[Update #2]: The team is adding fresh and greatly enhanced World of Warcraft: Classic servers on October 5, 2021!

[Update]: Blizzard are looking to introduce same-faction battlegrounds to help with Burning Crusade Classic's PvP population imbalance.

Only two weeks have gone by since the pre-expansion patch arrived, and already Blizzard is preparing to flick the switch and unleash the full version of Burning Crusade Classic. Best of all, unlike the original launch many years ago, Burning Crusade Classic will be releasing worldwide at the same time - 3pm PDT on June 1st / 12am CEST on June 2nd / 8am AEST on June 2nd!

You can expect to see a brand 'new' world to explore, plenty of dungeons and raids to delve into, a variety of reputations to farm in order to gain some rather powerful rewards and fancy cosmetics, the very first flying mounts to unlock, and perhaps most importantly for the competitively inclined among you, the organized Arena PvP mode to sink insane amount of hours into. Should be pretty fun!

That said, while I genuinely do hope everything goes smoothly and Burning Crusade Classic launches at exactly the stated time, it's far more likely that the servers will spontaneously combust due to the sheer amount of eager players. So unless you simply must be the first one through the portal, I'd highly recommend avoiding the initial rush and diving in after the crowds have moved past the first few areas.

It's also worth mentioning that once you log in you will have to choose between keeping your character in a forever-Classic server or moving them to a Burning Crusade one. This decision is permanent and irreversible, though Blizzard is selling a character copying service for those that simply can't let go. Personally I think the service is both ridiculously expensive and kind of silly given that forever-Classic servers are bound to be a bit of a wasteland, but I suppose I'm just not the target audience here.

Whatever your thoughts on the matter may be, you can learn more about character copying and Burning Crusade Classic's release schedule over at the Blizzard website. Have fun, and here's to hoping for a smooth launch!