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The9, Blizzard on "WoW" Server Group Closure
Server groups for 3D MMORPG World of Warcraft were temporarily suspended on Tuesday evening and re-opened Wednesday morning, reports Sina quoting confirmation on Wednesday from The9 (Nasdaq:NCTY) and Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq:ATVI). The9's WoW server groups were suspended again at 10:50 a.m. on Wednesday, reports 022net.com. The server groups opened again around 4:40 p.m. on Wednesday, and The9 cited heavy traffic as the reason that the game and its official website could not visited, said DoNews.
The9 had no further comment, but an unnamed source said the closure was related to data transfer, the Sina report said. Blizzard said that the game "urgently" needed maintenance, and the suspension was not connected to changes to the WoW user agreement on Tuesday. WoW's user agreement added new terms on May 12, including one that said that The9 has the right to suspend, terminate and/or delete gamer accounts.
In an interview posted on The9-sponsored site ngacn.cc, The9 said that WoW servers will officially close at 2 p.m. on June 6 and that it won't be easy for NetEase (Nasdaq:NTES) to ensure a smooth transfer of WoW gamer information. The9 commented that it won't be necessary to delete gamer accounts, and that Blizzard could reinstate accounts at any time. When asked if NetEase will be able to open WoW server groups on June 7, The9 answered, "Everything is possible."
Blizzard revised the user agreement in order to avoid problems during the upcoming WoW data transfer, said the Sina report quoting another insider. Blizzard told 17173.com that the revised user agreement appeared on WoW's official site on October 22, 2008, but never appeared on the game's client-end due to an oversight by Blizzard.
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