As some of you may already be aware, we will not be renewing the World of Warcraft: The Trading Card Game license with Upper Deck. We want to assure you that we are committed to supporting the TCG, and players can look forward to new content and strong organized play support in the near future. We will share additional details about the game’s transition to a new partner as soon as possible. For those awaiting tournament prizes, we will ensure you receive them.

Some highly populated realms, as well as some realms in highly populated Battlegroups, are currently experiencing performance issues during peak playing hours, which, depending on the realm, can occur both inside and outside instances. This is caused primarily by high concurrent Icecrown Citadel activity, the start of Arena Season 8, the release of the new Vault of Archavon boss encounter and the “Love is in the Air” seasonal event.

To help address some of these issues, we’ve applied a hotfix to optimise certain database requests during the weekly maintenance, in addition to a variety of other related adjustments. We will continue to monitor the affected realms and will be making further adjustments to continually improve performance where possible. We know the performance issues have been a frustrating inconvenience for the players on these realms — we very much appreciate your patience while we implement additional short- and long-term solutions.

We will be performing urgent maintenance on the realms, listed below, to resolve performance issues beginning at 2:00AM PST on February 13th. We anticipate that these realms should be playable by approximately 7:00AM PST.

Aegwynn, Agamaggan, Aggramar, Akama, Alexstrasza, Alleria, Aman'Thul, Arathor, Argent Dawn, Arthas, Azgalor, Azjol-Nerub, Azshara, Baelgun, Balnazzar, Barthilas, Blackhand, Blackrock, Bleeding Hollow, Bloodhoof, Bloodscalp, Bonechewer, Boulderfist, Bronzebeard, Burning Blade, Burning Legion, Caelestrasz, Cho'gall, Chromaggus, Crushridge, Daggerspine, Dark Iron, Darkspear, Dath'Remar, Destromath, Dethecus, Detheroc, Draenor, Dragonblight, Dragonmaw, Draka, Drakkari, Drak'thul, Dreadmaul, Dunemaul, Durotan, Earthen Ring, Eitrigg, Eldre'Thalas, Elune, Emerald Dream, Eonar, Eredar, Feathermoon, Firetree, Frostmane, Frostmourne, Frostwolf, Garithos, Garona, Gilneas, Gorefiend, Gorgonnash, Greymane, Gul'dan, Gundrak, Gurubashi, Hakkar, Hellscream, Illidan, Jubei'Thos, Kael'thas, Kalecgos, Kargath, Khaz Modan, Khaz'goroth, Kil'jaeden, Kilrogg, Kirin Tor, Korgath, Kul Tiras, Laughing Skull, Lightninghoof, Lightning's Blade, Llane, Lothar, Madoran, Maelstrom, Magtheridon, Malfurion, Malorne, Malygos, Mannoroth, Medivh, Moonrunner, Mug'thol, Muradin, Nagrand, Nathrezim, Nazjatar, Ner'zhul, Perenolde, Proudmoore, Quel'Thalas, Ragnaros, Ravencrest, Rexxar, Runetotem, Sargeras, Saurfang, Scarlet Crusade, Sen'jin, Shadow Council, Shadowmoon, Shadowsong, Shattered Hand, Silver Hand, Silvermoon, Skullcrusher, Skywall, Smolderthorn, Spinebreaker, Spirestone, Staghelm, Stonemaul, Stormrage, Stormreaver, Stormscale, Suramar, Terenas, Thaurissan, Thorium Brotherhood, Thunderhorn, Thunderlord, Tichondrius, Trollbane, Twisting Nether, Uldum, Ursin, Vek'nilash, Warsong, Whisperwind, Wildhammer, Windrunner, Zul'jin