Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: How do you find a new realm to call home?
by Dion Cooper 
Nov 26th 2010 at 8:00AM
Home. It's where the heart is. It's where you can relax and be yourself. Sometimes, it is where you have been all your life. Other times, you have to move around several times to find the best place for you. The feeling of home in World of Warcraft is no different.
Because of a lack of guild activity, I've thought about moving my main to a new realm for several weeks now, but I have been hesitant to just do it. Part of it is the anxiety that comes with going to an unfamiliar realm. I've done research on several different realms and even rolled low-level characters on them to see what the environment is like, but the one thing I've learned is that you can't get a sense of what the raiding scene is like unless you are in it. The other part of my anxiety is getting to know everyone all over again. Sometimes, the hardest part of moving to a new town is introducing yourself to the neighbors. I thought about rerolling but have too much invested in my main to retire him.
So, fellow citizens of Azeroth, how did you find your WoW home? Is it the first realm you rolled on? Did you transfer somewhere else or reroll altogether?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
Daerial Nov 26th 2010 9:55AM
Actually, home is where your hearthstone is.
Parchoogler Nov 26th 2010 9:55AM
Home is where the heart is...........?
If Home is where the heart is, then your real home's in your cheeeeeeeeeest!
Everyone's a hero, in their own way.....
snarkygoldfish Nov 26th 2010 9:57AM
I moved to Ravenholdt with a friend because we were tired of the atmosphere on Lightinghoof.
Ravenholdt is....well...it's Ravenholdt. Alliance is incredibly outnumbered. RP is growing Alli-side, but mostly dominated / subjugated by a single guild that believes themselves to have a lockdown on things...Raiding...well... We only have a couple progression guilds on both sides.
And yet -- for all the headaches, trolls, and shortcomings of the realm, I can't see myself moving my main off the server. It's home. I've made some amazing friends here. I am considering rolling a few goof-off toons on other realms to more actively RP (and strongly considering Twisting Nether on the recommendations of some others)...but home will always be with the 'Holdt.
Kalren Nov 26th 2010 10:13AM
I transferred to Proudmoore about 2 years ago primarily for the reason of finding a more gay-friendly gaming environment. Best decision I could have made. Wow as just a game is great, but it's far from the only reason why I play. I enjoy socializing and meeting other like-minded gamers. It makes every aspect of the game better for me: from questing to raiding. So, I really do think finding the right realm is important. If you're not happy with where you currently are, it's worth researching other ones. It makes a big difference and I honestly don't think I'd be playing as long as I have if I didn't make the move. good luck to all considering a change :)
Kylenne Nov 26th 2010 3:40PM
I have yet to meet anyone who transferred to or rerolled on Proudmoore who regretted that decision, myself included. We have our share of problems as a server community, no doubt (I wish they'd cut off Alliance xfers permanently -_-), but it's not hyperbole for me to say it's the best server I've ever played on, in any MMO.
Part of why it's such a welcoming place I think is because we really are a realm full of refugees. A lot of servers out there have a stigma against transfers, but Proudmoore's unique in that people don't generally transfer there for the shitty reasons people might transfer to other servers (yoinking realm firsts away from native guilds, for instance, though I do understand there was some drama recently with a guild Alliance-side on Proudmoore that did it). 90% of people who come to Proudmoore do so because of the server's LGBT reputation nowadays, and when you're trying to find community, you tend not to want to cause trouble.
Bao Nov 26th 2010 10:19AM
I initially rolled onto Al'akir-EU as alliance, a pvp realm, it's (or at least it was) a horde majority realm. But it became home and I made plenty of friends there. But around the end of TBC things died out a bit, most of the ppl I knew left the game or planned to, and I'd grown tired of being ganked when lvling alts. So I started to look for something completely different, I found Emerald Dream-EU which is like the opposite as Al'akir, its and pve realm and alliance is the majority. Moved in, made new friends, though it awhile. But now it's home and I'm not planning on leaving it anytime soon, not even when the factionbalance is more outta balance than ever.
