World of Warcraft: Forever is off to a great start with Blizzard’s smoothest launch in memory

World of Warcraft: Forever launched with unusually few technical problems, surprising players who expected the long queues, lag and disconnections common to major releases. The smooth start matters because the game followed a record-breaking beta that drew many players back to the MMO.

European players logging in between about 11pm and 3.50am faced short, steadily moving queues and little lag; one early server-selection problem was fixed by rejoining the queue. Some player shards felt too empty, and boats and zeppelins were out of service, so temporary portals were added. Blizzard developers credited advance preparation, while the launch’s late-night timing means its overall performance remains unclear.