Avian Gamers Network

Voice (Sounds)
The following will play a sound! There are two to three variations for each one. The voices will be different depending on your character.
/v help
/v inc
/v charge
/v flee
/v attack
/v oom
/v fol
/v wait
/v heal
/v cheer
/v fire
/v rasp

You shouldn't try looting a chest while the rest of your party is fighting. That is rude. The only time you might want to bypass this rule is when you are traveling with very good friends or if other players outside your party might be close to looting it. Let the group leader determine who is going to loot. A good way is to type "/random 1 100" to generate a number from 1-100 for each player. Whoever rolls the highest number can loot the chest, get the item, etc.

Use powerful pets to scare newbies. They will think it's a monster if they are not familiar with the pets that players can use.

Trading Screen + Trade Skills
Some trade skills can use the trade screen to manipulate other player's items. A locksmith can open locked boxes placed in the trade screen. Enchanters can also enchant some items that are in the trade screen.

Take a look at the party articles - probably the most comprehensive and detailed faq for MMO parties.

Dice? We don't need no stinkin' dice!

I don't know whether this is news or not to people but I like the idea - using rares for crafting items with relatively unknown tradespeople becomes more attractive.

Those party articles were the greates turnoff for WoW for me. More tank, nuke, healer in WoW groups. This is what kept me away from EQ, and what I think is nice about about SWG where the jobs are not that strict in the group.

I thought the inclusion of dice was a nice thing in SWG.

Well, you still have to give the rares to the crafter before he can actually craft, all this allows you is to manipulate items in the trade screen without actually handing them over: lockpicking or enchanting. You still have to give the Frost Oil and Jade to the Crafter for him to make you a Frost Tiger Blade.

What would be a good one for Avian??

That is an interesting question all its own. Which side will we be on in WoW?

You're either the good guys, or the horde.

Imagine a small team of troll hunters lead by CyrusTheVial who invade the human lands to wreck havoc on Rocky and his tight band of soldiers.

Imagine a small team of troll hunters lead by CyrusTheVial who attempt to invade the human lands only to meet with destruction at the hands of Rocky and his paladins, The Wall of Light.

To the discussion of Horde vs. Alliance...

I need to look for guild requirements (member count, activity etc) but if they are not steep we should be able to have Avian Horde and Avian Alliance guilds formed.

I guess this speaks to Cyrus' concern over whether we would have the numbers to pull this off.

The ability to create custom macros has recently been added to the game, which will allow players to create simple scripts for repetitive tasks. Macros are assigned an icon, which can then be dragged to one of your hotbars making activation of your new macro a snap.

I can tell you from experience that it is not much fun to play in a guild with only four members online (for some reason, Aedan is one four the four members consistently, and he is not even in the same time zone...)

Customizable user interface: In order to offer the greatest amount of flexibility and functionality for the player, the user interface (UI) in World of Warcraft has been designed so that it may be customized. However, UI customization is not a supported feature of the game. If you are having any technical issues related to the game, please remove all custom UI files from your installation before contacting Technical Support.

Removing custom UI files is easy. Custom content for the user interface is stored in the Interface folder in the root World of Warcraft directory. Delete any Interface folder you see there, along with any files inside. The game will display the default interface the next time you start. Make sure you do not delete any other Interface files or folders from the game folder. More information about custom user interfaces can be found at www.worldofwarcraft.com.

Reading this is just torture...

/macro - Brings up the macro user interface.

Tthey have a WTF folder? What The Heck do youthink that is?

World of WarCraft Beta Readme

Last Updated: February 25, 2004

1. Table of Contents

===============================
Introduction
Installation
Uninstall
Getting Started
Character Naming
Basic Commands
System Requirements
Troubleshooting


2. Introduction

===============================
Welcome to the World of Warcraft™ beta test. This readme file contains the correct procedure for installing and running the World of Warcraft beta on your system, along with some basic information to help get you started in the game.
[ Back to Top]


3. Installation

===============================
To install the World of Warcraft beta, please download the beta file onto your hard disk (make sure you have 3 gigabytes of free space). Once you have finished downloading the entire file, please click the button labeled “Done” and the Installer will automatically bring up the World of Warcraft splash screen. Click “Install” and please be patient, as the install process takes several minutes. If you have beta CDs, please place them one at a time (starting with disc 1) into your CD-ROM drive, and click the “Install” button. Please wait until the screen directs you to place the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th discs in. You must install all 4 discs to fully install the game onto your system.
If your computer is AutoPlay capable, a World of Warcraft beta splash screen will appear. Select "Install World of Warcraft beta" from the list and follow the on-screen instructions. If your computer is not AutoPlay capable, open the "My Computer" icon found on your desktop or in the menu reached by clicking your "Start" button. Then open the drive letter that corresponds to your CD-ROM drive, double-click the "Install" icon, and follow the onscreen instructions.
Note: If you are having a problem installing the World of Warcraft beta, please contact us at wowsupport@blizzard.com.

