After years of playing on private servers, petitioning Blizzard to make an official version of them and receiving condescending responses, fans of the way World of Warcraft used to be will finally get what they've been hoping for in just a few short months. On August 27, WoW Classic will open to the world for the first time, offering a version of Azeroth to players that hasn't been seen in almost 15 years.
World of Warcraft Classic is the 2005 version of the game in all its, un-streamlined glory. There are only four races to pick from on either side of the war. There are no quest trackers or dots on the map to help you out, text scrolls slowly during quest readings, and spells and abilities are tiered. Not to mention that the biggest raids you can expect to fight your way through are Molten Core and Onyxia.
And after several years of development, it's finally releasing to a wider audience on August 27. The official website has all the details about when you can expect to login for the first time. If you're on the West Coast you'll be able to sign in on August 26 at 3PM, and 6PM on the East Cost. Everywhere else in the world will get online on the 27. It's just over 100 days away.
However, if you want to get in there sooner, there are several stress tests taking place in the next few weeks. The first is on Mar 22 through May 23, the second on June 19 through 20, and the third on July 18 through 19. These days may change and you'll want to check the official site for times, but those should be a good chance to have a quick play in old-school Azeroth before it all kicks off at the end of August.
If you want to wait for the final experience, you can get ready for it by making a character on August 13.