Overview
- The launch, which took place Wednesday, proceeded with short login queues, minimal lag and few disconnects, a result credited to Blizzard's prelaunch stress tests and the new megaserver architecture.
- Forever replaces discrete realm servers with region-plus-ruleset megaservers that dynamically place players into layered instances to preserve friends and stop overcrowding.
- Those layers produced unintended side effects: many Horde players on the PvP ruleset were temporarily prevented from creating characters because Blizzard throttled new Horde PvP slots to avoid severe faction imbalance.
- Developers acknowledged some zones felt oddly empty and that boat and zeppelin transport broke at launch, so they added temporary continent portals and said they would tweak layer parameters to make areas feel busier.
- Early engagement is strong with more than one million characters created in the first day and top Twitch viewership near reported peaks, and Blizzard says it will prioritize live tuning and stability ahead of later content such as the first raids in December.