The Weekly Marmot - Cross-Realm Zones

[Lore]

A server merger fixes the really important problems of not being able to put together a DS, BH, or for practical purposes an entire guild structure because of a lack of critical mass. This doesn't address any of those issues and I hear far more people complaining they had to transfer to a larger server to find a viable guild than anything else. For every person that complains about having to transfer I'm guessing there is one who just quit the game instead (and may come back in a few months, but still its not a good thing).

IMO what needs to happen to fix that is free server transfers, not server mergers. That's an issue that happens everywhere.

[Aggathon]

IMO what needs to happen to fix that is free server transfers, not server mergers. That's an issue that happens everywhere.

Or... one big massive server that functions like the crossrealm zone stuff does.

@twanos, really you have to consider not just the cost of keeping subs instead of losing them, but possibly people re-subbing and/or buying MoP because they could now play with anyone they wanted to regardless of server.

[tawnos]

IMO what needs to happen to fix that is free server transfers, not server mergers. That's an issue that happens everywhere.

And that would be the really big news if it actually happened, even if in technological/game design terms its not nearly as interesting.

[Gregasaurous]

The cross realm realm thingy is a nice feature, don't get me wrong, it is going to be great for making World of Warcraft feel... like a "World" again. Though.... now that i think about it, I wouldn't be surprised if they actually decided to put effort into it for a reason opposite to what it has become. I know it's been brought up as an additional perk, but could it be that they really worked on this feature to help "stabilize" questing in high pop realms so that they would have one less thing to worry about when MoP hits? I know blizzard would certainly never intentionally mislead us and all that good stuff..... "Rumors of MoP being the next expansion have been greatly exaggerated" ~ Blizz pre blizzcon... But I just get the feeling that they view this not so much as "help the little guy" as "help control the big guy". And then the low level questing point was just kind of icing on the cake. Too conspiracy theory-ee?

IMO what needs to happen to fix that is free server transfers, not server mergers. That's an issue that happens everywhere.

This.... they would have to put limitations on it and such, maybe lock certain realms with any kind of population problems (faction imbalance/heavy general population), but yeah, it's a automated process, they're just milking the profits of it for as long as they can i guess. Here's a thought: 1 free character transfer per month per account. That would probably remove 90% of their server transfer profits, but who knows, they could still make a bundle on guild transfers and people who insist on having all of their max level characters on the same realm together. And they still profit from legendary raid lockout exploits!!! (That of course as responsible game designers they gave a "shake of the head and a wag of the finger" to those individuals.)

[eald]

Or... one big massive server that functions like the crossrealm zone stuff does.

I think the big impediment for Blizzard to do this is the in-game economy. Is Raiders vs Gold players (farmers, AH gamblers and so), free transfers impact a lot less in this regard.

[feralminded]

I think the big impediment for Blizzard to do this is the in-game economy. Is Raiders vs Gold players (farmers, AH gamblers and so), free transfers impact a lot less in this regard.

The monolithic "mega server" will fail big time in the social aspects (Its impossible to keep track of a 5 million person large server) and the auction house/markets would become insane. I think this solution is a fantastic hybrid and as Lore says free server transfers will ameliorate some of that as well. In the end I strongly believe blizzard needs to keep a "community" to ~10,000 players to keep any semblance of server society and this change both facilitates that AND keeps the world feeling ... you know ... like a world.

[tawnos]

The AH game would be the only thing truly destroyed by a monolithic server. The AH like any other sort of trading relies on price fluctuations and in a market that large there wouldn't be any. Even on huge server/realm combos you see the occasional market inefficiency and thats how you make money on the AH (or any other commodity trading system).

I don't know if 10000 is a good number and it depends on if thats players or characters (would love to see a metric on the average number of 85's per account). Its difficult to figure out how many are active but realmpop shows 44.6k alliance level 85's on Stormrage and I can still easily sit for hours scanning trade and not find a DS pug. I would certainly like a larger server and have considered moving to Ilidan-horde because of it. I don't think Stormrage lacks 'community' despite its size by any means, and its small enough that I've actually recognized voices on vent in PUGs of people I've pug'd with on entirely different toons.

[feralminded]

I pulled the number out of thin air, perhaps 50,000 is the right number (Ironically I am orginally from SR-horde ... you should log over there to see the absolute definition of dead server). Regardless at some point if the population grows beyond some size finding a guild will become an almost impossible task to do "in person" and instead will be more of a "pull a name out of a hat" scenario. I understand this appeals to a certain type of person, but not myself where I prefer to interact with these people and be capable of following their exploits in game and talk to people who have been with them (for instance on your alliance server I know several of the members of the community and their guild's by reputation, even having been horde). Community is something I value and I believe betters the game. This solution seems to be a healthy compromise between the two points (fields of unique but dead servers, and single facelss monolithic server).

Still this will not address the dead server plague and if they ever go with free transfers that will only exacerbate the issue. At some point a server like your Stormrage should be merged with a server that has the opposite imbalance otherwise "world pvp" or any Horde v Alliance style things will just completely fail. I bet if you look at SR's server utilization you will notice a ridiculous imbalance between the EK server(s) and the Kalimdor sever(s) ... and this cannot necessarily be good ... not to mention the terrible experience that anyone unlucky enough to accidentally roll SR-Horde has.