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[Wario64]

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/

Emergency Update: Current Server Status - Block on 09/18/04
At 6:19pm EDT yesterday, the datacenter complex in Virginia that is being used to host the World of Warcraft beta test was hit and damaged by a tornado. Because water was leaking into the building in which our servers were located, we shut down the servers as a precautionary measure and flew out a team of our network engineers to the location to survey the area and provide a preliminary assessment.

This morning, we have confirmed that some hardware has taken on water, so we will need to conduct a careful inspection for damage before we can restore power to the servers. This inspection will take 48 hours or longer to complete, so we encourage you to enjoy the rest of your weekend with other activities, as the World of Warcraft beta test will remain offline for at least that long. We will post another update tomorrow afternoon, and we appreciate your continued patience and support.

 

[ManaByte]

WoW isn't alone in this. The same datacenter houses the East Coast servers for Star Wars Galaxies, EQOA, City of Heroes, etc.

SOE posted pictures of what the datacenter looks like after the tornado:

 

[teepo]

wtf. i went tornadoe hunting last night and i saw shit

 

[Cerebral Palsy]

Yeah, my plans fell through to watch the De La Hoya fight tonight, and now I'm bored out of my mind.

But hey, at least they posted new patch notes.

Despite the fact that the US World of Warcraft beta test will remain offline as discussed above, the new patch has been tested and finalized, and we are looking into the possibility of making it available for download sometime this weekend. Should we be able to do this, the beta test will still remain offline, but players will at least be able to patch up and be ready to go for when the servers eventually come back online.

The patch notes have also been finalized and are ready for viewing. You can find them at the link below. Please note that while we put every effort into making the beta patch notes as complete as possible, some changes are bound to go undocumented. This is because there are an extensive number of changes that are being done in every area of World of Warcraft up until the moment the patch content is locked down, and our primary focus is on completing the game for launch. After launch, patch changes will be documented more completely.

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/patch-9-18-04.shtml