WRUP: Speculation about the release date

Clearly, it would be impolite and improper to speculate when the beta of Warlords of Draenor would open in a general sense. And in this holiday season, who wants to be impolite and improper? That would be wrong.

But when we asked our intrepid WoW Insider staff to tell us what they're playing this weekend, we also asked them to speculate on what day of the week the beta will begin. I'm guessing the beta will begin on a Wednesday, because hump day is a great day to have a treat in the middle of the week.

Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) Going to see Frozen with my sister this weekend and escape the house in which I've been trapped since it started dumping snow on Colorado. Have I mentioned lately that I'm not fond of winter? I'm not fond of winter. I may spend a little time working on my priest alt -- I just hit 88 the other day, and I'm quietly trying to get her to 90. As for the bonus question: I'm pretty sure we can count on a Tuesday, and without being impolite or improper, I don't expect we're going to be waiting too much longer.

Allison Robert (@AllisonRobert) Likely some pet battle achievements I haven't gotten to yet, in addition to some holiday prep. I'll throw in another vote for a Wednesday launch.

Daniel Whitcomb (@danielwhitcomb) I did finish the storyline of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, and it is definitely my Game of the Year 2013. Now, I just need to finish out the last few achievements and get 100%. I'm thinking I may try to take out the Legendary Ships this weekend. I'm also playing a lot of Triple Triad on Final Fantasy VIII so I can refine weapon upgrade materials off the cards I'm winning.

On the prediction, I'm going with the safe bet and saying Tuesday. Always bet on maintenance day!

Elizabeth Harper (@Faience) I'm finishing up quests for my Loremaster of Cataclsym achievement in Vashj'ir after which I'm probably never going back, because, ugh, swimming. Sorry, shipwreck victims, but in the future, you're on your own. After that maybe I will finally finish getting my monk to level 90. Yeah, I know, I'm the slowest leveler ever.

I predict the expansion will launch after 5PM on a Friday, because that's when Blizzard seems to do everything notable.

Elizabeth Wachowski (@leeatwaterlives) I'm deep into Assassin's Creed 2 and working on my second play through of Borderlands 2. I would love it so much if someone made a fantasy game with the same mechanics and loot system as BL2. I'm working at a busy station, so I doubt I'll have much time to play.

I'm going to say a Tuesday, because everything happens on Tuesdays.

Kristin Marshall (@kristin) I won't play much WoW this weekend outside of Sunday's raid. We're hosting a game night this weekend so, all the board games! And hot chocolate and yummies. Bonus: Probably a Tuesday, because it's maintenance day!

Lisa Poisso (@lisapoisso) We're preparing to adopt a retired racing greyhound and we have a home visit and several "meet and greets" with potential hounds this weekend, so I won't have much time to play. If I do, though, I have a level 10 undead rogue ready to step into his first Arathi Basin. Also, I've managed to collect a nice set of heirloom plate that had previously been scattered across various servers, so apparently I need to make a paladin or warrior somewhere. Hmm. Bonus question: Wouldn't a Monday launch be nice, so we get a whole week of support and feedback and communication before the weekend rolls around?

Matthew Rossi (@MatthewWRossi) I'm playing "Historical Santa" - I found a bunch of facts about Nikolaos of Myra and I'm imagining trying to get them into the modern canon for Santa Claus. For instance, he once found that a butcher had murdered three children and was trying to use them as meat, so he defeated the butcher and raised the children from the dead. They were in a barrel, but that didn't matter to Nikolaos. He also was the patron saint of the Varangarian Guard, the badass viking mercenaries who protected the Emperor of Byzantium, so Santa has vikings at his disposal.

The expansion will be Solomon Grundy in that it will be born on a Monday.

Matt Walsh (@Rhidach) I'm going to probably put a few more levels on my currently level 86 monk in WoW. When that gets boring, I'll switch to Starbound and mess around a little there on my current character.

I expect the expansion will launch on a Monday.

Megan O'Neill (@slowpoker) I'm focused on getting my softcore D3 monk to 60 (she's 43 as of writing), as that will complete my set of softcore 60s for one of every class. Depending on the weekend battleground, I might PvP on my warlock a little to get back into that, but I imagine it's more of a D3 weekend. Bonus: Tuesday is the default choice, but I'm tempted to say Friday, since everything likes to change right around my column deadlines.

Olivia Grace (@oliviadgrace) I am playing the christmas shopping game, and exploring SoCal a bit -- I'm off back to England in a short while, but don't arrive until xmas eve, so will have to be bringing xmas gifts back with me. Attending an xmas party in Anaheim tonight, should be fun, apparently it's at Disney!

I reckon a Tuesday. It's the obvious answer, really. I also reckon they'll launch it theTtuesday before or the Tuesday after my birthday. Which is the 16th of January, just in case you were wondering. No pressure.

Robin Torres (@cosmiclaurel) I'll be holiday shopping this weekend with some monk fun thrown in as I can. Bonus: Even though you gotta get down on Friday, I think the beta will actually begin on a Thursday.

Sarah Pine (@ilaniel) I'm playing as much WoW as I can before my husband and I leave on our Fantastic Holiday Adventure to Places Warmer Than Seattle. We are going to visit his family in Australia for Christmas and New Year (first time since he immigrated to the US!) with a nice little stopover in Honolulu on the way. My doctor just diagnosed me with a vitamin D deficiency, so the sunshine will be very welcome.

Bonus question: The beta will open on a Tuesday, because that's maintenance day!

The weekend is the perfect time to kick back, relax and enjoy some game time. Are you an achievement junkie? Can't get enough raiding? Rolling a new alt? Considering taking the leap into roleplaying? Whatever your favorite way to play World of Warcraft, let us know in the comments what you're playing this weekend!