Liveblogging the Installation Process for WoW

It has been, oh... a month, maybe two, since I last played WoW. We were busy with other stuff, doing other things with assorted glee, and weren't playing with enough frequency to warrant a continued subscription. Luckily, it's far easier to cancel than it used to be; time was you had to call em up and talk to a live person to stop a rebill, and now all you have to do is click a button on their website. Which is nice, in that self-restraint sort of way.

But now, Makal's got the itch to play again. And damnit, so do I. I don't want to, but I keep thinking about it. Mmm, World of Warcrack. Delicious.

His concept is that we can only play for as long in the evening as we've been productive during the day. He thinks we'll be able to control it this time, and find a productive way to integrate it with the rest of our life. Uh-huh.

Recently while we were visiting some friends, the guys went to the store to pick up food whilst we girls went to pick up wine. Sometime during the first glass of shiraz and independent of our gamer boyfriends, we managed to talk for a good 10 minutes (at least) about WoW. Seriously. Two girls, drinking wine in front of a fire, talking about freaking World of Warcraft. Hunter talent builds and their usefulness in specific aspects of gameplay, more specifically. Hawt.

Anyway, so Makal convinced me to reinstall WoW. I've spent the past day or so doing some file maintainance to clear up hard drive space--twelve days' worth of music and a bunch of unedited photosets, and your comp wouldn't have much free space either--and decided that with 12Gb free and more on the way, I'd start the installation process. But as I recall it is mighty long, especially with Burning Crusades to install and update as well. And so it begins...

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Final Update: I started the installation at 2p, and finished at just about 11p. Granted, I had some snags along the way; my initial connection was slow, my attempts to connect to a hardline were met with malfunctioning software that needed to be troubleshot, and every step after that was met by an error message I couldn't do a thing to stop. By 7:30p I was starting anew; the install took approximately 3.5 hours after that(give or take, as I was kinda doing other things by that point). Remarkably, I still have 10Gb free after my second computer sweeping. I guess I didn't have to delete that Buffy music after all... /weep.

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2:00pm - I've inserted the first CD and gone through the "read me" agreements, set the install path and clicked install. Or next. I dunno, I just clicked the button. (Way to read, me.)

2:04pm - It has asked for Disc 2! /given

2:12pm - Disc 3 is upon us!

2:22pm - 10 minutes this time; the install sections are getting longer...

2:32pm - I'm at 9.5Gb of free space at this point; waiting for...

2:35pm - "Installation Complete!" Yeah, right. I already have an account, obvi. The microwave is beeping at me, but I can't get up because I'm waiting for the screen to load. I'd rather get up when I'm waiting for something installation-y. Already this game has sucked me in.

2:38pm - I send my login info and get the first "Download in progress" status screen. Yay. Downloading patch 1.12.0.

2:40pm - Hot caffeine retrieval successful! Download: 13%, no problems detected.

2:47pm - Just twittered that I am doing this. Because I am a dork like that(?). The first download is 56% done and oh, what's this? "You're computer appears to be behind a firewall. More Info" I thought so.

2:52pm - Well, I do have Google Toolbar installed (fangirl reporting in!) but I don't want to uninstall that just to install WoW. I am connected to a wireless network routed through an Airport (and Strom here is a PC), so that could be causing some issues, so I was thinking it might be worth it to haul out some CAT5 to connect me to the modem direct. As soon as this first download is done installing (3%) I'll try it.

3:12pm - Installation of Patch 1.12.0 (first download) complete! "Ok"

3:15pm - Note to self: I am an idiot. 1) It is pointless to wait 'til the download is done installing, because it is already downloaded and doesn't need a connection to finish; thus it would have been the perfect time to reconnect using a hardline. Der. 2) Corrected earlier errors. Wee!

3:20pm - Second download, patch 2.0.1, 30% done

3:32pm - Done downloading the patch, now it's installing. Time to try that cable...

3:41pm - Apparently I had an error with the internal modem driver, so I fixed that and have to restart. Yay. *Now* I have to wait for the second installation to finish (20%).

