 PLAYERS, ag_unitframes had given up changing names on target frames and showed the same name regardless of who I targetted, and grid had reset my profile and lost all COLOUR. That's right, my grid is now black and white. There were the brand-spanking new patch day updated versions, too. I had no choice but to continue raiding through the chaos, automatically closing lua error windows every couple of minutes as we went. Badges are badges, right?

We raided so long I didn't have time to look at the problems afterwards. So I have one computer in complete chaos, and all of this to look forward to tonight when I log on to the second.

The patch mess will pass, but I still need to think about how I can simplify the general customisation process. The two-computer setup is a problem, but it's not going to change as long as I spend my weeks at two different locations. What I need is shared network location for my addon settings, or an easy way to sync the two. Is there one easy folder I could backup to the internet, perhaps?

On a more positive note, I also trialled a neat little addon called mind flay timer last night. You probably have this already, right? It's really simple: it posts a raid warning and chimes every time your mind flay ticks, so you can keep track of them. I don't like nochannelling macros so this is a better solution for me to ensure I don't clip my flays. What I discovered while using it is just how erratic my mind flay ticks are. The first two ticks often bunch together, and the third tick quite often doesn't kick in till the channelling animation and cast bar timers have ended. This sounds like a bug that appeared when Wrath first launched, but it's been long fixed. So I am assuming this is either a symptom of my own lag or an issue with the addon itself. I'm guessing it's lag. When I eventually get my timers back I'll be able to spend some time on the dummies to work it out.

All in all, a very frustrating night, but no worse than any other patch day.

3.0.8a — small patch, big cockup

Patch 3.0.8a has been a complete bork for many Europeans but the Blizz geeks are remaining loftily silent on the matter.

Yesterday, I along with hundreds of other players, had problems downloading the patch. Blizzard's new downloader reported the tracker unavailable. We checked firewall settings, followed the usual patch-day advice, to no effect. Dozens of threads on the technical support forums containing hundreds of cogent reports and requests for help received only a token blue response.

For some, the problem resolved itself, but for many others, including myself, we were forced to turn to patch mirrors for the download.

This in itself is fine. It worked. But it's completely unacceptable. It puts my computer at risk from malicious software and it does nothing to address the issue.

In a very polite request on the forums, I asked if Blizzard had identified the problem and taken action to fix it for the next patch. That thread was locked without response. Other such requests have received the same stoney treatment.

When hundreds of people all report the same symtoms, having had no prior issues with patching, having made no software or hardware changes, having no other perceived problems with their computer, and having followed all available official advice to diagnose and correct potential causes, you must at least accept the possibility that these are not all local issues. It does not take a genius to work out that the common factor among all of these complaints is... Blizzard. New downloader? First public appearance? Now what could possibly be causing this widespead patching failure?

I accept there are going to be problems. Blizzard rushed this patch, no surprise there. But I resent having my fault report dismissed with a condescending flick of the wrist, as if the only possible explanation is my own stupidity. Am I not paying for this service? Is it asking too much to want an official acknowledgement of the inconvenience caused? And perhaps some reassurance that we will not have to go through this trouble again at the next patch?