[ Back to Top]


4. Uninstall

===============================

To uninstall the World of Warcraft beta:


- Click the "Start" button.
- Select "Programs" and then "World of Warcraft".
- Click the "World of Warcraft uninstall" icon.
- The uninstall process will begin.

After uninstalling the game, delete the “World of Warcraft” folder from your hard drive manually and empty your Recycle Bin.

[ Back to Top]


5. Getting Started

===============================
Creating Your Character
Creating your character is very easy. Select your race, gender, and class. Keep in mind that Horde and Alliance characters will not be able to play with each other.
Horde vs. Alliance Split
The Horde is battling the Alliance in the World of Azeroth. Horde and Alliance players are unable to group/party with each other, trade, create guilds together, or even talk to each other unless both players have learned a common language. If you wish to play with other friends, make sure you select races that are allied with each other. The characters on your account can be of either Horde or Alliance faction, but you and your friends must be of the same faction to play together.


Horde races: Orcs, Tauren, Trolls, and Undead.
Alliance races: Humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Night Elves.
Character Customization
You can customize various aspects of your character. If you prefer, simply click the "randomize" button to have the game create a random character for you. You can hit this button several times until it creates a character that you like. There will be other ways to further customize your character in game, both in terms of appearance (such as with weapons and armor) and in terms of attributes and skills.

Create Your Character's Name
Your character will keep this name for the rest of its playing career, so make sure that you create a name that you can live with. Be aware of the naming rules so that you do not risk having to rename your character or incurring other penalties.

[ Back to Top]


6. Character Naming

===============================
You may not use any unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, hateful, racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable language. All such language is inappropriate in conversation as well as in the naming of characters/guilds/pets.
[ Back to Top]


7. Basic Commands

===============================
Basic Options: Hit Esc to bring up the main menu, where you can adjust video and game settings as well as re-map your key bindings.
Tip: For a complete list of keys, hit Esc, then select "Options", then click "Key Bindings". Scroll down to see all the possible keys.

Movement: Use the A,W,D,S keys to move around the world. Alteratively, hold down both mouse buttons to walk forward; moving the mouse at this point turns your character.

Camera: Hold down the left mouse button to look around the world. Hold down the right mouse button to turn your character using the mouse. You can zoom the camera in and out with either the mouse wheel or the Home and End keys.

Interacting: Left-click selects objects and NPCs in the game, while right-click activates an object or talks to an NPC. The mouse cursor is context-sensitive. If you mouse over an object that you can interact with, an icon will appear on your mouse cursor indicating the type of action that will occur if you right-click (sword = attack, cog = manipulate, speech balloon = talk, etc.).

Attacking: To attack a creature, move within range (indicated by the appearance of the attack cursor when you mouse over the creature; a grayed-out cursor means you are out of range) and right-click the creature. You will enter attack mode. Move your character next to the creature, and you will automatically begin to attack. Instead of right-clicking a creature, you may also select the "Attack" icon from the Action Bar.

Action Bar: The Action Bar at the bottom of the screen can be used to hotkey your spells, special abilities, or frequently used items, such as food and water (which give back health and mana, respectively). You can activate these either by left-clicking on them or by typing the number corresponding to the slot of the spell or ability you wish to use. Mousing over the icons will show you a tooltip containing the name of the spell or ability. You can also consult your spell or ability books (for casters, the "Spellbook & Abilities" button on the Action Bar) to get a full description of each ability or spell your character may have. You can rearrange your Action Bar by dragging the icons around. You can also add new spells or abilities to this bar as you receive them by dragging them from your spell or ability book. You can also place inventory items, such as health potions, in the bar for easy activation.

Tip: Hold down Shift and use the mouse wheel to quickly flip between pages. You can also use the arrow keys instead of the mouse wheel.

