Patch 3.1 may be here sooner than we expect. As of this evening, people exiting WoW should see their background downloader start up in order to deliver patch 3.1 -- or at least parts of it.

As to whether this means we should expect the whole shebang to go live on Tuesday, I still wouldn't bet on it. Not only have there been indications that the devs are willing to delay Noblegarden if they have to to keep testing the patch, It seems like class balancing work still has a bit to go.

With this in mind, it seems most likely that what we're getting now is mostly finalized art and zone files that won't change before the patch goes live. But whether we have one more week or one more month, the preparations are underway. We're one step closer to the Argent Tournament and Ulduar!

[Thanks to everyone who gave us a heads up on this!]