The Culling of Stratholme
Starting the Instance
Posting this here as I've found day by day more and more people finding issues starting the instance and it's in general caused by lack of information on how the event works.Starting the Instance
Doing it for the First Time
If you're running the instance for the first time you'll likely want to pick up the quest Dispelling Illusions with Chromie by the inn's basement. The quest will provide you an Arcane Disruptor that must be used in the plagued crates in order to reveal them as corrupted by the plague. Once 5 crates have been revealed, Chromie will whisper players and show up on the road leading to Stratholme. If at least one person in your group hasn't completed the instance at least once, you're not eligible to skip the intro speech and must go through this step.
Note: If you have already completed Dispelling Illusions you may talk to Chromie to receive an Arcane Disruptor in order to dispel the crates. HOWEVER, keep in mind that doing so will mean you've chosen to NOT skip the introduction. So if your group is eligible for it to be skipped, but yet you choose to dispel the crates, the skip intro gossip menu option will disappear and will NOT be available again.
Skipping the Intro
If everyone in your group has completed the instance in heroic or normal difficulty you can skip dispelling the crates and the intro speech (among Arthas, Uther and Jaina) by talking to Chromie at the inn's basement. Selecting the skip intro gossip will teleport the party to the entrance of Stratholme and start the waves of undeads. From this point the instance proceeds as it would normally do. If at least one person in your group hasn't completed the instance at least once, you're not eligible to skip the intro speech. In that case, follow the steps mentioned at Doing it for the First Time.
If you don't wish to skip the intro or is not eligible, take a look at Doing it for the First Time. Arthas will not be visible at the start of Stratholme unless the crates are dispelled. This is however void if you skip the introduction.
This behavior is mostly blizzlike with few missing things that will be implemented with time (for now I think we are sort of the first server that has skipping the intro available).
I've found a bug with the event. Where should I report it?
Please report any issues you may find at Bugtracker. Posts reporting bugs here will be removed.