Grouping, Trading, and Other Character Interaction: To invite someone into a group, left-click that person's and then right-click on their portrait in the upper edge of the screen to bring up a menu of possible interactions. One of these options is to "Invite" (into your group). There are several other available interactions with characters, including inspecting them, challenging them to duels, and so on.

Sound: Control-S toggles sound effects. Control-M toggles music.

Character Information: Click on the button in the Action Bar that contains your character's portrait. This will bring up your Character Info panel, which includes your Talents, Reputation, and Skills panels.

Leveling: As you level up in the game, you will gain talent points, which you can immediately apply to your character by opening up the Character Info page and selecting the Talents tab. The Talents tab shows all the new talents you can purchase and their costs in talent points.

Gaining New Spells & Abilities: New abilities and skills are not gained automatically. You must visit a trainer specific to your class to purchase them. There are other ways to gain spells and abilities, such as using the tomes you find on monsters.

Looting: Right-click the monster's corpse to bring up the loot pane. You can then right-click items in the loot pane to place them into your backpack. To open your backpack, click the Backpack button in the lower right part of the screen and mouse over the items there to see what they are.

Getting Additional Bags: You can put an additional bag in each empty bag space in the lower right part of your screen (next to the backpack). Use your additional bags the same way you do your backpack.

Slash Commands: The following are some of the common slash commands in the game, which allow you to do certain things just by typing them into the text bar. Hit Enter to bring up the text bar.

Note: You can use the Tab key to cycle through possible slash commands. For example, if you type "/a" and hit Tab a few times, you will start scrolling through all the slash commands that start with "a".


/chat, /chathelp - Provides a list of chat commands
/follow - Target a player and type this. Your character will automatically follow that player.
/ghelp - Provides a list of guild commands
/party (or just "/p") - Sends a message to party chat (which only your party members can see).
/r - Replies to the last private message you received
/say (or just "/s") - Sends a message to people near you in the game.
/who - Lists the players online.
/yell (or just "/y") - Yells a message to a wide area around you in the game.
/em - Creates an emote expression. (For example, if your character is names "Tyrande", and you type "/em sings", people around you would see "Tyrande sings")
/played - Reports the total amount of time you've played the game with that character.
/cast allows you to cast spells by name. Type "/cast"; for example, "/cast Fireball (Rank 1)". To add spellcasting to a macro, you can type the command manually or shift-click a spell in your spellbook to add the proper /cast line to the macro.
/macro - Brings up the macro user interface.
Chat Commands:



/#, /c, /csay - Send text to channel # (for example, "/1 Hi!").
/announcements, /ann - Toggle join/leave announcements on a channel.
/afk, /dnd - Set your Away From Keyboard or Do Not Disturb flags.
/ban, /unban - Ban/unban a player from a channel.
/chatlist, /chatwho, /chatinfo - List channels or channel members
/cinvite, /chatinvite - Invite a player to a channel.
/join, /channel, /chan - Join a channel.
/kick - Kick a player off a channel.
/leave, /chatleave, /chatexit [channel] - Leave a channel (or all channels).
/mod, /moderator, /unmod, /unmoderator - Change a player's moderator status.
/moderate - Toggle moderation on a channel.
/mute, /squelch, /unvoice, /unmute, /unsquelch, /voice - Change a player's permission.
/password, /pass - Change password.
Guild Commands: Some of these commands can only be used by guild leaders.



/ginfo - Gives basic information about your guild.
/g - Sends a chat message to all members of your guild.
/o - Sends a chat message to all officers of your guild.
/ginvite - Invites another player to join your guild.
/gremove - Removes a player from your guild.
/gpromote - Promotes a player one rank within your guild.
/gdemote - Demotes a player one rank within your guild.
/gmotd - Sets the guild's message of the day.
/gquit - Removes you from your guild.
/groster - Gives an entire guild roster.
/gleader - Sets another player as the guild leader (guild leader only).
/gdisband - Disbands your guild (guild leader only).
Voice (Sounds): The following commands will play a sound. There are two to three variations for each one. The voices will be different depending on your character.



