Breakfast Topic: There goes the neighborhood
by Amanda Dean 
Mar 28th 2008 at 8:00AM
Whenever I see free character transfers, I always check to see if my realm is on the list. It never is, probably because it's medium population (though apparently it also has to do with queue times). I don't think I would seriously consider transferring, even for free.
At one point I tried rolling on a low population server. I had a good group of friends to play with, but it was hard to PuG anything. I wound up transferring two characters from that server to my main realm. Several friends did the same. Unless it's an entirely new type of server, I think I'll stay where I am.
Some realms like Ghostlands have really taken off, others remain on the recommended and low population lists indefinitely. Hats off to those willing to colonize new and underpopulated realms, I have no idea how you do it.
What would make you change servers?
Filed under: Realm News, Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dakira Mar 28th 2008 8:05AM
Originally changed server to a low population because of the queue times. It was ridiculous to wait 20 minutes (or what felt like it) before even getting enter the game.
I moved to a low pop server (which has grown to medium), first thing I noticed was the economy was stupid and within a month I'd made more gold than I'd ever seen on my old server!
But your right, recruiting for a guild and getting groups is difficult and has resulted in a lot of folks and guilds transferring off.
Dakira Mar 28th 2008 8:08AM
Oh I forgot to add, that as difficult as groups are to get attitudes about PUG's haven't changed.
Our guild does kara weekend and unless a small miracle takes place we have to pug the last 2 or 3 members of the group and we always have to listen to a ton of verbal abuse about pugging in the LFG channel.
You'd think with a small server folks would be more open to the idea of working together (no matter what guild) in order to get things done... go figure!
William Mar 28th 2008 9:32AM
I witnessed the "stupid economy" thing on a couple low pop servers and I capitalized as you did... amazing how that is... you'd think if nobody is on the server you wouldn't make much gold in AH... oh well...
Faydre Mar 28th 2008 8:14AM
I transfered to a low populated server, well, not transfered, but re-rolled after 4 level 70's. Went from Horde to Alliance. Was a bit of a shock at first. The children on the server being... childish. It was just hell in the beginning, but then as I leveled up I started to get to know some cool people and we quest and instance together. It's not formalized but we all know who to avoid.
I also made a lot of gold on this server, silly things that anyone can grind like wool cloth sell for 4g a stack. Had epic mount money before level 40.
stonehead Mar 28th 2008 2:16PM
I have a theory about that:
WoW tries to put new players on low pop servers, so most of the people on those servers have never played, or don't know other people who play, so they don't know how to operate their personal economy, they buy everything they need since they don't have the social resources to acquire things. They only bought the game because Mr. T told them to.
Omenator Mar 28th 2008 8:17AM
I've done two realm transfers, both times to larger servers than the one I was on. Low Pop = dead unless you're in a top end raiding guild there.
I do wish I hadn't gone from PvP to PvE with the first transfer. But now with multiple raiding 70's I have too much invested to consider re-rolling PvP again.
I also don't buy blizzard's argument that leveling PvE gives and advantage over leveling PvP. All leveling PvE does for you is prevent the frustration of being ganked in Stranglethorn. By the time you hit 70, advantages come from gear and last I checked both realm types have the same gear options.
William Mar 28th 2008 9:32AM
hahaha.... "ganked in Stranglethorn"... those were the days... the good 'ol days... funny you mention that... a friend of mine and I were talking about it last night... we speculated that perhaps we wouldn't have gotten ganked as much if we'd have gone PvE but we also realize that we wouldn't have had as much fun at other times so it was worth it to roll PvP.
Ganesh Mar 28th 2008 11:55AM
in PvP you're ganked in STV, ganked by the entrance to Kara (for 30min or more), ganked while mining, ganked while talking to quest givers, ganked when in Moonglade (by other druids, no less), ganked while getting herbs, ganked by people ?? to you, ganked by 2-3 people, ganked inside your city (depending on the server balance), ganked when you zone in, ganked when you zone out of an instance, ganked...you get the point.
I've leveled 70s on PvE and PvP realms, and there's a HUGE difference in leveling speed. PvE leveling is EZ mode.
Ray Mar 28th 2008 8:25AM
As much as I hate my server I don't think I could leave. There are to many people that have become friends and playing the game just wouldn't be the same without them. But I know my brother transfered servers due to all of his friends transfering and the left him behind, so he came to my server.
GlynO Mar 28th 2008 8:41AM
i once moved to EU Kor'gall from Bloodscalp
i flew into IF and i was the only person near the bank, i checked the AH and there were 47 items in total
that sinking feeling hit but Kor'gall was a great server until we got dumped into the small battlegroup - its ok now but alot of the larger guilds left
Alhrah Mar 28th 2008 11:50PM
i agree with Ray the only reason i would consider changing servers is if its a brand new server or if my friend and/or family is on that server
harbourne Mar 28th 2008 8:51AM
I've moved servers a couple of times. My initial server had my ex-husband, and I had a friend who'd been on multiple servers who suggested a reroll to Alliance.
