Launcher and Downloader Patch

UPDATE 11/22/06 - Mac Support is now enabled for the Background Downloader. There is a particular issue with it's use which Mac users will probably want to know. You can find out more on the Mac Tech Support forum or follow this link:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=48524896&postId=485404862&sid=1#0

UPDATE 11/21/06 - We have discovered an issue which was causing the downloader to operate incorrectly for players while logged in. We are working to correct this matter as quickly as possible.

Players accessing the game through the World of Warcraft Launcher will receive a patch for our launcher and downloader tools. This patch brings the launcher and downloader tools up to date in preparation for background downloading the 2.0.1 patch data.

If you do not use the launcher to access the game you will not be able to use the background downloader and will instead receive the tools update the next time you receive a game patch. It’s necessary to use the launcher in order to receive the tools update and background download patch data.

You may notice that the background downloader is downloading very slowly or that the percentage downloaded is not moving. This is the intended functionality of the background downloader as it is meant to run for extended lengths of time at a slow speed so as not to impact performance.

We do not currently have a tools update for Mac users but we will have one available shortly.

Q u o t e:
How do we re-enable the launcher if we changed the shortcut to bypass it?

You can change the shortcut to point to Launcher.exe instead of the WoW.exe, or navigate to your World of Warcraft directory (default C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\) and double click the Launcher.exe or create a new shortcut to the executable.

Updated original post. We've uncovered a matter that was preventing players from downloading while online/logged in/playing.

Q u o t e:



Does that also cover online/logged out/not playing? It wouldn't download at all for me last night.



And yes, I made sure all the settings were correct to allow it to download.

For the time being, we are converting to direct downloading, so whatever your status (logged in or no) we hope this should provide a temporary solution to the matter.

Q u o t e:
Hmm...any news on the Mac tools update?

Just updated the original post with info for Mac users.