Hello Kaivax,
I am a long-time World of Warcraft player and a purchaser of the full WoW: Forever bundle. I am writing to report a serious issue affecting Russian-speaking players during Early Name Reservation on European servers.
I purchased the full bundle partly to gain early access and reserve my character names ahead of launch. However, the current situation prevents me from using this feature as intended.
I have reproduced the following issues:
1. Russian client — EU Rulesets unavailable
When launching the game with the Russian (ruRU) client and connecting to the European region, all Ruleset options (Normal, PvP and RP) are greyed out and cannot be selected. As a result, I cannot proceed to the server selection stage or reserve character names using my preferred language.
2. English client — Rulesets available, but Cyrillic names rejected
When switching the game client to English, the Rulesets become selectable. I can enter a server and create a character, but the client does not allow me to use Cyrillic characters in character names.
Consequently, neither option allows me to complete Early Name Reservation in the way I need: the Russian client blocks access to the EU Rulesets, while the English client prevents me from using Cyrillic character names.
3. The Russian client worked correctly during the North American beta
I participated in the WoW: Forever beta using the Russian client on North American servers, and everything worked correctly. The current problem appeared when Early Name Reservation became available on European servers.
This strongly suggests that the issue is related to the interaction between the Russian client locale and the European server environment, rather than a general incompatibility with the Russian client.
I have also found reports from other players describing the same or very similar problems on the official European WoW forums.
I understand that this could be a technical bug or a configuration issue. However, without an official explanation, players have no way of knowing whether Russian-language support on European servers is temporarily broken or subject to an intentional restriction.
If this is a technical issue, I urge Blizzard to investigate and resolve it as soon as possible. If it is an intentional restriction, I request a clear explanation of the policy behind it and its implications for Russian-speaking players.
I respectfully request that Blizzard:
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Investigate why the Russian client cannot access the European Rulesets during Early Name Reservation.
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Clarify whether Cyrillic character names are supported on European WoW: Forever servers and, if so, why they are rejected when using the English client.
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Confirm whether Russian-language clients will be fully supported on European servers at launch.
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Provide an official status update and, if this is a known issue, an estimated timeframe for a fix.
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Address both problems before Early Name Reservation ends on November 3, 2026, so that affected players have a fair opportunity to reserve their intended character names.
This is particularly important because Early Name Reservation is a time-limited feature, and character names are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Every day without a solution reduces the opportunity for affected players to secure their preferred names.
I purchased the full bundle in good faith and expected to be able to use the game’s Russian localization. I do not believe players should have to choose between accessing the European servers and using their preferred language and character names.
I would appreciate a substantive response from the WoW: Forever team or the relevant technical team, rather than a generic troubleshooting recommendation.
Thank you for your time and attention. I hope this issue can be clarified and resolved before launch.
Best regards,
A WoW: Forever player
