Are the WoW servers up yet?
24th Jan, 2023
Today marks the release of patch 9.2.5, the final patch for Shadowlands. This means that there will be a prolonged downtime. Today's was no exception. The original maintenance window was scheduled to last from 7 AM PDT to 3 PM PDT. However, the Blizzard Customer Services Twitter account extended the window by two hours to 5 PM PST. Then it was extended again to 6 PM PST. They're likely to be up now, but as usual, expect some rockiness as everyone attempts to swarm the new content.
Although patch 9.2.5 has less content than patch 9.2, cross-faction gameplay can cause issues. So be aware that just because servers are online, it does not necessarily mean they will be stable. You'll need to update addons as usual. If servers are showing up as "incompatible", you should restart Battle Net browser and ensure that the client is updated with the most recent patch version.
PVP Season 4 (which includes Fated raids as well as the new "Shrouded") affix will not begin concurrently with the patch's arrival. This means that you will still have plenty of time to earn the Ahead of the Curve or Cutting Edge achievements for the Sepulcher of the First Ones. Mount collectors don't have to worry about the Carcinized Zerethsteed being unavailable after Season 4.
You don't have to wait until Season 4 to experience the Enigma Crucible, a new arena for PVP. Patch 9.2.5 also introduces new quest lines for Dark Iron Dwarves or Blood Elves, which reward transmog and a mount. There is also a sneaking suspicion that there may be a surprise or two, due to the sheer volume of encrypted files that the datamining wizards found. Keep checking back for that!