The short version
On 21 October Blizzard takes the WoW Forever beta offline and opens the game for a few hours on the regional hardware it will use at launch. Any player with a WoW account can join, and no active subscription is needed (Blizzard announcement (opens in a new tab)).
When it starts
- EU: 19:00 CEST on 21 October (20:00 in Greece, EEST), until 03:00 CEST on 22 October (04:00 in Greece).
- Americas: 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. PDT on 21 October (5:00 to 9:00 p.m. EDT).
- Oceania: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. NZDT and 8:00 a.m. to noon AEDT on 22 October. Blizzard does not mention separate Oceanic realms.
- Taipei: 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and Korea: 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on 22 October.
What to do and what is lost
Blizzard asks you to make a character, do a few quests, trade items, chat and group up so the servers are tested properly. When the Stress Test ends, every character is deleted in a complete wipe, names included, and the beta reopens. Do not plan to keep anything you make.
Not confirmed
Blizzard’s post does not call this a Server Slam, the name used earlier for a few hours open to everyone. It fits that description, but that link is our reading. Blizzard says the beta reopens afterwards and closes permanently at 10:00 a.m. PDT on Friday 23 October (20:00 in Greece).
More
See the roadmap and the beta and launch dates.