Month: August 2019

World of Warcraft Classic is out now, and the release is proving to be wildly popular. It’s so popular that players are facing lengthy server queues to simply get into the game. Those who do manage to get in are finding other lines to wait in. Social media reports show that players are waiting in literal queues in-game to complete quests.

The images coming out of vanilla WoW are pretty striking. We’ve rounded up a few of the posts we’ve spotted on Twitter, and you can see them at the bottom of this post.

Waiting in line in the starting zones might sound annoying, but some people seem to be taking it all in stride. “All these people waiting patiently in the queue to kill the boss in #WowClassic – this is the politest thing I’ve ever seen in gaming, ever,” wrote Twitter user @Farore13.

The lengthy lines appear to be affecting multiple WoW Classic servers, so there appears to be no escaping the wait. However, your mileage will undoubtedly vary, and wait times will surely decrease with time and as players spread out into Azeroth. After all, WoW Classic was only just released hours ago, so a max influx of players into small areas is to be expected.

A dramatic video posted on Reddit shows off what it looks like when hundreds of players spawn in at the same time. It’s pretty incredible to see.

It’s not a completely new thing for players of online games to wait in literal in-game lines. You may recall that the on launch day for the original The Division, people waited in line to use a laptop.

WoW Classic, as its name suggests, is a re-release of the original MMO from 2004 with some functionality changes. It’s free for existing subscribers of WoW. For more, check out GameSpot’s rundown of everything you need to know about WoW Classic.

You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

This video has an invalid file format.

Sorry, but you can’t access this content!

World of Warcraft’s Classic edition is out now, and it’s helping World of Warcraft in general have a massive day on popular game-streaming site Twitch.

World of Warcraft is far and away the most popular game on Twitch today, August 26, and the release of WoW Classic undoubtedly played a major role in that. The game topped 1 million viewers on Twitch today, which is multiple times bigger than all other games.

Twitch’s public stats show that right now, at 10 PM ET, World of Warcraft has 593,000 viewers, which is well ahead of the No. 2 game, Fortnite, which has 120,000 viewers. It’s not surprising that the launch of a much-anticipated game would lead to a huge surge in viewers, and it will be interesting to see if World of Warcraft can continue to stay popular in the days and weeks ahead.

On Mixer, it’s a different story. Fortnite remains the most popular game by viewers, behind the Music category and Fortnite.

The downside to WoW Classic’s popularity is that players are facing lengthy server queues, even though Blizzard added an additional four servers ahead of launch.

WoW Classic, as its name suggests, is a re-release of the original MMO from 2004 with some functionality changes. It’s free for existing subscribers of WoW. For more, check out GameSpot’s rundown of everything you need to know about WoW Classic.

Fans have called on Nintendo to release Mario Kart on mobile devices for a long time, and it’s finally happening soon. Following a limited closed beta testing period, Nintendo’s next big smartphone game, Mario Kart Tour, will release on September 25. The release date was announced via the game’s brand-new Twitter account. Pre-registration for the game is now available, but it’s unclear if there are any benefits to doing so.

Like Nintendo’s previous Mario mobile games, Dr. Mario World and Super Mario Run, Mario Kart Tour is a free-to-start title that offers optional microtransactions. It’s not clear just yet how the microtransaction system works, but keep checking back with GameSpot for more on that.

Some people who got into the Mario Kart Tour beta, including Ethan Gach of Kotaku, said the microtransaction system brings down an otherwise enjoyable game. All of the previews so far for Mario Kart Tour are based on the unfinished beta that was always subject to change, so it’s possible Nintendo will tweak the in-game economy and microtransaction system for launch.

Mario Kart Tour features a number of familiar courses from previous Mario Kart games, including Choco Island 2 from the SNES game and Dino Dino Jungle from Double Dash for GameCube. You steer your kart by moving your finger left or right. You can also drift to get speed boosts.

There are 30 racers to choose from, while Mario Kart’s iconic items are also in the game. The beta period only featured single-player, and it remains to be seen if the final release will add real-time multiplayer. There were also reports about Mario Kart Tour being locked to vertical screen orientation on iOS and Android devices; it’s unknown if this will continue to be the case for the full launch.

