I was excited to see that the Cataclysm expansion was available as a digital download, which starts updating right away.   No trying to do it all on launch day – just upgrade your account and you’re ready to go.

I was less excited when I saw the price.  It’s £29.99 without the box.  My pre-order from Amazon was £17.99ish.   So I’d be paying an extra £12 just so that launch day might be slightly smoother.   It’s not even as if I know yet what I’ll be doing on launch day, and whether I’ll be able to play right away even if I could.   (Some of us have jobs.  And stuff.)

So I was delighted to see this article on WoW Insider.  It explains how to change your files so that Cataclysm is preloaded on launch day.  It’s so simple that even somebody’s mum can do it.