Just a few minutes ago, the latest World of Warcraft expansion, Mists of Pandaria, went live.  There was a slightly different approach this time, with no logout required to access the new content. Blizzard have wrangled the servers in a way that allows the transition to occur so that the new content ‘appears’, including the new quest to start the journey to Pandaria. (If you’re after all the info on how to get going with the expansion, this is a good start)

So far it appears that things have gone smoothly although some servers are likely to be experiencing queues. Unlike Cataclysm, I’m not planning on starting my Pandaria questing quite yet. I’m actually going to attempt a ‘server first’. The one I’m attempting matches my lack of ability in end-game: I’m going to try and be the first person on my server to level up my fishing to the cap. I have a quiet spot next to one of the lesser known fishing trainers, and for the first 2-3 hours of MoP I’ll be doing nothing but casting a fishing line. Wish me luck!

More importantly though, how have YOU found the MoP experience so far in these early hours and days? Will you be rolling a Pandaren and/or a Monk early on? What’s got you particularly excited about the new content?

Also don’t forget our own WoW guru Luke has written a nice retrospective on Cataclysm and he’ll be bringing plenty of his impressions of MoP over the coming weeks and months.

We’ve just received the info on the server live times and when people can pick up their box copies of Mists of Pandaria.

Here it is, straight from the horse’s mouth:

While heroic adventurers hailing from Australia and New Zealand can purchase a copy of Mists of Pandaria directly from www.warcraft.com, they can also pick up the game at their favourite retailer on Tuesday, September 25^th beginning at 9 AM local time. (9 AM NZST/9 AM AEST/9 AM ACST/9 AM AWST)

For a handy reference, the game servers will go live at:

New Zealand Standard Time: 7:00 PM

Australian Eastern Standard Time: 5:00 PM

Australian Central Standard Time: 4:30 PM

Australian Western Standard Time: 3:00 PM

The new continent reveals itself to a broken world just as the Alliance and Horde are spiralling ever closer to a war that will consume all of Azeroth. Will the mists of Pandaria part to reveal the world’s salvation? Or will the battle to control this rich and breathtaking new land push the two mighty factions over the brink of war and into total annihilation? The answers await within Pandaria’s mysterious shores!

 

So if you’re like me and have ordered a box copy, you have plenty of time to pick it up and have things ready for the servers going live.

Over to you: what plans do you have for launch day?