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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsCataclysm playable at midnight PST Dec. 7, no matter how you buy it
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Nov 15th 2010 at 9:00AM
The full announcement is as follows:
BashiokWondering exactly what time you'll be able to begin playing your goblin or worgen or making your way to level 85? On all North American realms, World of Warcraft players who upgrade to Cataclysm will be able to begin experiencing the new content at 12 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (3 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) on December 7, whether they purchase the digital download through Battle.net or buy a physical retail boxed version in stores. Players will not be able to access Cataclysm expansion content prior to 12 a.m. PST, regardless of how they upgrade or what time zone they're located in.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.Filed under: Realm Status, Blizzard, News items, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 7)
Helston Nov 15th 2010 10:03AM
I take your land of the future and raise you 10 hours. 7pm on the 7th December is when Cata goes live for Melbourne, Australia. Take THAT everyone who doesn't live in New Zealand!
Mahgo Nov 15th 2010 10:52AM
@Helston
Hell yeah!
roseclown Nov 15th 2010 11:05AM
I'm only on the east coast USA, but hey- since I am standing in line for the midnight release, then that gives me time to get home and download it!
Kelzling Nov 15th 2010 5:35PM
As a New Zealander, I beat you with my getting to spend an ENTIRE DAY before I can play cata. Aw yeh.
Tricia Nov 15th 2010 9:08AM
That just gives me time to get home and load it up onto my computer anyways :)
Phoenix Psaltery Nov 15th 2010 9:11AM
You do know you can preinstall it now, and simply activate it by supplying the CD key, right? http://tinyurl.com/preloadcata
musicchan Nov 15th 2010 9:38AM
See, this is what I was thinking too. Why is this sad? People who are planning on waiting in line will have time to get their game, get home and have everything ready and raring to go by the time midnight PST rolls around. People who are actually in PST time who are going to the opening will have to rush home if they want to start playing right away.
Of course, people who are REALLY serious about playing right away will probably have purchased the digital key and all that jazz and won't have left their computer chair anyway. ;)
Tricia Nov 15th 2010 10:44AM
Yeah I saw that Phoenix, but that's too much like work and given my cruddy luck with tech, I'd probably break WoW. I'll just wait for my CE. it's not like I don't have like 2-3 hours to kill until Midnight PST. :)
Jmacleod80 Nov 15th 2010 9:09AM
That's for all NA realms so Europeans still set for 12am server time I hope :)
Nolofin Nov 15th 2010 9:12AM
Wow really blizz???
Kalyph Nov 15th 2010 9:10AM
I don't think this applies to EU servers. As far as I know, Cata will be playable at midnight Central Euro time, which is GMT+1.
Ash Nov 15th 2010 9:11AM
This looks like its for US servers only, guessing the europe ones will start 12am CET (11pm UK time)
Dookster Nov 15th 2010 9:12AM
Didn't this get announced at Blizzcon? Should be old news.
Josin Nov 15th 2010 9:12AM
/middlefinger @Blizz
Aquaryon Nov 15th 2010 10:11AM
I totally agree Josin, now I won't be able to play it till Tuesday after work instead a few hours at midnight on launch night. :(
Josin Nov 15th 2010 10:15AM
Likely we wouldn't be able to play it at midnight anyway, based on past launch experiences, but its the principle of the thing. "Hey East Coast, run out and buy your game at midnight so you can sit around for 3 hours with your thumb [message redacted]"
Its like they're just being contrary. Hollywood's on the West coast too, but they don't make us wait until 3am to release their movies.
Aquaryon Nov 15th 2010 10:46AM
I see what are you mean, you make a good point. Personally, me and my guild never had any problems on launch night because we play on a West Coast server and we are on the East Coast. So when we jumped in the Dark Portal or took one of the boats to Northrend, it was very lonely on the other side for a few hours. No lag whatsoever and then 3 hours later, BOOM it hit hard but by that time we were half asleep anyways so it worked out in the long run. But great point about the movies!
Ronin Nov 15th 2010 11:45AM
Hmm. You know, whenever I complain about things that really matter, like national elections being decided before our West Coast polls even close, people on the East Coast just tell me to suck it up.
Or heck, let's keep it game-related. Remember the launch of WotLK, when the East Coast got to play before the West Coast did? Hmm, Easties said the same thing-- "Tough luck, West Coast!" This time they're throwing the switch for the entire NA Region to be able to start at the same time. Seems quite fair to me.
Think of it this way: you can go out and buy your boxed copy THREE HOURS before we can! That means you can be set up and playing, while we're still at the store waiting in line. Does that make you feel better?
(Of course, I'm going with the Digital Download, so it's a moot point, but I hope that soothes you a little bit.)
Josin Nov 15th 2010 11:59AM
When the difference is "I got to play a few hours last night before bed," and "I can't wait to get home at 5:30pm so I can play," no, it doesn't really assuage my complaint.
Not a huge deal, really. I don't think anyone's going to get a ton of play time in on the first day. Between broken addons and broken servers, I think I'll be doing just fine with my playtime.
Fierna Nov 15th 2010 1:46PM
If waiting until after work the next day will kill you then just take some PTO. I did.