The wait for Hearthstone’s latest expansion, Whispers of the Old Gods, is finally over. Unfortunately, the servers have become so bogged down with the millions of people who play the game, that it is currently almost impossible to log in and actually play.

“We’re investigating an issue affecting our authentication servers, which may result in failed or slow login attempts,” Blizzard said on its customer support Twitter account.

That was over four hours ago, but there still seems to be problems with Hearthstone’s servers, leaving many excited fans out in the cold as they continuously refresh their game client for a chance at getting through. If you can’t make it in, keep trying. It will work. Eventually. Sort of.

Today’s Hearthstone release marks a milestone even more important to the game than the new expansion. Hearthstone’s long-awaited Wild and Standard game formats have also arrived, ushering in an entirely new metagame that will shake up both casual and professional Hearthstone matches.

The Wild format will continue to offer the same Hearthstone experience fans are already familiar with, but the new Standard format restricts which cards can be used in players’ decks. The Basic and Classic card sets will always be available in Standard, but other cards can only come from expansions and adventures that have been released in the current and previous year.

Right now, that means that cards from The Curse of Naxxramas and Goblins vs Gnomes cannot be used in the new Standard format. Going forward, old expansions and Adventures will cycle out of Standard as new ones are released, which will help keep the game fresh and interesting, especially for the competitive scene.

In fact, Blizzard’s official Hearthstone World Championship will now use the new Standard format exclusively, so professional players will have to get used to saying goodbye to old standards like Sludge Belcher and Dr Seven…er, I mean Dr Boom.

Screenshot by Eric David | SiliconANGLE