Timeline (World of Warcraft)

This page follows the timeline from the release of World of Warcraft through present day as it applies to the players.

(After all, !)

2001
September 2 - World of Warcraft announced

2004
February - World of Warcraft Beta Test begins.

November 23 - World of Warcraft launches in North America, Australia and New Zealand.
 * Starting level cap is 60
 * Only Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor available at launch.
 * Starting races:
 * Alliance: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome
 * Horde: Orc, Troll, Undead, Tauren

November 24 - WoWWiki Launched

December 18 - Patch 1.2.0
 * Maraudon added

2005


February 11 - World of Warcraft launches in Europe

March 7 - Patch 1.3.0
 * Dire Maul added

March 23 - The first legendary item ever to appear to players in the game drops,. It is immediately hotfixed out of the game.

April 8 - Patch 1.4.0
 * PvP Honor System

May - The Leeroy Jenkins video becomes popular

June 7 - Patch 1.5.0
 * Battlegrounds introduced
 * Warsong Gulch
 * Alterac Valley

July 12 - Patch 1.6.0
 * Blackwing Lair added
 * Darkmoon Faire added

September 13 - Patch 1.7.0
 * Zul'Gurub added
 * Arathi Basin battleground added
 * Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza
 * Corrupted Blood begins as the result of a glitch in Zul'Gurub

October 28–29 - BlizzCon
 * Burning Crusade announced

October 10 - Patch 1.8.0
 * Corrupted Blood fixed

November 16 - World of Warcraft is featured in a question on the game show Jeopardy!
 * None of the three players knew the answer.

November 23 - WoW Insider launches.

2006
January 3 - Patch 1.9.0
 * The Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj added
 * The Temple of Ahn'Qiraj added
 * Gates of Ahn'Qiraj event begins
 * Faction-Linked Auction Houses

January - Blizzard comes under scrutiny by LGBT groups for prohibiting advertising a guild as being LGBT-friendly.

January 23 - Medivh-US becomes the first server to open the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj

March 28 - Patch 1.10.0
 * High-Level Armor Set Upgrade Questlines
 * Quest Experience to Gold Conversion at Level 60
 * Weather Effects
 * Linked Flight paths
 * Widescreen monitors supported

April - The "-50 DKP/More dots" Onyxia Wipe Animation becomes popular.

April 30 - WoWRP is launched.

June 20 - Patch 1.11.0
 * Keyring
 * Naxxramas added

July 7 - Wowhead website launched

August 22 - Patch 1.12.0
 * Cross-Realm Battlegrounds
 * World PvP Objectives

September 11 - Burning Crusade announced to be released on January 16, 2007

October
 * The Burning Crusade Beta Test begins
 * World of Warcraft Trading Card Game released

October 4 - The TV show South Park features a Warcraft-themed episode, Make Love, not Warcraft.

December 5 - Patch 2.0.1
 * Looking for Group Interface Tool
 * PvP Arenas

December 14 - Burning Crusade cinematic trailer released

2007
January 9 - Patch 2.0.3
 * Dark Portal Opens event
 * Kruul begins attacking places in Azeroth

January 16 - The Burning Crusade Expansion released
 * Level cap raised to 70
 * Outland added
 * Draenei and Blood Elf Races Added
 * Eye of the Storm Battleground added
 * Launch was plagued by server crashes and a huge percentage of the player base questing in Hellfire Penninsula, all at the same time.

May 22 - Patch 2.1.0
 * The Black Temple added

August 3–4 BlizzCon
 * Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Announced

September 27 - Patch 2.2.0
 * Voice chat introduced.

October - Toyota's Four Wheels of Fury commercial airs, featuring a fictional truck mount ingame.

November 13 - Patch 2.3.0
 * Zul'Aman added
 * Guild Banks
 * Mudsprocket quest hub added to Dustwallow Marsh

November 20 - Blizzard advertises World of Warcraft on television with ads featuring William Shatner and most notably Mr. T talking about his Night Elf Mohawk.

2008
January - World of Warcraft gets to 10 million subscribers globally

March 25 - Patch 2.4.0
 * Isle of Quel'Danas added
 * Magister's Terrace added
 * Sunwell Plateau added
 * The Shattered Sun Offensive begins.

April 3 - Proudmoore-US becomes the first server to complete the Shattered Sun Offensive

July 17 - Wrath of the Lich King Beta Test begins.

August 5 - Recruit-A-Friend program introduced.

August 21 - Wrath of the Lich King cinematic released.

September 15 - Wrath of the Lich King release date announced to be November 13, 2008

October - The "Additional instances cannot be launched" issue begins on high-population servers. This continues to be an intermittent problem until after the dungeon finder is introduced in patch 3.3.0, the next year.