3:51pm - Fuck that, I'm impatient. The install's only 30% done and I have no internet! /restart

4:05pm - As I do finally restart my computer, the install process is at 67%

4:17pm - Crap on me, I can't get a hardline connection working, so I'm restarting the wifi

4:21pm - Finally have an internet connection and am reopening WoW to restart the patching process. That was only 50 minutes wasted! :P

4:24pm - Now I'm getting a weird error message when trying to finish the install of patch 2.0.1. Guess I'll scrap it (the patch install) and start over. In the meantime, I'll try and figure out my modem issue.

4:57pm - I am a stubborn bastard and wouldn't let the connection issue go. But yay, I fixed it! Official restart of the second download has commenced, and is speeding along (30%) with no problems detected (so it says...).

5:03pm - Makal: "You know you would have probably gotten the patch faster if you just let it be. ;)"

5:10pm - I explain to Makal that with my wifi dongle, I get 54Mbps (if the connection is good), and 100Mbps with the CAT5. Plus, his Mac-based router doesn't have the correct ports open for Blizzard's downloader, which is part of the connection error I get. I agree that the hardline connection wasn't a necessary tangent, but it was a problem that cropped up and that I don't want to confront in the future. Second download is done!

5:12pm - Oh, great. "This disk doesn't have enough free space to install World of Warcraft. (More than 3.8 GB is required, but only 2.1 GB is available.) Please free up space." Damnit!

5:15pm - Uninstalling file download programs, Starcraft, crappy Windows-based programs I never use anyway. Still, damn, how did I fill up all that space so quickly?

5:40pm - Now I have 3.8Gb free, and am working on clearing more while the second (only the second?!) download installs. I hate this process.

5:45pm - Same annoying error message when trying to install. Guess it's download attempt number 3.

6:12pm - Took a break from the download/installation process to clean the kitchen floor. Exciting! Makal got home from work and pointed out that I should just install BC from the CD before doing more patching, der. No wonder it always takes me so long to install WoW (I'm an impatient idiot). Inserting Disc 1 of BC...

6:13pm - Oh, right, my measly 3.8Gb isn't enough for BC. I hate that I'm going to do this, but it's time to delete the "unofficial Buffy soundtrack" download I've had sitting around for months. I've yet to import the music (save the T.H.C. stuff and the "Once More With Feeling" soundtrack), and it's taking up 3.13Gb (450 song files!). /sigh

6:20pm - Now I'm getting an error message saying "The Burning Crusade has already been installed." No, it hasn't, damn you. I'll try running the Blizzard repair app before another go.

7:00pm - Five hours later, the novelty of liveblogging this has worn off. I'm hungry and am going to eat dinner (burgers!) while I let the computer do its thing.

7:30pm - Still getting an odd error; I think this installation is totally FUBAR. I'm uninstalling it (again?), and starting over from scratch. Makal: "I'm actually glad you're liveblogging this, because it's turning out to be quite the endeavor." Dinner was delicious.

7:40pm - WoW install disc 2, take 2

7:49pm - WoW install disc 3, take 2. We're watching the Love Hina series. ^_^

8:00pm - WoW install disc 4, take 2!

8:15pm - BC install disc 1, take 2. Should be "take 1"s from here on out... I'm at 14.4Gb free space--think I'll make it without having to sacrifice my computer to Blizzard clean more off my hard drive?

8:35pm - BC install disc 2, take 1. Huzzah, progress! Admittedly, I'm not keeping up with the computer, being all distracted by the anime as I am.

8:47pm - The third disc of BC, and it's zipping right along. 64% and I just put it in! Yay things going quickly.

8:56pm - Yay disc 4!

9:00pm - Seven hours later, and I'm returning to the point of launching the game to install patches. The first one, 2.3.0, is downloading.

9:30pm - Download of patch 2.3.0 is at 20%. Windows' useless time estimation says there's "about 2 hours" left in the download. I'm going to go shower.

10:47pm - Download complete! The installer's on its way (2%, woo~).

11:04pm - Installation of 2.3.0 complete, and patch 2.3.2 downloaded quickly, and the installation is already complete.

11:05pm - Download of patch 2.3.3 is at 90%--things really are going quickly now. Installation at 50%... 100%! Let's try logging in...

11:08pm - Finally! Installation of World of Warcraft is complete.

11:14pm - Damn you, Blizzard. I'm going to bed.