WRUP: Infuriating launcher detected

Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW.com staff and ask them, “What are you playing this week?” (Otherwise known as: WRUP!) Join us to see what we’re up to in and out of game — and catch us in the comments to let us know what you’re playing, too!

This weekend, we’re trying to log in to the Cataclysm beta. Trying. We’re also doing some other stuff, mostly out of necessity, since we can’t log in to the beta.

Allison Robert (@AllisonRobert): As much beta-testing as my connection and the servers will allow; I’d like to get a decent sense of how the bear, cat, and resto druid specs are playing right now, even though all three are still in flux. Otherwise, going to play catch-up on correspondence and a few projects.
Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey): Guild’s officially 11/12 HM ICC25 now! This weekend will be weird. I’m not sure what’s going to be going on – but I will be writing as always for sure. Beta client … first impression? Kind of annoying. It’s still telling me there’s 4GB of something to download but whatever it is, it isn’t downloading it. However, I can still play — but zone loading is taking forever.
Christian Belt (@ihatewarlocks): I’ll be finishing up DeathSpank, with my daughter playing the role of Sparkles the Wizard, my trusty spellcasting sidekick. Hmmm. Maybe I should switch with her, let her do the spanking of death while I assume the familiar mantle of back-row clothie. Oh, and the beta launcher is ok by me. I ran the thing, waited until it got into the green (only 6 hours left!) and then hopped in. Aside from a few minor glitches (missing sound effects, music starting then stopping suddenly, the occasional weird graphical pop-in) the game was completely playable. I approve, for now.