World of Warcraft: Dragonflightis just a bit over a week away from launch, and to help ensure the experience is smooth for its players, Blizzard Entertainment announced a Launch Test taking place on the beta servers that will simulate the circumstances of the real deal as closely as possible.Expansion launches inWorld of Warcrafthave always been a chaotic affair, with many people trying to break through memorably long queues only to suffer a lag-staggered introduction to the new expansion.
Though some players now humorously recall the first two weeks inWarlords of Draenor, no one was happy with the state of the servers at the time, and the collective frustration in theWorld of Warcraftcommunity drowned out any other discourse. Blizzard Entertainment clearly wanted to make sure that this never happened again, and thoughLegion’s launch had its hiccups, the release ofBattle for AzerothandShadowlandswas so smooth that evenFinal Fantasy 14developers congratulated Blizzardon it.
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To continue this streak of stability and excellence, theWorld of Warcraftteam has scheduled a stress test on its beta servers tomorrow November 21 at 12:00 PM PST. The servers will be taken offline at noon, and half an hour later, ill come back online in a pre-launch state (as they currently are on Live). The closing events for theDragonflightprologue will occur half an hour after that, and at 2:00 PM PST, the Dragon Isles open up to players entirely.
The test will conclude at 3:00 PM PST, after which the beta servers will go offline and relaunch in their original post-launch state, along with all previously-made characters. Though the release ofDragonflightwill undoubtedly present a bigger strain on theWorld of Warcraftservers, and the recentlaunch ofOverwatch 2left a lot to be desired, there’s no reason to doubt thatDragonflightwon’t follow in the footsteps ofShadowlandsandBattle for Azeroth.
While a lot of players have expected the expansion to launch next year, Blizzard’s efforts to stay on schedule and introduce the next chapter of theWarcraftsaga as planned should be commended – doubly so, if it sticks the landing.Dragonflightis introducing a new Hero Class, reintroducing the old talent and loot systems, and presenting a simpler story that’s closer to home for most players. It has all the ingredients needed to be a return to form forWorld of Warcraft. WhetherDragonflighttruly is that breath of fresh air – or more of the same – will be something for the players to find out on November 28.
World of Warcraftis available now for PC.Dragonflightlaunches on November 28.
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