I’d give a lot of things to be able to step into Classic Wow right now and enter my favorite starting zone.

But that’s not what a stress test is. It’s not for present day enjoyment – it’s to ensure FUTURE enjoyment.

” Play up to level 5 and help us make sure we can provide the best experience possible when World of Warcraft Classic launches August 27, 2019. “

I’ll be combating a few views from people who feel hurt they can’t log in or are experiencing in-game troubles. I’m aware this could turn into a rant about people ranting, and the majority of players are just happy to help out.

Classic WoW on Reddit  is the biggest community out there and it has influenced the vanilla we will see on August 27th, 2019 for the better. It used to be a place for memories and discuss strategy when the game launches. Now there is a battle between the old-school crowd and those who post memes and unfounded complaints.

(Update: There is now a “STRESS TEST CATASTROPHE” pinned thread? How can something be a catastrophe if that’s…kind of the goal?)

Blizzard announced the stress test dates of May 22 and May 23, and most immediately ignored the keywords of “Stress” and “Test”. People were acting like this was launch day and feedback was worse than the final season of Game of Thrones.

1. “I can’t even play the game”

You are performing admirably. Seriously, keep it up.

That’s what a stress test is – you push a game that isn’t ready out to the public and see what goes wrong. Data is collected so it can be analyzed and problems are fixed for launch.

You’re under the stress gun here too – not just Blizzard. It’s a team effort and not meant for your enjoyment. It’s pretty clear by limiting the character level to 5 they meant for the login and character creation process (the highest volume services) to be broken and then fixed. They have no idea how this game will react, and it’s not like you can copy and paste certain retail processes over.They need you to test, not play.

Despite this, people are acting like they dinged 60 and found no Molten Core ready for them.

 

2. “Giving Twitch streamers special access is not fair to me”

This Vanilla Wow team has shown time and time again they care about you. Letting streamers test first isn’t a slight in your direction They are saying “We want to promote this game on the right channels. Hype converts into momentum, which lets our leaders know this matters. Then they put money in OUR hands which equates to our dev team having more control over this game.”

This is the right play. If they didn’t give access or make sure streamers could log in, people would complain they don’t care about promotion. People don’t want to see Asmongold wait in queue. If you ran a cake business and everyone in the world was willing to promote it, wouldn’t you choose a big name rather than me?

3. “It’s gone so bad they needed ANOTHER stress test May 29th”

Imagine this. You’re a high performing athlete and it’s the night before the big game. You’re talking with your boyfriend/girlfriend/waifu and you sense something is up. You ask what’s wrong and they say “It’s nothing – I’m fine”.

The next day you’re ready to step into the area all hyped up for your big moment, they then pull you aside and say “Well it’s just that…”.

Don’t you wish this had come up the night before when you had time to work things out? Now your mindset is screwed; good luck in the game. This is a weird analogy.

Sorry.

Blizzard isn’t trying to be sexy here. They are being transparent (which in 2019 is super rare) and being honest about how much work they have to do. We’ve seen hype meddle with games – developers don’t want to show vulnerability because they are carrying so much on their shoulders. They think that by saying “it’s not ready” or “this is hard” customers will take it as weakness and think less of the game. This is certainly true with the vocal crap-headed minority being heard on the internet, but the Classic Wow team has history and a dedicated fan base on their side so  honesty is the best policy.

WARNING: Donut sounds like a movie villain in this closing paragraph.

The point is that we must suffer greatly in order for future prosperity. We need to throw ourselves against the walls of the login server again and again, not expecting to be able to play but knowing our sacrifice will be the reason the game survives. We must ignore those who complain about the game now – they will be the first to fall to Hogger. We will ignore their forums rants about lack of quick-fix dopamine hits that can be bought with a credit card, and not bother wasting effort waving goodbye as we are too busy having a good time together.