You most likely are sending and receiving data in this way. I'm not completely sure if the blizzard downloader/updater uses the same torrent protocol as what's out in the wild, but it likely uses a variation of it. If you read it says that the updater runs in this way, and within the options there is an option to disable peer-to-peer transfers. However unless there are technical reasons not to use peer-to-peer then I would not recommend doing so. you can either use one pipeline to get your data or simultaneously use multiple pipelines to get it, making downloading much faster (usually, in some cases things like firewalls, school networks, etc. have other complications that might slow you down but that is another issue).
Torrent is simply a protocol, it is a standardized way of allowing computers to find and talk to each other (so is IM, SMS text messaging, e-mail, and FTP, which stands for File Transfer Protocol). People often confuse this with the content that CAN be sent via the torrent protocol (both illegal and legal material). With the blizzard downloader/updater, you are sending and receiving data from within a closed group of people with highly restricted content (patches is all I know of that gets distributed this way). There is no danger of viruses or such, and you are not doing anything illegal or immoral in that blizzard is giving you the material and allowing you to pass it on to other blizzard subscribers.
Blizzard could and in fact still does allow you to download directly from their servers, however the huge demand placed on those servers and the giant bottleneck of people trying to get their patch data at the same time means that each persons download takes/took much longer. In the end you can make the choice to be a part of the peer-to-per network that allows us all to get our game data faster or not, but in the end it will likely just slow you down.
New Streaming Launcher Coming in Patch 4.0.1
The launcher will let you stream game data while you play.
Blizzard just revealed details on the new World of Warcraft launcher that's being introduced with patch 4.0.1, and it will actually let you stream game data while you play. This will reduce the time you spend downloading, installing, and patching the game.
The new launcher will use a color-coded progress bar to show you how much data you've downloaded. If it's red, you can't play. You can play if it's yellow, but it won't be ideal. If it's green, you're good to go!
You can read the FAQ for the new streaming launcher after the jump. It's safe to say patch 4.0.1 is going live tomorrow, so you can expect to see the redesigned launcher soon enough.
Q. The new launcher streams data using Peer-to-Peer (P2P). Do I only seed when I’m also downloading something, or will I be uploading data to other players all the time?
A. As with the previous system, you will no longer seed once you've downloaded all the data.
Q. Will P2P be used to download data while in-game?
A. Eventually, yes. Not during this initial release.
Q. The background downloader currently allows me to continue downloading after exiting the game. Can you add that feature to this new system?
A. We intend to add this feature in the future. Until then, you can open your Launcher again after you exit the game if you wish to continue downloading game data.
Q. How is data assigned to each stage?
A. Data is assigned to each stage based on the relative need for that data. Red is required to get into the game, Yellow is data needed for baseline gameplay, and Green is for variants of base game data (higher-resolution graphics, alternate sounds, other flavor data).
Q. How do I know when the entire game is downloaded?
A. The progress bar will reach 100%, and then will not be shown on subsequent launches (until a new patch is released).
Q. Will I still be able to download patches from mirror sites?
A. Standalone patches will be made available again soon.
Q. Will the downloader still use P2P / BitTorrent?
A. Yes.
Q. Will large patches still be downloadable in advance through the background downloader?
A. Yes.
Q. Will it be possible to download the entire game before I begin playing it?
A. Yes.
Q. Is downloading game data in advance mandatory?
A. No. Users will have the option of playing before all game data is downloaded and applied. They may choose to enter the game, or they may choose to wait.
Q. On patch days, will I be able to start the patch download before the realms are back up?
A. Yes.
Q. Will I still be able to download a patch once and copy it to multiple machines?
A. Yes, as long as you have fully downloaded the entire patch. However, as with the prior expansions, patches from a previous major version (all patches prior to 4.0) will not work with the new major version.
Q. What if I have a low bandwidth connection?
A. Users with connections below 1 MB/sec will be required to download both Setup (Red) and Available (Yellow) data before entering the game.
Tags: News, WorldofWarcraft