Help a Canadian MeFite in Paris play The Burning Crusade (Expansion to World of Warcraft)?

January 16, 2007 7:23 AM

Help a Canadian MeFite in Paris play The Burning Crusade (Expansion to World of Warcraft)?

Gang, here's the skinny: I'm travelling in Europe (Paris this week) with my Macbook, and I have WoW already installed. It's the North American version, since I'm from Canada. Back home in Canada a friend of mine has purchased a North American version of Burning Crusade for me, so I have a CD-Key to use. I want to continue playing on North American servers. (Otherwise I'd just buy EU versions of WoW and BC and start a new account.)

I'm downloading (via BitTorrent) a North American copy of BC, but the torrents I've found for that version aren't performing that well, and it could be days before I have the whole thing.

So far my on-line research seems to suggest that upgrading a US copy of Wow with an EU copy of BC isn't possible, but I don't have a definite answer on that yet. I know that it's no longer possible to play on EU realms with a US copy of WoW, so perhaps Blizzard has comprehensively separated the regions.

So, can anyone think of anything for me? US copies of BC that may be in Paris somehow, somewhere? A tourist-friendly 'net cafe that has anticipated my need? A trick for installing EU BC over US WoW? A faster/better torrent to download?

Any advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. My fiance is going a bit mad not being able to play, and the taunting text messages from her guild-mates aren't helping. =)

posted by chudmonkey to computers & internet (8 comments total)

The Blizzard TOS in the US appear to have changed recently forbidding access from anywhere outside certain locations - presumably to stop gold sellers from abroad.

I believe you'll need the US copy of BC but also you may need to look into tunnelling your connection through a US location or your account may end up being banned.

Can't find an URL confirming this right now, I'll see if I can track down the details later.
posted by edd at 7:48 AM on January 16, 2007

here
posted by edd at 7:55 AM on January 16, 2007

Eh, scratch all that. The official forum discussions that are linked from my link suggest you'll be fine.
posted by edd at 8:00 AM on January 16, 2007

From the looks of it, you can upgrade your account without having the expansion installed. That is, you'll be able to gain xp again but not access the BC content until your client program is updated with the new install disc. A friend last night thought it was strange, since every other mmo made you install something in order to increase the level cap and such.

This is probably the best torrent (~200 seeders).

Though you will need some disc emulation software or blank discs if you've got a model with a burner. Good luck!

(I had my copy overnighted by amazon. ; - D )
posted by cowbellemoo at 8:31 AM on January 16, 2007

edd, thanks for looking all that up. Zadcat, you're forgiven, but aren't there some better things for you to do in Montreal? cowbellmoo, that's some good info.
posted by chudmonkey at 8:41 AM on January 16, 2007

Oh, cowbellemoo, it looks like the torrent you linked is the EU version of the client. There are no comments or markings that specify, but the original upload time and the size are consistent with other EU versions available. The US version seems to be a few hundred megs smaller.
posted by chudmonkey at 8:55 AM on January 16, 2007

Blizz's addition to the EULA really adds to the, "We can and will ban your account for any reason we wish. And there's not a thing you can do about it."
posted by jmd82 at 8:57 AM on January 16, 2007

Sorry...I should have checked the comments. I gave it another shot but couldn't find a torrent that was confirmed to be the US game. Maybe by this afternoon the kiddies will have seeded the right file.

But don't feel bad if you have to wait. New content is almost always inaccessable the first night due to server crashes in WoW. I remember them opening the AQ gates and eventually giving up to watch a dvd that night. ; - /
posted by cowbellemoo at 9:36 AM on January 16, 2007