/v help
/v inc
/v charge
/v flee
/v attack
/v oom
/v fol
/v wait
/v heal
/v cheer
/v fire
/v rasp

[ Back to Top ]


8. System Requirements

===============================
The World of Warcraft beta test has the following requirements:

- Your computer will need a 56K or higher modem with an Internet connection.
- You must have a valid e-mail address.
Windows® System/OS:



- 800 Mhz or higher CPU.
- 256 Megabytes or more of RAM.
- GeForce 2 graphics card or better.
- 3 Gigabytes or more of available hard drive space.
- DirectX® 9.0 or above.
Mac® System/OS:


- 1.0 GHz or higher, G4 or G5 processor.
- 512 Megabytes RAM or higher. DDR RAM recommended.
- ATI or NVIDIA video hardware with 64 MB VRAM or more.
- 3 Gigabytes or more of available hard drive space.
- MacOS X 10.3 ("Panther") or better.
[ Back to Top ]


9. Troubleshooting

===============================
A. Preventive Maintenance: One of the most important steps in preventing game errors is ensuring that your system is optimally configured for play.
Driver updates: It is critical that your hardware devices are using the latest releases of their driver software. Such devices include your video card, sound card, motherboard, and mouse.

To start, make sure you have the latest drivers for your video and sound cards. You'll want to check with your computer manufacturer or the video/sound card manufacturer's website for the current drivers that match the model of card you have in your system. A list of manufacturers with contact information can be found at http://www.blizzard.com/support/?id=msi0369p.

There is one exception to this rule of thumb. If you are using a laptop, always use the drivers provided by the laptop manufacturer before using the drivers released by individual video and sound card vendors.

If you are not sure what video card you have installed and you are using a PC, you may use the DirectX Diagnostic program to find out what video card is installed.

Steps to run DirectX Diagnostic tool:


- Click the Start button.
- Click the Run item in the Start Menu.
- Type Dxdiag
- Press the Enter key on the keyboard.
- Click the Display tab in the Dxdiag window.
- Look in the Device information box at the top left of the screen for card information.
- Look in the Drivers information box at the top right of the screen for driver information.
If you are using a Mac, you can use the Apple System Profiler application to find out what video card you are using.

Steps to run Apple System Profiler:


- Click on the Apple icon in the menu bar.
- Click on the About this Mac item.
- Click on the More Information button.
- For Mac OS X 10.3:
- Click the triangle icon to the left of the Hardware list item.
- Click the PCI/AGP cards item.
- Look for the card listed in the AGP slot.

- For Mac OS X 10.2.8 and lower:
- Click the Devices and Volumes tab.
- Click the triangle icon to the left of the PCI list item.
- Look for the card listed in the AGP slot.

Next, make sure the latest video drivers you are using are compatible with the latest version of DirectX. If they are not compatible, you could experience video problems. Not every video driver is compatible with the newest versions of DirectX. Contact your video card manufacturer to ensure compatibility if you cannot find the information on the page you downloaded your video drivers from. Make sure you have the latest version of DirectX from http://www.microsoft.com/directx/homeus ... efault.asp. This is important! You will need DirectX 9.0 to play World of Warcraft on a Windows PC.

Motherboards require updates as well. If you do not know the name of your motherboard manufacturer, you can speak to the system manufacturer for more information. Check the motherboard manufacturer's website for updated chipset drivers, first. If you can't find updated drivers at the manufacturer's website, the next two most common locations for chipset drivers are http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2 and http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/

While mouse difficulties are uncommon, those that do occur can usually be easily resolved through software updates. Make sure that you are using the latest driver for the device as indicated by the manufacturer. Some pointing devices also utilize proprietary software, and you may need to update that as well. If problems still occur, you can disable such software and/or try running with a generic driver from the operating system.

OS updates: Our games work best with updated and patched operating systems. Make sure your version of Windows has all the latest updates by checking http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com.

File permission problems can arise when Mac OS X is updated. Such problems can cause our games to not launch or to unexpectedly quit when certain game features are accessed. When problems occur, please use the steps below to repair file permission settings for the hard drive on which you have installed World of WarcraftMac OS X 10.3 (Panther):


- Click the Finder icon in the Dock.
- Open the Applications folder.
- Open the Utilities folder.
- Double-click on the Disk Utility application icon.
- Select the hard drive on which the game is installed on.
- Select the Disk First Aid option.
- Click the Repair File Permissions button.
Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar):
- Click the Finder icon in the Dock.
- Open the Applications folder.
- Open the Utilities folder.
- Double-click the Disk First Aid application icon.
- Click the Repair File Permissions button.

Drive maintenance: There are some basic forms of hard drive maintenance that can increase performance and reduce errors.

Please run a thorough scandisk and defragmentation of your hard drive(s). You will probably find it helpful to disable your screen saver and power management features before you use scandisk or defrag. Sometimes Windows will restart the defragmentation and/or scandisk if your screen saver or power management kicks in.

