Happy Tuesday, everyone! This week's regular maintenance cycle for US realms will be performed via rolling restarts of all realms, starting at 5:00 AM PDT today. What this means, of course, is that we shouldn't expect more than 15 minutes of downtime while the realms are restarted -- though we can't say precisely when the restarts will occur for each realm. (Blizzard will be working their way down the realm list, so your realm could come up right at five o'clock or could be left for last.)
In addition to the rolling restarts, Blizzard will also be performing some authentication system maintenance during an unspecified time period today. However, the maintenance shouldn't hinder our ability to log on to the game. So play on, everyone!

[via Breaking News on the login screen]

Yep, last week most realms had rolling restarts, which means that this week we have a regular maintenance. This week all US realms (which means AU realms, as well) will have a regularly scheduled maintenance period, starting at 5:00 AM PDT and ending at 11:00 AM PDT. Sure, on good weeks, the realms can come back up early, but it's just as common for them to come back up late. So for those of you who usually play during this period of time, my apologies -- maybe you can join me in my downtime hobby of re-playing the original StarCraft!

[Information via the login screen -- nope, there's nothing on the official site, or I'd link it]

Tseric greets us on this pleasant Tuesday afternoon with the news that today's maintenance cycle has been extended until 1PM PDT for select realms. There is, however, no news as to why the maintenance has been extended -- patch problems, perhaps? Though as far as "select realms" are concerned, I suspect the list of "non-select realms" would be shorter. So if you play on any of the following realms, the wait for uptime just got a little longer:

Agamaggan, Aggramar, Alexstrasza, Alleria, Arathor, Argent Dawn, Arthas, Azgalor, Azjol-Nerub, Azshara, Baelgun, Balnazzar, Blackhand, Bleeding Hollow, Bloodhoof, Bloodscalp, Bonechewer, Boulderfist, Bronzebeard, Burning Blade, Burning Legion, Cho'gall, Crushridge, Daggerspine, Dark Iron, Darkspear, Destromath, Dethecus, Detheroc, Draenor, Dragonblight, Dragonmaw, Dunemaul, Durotan, Earthen Ring, Eldre'Thalas, Elune, Emerald Dream, Eonar, Eredar, Feathermoon, Firetree, Frostmane, Garona, Gilneas, Gorefiend, Gorgonnash, Greymane, Gul'dan, Gurubashi, Hellscream, Illidan, Kalecgos, Kael'Thas, Kargath, Kirin Tor, Laughing Skull, Lightninghoof, Lightning's Blade, Llane, Lothar, Madoran, Maelstrom, Magtheridon, Malfurion, Malygos, Mannoroth, Medivh, Moonrunner, Nathrezim, Nazjatar, Perenolde, Ravencrest, Sargeras, Scarlet Crusade, Shadow Council, Shadow Moon, Shadowsong, Shattered Hand, Silvermoon, Skullcrusher, Skywall, Smolderthorn, Spinebreaker, Spirestone, Staghelm, Stonemaul, Stormrage, Stormreaver, Stormscale, Suramar, Terenas, Thunderhorn, Thunderlord, Trollbane, Twisting Nether, Uldum, Ursin, Warsong, Whisperwind, Wildhammer, Windrunner, and Zul'jin.

(Wow, that was a mouthful.)

Update: Tseric informs us that all realms should be back online in a matter of moments. Huzzah!

Well, this week we don't quite have live maintenance, but we don't have a full regular maintenance, either. Eyonix informs us that starting at 5:00 AM PDT (or 8:00 AM EST) all servers will be offline for approximately three hours for maintenance to the authentication databases. Most US players won't notice an early morning maintenance like this, but sadly, it still falls right in prime time for Australian players, for whom it starts between 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM, depending on their time zone. Sorry, folks -- I'd be pretty frustrated if regular maintenance hit during my prime time play schedule, too.

Do you play on one of the following realms? Azjol-Nerub, Bloodscalp, Bonechewer, Boulderfist, Bronzebeard, Crushridge, Daggerspine, Darkspear, Draenor, Dragonblight, Dragonmaw, Dunemaul, Eldre'Thalas, Feathermoon, Firetree, Frostmane, Gurubashi, Nathrezim, Perenolde, Scarlet Crusade, Shadow Council, Shadowsong, Silvermoon, Skywall, Smolderthorn, Spirestone, Stonemaul, Stormscale, Suramar, Terenas, Uldum, or Windrunner. Well, if so, I feel sorry for you, because your so-called Tuesday maintenance will be stretched out until 12:01 AM PDT Wednesday morning. They're down for hardware upgrades to -- hopefully -- improve server stability, but such extended downtime isn't exactly fun for those looking forward to logging on and playing Tuesday afternoon. As an additional downer, friend and ignore lists will be lost for those on effected realms, and paid character transfers will be offline for the duration of the maintenance period.

This week, maintenance is extended for 22 US realms that need additional database and hardware maintenance. These realms will be going offline at 3:00 AM PDT, while the rest of the realms will be going offline at 5:00 AM PDT as usual. So if you play on any of the following realms, prepare to loose a couple of hours of playtime: Alexstrasza, Alleria, Balnazzar, Blackhand, Cenarion Circle, Cenarius, Cho'gall, Destromath, Dethecus, Garona, Gorgonnash, Gul'dan, Hellscream, Hyjal, Illidan, Kael'thas, Kirin Tor, Lightbringer, Spinebreaker, Stormreaver, Uther, and Whisperwind.

Well, you ought to know that for US servers, weekly maintenance is on Tuesday (Wednesday for those of you in the EU).  This means that every Tuesday (or Wednesday), all of the servers go offline so that Blizzard can do whatever they need to do to keep them running.  However, despite the fact that this is a regular occurrence, there are always players who are confused or upset by the downtime.  Fortunately, community MVP Palehoof has complied this handy guide to answer any questions you might have about the maintenance process.  (While the information here was specifically written for those of us on US servers, it might address some questions EU players have as well.)