Since we've "left" Dalaran for our homecities, I haven't seen a hordie in days (and it's not like I haven't been out exploring ;))
Sivarus Nov 26th 2010 10:29AM
My question to the writer is this: Why now?
I think most people, especially those in raiding guilds, are in the pre-expansion doldrums. In my guild, many of us haven't logged into our mains in weeks. Ive been tooling around on alts and taking time off, many have done the same.
I have a strong feeling that everyone I usually play with will be back on Dec. 7th... The point is, I would wait a week or two after that to make a decision about a realm transfer, as all th folks you enjoy playing with will probably be back!
Hal Nov 26th 2010 11:01AM
I started my characters on my original realm because my real-life friends, who got me to play, played on that realm. Half a dozen characters later, I knew I needed to transfer. I'd gotten into raiding, and the realm was just awful for it. It was the wrong time zone; most raids didn't start until 9pm or later my time, and that's just not compatible with a working schedule. But on top of that, the atmosphere was elitist as all get out. Most guilds will refuse to recruit someone who isn't running the same content as them, or has hard mode/heroic experience under their belt. It's also rough being a hybrid class, because it's pretty clear the guilds get to dictate what your specs are, not your preference for playing.
I swapped realms when some friends of mine in a failed raiding guild transferred. We went to a realm in our time zone, and with a friendlier raiding community (though there's always going to be that elitism somewhere). It's been great. My only complaint is all the characters I left behind; I'd prefer to have them all on the same realm, but I'm not paying $150 to transfer characters.
JoeRandom Nov 26th 2010 11:11AM
I changed my realm half a year ago, since my server was dying. Very, very few people were serious (not: hardcore!) about raiding, so outside of the one or two top guilds, nothing ever happened. So I wanted to find a new home. I'm always rolling on RP-PVP servers (I think they host the most quirky, fun people), so what I did was:
I checked the (NEW PLAYER / LOW / MEDIUM / FULL) signs in the realm-changer for a week, figuring out the most populated rp-pvp server, and rolled a DK there. Paving the way for my other chars, this DK made his way to 80 in about a week and a half, and the difference was so big that I immediately transferred my main after hitting 80 on that DK.
People were everywhere, literally. Dalaran was so crowded, you sometimes couldn't even read nametags. And no matter where you walked on the face of Azeroth, there were people.
I loved it, and never looked back.
stephmabry Nov 26th 2010 11:22AM
I started off on Khaz'goroth, because WoW told me to join that one. The server became an Oceanic server somewhere along the way, and about a third of my guild transferred when they offered free transfers to a US realm. Fast forward three or four years, those of us who'd stuck together over the years finally broke up and went separate ways. Transferring away from Khaz was really emotional for me, and I definitely wouldn't have gone had my friends not been going to. Going to Icecrown felt like moving away from home, but I really enjoy the atmosphere of the server better, plus it's nice to have raids going at a reasonable time!!
Lios Nov 26th 2010 11:33AM
I transferred to a new server a few years ago. I found it by checking which pve server had the highest ranking guilds (wowranking) and high horde population (wow census). Then I checked the realm forum for a while and made an alt there to check activity and get to know some guilds. After a few weeks of 'research' I moved and it was a perfect choice.
I sometimes log in with an alt on my old server and it's sad to see Org and Dalaran so void of horde. Hardly any pugs happening, slow progression, only 1 horde guild actually getting anywhere. I don't miss it.
Andrew Nov 27th 2010 12:52AM
I have actually had this experience quite a bit. I started on Stonemaul. A fierce server with a lot of competition. If you want to be the best guild you have to put up with a lot of drama. Then with our guilds decision to get away from the drama we moved to Lethon a smaller server. That decision was probably the worst we had since it ended up breaking our guild more than once. It is hard to find talent when you are the only good guild on the server. Due to us breaking up multiple times I found myself in a guild where everyone was new all the time besides about 5 people. Slowly the talent in our guild was leaving. Realizing this I decided to make a change. This would mark the first time that I would have to look for a guild. I posted on horde and alliance recruitment forums. Since then I have moved servers 4 times and worked with various guilds. This is what I have learned.