Mario Kart Tour was originally expected to launch by the end of March, but Nintendo later delayed the game to Summer 2019. The game’s new September 25 release date is actually two days after Summer ends in the northern hemisphere on September 23, so this is technically another, albeit small, delay.

World of Warcraft’s Classic edition is out now, and those playing the up-to-date version are getting a special treat to celebrate the release and the 15th anniversary of the genre-defining MMO.

Blizzard is planning a host of celebrations for the coming months in the regular WoW, the first of which is an in-game event in WoW’s latest expansion, Battle for Azeroth. The event is a “special raid” that challenges players to go up against some of WoW’s most fearsome bosses.

Players must have reached WoW’s current level cap, 110, to take on the raid. Those who successfully take down the bosses will earn the Obsidian Worldbreaker mount. Blizzard said this creature was inspired by the mighty Deathwing the Destroyer.

For those looking for something simpler, Blizzard is giving away a series of “limited-time bonuses” simply for logging into Battle for Azeroth. The items include the Lil’ Nefarian pet, a special in-game achievement, and other bonuses; the full list will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

WoW Classic is proving to be extremely popular, so much so that players are facing lengthy server queues, even though Blizzard added an additional four servers ahead of launch.

WoW Classic, as its name suggests, is a re-release of the original MMO from 2004 with some functionality changes. It’s free for existing subscribers of WoW. For more, check out GameSpot’s rundown of everything you need to know about WoW Classic.

World of Warcraft Classic is available now, but players are finding it rather difficult to get into the game’s servers. Apparently, the virtual line to get in is very, very long.

With only a few hours to go before WoW Classic’s launch, a large number of the available servers are full. Given World of Warcraft‘s popularity, a quick look at Twitch reveals over 900 thousand people logging in to watch the game, it’s not surprising that so many people want in on WoW Classic. However, it is impressive that so many of the game’s servers filled so quickly–especially since Classic’s servers hold thousands more than the original WoW’s servers did. For an idea of just how long it’s taking, look at the image below. It’s taken from our attempt to get into WoW Classic.

Even with queue times so long–and getting longer–Blizzard isn’t in a rush to add more servers to the game. Instead, the studio is aiming to create a successful groundwork from which WoW Classic can expand. “Our top priority in planning for WoW Classic’s launch has been ensuring that we are laying the groundwork for strong realm communities that will endure over the months and years to follow, which is why we’re cautiously opening new servers to meet demand,” Blizzard told Polygon.

Ahead of WoW Classic’s launch, Blizzard warned that the queue times would be a lot longer than most people may think, and outlined ways for players to avoid having to wait too long. “We urge players on realms marked Full or High to plan to play on one of these new realms to avoid the longest queues, and to help spread the player population as evenly as possible and provide the best play experience for everyone,” the studio said.

WoW Classic is basically a remake of the original WoW, featuring the same character models, combat mechanics, and skill trees of the original game as they were at launch 10 years ago. A standard WoW subscription fee is needed to access WoW Classic.

The full trailer for the new season of American Horror Story is here. The ninth season of the popular anthology horror series is titled American Horror Story: 1984 and, as the title suggests, pays homage to scary movies of the 1980s.

Unlike the trailer released last month, this one sets out the show’s story. That said, anyone who has seen any slasher movies from the ’80s could guess it in advance–a group of partying teens head to a summer camp, where they are picked off by an escaped maniac. But in the hands of AHS creator Ryan Murphy, it looks like gloriously campy fun, with amazing ’80s fashions, faux film scratch marks, and a hooded killer called Mr Jingles. Check it out below.

The cast of the new series includes Emma Roberts, Cody Fern, Gus Kenworthy, Billie Lourd, Matthew Morrison, Angelica Ross, DeRon Horton, and Zach Villa. American Horror Story: 1984 premieres on September 18 on FX.

While Roberts, Lourd, Fern, and Grossman have all appeared in previous seasons of the show, one series regular who won’t feature much–or possibly at all–is Sarah Paulson. As reported by Variety, Paulson won’t have “a significant role” in Season 9, and the most we can expect to see her in is a cameo.

For more American Horror Story coverage on GameSpot, check out our look at how the previous 8 seasons are connected.