Applying Non-Critical Updates

[Canazza]

So WoW's new streaming downloader is great, it lets you play before it's finished getting everything. My question is what is this "Applying Non-Critical Updates" that appears at the end all about.

Surely, anything beyond "Playable" is non-critical, and certainly, at 100% it's downloaded everything and installed what I need to play without ever bringing up the spinning streaming sign. My download panel shows 0KB/s downloading, so it's not getting any new content, yet it sits for longer than the download took to apply these 'updates'.

During this time my upload speed is still being used to seed the patch to other players. My theory is that these "Non-critical Updates" don't exist, and really all it's doing it making sure you 1 to 1 ratio seed the patch (or at the very least keep seeding beyond the initial download).

The problem I have is why don't they just say they're installing updates (or, if they are actually updating something, mention that your bandwidth will still be utilised while the updates are going on). I used to be on mobile broadband for a while, which is inherently limited bandwidth wise (but still gets a decent speed), and while I was on it I found that 2 hours of WoW used about 20-30MB of data, so playing the game doesn't use up much. Now that I'm not, I'm still acutely aware of how much bandwidth can be eaten when you're not paying attention. There are still some people out there on a limited monthly bandwidth allowance and I know a few people who download at work or grab a copy of my install on a disc and patch using that, meanwhile, if they're not aware and keep this critical updates thing open until it ends, it sits there for hours just eating bandwidth.

[Simca]

Non-critical updates refers to cleanup and generation of some of the new Cache.mpqs stored in Data/Cache, I believe.

Either way, it goes away after 10-15 minutes, or you can just ignore it.

If you don't like the download, disable Peer to Peer transfers, restart your launcher, and then let it finish.

[Canazza]

Non-critical updates refers to cleanup and generation of some of the new Cache.mpqs stored in Data/Cache, I believe.

Either way, it goes away after 10-15 minutes, or you can just ignore it.

If you don't like the download, disable Peer to Peer transfers, restart your launcher, and then let it finish.

Yeah, but what I'm saying is that there's nothing there that says it's still using your bandwidth. I mean, mine is still sitting there up-to-date but using my upload (I'm fairly happy with it tbh, I don't mind) but just a little thing saying "20KB/s upload" next to "Up To Date" or "Applying Critical Updates" is all I'm asking for. Last thing anyone wants is to try and play WoW only to find you've gone over your bandwidth limit.