World of Warcraft: Dragonflight’s launch was a test of endurance

Good morning gamers. While you were sleeping, tens of thousands were brute forcing their way through struggling servers during the World of Warcraft: Dragonflight launch. More than an hour post the official release, many found themselves unable to make it to the new content continent.

“Cba with this dog shite,” wrote Mogoqt the Warrior. An hour past launch and with a lucky few sprinting ahead and enjoying themselves, they were stuck on the outskirts of Orgrimmar, writing out their thoughts to an uncaring huddle of other players in the same boat.

They’d continue: “Yup, one hour gone. No wonder people don’t play the game once behind. Gg.” While their salty tirade went unanswered, they weren’t alone. Due to the intense number of eager players staying up late and trying to go to the same location all at once, servers were plagued with lag. Boarding the zeppelin from either Stormwind or Orgrimmar resulted in lengthy load screens, most of which simply dropped players off in a graveyard near where they started.

To the credit of the developers, the gimped blimps and sunken ships were worked around with a portal to the Dragon Isle in both Orgrimmar and Stormwind. Sadly, this didn’t solve the problem. Clicking this portal would also result in a short loading screen, which failed to take you anywhere. Sprinkle on all this occasional disconnects and you had a pretty rough sundae by all accounts.

But, WoW players are nothing but persistent, with many sticking around and continuously clicking the portal in hopes that their luck would change. I was among them, KFC long cold and Pepsi bottle bone dry. A tragedy.

It did, however, have its perks. The rare but naturally occurring mount ball grew bloated and hugely inconvenient while the portal was broken. This is a formation of players all gathered around a single location atop their largest mount, forcing players to pixel hunt for the portal beneath. A serious problem, made worse by a handful of imposters, being sus and using toys that ballooned their size while mounted, making actually clicking the portal a frustrating endeavour.

“How many times are we ready to be hurt?” wrote Dotdotfear the Warlock, among the mount ball 70 minutes past-launch. The WoW expansion launch has been an arduous battle for a long time, with the recent memory of the Lich King Classic in their mind, and the Warlord of Draenor day one experience seared to their soul. We mourn the players who go to bed early, and salute those who always fight into the morning.