(Windows 98/Me)


- Click the Start button and go to Run.
- Type in "scandisk" (without quotes) and click the OK button.
- Follow the prompts, select "Thorough" scandisk and let it run.
- This process will tell you if there are any problems on the hard disk.
- Click the Start button and go to Run
- Type in "defrag" (without quotes) and click the OK button.
- Follow the prompts to defrag your hard drive.
- This will make the available space more usable by your programs.
(Windows 2000/XP)


- Open My Computer, and select the local disk you want to check.
- On the File menu, click Properties.
- Click the Tools tab.
- Under Error-checking, click "Check Now".
- Under "Check disk options",, select the "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" check box and the "Automatically fix file system errors" box.
- Select yes to schedule after restart if a dialog box comes up prompting you to do so.
- Restart your computer
- Open My Computer, and select the local disk you want to check.
- On the File menu, click Properties.
- Click the Tools tab.
- Under Defragmentation, click "Defragment Now."
- Select volume to defragment.
- Click Defragment.
Windows 98/Me only: Run the System File Checker to scan for damaged or missing files in Windows by clicking on Start, then going to Run and type "sfc" without the quotes. Follow the prompts to check the integrity of your files.

For Mac computers, game files can become corrupted, ironically, by popular "Disk Repair" software if it has not been updated to work with the version of the Mac OS that is installed on your computer. OS settings: In the operating system of your computer, there are settings you can change to provide a smoother game experience and reduce errors.

First, make sure all power management settings are disabled or turned off. If you have a screen saver, set it to "None" before playing the game.

Also, before starting the game in your Windows environment, make sure there are no other programs running in the background except for Explorer & Systray. Press Control+Alt+Delete to see a list of programs running in the background.

This is also an important issue for Macs. The Mac OS X is a preemptively multi-tasked and memory-protected operating system. At any time there could be hundreds of processes running in the background. Most of these processes are run by the system at the "root" level. We are not concerned with these processes. However, some processes are run at the "user" level, and these should be trimmed to a minimum set before one of our games is started.

Mac OS X 10.3:


1. Click on the Finder icon in the Dock.
2. Open the Applications folder.
3. Open the Utilities folder.
4. Double-click on the Activity Monitor application icon.
5. Select "My Processes" in the Show choice bar.
6. Use the Quit Process button to close processes which do not appear in the list below.
- Activity Monitor
- ATSServer
- Dock
- Finder
- LaunchCFMApp
- loginwindow
- Mirror Agent
- mount_webdav
- pbs
- SecurityAgent
- Speech Synthesis Server
- SystemUIServer
- Window Server



Mac OS X 10.2:

1. Click the Finder icon in the Dock.
2. Open the Applications folder.
3. Open the Utilities folder.
4. Double click the Process Viewer application icon.
5. Select "My Processes" in the Show choice bar.
6. Use the Quit option in the Process menu to close processes which do not appear in the list below.
- ATSServer
- Dock
- Finder
- LaunchCFMApp
- loginwindow
- pbs
- ProcessViewer
- SecurityAgent
- SystemUIServer
- Window Manager

If your system is overclocked, it may be producing too much heat, which will adversely affect program performance. If the system is producing high amounts of heat but is not overclocked, we would suggest you add a fan to your system to help distribute heat in the case.

B. Login/Connection Problems: Please keep in mind that the beta server may be unavailable for short periods of time to accommodate updates, maintenance, and reboots. Prolonged connection problems, however, should be reported to Technical Support. Also, whenever a connection problem exists, be sure to try connecting again after disabling any firewall you may have.

Password loss: The World of Warcraft beta does indeed offer password recovery. Within the login screen are options for generating a replacement password. Simply follow the onscreen instructions for getting a new password sent to your email address.

The installation never starts or has stopped at some point:


- The patch server may be down or overloaded. Please try patching at another time.
- Temporarily disable any antivirus software you may have running. Antivirus programs scan files as they are downloading, and this scanning can cause delays that stall the download process.

- Make sure any firewall or security software you have is allowing World of Warcraft unrestricted access to the Internet. Blizzard Entertainment is unable to assist with the configuration of firewalls, routers, or network configurations. Please contact the manufacturer of your individual hardware/software components for further assistance.

