Press Refresh Now to see your new group

Joining a group in World of Warcraft: Forever no longer moves you to the layer of your group at once. You see a zone refresh notice first, and only after Refresh Now do your group members show up. Until then they can stay invisible.

On the beta, an invite moved you straight away. At launch the game asks first, as Blizzard announced in its podcast. That way nobody lands next to an elite in the middle of a fight.

Step by step

1. Join the group. The notice appears: a zone refresh is coming.
2. Go somewhere safe, out of combat. You cannot accept the refresh during a fight.
3. Click Refresh Now. You move to the layer of your group, and your group members appear.
4. Check before you pull that you really see everyone.

Clicked Okay too quickly? That only hides the notice. An arrow stays near the chat box, and clicking it brings the notice back, with Refresh Now still on it. The same notice also warns you before a forced zone refresh.

How long the window lasts at launch, Blizzard does not say. On the beta a forced refresh gave five minutes. Neighbouring zones can still sit on different layers, so a group can lose sight of each other again at a zone border.