The Forever beta ends today, the stress test runs this afternoon, and then the next time anyone logs in it will be for launch on November 4. That makes this the right moment to publish the list we have been carrying since September: the claims that never closed.
None of these are scandals. They are the ordinary gaps between what a company says in a video, what a storefront prints, and what players find in a build. We are listing them because the alternative, quietly picking the answer that reads best, is how a site stops being worth reading.
Update, 21 October 2026, 13:00 UTC: two of these are now closed, and we missed the posts that closed them. We published this ledger at 12:00 UTC today. Blizzard's raid overview and dungeon overview, both dated 20 October and published in the evening, resolve item 1 and item 4 below. We did not read them before publishing this, which is our error and not a change in the underlying facts. The two items are struck through with dated notes rather than quietly rewritten.
1. Onyxia's Lair: launch or December 9 RESOLVED 21 October 2026
Two first-party sources disagreed. Blizzard's September 23 official video says, at 00:03:54, that "the 40-player raid, Onyxia's Lair, is available at launch". The September 12 What's Next recap says new raids unlock on December 9, and a designer interview describes Onyxia as the 40-player raid without giving a date.
Closed: Blizzard's 20 October raid overview states that on December 9 level 60 players can play three raids, naming Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia's Lair, and repeats that all three unlock on December 9. That is a later, more specific first-party document than the September video, so December 9 is the answer and the launch wording in the video is superseded. Details in our raid overview piece.
2. The beta close date RESOLVED 21 OCTOBER 2026
The roadmap graphic read October 22. Blizzard's own product text read beta access from September 17 through October 21, 2026 PST, and the beta is being taken offline for today's stress test. We were treating October 21 as settled because the product page is the more specific document, while noting the graphic still says 22.
Closed: Kaivax's blue post on the evening of 20 October says Blizzard will "close the WoW Forever Beta … forever at 10:00 a.m. PDT on Friday, October 23". The beta comes back up after tonight's stress test and stays open until then, so the answer is October 23, and the 21st is the stress test rather than the end. The product page text has not caught up yet.
3. The Heroic price
$29.99 has been reported by outlets reading the storefront. Blizzard has never quoted it in a post we can read. That is not the same as false, and it is not the same as verified. It goes in the same bucket as every price we refuse to print until the seller prints it.
What would close it: the Battle.net shop page, at launch, in the buyer's own currency.
4. Timbermaw Hold or Blackmaw Hold RESOLVED 21 October 2026
Blizzard's dungeon list and the beta data read Blackmaw Hold. In a September interview, lead designer Tim Jones referred to the gate in Azshara as "Timbermaw Hold", phrased as a question. A developer's aside is evidence, not a published list, so both names remained on our hub.
Closed: Blizzard's 20 October dungeon overview lists Blackmaw Hold, levels 55 to 60, in Azshara, and the same evening's raid overview names Blackmaw Hold as one of the entrances into the Barrow Deeps. The published lists agree with the beta data, so Blackmaw Hold is the name and the Timbermaw spelling is retired.
5. Spearing Strike
A Warrior anti-mount talent, known only from a creator's footage: 40% weapon damage, a dismount, 15 Rage, 20 second cooldown. No official notes and no tooltip we have seen confirm it exists.
What would close it: a talent tree screenshot or a patch note line.
6. The Forsaken Paladin mount
The model question, not the class. Datamining suggested a Forsaken paladin mount among the sealed files, and sealed files are exactly what a beta cannot confirm.
What would close it: a Forsaken paladin on a mount at launch.
7. Bank size: 48 or about 96
Testers reported a 48-slot bank. Lead designer Josh Greenfield estimated roughly 96 in an interview. Both numbers are sourced, they are not the same claim, and neither is a patch note.
What would close it: the bank window on a live character.
8. The teased Legendary
A single report says Blizzard teased a new Legendary with an unrevealed identity and an unrevealed raid link. Nothing in the official posts we read names it.
What would close it: the questline itself.
9. The 2027 roadmap fine print
The Spring and Summer 2027 items exist only as a transcription of the roadmap graphic. The beta contains launch content, not 2027 plans, so no amount of datamining settles this.
What would close it: a Blizzard post, or 2027.
What did get settled
For balance, the beta answered more than it left open. The stress test date moved from an undated "later in the test" promise to October 21 at 2:00 p.m. PDT and 19:00 CEST. Name reservation landed as October 27 to November 3, up to three characters, first come first served. Launch is confirmed at 3:00 p.m. PST on November 4, and the first raid tier is dated December 9 even with Onyxia's timing unresolved. The Paladin deep dive closed the nine-class series on October 15, and the soundtrack shipped on October 16.
That is a better record than most betas produce. The remaining list is short, specific and closeable by looking at a live client, which is exactly what launch is for.
SOURCES: Our verification ledger, last full pass before the beta closed, plus Blizzard's September 12 What's Next recap, the September 23 official video at 00:03:54, the October 15 pre-purchase text, the October 15 Paladin deep dive and the October 16 weekly highlights. Every open item above is labelled with the source that would settle it. Related: the launch timeline and the roadmap.