Though latency issues may be a concern, i doubt it is
THE factor behind forced
gateways.
Here's the statement from their Community Manager regarding region
locking.
Why are you going with localized servers?
To provide the absolute best connectivity to our game servers,
Blizzard has set up dedicated datacenters for World of Warcraft in
multiple regions around the world. These local servers provide
low-latency, high-speed access to ensure players have the best
possible experience playing the game. In addition to providing
local servers, Blizzard has established local teams, including game
masters, community team members, and technical support staff, in
each region in order to provide players with a high level of
customer support in their native language. Because of these local
teams, customers will be able to have their game-related concerns
addressed promptly and efficiently by knowledgeable and helpful
support representatives who understand local issues. All of these
factors will contribute to providing players with the best possible
gameplay experience when playing World of Warcraft on their
regional servers.
Conversely, playing the game on servers in distant regions would
significantly detract from the quality of the players connection
and customer-support experiences. This level of service is
inconsistent with Blizzards quality standards for World of
Warcraft and could result in negative gameplay experiences for
players of a subscription-based game service.
Nevertheless, we do recognize that players from different regions
will want to play together. Unfortunately, because of the current
realities regarding local billing requirements, privacy of
information across international boundaries, and the aforementioned
issues with connection quality between regions, we will be unable
to offer cross-regional services at the time of the North
America/Korea launch. However, for those players who still wish to
play on servers outside of their region, we will look into
providing a specific solution that addresses their concerns after
launch.
Are you aware how much this issue affects game choice for
guilds?
Yes; we've been working with guilds very closely since the
beginning of the closed beta test because we appreciate how much
they contribute to the game and to the community. One of our top
priorities is to ensure that all players enjoy the complete game
experience that World of Warcraft provides, and this is why we are
strongly recommending that players connect to their local servers
when World of Warcraft launches in their region. Regarding guilds
specifically, connecting to servers in a non-local region would
ultimately result in an adverse gameplay experience for the guild
member connecting from overseas, and we feel that this would also
negatively impact the members of the guild who are playing
locally.
What is the situation for those located in Asia? Will they
be able to play on the US servers?
While we have currently only announced our plans for launching
World of Warcraft in Korea and China, we can confirm that like
players in Europe, players in Korea and China will be able to play
on local servers and enjoy native-language customer support at
launch. For those who wish to play on servers outside of their
region, we will look into providing a specific solution that
addresses their concerns after launch.
What servers will the Middle East and Australia utilize at
launch?
We're still examining options for the Middle East and Australia and
will release more information for these regions as soon as
possible.
Will you be restricting North America based on region,
also?
As with Europe and Asia, North American players will be restricted
to North American servers. Because there are two locations to
service players in North America, we will recommend that players
there connect to the North American server that is closest to their
particular home region for the optimum online experience.
I travel overseas for work/school/military purposes. Will I
have problems playing the game?
You should be able to travel and play the game from overseas
provided you have an account in your home region. However, network
connectivity at such distances is not under Blizzards control, and
your play experience may vary as you travel, so we ask that you
bear in mind that your connection and support experience will most
likely not be optimal.
If you're stationed overseas for an extended period of time, we
recommend that you subscribe to World of Warcraft in the region
closest to you.
If I live in Europe or Asia and have preordered a US
version of the game from an online retailer, will I be able to play
the game when I receive it?
Players who do not use a method of payment accepted in North
America and who do not have a North American billing address will
not be able to play on US servers. Therefore, we highly recommend
that players in other regions instead preorder the game for their
local region and purchase their World of Warcraft subscription when
the game launches locally to them. Doing so will ensure that they
have the best possible World of Warcraft gameplay and support
experience available.
