WoW Classic queue times soar as players crowd boat to WotLK

A boat glides across icy waters towards WoW Classic's WotLK expansion — (Image credit: Blizzard)

The re-release of Wrath of the Lich King has sent WoW Classic queue times soaring, so you’ll be waiting in a fairly lengthy queue if you fancy jumping in.

Blizzard is currently rolling out the Wrath Classic servers across various regions. As we explain in our WoW WotLK release time post, the new update is out in America though European players had to wait. What’s proving to be a popular – and familiar, if you played the pre-patch – sight for everyone though, is lengthy queue times to get in.

Players have taken to social media and the forums to share some of their wait times, with queue times ranging from one hour to seven and beyond. On the bright side, we’re also seeing plenty of World of Warcraft memes, so you have something both amusing and relatable to eyeball while you wait. Just hope that you don’t get disconnected from the queue and hop back into a longer one.

The excitement for Wrath Classic can be seen in the MMORPG itself, too, as WoW players rub shoulders as they squeeze onto the boat to Darkshore. Seeing your frame rate suffer in an old game isn’t too uncommon, though that boat is getting packed with enough players to sink both vessel and server.

how_the_wotlk_launch_experience_is_going_for_me from r/wow

Mind you, this isn’t the first time WoW Classic fans have seen queue times lately. The Wrath Classic pre-patch saw equally lengthy queue times as people piled in to get a head start. Labour Day weekend, naturally, made things worse, leading one developer to acknowledge the issue on social media while shooting down a popular, fan-crafted solution.

Despite the difficulties, though, players pulling off impressive feats – alongside, you know, actually playing the game. One WoW Classic player managed to hit Wrath of the Lich King’s level cap in roughly nine hours – thanks to the use of a decade-old bug they had used when the original Wrath of the Lich King was released.

Heads up! The WoW Classic server status is due to change as Wrath Classic and Shadowlands servers drop for hour-long maintenance.

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