World of Warcraft Port Information:


3724
9081
9100
9090
9091
8086
8087
C. Startup Problems: The following are some of the most common errors related to the initialization of the program. Many problems that occur on startup are related to a corrupt data files. If you are experiencing a problem that is not listed below, or the steps listed do not resolve the problem, please contact Technical Support.

The program crashes when I start it.


- Check that your computer meets the minimum system requirements.
- Make sure your computer's drivers are up to date.
- Delete the program and allow for a full reinstallation of the game.
The game crashes, and I receive an error with an .MPQ file:


ERROR #131 (0x85100083)
Program: C:\Temp\wowupdater\WoW Friends & Family\Wow.exe
File: .\Data\World\Maps\Kalimdor\Kalimdor.wdt.MPQ
An error resulting from an .MPQ file means that the file listed has become altered or corrupted.


- Locate and delete the corrupted file.
- Delete the .sig files in the root directory for the game.
- Start the game and the new file will begin downloading.
I receive the following error when trying to start or play the game:


ERROR #0 (0x85100000)
Program: C:\ wow\ \WowClient.exe
File: D:\build\buildWoW\WoW\Source\DB\DBClient\DBCache.cpp
Line: 289
Expr: tag==m_fileTag
An error resulting from DBCache.cpp means that one or more of the cache files have become altered or corrupted. These are temporary files that can be deleted. Once the old versions are removed, new versions of these files will be created the next time the game is launched. These files are located inside the WDB folder, which is inside the root directory for the game.

I am running a Mac, and I receive an error when trying to start the game:


Assertion Failed 0
RsyncClient.cpp.592

We have seen problems when people use Internet Explorer to download the Mac Patcher files. When you download the files, you should have a WoW launcher file and a folder called Data. You want to make a new folder for where you want to install World of Warcraft, and then move the launcher file and Data folder into that new directory. If you use the internet Internet browser called Safari, it should automatically do all of this for you.

The program worked before, but now WoW crashes every time I try to start it


- Try deleting the contents of the WTF and WDB directories in WoW's root directory. (See above for specific crashes)
- Something may have corrupted your game files. You should check your computer for a virus using an Antivirus program. Check this URL for more information on viruses and trojans: http://www.blizzard.com/support/?id=asi0462p

D. Video Problems: Most video errors are rooted in software and settings. See Section A which discusses preventative maintenance and basic solutions to video errors. These are some common display issues reported by our testers. If you are experiencing a problem that is not listed below, or the steps listed do not resolve the problem, please contact Technical Support.

Selection circles do not appear around a selected NPC or character

Running World of Warcraft in "OpenGL" mode may cause certain graphical effects not to display properly. Switching the rendering mode of the game from "OpenGL" to "Direct 3D" can resolve some display issues.


- Open the World of Warcraft folder on your hard drive.
- Open the WTF folder.
- Open the Config.wtf file using a text editor, like Notepad.
- Change SET gxApi "opengl" to SET gxApi "direct3d"
- Save the file and start World of Warcraft again.
Gameplay is slow or choppy:

Adjust the in-game graphical settings to a lower configuration. Most settings can be adjusted through the Options menu by pressing the Esc key while in the game. Settings can also be adjusted from outside the game via the Config.wtf file.


- Open the World of Warcraft folder on your hard drive.
- Open the WTF folder.
- Open the Config.wtf file using a text editor, like Notepad.
These settings were intended to allow advanced users the ability to customize the performance of the game. To quickly increase performance speed, try some or all of the following instructions.


SET lod "0"
Toggles Terrain Level of Detail (LOD) on “1” and off “0”.
SET lodDist "100"
Sets the distance at which the Terrain Level of Detail (LOD) change occurs. The average range is 50-100. LodDist only functions when LOD is "1".

SET doodadAnim “0”
Setting this to "1" will enable environment animations, such as windmills and birds.

SET mapShadows “0”
Turns display of terrain shadows on “1” or “off”.

SET shadowLevel "0"
Sets the resolution of the shadow maps on the terrain. “0” is high, and “1” is low.

SET farclip "477.0"
This matches the FarClip slider bar in the Game Options menu. The range is 177 to 777.

SET pixelShaders "0"
Enabling pixelShaders allows the world to be rendered in fewer passes, potentially increasing performance on cards that support them.

SET specular "0"
Specular cannot be used without pixelShaders. This option enables specular highlighting on certain terrain textures, giving a shiny, reflective look to some objects.

