Posts with tag pve-realm

Truthfully, I had no business ever rolling on a PvP server. I only went there because some friends went there, and I stayed there out of habit. For years, I moved in the shadows, keeping one eye warily over my shoulder, with all buffs active at all times and the button for my flying mount at the ready. When I left cities, it was only to touch ground for the briefest of moments -- grab the herb, pick the ore, kill the mob, and get the hell out.

Indeed, there's a certain pride in surviving on a PvP server, like a rabbit reveling in its luck of returning to the burrow at the end of a long, perilous day. I've been through multiple expansion launches and patch events and been ganked at exotic locales from Hellfire Peninsula to Quel'danas to the Molten Front to Mount Hyjal.

Over time, you learn to subsist from that extra adrenaline. Even if you loathe world PvP, your body feeds off of it. The heightened sense of perception becomes exhilarating. That first terrifying moment when you realize you are under attack and fight or flight instincts kick in -- there's something in that emotional response that resonates with our most primal underpinnings.

And yet, a month ago, I gave it all up. I transferred from a PvP realm to a PvE one -- and immediately, it felt like an alien landscape.

In anticipation of the Wrath of the Lich King launch this Thursday, Blizzard has opened up a brand-new US PvE realm called Fizzcrank. Some of the higher-population realms will be eligible for transfer, presumably in an attempt to lower populations so the realms don't crash and burn in a few days. So far, according to the breaking news box, players on the following realms are permitted to flee:

• Aggramar
• Alexstrasza
• Arygos
• Blackhand

That list comes suspiciously close to the beginning of the alphabet, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's a truncated portion of a bigger list. Blizzard is saying to go to the account management page to check if you're eligible. Also no word yet on what battlegroup Fizzcrank will be a part of. Stay tuned for updates.