About the time I hit 60, back in the day, the guild I was to be joining transferred to Aegwynn. So, my mage transferred into the new guild on the new server. I've hopped servers a couple of times since then, usually rerolling. I've got some friends from work who want me to roll on one of their servers, and I have, but it won't be for a serious character. My main's still on Aegwynn, and in a new guild.
Alhrah Mar 28th 2008 11:50PM
i agree with ray the only reason i would consider leaving my server even though its not the best one is if my friends or family from around me were on there. Like when i move my hunter from muardin to thunderhorn because my cusins were on. there i leveled to 69 in no time from 62 and have almost all my flyer money and as soon as i level im ready for kara keyd
Alphasim Mar 28th 2008 9:03AM
I kinda like the 'server reserved for one' experience I can get sometimes on a quiet, newer, or low-pop PvE server. Just me, the NPCs and the mobs. I do miss the craziness of seeing 30+ lowbies dueling each other in Goldshire on my main server - something I occasionnally stop back for like it's some kind of reall sad but free Pay-Per-View thing. On the other hand, I was so alone this morning on my alt that I was actually caught off guard when a mob ran off towards something that wasn't me. My biggest complaint is that there's often not enough folks to 'thin the herds,' and you get ganged up on all the time since there's a baddie about every 10-15 feet. Can you tell I solo allot?
Ladli Mar 28th 2008 9:02AM
The only transfer I ever made was a paladin that I hadn't played in over a year - I was hoping the change of "scenery" would jump-start my interest...
No luck. All it was is a waste of money - she's just sitting collecting dust.
Faar Mar 28th 2008 9:10AM
I'd like to see something akin to "Hardcore PvP" servers, where there are NO GUARDS AT ALL in cities. Instead, players themselves will have to do the job of fending off attackers from the opposite faction.
As a reward, you would get 1.5x the regular honor points for slaying an enemy in his home town (assuming the enemy is high level enough to give honor), and 2x the regular amount for killing an attacker.
You would also be able to loot tokens off maximum level enemies you kill in towns, and when you have a number of them you turn them in at your capital for badges of justice. :D
Additionally, to encourage players to defend small far-flung villages, taxicabs would either have to be much faster or some sort of teleport system would need to be invented.
That'd be cool methinks.
doyesac Mar 28th 2008 11:55AM
I love world PvP and I approve this message.
Dave Mar 28th 2008 9:43AM
I've contemplated transferring a lot of times..
the only thing that would get me to transfer is if I could transfer back to my current PVP realm if I transferred to a PVE realm in order to try and raid with a favorable situation. Right now, my main downer is that I can't raid. I've got friends on my server, and if they'd move somewhere else I'd think about going... but ultimately there are so many advantages to being on a full server rather than being on a low pop server.
I'm very glad they took the suggestion of "stop having open transfers from 6 realms to a SINGLE realm" and are actually doing the smart thing and letting people transfer to a handful of low pop realms instead. That's a step in the right direction.
The next step will be to merge low pop into medium pop realms (does anyone REALLY give a crap about "progression" on a low pop realm and would it REALLY shatter everyone on 2 realms if they merged populations on a semi-regular basis if/when the populations dwindled for a consistent amount of time?). Then, in the future allow free transfers to medium pop realms in the hope that they'd turn into high but not queued realms.
I think there's an unhappy medium with a med pop realm. Low pop at least you know what you're getting. Medium is deceptive and you think it might be a good situation but often the people left aren't into what you're into and you're going to feel as if it's a low pop server. High/full realms though are the best. The economy is fluid, you can often find PUG's (especially raids) and there are tons of guilds. I'd never want a low pop realm unless I had an existing friend base on one... and convincing 20 people you know to transfer to a different server is pretty difficult.
nativebrown Mar 28th 2008 9:52AM
i transferred my main and my "main-alt" to a different server. i liked the server i was on but it was tough to escape the guild drama when you keep running into the same people over and over again.
so went to an RP-PVE server, didn't bother getting guilded and am having a blast.
there were some things that were tough to get used to such as the AH prices and the general "feel" of the chat channels. but overall all the trees, rocks, NPCs and cities were in the same place as on my old server. who woulda thunk it.
skinny Mar 28th 2008 9:58AM
i transfered because i finally hit 62 on Area 52 and i had family on another realm so they bugged me until i transfered out and i don't really think it was a bad idea doing it