Adjust the AGP aperture of the video card (if available). A general rule of thumb is to set the aperture to twice (x2) the amount of built-in video memory on the video card. Therefore, if you have a 64MB video card, set the AGP aperture to 128. You can adjust this amount further as needed.

Note: This is a more advanced step. Blizzard Entertainment is unable to provide instructions for setting the AGP aperture of a video card. Please contact your computer or video card manufacturer or assistance.

Game play is slow or choppy only in town:

If you are experiencing poor frame rates when you enter the large city areas, try changing rendering modes between "OpenGL" and "Direct 3D" modes. All graphical rendering modes are currently being optimized, so some systems work better under certain conditions at the moment.


- Open the World of Warcraft folder on your hard drive.
- Open the WTF folder.
- Open the Config.wtf file using a text editor, like Notepad.
- Choose either SET gxApi "opengl” or SET gxApi "direct3d"
- Save the file and start World of Warcraft again.
Game textures shimmer, flicker, or are distorted:

Some video cards may experience problems displaying certain texturing effects while you are playing. Graphic issues may include the following: shimmering colors across static textures, solid green or white blocky textures, missing geometry, or missing textures.

To resolve these problems, turn Specularity and Pixel Shaders to “0”


- Open the World of Warcraft folder on your hard drive.
- Open the WTF folder.
- Open the Config.wtf file using a text editor, like Notepad.
- Change SET specular "1" to SET specular "0"
- Change SET pixelShaders "1" to SET pixelShaders "0"
- Save the file and start World of Warcraft again.
Graphical settings are corrupted or not set properly:

At any time you can restore your game settings back to default by deleting the Config.wtf file. This file can be located in your World of Warcraft directory inside the WTF folder. A new Config.wtf file will be created the next time the game is run. Game settings that have been changed during the latest game session will not be fully updated until you exit the game.

E. Audio Problems: Here are some of the most common sound issues reported by our testers. If you are experiencing a problem that is not listed below, or the steps listed do not resolve the problem, please contact Technical Support.

Some sounds are playing louder than others: Delete the Config.wtf file. This file can be found in the WoW's WTF folder ( C:/../WoW/WTF/Config.wtf )

Sound starts to decay until no sound can be heard: Try reinstalling DirectX (http://www.microsoft.com/directx) and reinstalling the latest drivers for your sound card. It is possible that some program has modified the DirectSound or driver settings.

Cannot hear any sound at all: Check the sound.log for errors initializing. This log can be found in the WoW's root directory.


Example of an error-free log:
2/20 12:14:41.018 Sound::Initialize()
2/20 12:14:41.398 memory system configured: SMem wrappers
2/20 12:14:41.679 Output system: 12 'Direct Sound'
2/20 12:14:41.679 Driver: 0 'Primary Sound Driver' 00000003
2/20 12:14:41.679 Mixer: 0 'MMXP6'
2/20 12:14:41.679 Buffer size: 100ms
2/20 12:14:41.679 Channels: 36 (12 software, 12 2D hardware(dsound), 12 3D hardware)
2/20 12:14:41.679 Output rate: 44100 Hz
2/20 12:14:41.679 Initialization flags: 00000080
2/20 12:14:41.679 Sound::Initialize() complete
Popping or Cracking sounds while playing the game: Uninstall programs that may have placed audio codecs on your system (e.g. video/audio players).

Apple Macintosh crashes: We are aware of an uncommon problem with Macintosh game clients crashing, and turning off ambient sounds has helped some people. You can do this using the in-game menu or setting it manually by editing the Config.wtf file found in WoW's WTF folder.


Change:
SET EnableAmbience "1"
To:
SET EnableAmbience "0"
F. Gameplay Problems: Since World of Warcraft is in the beta stage of development, you may find graphic, sound, or interface anomalies while playing the game, or you may find that functionality changes over time. Examples might include control issues while interacting with the user interface, display problems with your character, communication with others, or even issues with how skills are working. If you experience something in the game that you do not believe is functioning properly, there are two primary ways of sending this information to us:

- Use the in-game commands of /bug or /suggest, or click the “Help Request” button at the bottom of the screen in the Action Bar. This will send your feedback directly to those responsible for making changes to the game. Using /bug will only allow you to submit bug reports, using /suggest will only allow you to submit suggestion requests; and clicking the “Help Request” button will allow you to submit either. This is the recommended course of action for all bugs or glitches that you come across.

