I live in China. The official word from Blizzard technical support when I had a similar problem was:
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we are not initially permitting users to connect to regions other than their home region because we cannot guarantee a positive gaming experience for users connecting to servers outside their supported region.
I explained that I did not want to play *outside* my region, I just wanted to be able to play in English:
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Allow me to rephrase the question: I am a customer who lives and works in China, has done so for a considerable time, and am on contract to continue to do so for some time to come. Playing in English would appear to require me to play *outside* of my home region. Is there a way to set the language on my PC, so that my gaming experience is enhanced by being able to read the game, while still playing in my home region?
MikeL replied:
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I understand your issue now. I apologize for the trouble, unfortunately, there's no way to change the language. I recommend you speak with the local support, http://www.wowchina.com/support/ , to request an English translation for the Chinese localized version.
When I requested more information, suspecting he was giving me tech support sarcasm, I got:
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When I was referring you to the Chinese support, it was with the notion of suggesting that idea as there is no such feature currently availible that I'm aware of. Unfortunately, in terms of support for the Chinese version, there's not much else I can assist with.
So, thanks Blizzard. I ended up playing with the Chinese interface, local tech support never did reply, and I get through by using this site heavily for reference. It can be frustrating, but it works well enough to keep me amused (usually an easy task).
You can sometimes download the English version as a trial, then upgrade. As far as I know, that would leave you playing on North American servers and facing time zone problems for groups, guilds and raids. I thought about giving it a try, then hit the part where they wanted a credit card number and declined. I don't send credit card info through my local ISP; although I am sure they are very nice folks, I prefer not to tempt fate.
I've wondered if the local launcher could be used to launch the English version; however, with all the fuss over people getting banned for using various applications I've been reluctant to try. The code is there, and I'm sure it could be reached, but I gather Blizzard likes things the way they have set them up. Europe is allowed translations, apparently Asia is not. At least I pay by actual time used rather than flat monthly fees.
Good luck, and if you get an answer to the language problem I would appreciate a PM. :)