Even though Blizzard opened the doors to WoW Classic‘s Wrath of the Lich King expansion slightly ahead of schedule last night, that was about the only thing that went smoothly for this legacy expansion launch. Hours-long queues quickly racked up as players rushed in to experience Northrend.
And even if they did make it in, those adventurers had a new challenge: to make it across the ocean. Almost immediately, the ferries started experiencing issues, lagging out and dumping players into the sea. This resulted in Blizzard taking them (the boats, not the players) out of service and enlisting the help of Captain Placeholder to offer free teleports to the new continent.
Of course, this didn’t stop some enterprising players from leveling quickly, with the first level 80 happening overnight.
Today's the day! So proud of the team for launching @Warcraft #WrathClassic , a love letter to longtime fans AND a perfect place to jump in for new ones.
Excited to get to celebrate with some of the @Blizzard team on campus! Congrats everyone!@LifeatBlizzard pic.twitter.com/nythl9dQAZ
— Clayton Stone 💙 (@ClaytonStone) September 26, 2022
At least people had some fun dredging up old memes for the occasion. Other people shared pictures of themselves at the original launch and the re-release.