After sending YET ANOTHER ticket to the GMs way, the response I got was the following:

Greetings Alejandro,

If this does not help, PLEASE contact our Technical Support Team.

Thank you for contacting the World of Warcraft Game Master Department.

If you are having problems patching the game or are getting errors concerning corrupt data files, then we have a repair utility that can check your files and replace any that may be corrupted. The Repair.exe should be located in your World of Warcraft directory (example C rogram FilesWorld of WarcraftRepair.exe).

If this file is not present you can download the latest version at: ("http://ftp.blizzard.com/pub/WoW/other/Repair.zip"). Be sure to unzip the file into your World of Warcraft directory and run it from there.

Reverting the game to a previous version may also assist with the troubleshooting process. In order to revert the game to a previous version, please try the following steps:

1. Open your World of Warcraft directory (This is commonly located at C rogram filesWorld of Warcraft)
2. Run the repair.exe utility found in the World of Warcraft directory
3. Click the button "Reset and Check Files"
4. Once the repair utility has completed, you will need to reapply the patch to enter the game.

If you continue to experience errors, please visit our Technical Support page: (http://www.blizzard.com/support/wow/) for information on how to contact our Technical Support Department by phone or email.

Thank you again for contacting us. We hope you continue to enjoy your experience in World of Warcraft!

*** Please do not respond to this email as all conversations on this matter would be best handled online. ***



Regards,
Baodhaden
Game Master
Blizzard Entertainment
www.worldofwarcraft.com

....

Where did I mention problems with patching and corrupt files issues? Geez. They don't even read the effing tickets! =D

Notice how this ticket is closed in a "do not reply" way. Nice going.

More on this as it follows. This is my last stand.

My opinion: they don't actually read tickets, they auto-reply

Ive heard deleting your WTF folder solves everything and cures AIDS

Ditto: And that thing Pam brought back
from Vagas =o

Update 1.

I sent an email to Tech Support, saying the following:

Dear sir, madam, or gnome:

The first thing I will do is apologize. This email is written from a person experiencing the following issues for like 3 months, and I'm more than a little bit frustrated. Please understand it's nothing personal.

This email is basically a last stand. I have been experiencing connection issues and disconnects for quite some time now. The issue presents itself as follows:

- Characters not in Northrend experience little to no lag. If in an instance, I can get a lag spike in certain pulls.

- Characters in Northrend experience frequent lag spikes, particularly around the vicinity of Dalaran. Sometimes even disconnects.

- 10 man raids experience severe lag issues, with frequent disconnects. Depending on how the game is feeling, I can do the raid, or not.

- 25 man raids experience constant disconnects, 1 or 2 seconds after a trash or boss pull. Once I disconnect, I can no longer log back into the game (loading screen fills up, then I get disconnected instantly) until said trash or boss is dead.

- Battlegrounds experience the same issues as 10 or 25 man raids, respectively.

- Arena experiences the occasional lag spike, but nothing serious compared to the rest.

That being said, I have tried EVERYTHING. Clean install of WoW, needless to say I'm running with no addons of any sort, did a repair & check on WoW files, formatted my computer, bought a new modem, nothing did anything. You name it, I tried it. The lag was there, always and forever.

Disheartened, I left the game for a month. Or something like that. One day out of the blue I decide to log back in. Lo and behold! It's working perfectly. Raided with no problems, even with a crapton of addons. I said okay, makes no sense at all for it to fix itself, but what the hell, I'm back with a vengeance.

Until 3 weeks ago.

The connection issues have returned. I won't even bother you with my raiding status in my guild because 1) it really is none of your damn concern 2) you more than probably don't give a damn either 3) it really isn't relevant to the issue at hand.

The real issue is that I'm paying for a product I can't use in full. Sure I can level up my alts, do the occasional 10 man raid, do arena. Seek achievements. There's tons of things I can do in the game, I will not deny it. However, those reasons are the only ones why I keep paying the game and have not cancelled. Raiding is a big part of the fun I have in the game, and if I can't do them, eventually all those reasons will not be enough for me to continue paying, and I'll cancel. And I really don't want to cancel, because I really like the game.

Adding to this is the extremely poor support given by the Game Masters. For example, one of my many tickets got answered with a very obvious template, stating...

"If you are experiencing lag issues and disconnects in instances such as Tempest Keep or Karazhan..."

I stopped reading at this point. Seriously, if you're gonna dismiss my ticket and send a template my way, at least make sure it's updated. Hey, I worked in Customer Support in the past. I know templates are a great way of getting rid of bothersome and senseless tickets. But if you don't keep them updated, the game's up the moment the client reads the template. =)

Disregarding for the sake of my sanity the amount of ignored tickets, the last straw was the latest ticket I opened, which got the following response:

"If you are having problems patching the game or are getting errors concerning corrupt data files..."

Seriously. Where in the hell I mentioned that kind of issues in my ticket? Needless to say the solution didn't work at all.
Which gets us to this point, where I sincerely don't know what else to do. What really confuses me is: if it suddenly fixed itself with no apparent reason, how can I pinpoint the cause of my issues? Should I just give it time and quit until it decides to fix itself again? Sounds like a really poor solution to me.
I am entirely at your disposal. There's really nothing else left for me to do anyway.

