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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsWill merging servers help low pop realms?
by Amanda Rivera 
Nov 5th 2007 at 9:07PM
Coriel on Blessing of Kings mentions that the real problem isn't simply the low population, it's also player retention. Hardcore gamers leave the low population realms to go where they can achieve their goals, namely raiding end-game content (I would also add high -level PvP to this.) Simply having more bodies to a server won't keep that player there. Coriel's analogy of server buckets with holes is a valid one. The only thing that keeps a hardcore player on a server is a guild (or arena team) that can get them where they need to go. The guild is the plug that keeps the leaky bucket full.
While some might look at this as elitist, consider for a moment the notion of server pride. We love our realms, love to show off the achievements of the players we play with. Even if we aren't the ones raiding Mt. Hyjal or the Black Temple, there is still a certain level of excitement on a realm that has guilds that are pushing through the progression. I think this applies to the entire realm, regardless of which faction you happen to play on. It's that energy and excitement that make the difference between thriving realms and dying ones. More active hardcore players means more gold flowing for enchants, for consumables, and the economy grows.
I definitely see Coriel's point, but I wonder then, what is the ultimate solution? Merging a low population realm with a medium one, a server with a few healthy guilds? That might work well, as long as the influx of people doesn't begin to swing the pendulum the other direction, and then the problems of overpopulation creep up. Add to this the challenge of keeping a proper faction ratio on a server, and it all becomes a sticky mess.
Still, I think I may have hit on something here. It certainly would make it simpler than recruiting guilds specifically to switch servers in order to help out a struggling group of players.
Filed under: Realm News, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Doch Nov 11th 2007 2:23AM
When I first started playing I started on Shadow Council server where I had RL friends. Within 4 months of playing SC started having ques when I would log after work and I had about 2-3 hours of play time at night and spent 30-45 minutes in a que. Blizz offered free transfers to Sisters of Elune and after being DCed several times and having to wait in a que again, I decided to transfer my main and alts to SoE.
Since then it has been decent, but it is a low pop and like many have said, it is hard to find groups to instance or group quests. Since transfering I have leveled 2 70's and 2 more into their 60's. I have thought about going back to SC, but to transfer my toons would cost $100+ and don't like spending that much money.
I have looked at http://www.warcraftrealms.com/index.php to see the pop of my server and it is comparable to what I have seen while playing. Like Friday night I was playing late at night and there were 6 people in HP and 5 people in Zang when I was looking to find some people to do group quests.
I think that Blizz should do some sort of special deal for transfering multiple toons at one time. 1st is $25, 2nd $20, 3rd $10, etc. and do a bulk move of all toons for a set price i.e $75 thus saving people some money and allowing for people unsatisfied with low pop realms to do so without the stress of having to come up with a lot of money that some people might not have.
Server merges would be the ideal, but there would be a lot of headaches due to the name issues with toons and guilds which I don't see any way of resolving it without pissing people off.
Hopefully with the new expansion, it will bring new people to WoW and enable low pop realms to be infused with new blood.