Most servers are exactly the same. If you want to find a new realm as a raider first find a guild. Go to the horde and alliance forums and make a post about your experience and what you are looking for. Believe me someone will respond. Hundreds of guild recruiters fish on those forums. Once you find a couple good guilds go on the server and check out your latency. As a raider that is more important than any piece of gear and you will love your server. I actually have to go right now so maybe I will post later but seriously it is that easy to find a new home. Just keep in mind latency is the key.
neminem Nov 26th 2010 11:39AM
I've been entirely on the same server, and the same awesome guild containing entirely people no more than a couple degrees removed of knowing them in real life, my entire WoW-playing life. I have gotten a couple people from other servers to move to mine, though!
The Long Man Nov 26th 2010 11:41AM
I myself recently moved to a new realm.
I've been sitting in Executus for years now, practically since it was made.
It was basically a giant sinkhole of shit, but I was never prepared to start on another server, because I knew some people and all my gold was there, plus I just couldnt use alts.
at all.
So far, on my new home server, I'm enjoying myself. Sure, I dont have many people to talk to ( though it is amazing what conversation that isint involved with dick jokes and chuck norris I find in the trade chat) but that doesnt bother me. Nearly everyone I knew on executus had left the hole, or were lucky enough to be in a cohesive guild.
I basically picked a server at random, making only sure that it was an english server instead of...spanish or russian, based on the very simple idea that "Anywhere is better then here"
Turns out, I was right.
Steve Nov 26th 2010 11:57AM
My guild and I transferred due to the lack of raid progress and low pop as well.
One of the things we checked was wowprogress and some of those sites for raiding and we chose one that had a higher population Horde wise with a lot of progressed guilds and we haven't looked back since.
s1x Dec 1st 2010 2:38AM
I decided to xfer my main now that the new combo's were up, I did research on realms for what the population was like, Made a new toon on that server asked some questions and then proceeded to lvl on that server, I read the realm forums almost daily, I watched trade. And when i decided the people there were my kind of people i rolled there.
klahlman Nov 26th 2010 12:04PM
I had just DELETED all toons to start fresh. I have been ready to switch servers for a very long time and have the same issues. I am less interested in finding top raiding guilds as I am finding a friendly guild that just wants to have fun and get nerdy at times. I have been open to Horde and Alliance and just don't want to be on a server with a bunch of d-bags. I know that there is no immature-free server, but more mature would be nice. I have no idea how to go about this and worry that all servers are about the same.
Yakuko Nov 26th 2010 12:13PM
I've played on more realms than I care to remember over the years. Both factions and all four rulesets rather extensively. The reason for this was mostly because of friends. Currently I'm on a med pop PvP server, but I was thinking of switching to a much higher pop, preferably PvE or RP server. I'm not really into PvP, though I don't mind playing on a PvP server at all, I just find the community on PvP servers tends to be more hostile and that PvP servers are more likely to suffer from faction population imbalances. I've been shopping around, but even narrowing down to servers on datacenters near me that are EST, I'm overwhelmed with the choices. Doesn't help that I'm incredibly indecisive. XD
Skeinchug Nov 26th 2010 1:24PM
I've moved twice. The first time I moved I was on a PvP server hating every minute of it. The Horde outnumbered the Alliance 4:1 and I fell in love with PvE. As a gnome mage my life kinda sucked. So I moved to Khadgar which I later discovered that my cousins were on. I was there for about 3-4 years when college happened. I wasn't raiding and I saw a Warcraft Hunters Union video. So I figured why not and rerolled there. I have a hunter that just hit the guilds imposed level cap (we level up slowly and enjoy the content at the cap) and now I'm leveling a shaman because I've never played one. One thing about rerolling is finding a guild that matches your play style.
archer75 Nov 26th 2010 1:46PM
I hang out in trade chat. Tells me everything I need to know about a realm.