Again, my apologies for the rudeness and thanks for your time.
Varlus

*****
First response:

Salutations,

Thank you for contacting Blizzard Entertainment Technical Support. My name is Rachel and I will be assisting you today.

As a fellow player, I know this situation could be frustrating and I want to thank you for your understanding as we work through this issue together.

I understand you have already been in contact with us about this problem, please attach any previous emails we have exchanged on this subject and specify what steps, specifically, you have already taken so I know where to start - please also include your Operating System.

I want to let you know that I am here to get you back to playing normally as quickly as possible.

For the fastest possible solution for game issues, please check the World of Warcraft Support Site - http://www.blizzard.com/support/wow.

Sincerely,

Rachel P.
Technical Support
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.blizzard.com/support

********

I replied to this email with a transcript of a previous conversation with a GM, which is too long to copy & paste. Skipping to the GM's next response.

********

Salutations,

Thank you for contacting Blizzard Entertainment Technical Support.

It sounds like we have already identified a potential issue with the way your connection is getting to our servers. 400+ms is definately not ideal. That being said, I think there are still things that you can do on your end to improve overall performance.

Here is a link of absolutely everything you can do to optomize your performance: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=10971909544&sid=1

Right off the bat, you said you were using XP service pack 2, and service pack 3 is available currently.

So, there are two things I am asking you to do. 1 Contact your ISP again and give them your trace route information. If they keep saying it has nothing to do with them, you can ask for a supervisor and make sure they are looking at the same information you are. 2 Perform the steps on that forum post. Your overall experience in WoW should be better, and might make it less painful while you work with your ISP to get the connection issues resolved.

Please let me know how it goes.

Sincerely,

Rachel P.
Technical Support
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.blizzard.com/support

*********

To which I replied:

*********

Hello Rachel,

I read your email and I thank you for your response.

First, while 400+ ms latency might be not ideal, bear in mind that I live in Argentina. It's virtually impossible to keep latencies of below 300 ms for a long time. Back when the game worked fine, my latency went from 300 in the best cases to 500 in raids and battleground, and it was completely playable.

While the forum topic you provided is extremely useful, it has nothing to do with my issue. I have no performance issues of any sort, FPS stays at a steady 60 FPS in all cases. My question is the following: you say I should upgrade to Service Pack 3, and also contact my ISP about this. Like I said before, I will never vouch for my ISP; I don't know if you know, but ISPs in Argentina leave a lot to be desired. However, how is it that all of a sudden, 3 weeks ago the game works fine, and then again all of a sudden I get hit with the same lag issues as before? This is what most confuses me. I know a bit about computers, and I certainly don't believe things "fix by themselves".

Nevertheless, I will contact my ISP as soon as possible and give them my trace route. Unfortunately, my knowledge of network connections is limited at best, which means I could be easily lied to. I will let you know how this goes as soon as possible.

Thank you for your time.
Varlus/Geama

**************

More as it develops.

Varlus it sucks that you are having to deal with this BS, your a great player and I think all of us here want to have you back in 25 man raids just as much as you do yourself.

If the problem "fixed" itself on its own it really sounds like it has to do with your ISP provider to me, although I'm far from being an expert. What the fuck is up with South American internet anyway? Even Peron disconnects every night at 10pm, what the hell is up with that?? Maybe there are two hamsters in an excercise wheel running his modem and 10pm just happens to be their break time, who knows.

I wish I could offer you some advice but I'm like a ham fisted idiot when it comes to fixing computers, in fact the last time I tried fixing a computer I think I droped a piece of a charleston chew on my mother board and fried it.

Short answer: his modem. already fixed, it seems.



I think the same about this problem. It's usually the ISP fault down here, but then again we don't really have that much choice... except hoping it's really blizzard's.

I know Pam doesn't. xD



I can't speak for the other countries in South America, but I can speak from Argentina. It's, more or less, like this.

Imagine the state you live in is divided in two, south and north. Then imagine there are 2 telephone companies, that due to an agreement divided themselves ownership of the "halves". So, for example, Company A has the North part, Company B has the South. Now, each of the companies has an Internet service.

I'm pretty sure you can see the trap now.

Say you live in the North side. Your ONLY choice is Company A's Internet service. You don't like it? Better move or suck it up, 'cuz you don't have any other choice. Which is precisely the reason why they don't give a fuck. Truth be told, there ARE other alternatives, but to be honest, they are virtually disastrous, from what I've experienced.

Now, why is this the way it is down here? Simple answer: Third World country. It's what we have.

(I COULD go back to live in the US again... but quite frankly, moving back to another country for a game seems like too much.)

QFT

Lag fixed, as well as Raptor's. Why? Dunno. A mage did it. Tanked a crapton of whelps yesterday on 10s, not a single minor lag spike, let alone any DC. Awaiting Sunday if I get approved xD

imagine if the US was still divided north and south... we would die without internet... and yea some of us would die from that whole slavery thing.

Nice Varlus that is good to hear!

Screw you Raptor!

Dammit, now there are two more people I have to comepete with to top the DPS meters.

Wait, were talking about Varlus and Raptorx?

Nevermind, nothing to see here.