AboutJay Expertise I have been playing online games since 1995, starting with MUDs. I was a beta-tester and guide for EverQuest, and a beta tester for Ultima Online. I'm available to address questions about the genre and a wide variety of games, both graphical and text-based. From Gemstone IV to World of Warcraft, you can count on me to answer. You can also ask questions about defunct games like Legends of Kesmai and MageStorm. I may be able to help you with gaming technical issues.
Experience Thirteen years in online gaming. Ultima Online beta tester, EverQuest beta tester, EverQuest Guide Program ex-member. Experienced in a wide range of other online games, both graphical and text-based
Expert: Jay Date: 5/19/2008 Subject: the Blizzard Downloader
Question Hi, i just got the installed WOW a few days ago on my computer and after i signed up for an account (10-freeday trial) i had to load some updates. After it was done updating it took me back to windows and the Blizzard Downloader opened up. Normally i would have been patient but the estimated tiem for DLing was nine hours. Is it supposed to take this long? Is there anyway to make it go faster? I tried to shut down my firewall but it didnt do much.
Answer Hi sage,
Nine hours. Ah, that takes me back. I remember when I used to play online games in the 90s. Downloading the Legends of Kesmai client on my 56k dial-up was an overnight endeavor, and you prayed your connection didn't drop while you slept! :)
I want to preface this by saying that I stopped playing WOW quite some time ago. Things might have changed.
Having said that, I had similar issues with the Blizzard downloader. It would often move at a snail's pace for me, too, but that was with patching (as opposed to downloading the trial client, which I never did). If you have disabled every firewall - including Windows Defender and any protections on your wireless router, if you have one - then I would suggest posting to WOW's technical support forum.
Keep in mind that World of Warcraft is a very big game. Even on my really good cable connection, I often had to wait for patch downloads, so downloading the bulk of the game will no doubt take time.
If I've misunderstood and you're having trouble with downloading patches, rather than the full client, then I have a nice alternative for you. I'd encourage you to download them instead from FilePlanet: http://www.fileplanet.com/wow.shtml
Registration is free, and the downloads are generally much faster. They also have paid memberships with preferred downloader servers.
Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but I never figured out the issue, myself!
