The beta for World of Warcraft: Forever kicked off yesterday, but some participants are finding that their experience is being blighted by lag.
A writer for PC Gamer based in the UK reports that they're finding that the beta is a "laggy hell" and that other players in Europe are posting similar complaints.
As one Redditor said, with a post that blew past the maximum reading on our sarcasm meter: "Thank you Blizzard for the first class beta experience for us EU players. Happy I didn't pay anything for this key."
Therein lies the problem, because as PC Gamer points out, while European players don't expect the best beta experience - given that the test servers are based in the US - they do expect something playable, which they aren't getting with the WoW: Forever beta as it stands.
We are talking 2-3 seconds for a button press to register in some cases, and disconnections on top of that lag. The gameplay sounds pretty miserable for some folks, and while a beta is a beta, the problem is that as the sarcastic poster above made clear, European gamers have paid specifically for the privilege of playing (with the more costly Skyborne Epic Pack granting that early beta access).
Two cures: A VPN or an option switch
The better news for those outside of the US struggling with severe lag is that there's apparently a cure (well, two actually, and I'll come back to the second easier option shortly).
The main workaround gamers are currently adopting is to use a VPN connection (and select a VPN server in the US). This routes your connection to the game server differently with some serious benefits in terms of combating the lagginess, at least going by reports.
That said, not everyone is happy with the VPN workaround, with some suggesting that while it may be fine for a short while, they're still ending up getting disconnected. Your experience may vary from VPN to VPN, of course, and there are a lot of potential variables here.
A VPN seems to work for a lot of EU-based beta players, though, and there's a good deal of positive feedback being thrown in the direction of ProtonVPN, which is relatively cheap (especially if you can bag the offer for the first month at $1 - there's a free option too). Of course, you shouldn't have to install or fork out for a VPN to enjoy the Forever beta in the first place.
If you don't want to go the VPN route, according to some other gamers, as posted on the Blizzard forums, the lag is fixed by disabling the following setting: In-game → Menu → Options → Network → Optimize Network for Speed.
All in all, this isn't an ideal situation for those who bought the Skyborne Epic Pack due to that advertised beta access, when they're finding out that they effectively can't play. Hopefully Blizzard's technical team is on the case and fixing this.
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World of Warcraft: Forever comes out on November 4, and takes players back to the original game, except with a whole load of content added in terms of new zones, quests and dungeons (and the Skyborne Elves race). I'm also tempted to return to Azeroth myself (except I really can't afford the time sink therein).
