Realm Splitting?
by Chris Miller 
Jan 7th 2007 at 2:00PM
According to a post by Tseric on the World of Warcraft General Forum Blizzard may decide that certain largely overpopulated worlds need to be split, and Blizzard has created a mandatory world split procedure and is testing it on Hellscream.
The way the process would work is that a user would log on, be prompted to choose one of two worlds, and when split day happens will be moved. Players that don't choose a world to move to would be moved to the same world as their guild master, if they aren't in a guild they'd be moved with the rest of their arena team, and if they aren't in either a guild or an arena team Blizzard will pick. Also, Blizzard may override your choice of a destination if the problem that caused the split isn't being resolved.
They've got some good reasons for doing this, but I can see a lot of very bad things coming out of this. Guilds getting split up, friends getting split up, guild alliances getting torn apart. The reaction in guild chat when someone brought it to our attention was very negative, but I'm torn. I've seen what long queue times do to gameplay and raid attendance. What do you think? Do the good results outweigh the consequences of moving people around?
Filed under: Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tolrye Jan 7th 2007 2:58PM
I guess I would say what kind of guild would split over which of 2 new servers to chose? Flip a coin.
Guild alliances yeah that could be a problem, but who in a GA doesn't secretly kinda wish that some part of said alliance would go away? Here's your chance.
So far as friends are concerned, I would think that for the most part, if you really are friends you'll either head to the same realm, or, if forced not to by guild dynamics, find other ways to keep in touch.
Most of the negative reactions I've read just seem like typical knee-jerk stuff, people seem to hate change as a rule, and will come up with a myriad of reasons, rational and not, to fight them.
Jason Jan 7th 2007 11:20PM
I find it amusing that people are so up in arms about Realms being split, yet they're always demanding new realms and subsequently, transfers to lower population realms.
From where I stand, splitting a realm in this manner is teh best of both worlds. There's a new realm available, namely the one created in the process of splitting one. Second, a portion of your server, roughly half, will be split off onto this new realm. Is there the chance that part of a guild will be left behind? Certainly, but no more so than when a guild chooses to take advantage of a free realm transfer. The end result is the same. An over burdened server has it's population drastically decreased, and a new server is available that won't be completely full.
Ransom Jan 7th 2007 9:42PM
Where the hell does it say Hellscream? Even the post TITLE says it's a beta realm, Hellfire. I thought some of the WoWInsider staff was on beta? Shouldn't you know this?
It's obvious that this is just a whine post, and you never even read Tseric's announcement.
Thomas Jan 8th 2007 7:59AM
So long as Blizz doesn't split up guilds, I don't see too much of an issue with this, but it could backfire. What happens if you mistakenly choose the wrong server? Will Blizz give you a free return? How about implementing free server transfers before this happens? Also, how about shutting down transfers TO the affected realm?
djr Jan 7th 2007 6:22PM
The World of Warcraft community, where every day the sky is falling.
Jeff Jan 10th 2007 4:13AM
This seems like a great idea to me. I quit my first toon because of a queue over 1000 (before paid transfers) and stpped playing a few others due to long queues.
The biggest negative that i see from this is that i would likely lose contact with a few of the casual friends i occasionally pvp/quest/farm with.
Lori Jan 7th 2007 7:10PM
Sounds like it's possible for our characters to be split across the two new servers. I wouldn't like this. It would be nice to designate all characters under one account go with a mains GM or at least stay together.
WidardOfOdd Jan 8th 2007 9:28AM
If they do split realms, they ought to offer one free realm transfer per toon. But the choicese would be one of the two new realms that were created by the split. That way if your characters get split up, or you and a friend get split, there's an opportunity to correct the problem.
Therizo Jan 7th 2007 8:07PM
All characters would stay together based on your choice. the only time you would have chars on different servers is if you never picked a destination during the designated time (I.E. didn't log on, and wasn't in a guild or arena team)
Geo Jan 7th 2007 9:40PM
As of Sunday at 8:32pm, my queue is 640 on Uldum with a 63 min wait. I think this is a brilliant idea, where do I click OK.
aaron Jan 10th 2007 6:57PM
Friday 100 in queue, Saturday 130, Sunday 200 (Sunday night 500 in queue)
Ralex Jan 8th 2007 1:36PM
Or to prevent the need for this, they could
Just
Stop
Transfers
Into
Full
Realms.
Kazzaam Jan 9th 2007 2:14PM
I usually have a five or ten minute queue at peak times, but I still have a hard time finding enough players to run instances, even though the server is full. A less crowded server won't make grouping any easier.
Also, I recently paid to transfer to my server and I like it there. I would hate to be moved to another server against my will.