- Email us a report at wowsupport@blizzard.com. By emailing us at wowsupport@blizzard.com, you can help the appropriate parties identify the issue at hand, and we will try and help you resolve the issue.

Customizable user interface: In order to offer the greatest amount of flexibility and functionality for the player, the user interface (UI) in World of Warcraft has been designed so that it may be customized. However, UI customization is not a supported feature of the game. If you are having any technical issues related to the game, please remove all custom UI files from your installation before contacting Technical Support.

Removing custom UI files is easy. Custom content for the user interface is stored in the Interface folder in the root World of Warcraft directory. Delete any Interface folder you see there, along with any files inside. The game will display the default interface the next time you start. Make sure you do not delete any other Interface files or folders from the game folder. More information about custom user interfaces can be found at www.worldofwarcraft.com.

Control issues: If any of the key bindings are not functioning properly, you may want to try resetting the key bindings back to the default settings. To do this, you can access the options menu with the following steps:


- Press Esc.
- Select “Options”.
- Select “Key Bindings”.
- Select “Reset To Default”.
This will reset all of the keyboard hotkeys back to the default settings, so any changes that may have been previously made will now be undone. If you continue to experience issues with controls after setting the key bindings back to default, you may want to use the /bug command and/or contact us at wowsupport@blizzard.com.

G. Contacting Support: If you continue to experience technical difficulties, you can contact our Technical Support department for more information.

Email: Email support for the World of Warcraft beta can reached at wowsupport@blizzard.com. When contacting us, please include your name, beta account name, and a description of the problem. If you have tested all of the steps in this troubleshooting guide, be sure to include copies of your system files as attatchments to your email.

To obtain system diagnostic files for Windows-based machines, follow the instructions below:

Important note: Please reboot your system prior to creating the Dxdiag and MSInfo files.


1. Click Start.
2. Click Run.
3. Type in DXDIAG and press Enter or click OK. This will open the DirectX diagnostic tool. Run the DirectDraw, Direct3D and DirectSound tests found under the Display and Sound tabs before creating the dxdiag.txt file.
4. Click the "Save All Information" button (save this file to your Windows desktop, and name the file dxdiag).
5. Click the "More Help" tab and open the Microsoft system information tool (MSInfo).
6. Click File and choose Export (save this file to your Windows desktop as a text file, and name it MSInfo). Please make sure to save this file as a .txt file and NOT as an .nfo file.
7. Attach the dxdiag.txt and MSinfo.nfo files to your reply email.
*Special MSinfo instructions for Windows 2000 users:
1. Create your dxdiag.txt file as explained above
2. Now choose the More Help tab
3. Click the MSInfo button
4. Important! Be sure to highlight the System Information in the top left
5. Go to the Action menu; choose "All Tasks", then "Save As Text File"
6. Save the file to your desktop and name the file msinfo.txt.
7. Attach this msinfo.txt file and the dxdiag.txt file to your reply email.

For Macs, please send us a complete Apple System Profiler report for your system as an email attachment. The Apple System Profiler is a tool Apple includes with the Mac OS. In Mac OS X, the program is in the Utilities folder, which is in the Applications folder on your hard drive. To generate a report from the Apple System Profiler application, select the "Save As" item or the "Export" item in the File menu. Please save the report as an .rtf file or a .txt file rather than as a different file type.

Bugs and Suggestions: A bug is a problem with the game that is not related to any one individual system, and so it can be reproduced by other players. Bugs should be reported using the appropriate button on the Action Bar at the bottom of the game screen. Please use this same utility to make suggestions for improvements to the game. We are looking forward to hearing your feedback!

Telephone Support: Live phone support is offered Monday through Friday 9 AM to 6 PM Pacific Standard Time. You can contact us at 1-949-955-1382 between the hours of 9 AM and 6 PM Pacific Standard Time. This form of support is offered at no charge (other than any normal long distance charges from your phone company for calls from outside your area).

Game Masters: Game Masters (GMs) will be available in-game during the beta, but initial plans do not call for scheduled GM service. When the test begins, you may see GMs become available on an unscheduled basis, and with increasing prevalence as the beta progresses. Game Masters are not available to settle player disputes, but will be on hand to assist with gameplay problems. Game Masters can be identified by the logo that appears next to their names.

Forums: Whenever you are investigating a game failure, it is recommended you check our World of Warcraft forums for information from Blizzard employees and other testers regarding that problem. Our forums can be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com.

Game Strategy: For strategies and other information on gameplay please see http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info