October 14 - Patch 3.0.2
 * Achievements
 * Inscription
 * Barbershop
 * Several changes were made to the gameworld to prepare for Wrath of the Lich King:
 * The original Naxxramas removed
 * Dalaran removed
 * Alliance boats rerouted
 * Stormwind Harbor added
 * New Horde Zeppelin Towers

October 23
 * The Zombie Infestation heralds the start of the Second Scourge Invasion

November 10
 * The Scourge begin regular attacks on Stormwind City and Orgrimmar

November 13 - Wrath of the Lich King Expansion released
 * Level cap raised to 80
 * Northrend added
 * Death knight Class Added
 * Strand of the Ancients Battleground added

November 23 - All players logging in are awarded Baby Blizzard Bear and

2009


April 14 - Patch 3.1.0
 * Ulduar added
 * Argent Tournament added
 * Dual Talent Specialization

Late April - a player is banned for exploiting the game after using a mistakenly-mailed Game Master artifact called.

May 15 - The Mountain Dew Game Fuel Choose Your Side promotion begins.

August 4 - Patch 3.2.0
 * Crusaders' Coliseum added
 * Isle of Conquest battleground added
 * Instance Lock Extension

August 20 - The Mountain Dew Choose Your Side promotion ends.

August 21–22 - BlizzCon 2009
 * Cataclysm Expansion Announced

September 2 - Faction Change service offered.

September 22 - Patch 3.2.2
 * Onyxia's Lair revamped to level 80

October 12 - Announcement that all World of Warcraft accounts must be merged with Battle.net accounts.

October 27 - Race Change service offered

November 11, 12 - The deadline passes for account mergers with Battle.net for US, EU players.

November 22 - All players logging in are awarded Onyxian Whelpling and

December 8 - Patch 3.3.0
 * Frozen Halls added
 * Icecrown Citadel raid added
 * The Lower Spire is open at release.
 * Cross-Server Instance grouping
 * Improved Dungeon Finder

2010


January 5 - The Plagueworks of Icecrown Citadel opens.

January 19 - The Crimson Hall of Icecrown Citadel opens.

February 2 - Patch 3.3.2
 * The Frostwing Halls, the final wing of Icecrown Citadel, opens.
 * The Lich King encounter is implemented.

February 12 - The People's Republic of China approves World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade for release, three years after its release everywhere else.

March 23 - Patch 3.3.3
 * The random battleground system is implemented, and the honor system is overhauled to account for the removal of battleground Marks of Honor.

May 3 - The Friends & Family phase of the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm alpha begins.

June 22 - Patch 3.3.5 in North America.
 * Real ID is implemented.

June 30 - Cataclysm Beta Test begins. Patch 3.3.5 in Europe.
 * The Ruby Sanctum opens.

July 6 - Blizzard announces their intention to have Real ID names visible when posting on the official forums. This resulted in a massive outcry against the idea, based primarily on concerns about privacy issues and potential harassment.

July 9 - Due the overwhelming flood of criticism, Blizzard rescinds their plan to put Real ID names on the official forums.

July 27 - Blizzard releases Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, notable in that it was Blizzard's first non-Warcraft related game in ten years, since 2000's Diablo II. Many were curious what the effect would be on the player base, but the implementation of the Real ID system ensured that players playing Starcraft could keep up with their friends in World of Warcraft.

August 10 - The People's Republic of China approves a heavily edited Wrath of the Lich King two years after its general release.

September 7 - The first in-game events leading up into the Cataclysm Expansion begin, with Operation: Gnomeregan (Alliance) and Zalazane's Fall (Horde).

October 4 - Cataclysm release date announced to be December 7, 2010

October 7 - World of Warcraft reaches 12 million players

October 12 - Patch 4.0.1
 * Cataclysm Launcher Update
 * Reforging
 * Complete talent and ability overhaul for all classes
 * Removed from game: Emblems, Badges, Marks of honor

October 17 - All but one of WoWWiki's active administrators leave Wikia forming Wowpedia. Over the next couple weeks, most of the active users follow.
 * World of Warcraft Cataclysm cinematic trailer released.
 * Parts of the trailer were aired on television in the second quarter of the Dallas Cowboys/Minnesota Vikings football game on the same day. The commercial asked, "Where will you be when the Cataclysm begins?"

October 22-23 - BlizzCon 2010
 * Announcement that Cataclysm will be available for direct digital download, rather than having to buy a DVD.

November 1 - Elemental Unrest Phase 1 begins.

November 8 - Elemental Unrest Phase 2 begins.

November 12 - Elemental Unrest Phase 3 begins.

November 15 - Elemental Unrest Phase 4 begins.

November 23 - Patch 4.0.3a "The Shattering"
 * Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor changed
 * Specific Troll and Gnome starting areas
 * New race/class combinations available

November 30 - All players logging in are awarded.

December 7 - World of Warcraft: Cataclysm released
 * Level cap raised to 85
 * Archaeology profession.
 * Worgen and goblins races added
 * Rather than introducing a new continent or world, several zones were added across Azeroth.
 * Mount Hyjal and Uldum in Kalimdor
 * Vashj'ir, Tol Barad, Gilneas and the Twilight Highlands in the Eastern Kingdoms
 * Deepholm in the elemental plane of earth.

2011
January 27 - Blizzard files complaints with the online service PayPal in an effort to make payment difficult for gold sellers.

February 8 - Patch 4.0.6

June 28 - anyone who owns the original World of Warcraft only received digital access to The Burning Crusade expansion at no additional cost