Cross-realm shenanigans

[kkborang]

Hey guys, im recently returning from a bit over a year hiatus from the game. I've been muddling my way through dailies and rep and so forth on the 2 new islands, when i found that several of my friends have come back to the game, or are coming back for WoD. I thought it'd be cool to all run a single new guild together and such, and they all agreed. Im super excited for the new expansion as im sure you guys are as well. However we ran into a significant problem. Not all of us are on the same realm.

Im from Australia originally and all my toons are on an oceanic server. A few of them are just starting again since like BC so they're open to a new server, but the issue with deciding on one has boiled down to PvP vs Non-PvP. now call me all the names you will, i just don't have fun on a PvP server at all, and several of my friends are having the opposite issue. I did notice however that in WoD you can cross realm dungeon on all difficulties but mythic, which is great, as im sure my casual group of friends won't advance into mythic at all.

I was planning on moving my toons to a server in the battlegroup (nightfall) of my friends pvp server, so i can do all the stuff with them but not be bothered by PvP all the time while out questing and such. But as i haven't played since just after panda-lands release, im a novice when it comes to the in and outs of cross realms stuff outside of LFR and real-id inviting.


TL;DR
-If i was on a server in the same battlegroup as they are, will we see each other when we';re out questing? (obviously provided we're real-id friends and within the same party)
-What issues arise if that is possible? are then any downfalls to this situation?
-Should i just bite the bullet and play on a PvP server?
-what is the best nightfall battlegroup server? (i know this is mostly subjective, but i don't want to join a dead server or something like that)

[Rivin]

-If i was on a server in the same battlegroup as they are, will we see each other when we';re out questing? (obviously provided we're real-id friends and within the same party)

CRZ coalesces realms based on type and region, not battlegroup. If you were on a PvE server and they were on a PvP server, you'd never be in the same CRZ. However, if you're in a party, you'll always be moved to the same realm. And since CRZ is region-wide, you don't even have to change servers. Just group up with them on whatever server you're already on.

-What issues arise if that is possible? are then any downfalls to this situation?

The only one I could think of is that if you group with them and are moved to their realm (instead of them being moved to yours), you'd be PvP flagged and susceptible to all that that entails, if that matters to you.

-Should i just bite the bullet and play on a PvP server?

If you don't like PvP servers, and you don't need to be in the same guild as your friends, then I would recommend just sticking with a PvE server.

[Baracuda]

Can PvP and PvE even team? Rarely works for me to go from PvP to PvE.

[Rivin]

Can PvP and PvE even team? Rarely works for me to go from PvP to PvE.

You can group up with anyone within your region. A friend of mine played on a PvP server and we grouped up all the time, and I've been pulled to plenty of PvP realms for Celestials groups.

[kkborang]

CRZ coalesces realms based on type and region, not battlegroup. If you were on a PvE server and they were on a PvP server, you'd never be in the same CRZ. However, if you're in a party, you'll always be moved to the same realm. And since CRZ is region-wide, you don't even have to change servers. Just group up with them on whatever server you're already on.

While i could get into dungeons and raids with them accross the servers, i couldnt see them in the world when i was on oceanic and they were on US. That being said i made a level one character on some realm on nightfall, because i thought maybe that was the issue. When i did that, we were zoned into the same place and could see each other in the world.

and i think it goes for whoever invites? if i invite them, they cross over to my PvE world which is fine.

[Issalice]

While i could get into dungeons and raids with them accross the servers, i couldnt see them in the world when i was on oceanic and they were on US. That being said i made a level one character on some realm on nightfall, because i thought maybe that was the issue. When i did that, we were zoned into the same place and could see each other in the world.

and i think it goes for whoever invites? if i invite them, they cross over to my PvE world which is fine.

I was trying to think of the best way to describe this, and I think I failed but here it goes lol. If you invite someone to your group they will be brought over to your server. However if you invite more then one person to your group from another server you will be brought over to theirs. So if your group consists of 2 people from your server, but 3+ of theirs you would all be brought to the server with 3+ people. Whichever server is the home server to the majority of the party is the server you will all be on.

Not sure if Blizzard changed it, I haven't grouped cross realm in awhile. I use to fairly often, I have friends on a dead realm and I would try and party with them to bring them to my high pop server to get world bosses. After inviting more people from the dead server then the amount of people in the group from mine we would phase over to the dead server.

EDIT: Also I was told that if you are brought to a PvP server from a PvE one in a group that you wouldn't be flagged. I could be wrong, I will try later when I log on because now I'm curious lol.

[Didacticus Syntacticus]

Also I was told that if you are brought to a PvP server from a PvE one in a group that you wouldn't be flagged. I could be wrong, I will try later when I log on because now I'm curious lol.

You ARE flagged if you are transferred to a PvP server in a cross-realm group. If you are then transferred to a different PvE realm, or back to your original realm, you will REMAIN flagged for the usual 5 minutes. (This timer is glitchy.)

However, flagging behavior is going to change in WoD and I wouldn't want to predict how it's going to work 6 months from now, because it will definitely be different.

[kkborang]

Thanks a lot guys. if i am out in the open world in a group of 3+ or whatever, then the PvP is a lot more fun. Its just more when im soloing daily content, or trying to level fresh toons without the fear of a max level gank and so on.

Just really don't want to pay 50$ to transfer 2 of my 90's across to a PvE US server for WoD raiding and have it not work.
(because i cant seem to visually see people cross realm invited from oceanic to US, my friends even summoned me to a lower level northrend dungeon into their server, couldnt see them until we zoned into the instance. That being said i also have my own reasons for wanting a server that is awake when im awake! when im out doing things its often the middle of the night for my old guildies back in australia)

[Rivin]

While i could get into dungeons and raids with them accross the servers, i couldnt see them in the world when i was on oceanic and they were on US. That being said i made a level one character on some realm on nightfall, because i thought maybe that was the issue. When i did that, we were zoned into the same place and could see each other in the world.

and i think it goes for whoever invites? if i invite them, they cross over to my PvE world which is fine.

Oceanic and US servers are treated as the same region.

I don't know if there's some other shenanigans involved (phasing, bugs, etc.), but it should be putting you in the same realm as long as you're grouped together.

[Franzy]

if you're in a party, you'll always be moved to the same realm. And since CRZ is region-wide, you don't even have to change servers. Just group up with them on whatever server you're already on..

This is incorrect, they stated they were from an Oceanic realm, if their friends are from a US realm you can't phase together in open-world. Instances however are fine.

[kkborang]

A bit of anecdotal evidence, i just discovered you could send mail cross realm, so thats something. However when i sent stuff from my bank alt on an oceanic server to a US server, it said 'you can not mail that character'. and vice versa when i tried on a level 1 to send back to oceanic. So i guess oceanic and US servers are different regions after all. I was planning on x-ferring for the 'server being in the same time zone as me' reason anyway

[Kirsia]

CRZ the open world only works when the realms are within 3 hours of each other due to region-timed events (fishing tournament, etc).

Cross-realm mail works between US and oceanic realms for any BoA items, but there has been one or two reports of the system not picking up alts and incorrectly not letting you send something. The solution so far is to just try again later.

[Franzy]

A bit of anecdotal evidence, i just discovered you could send mail cross realm, so thats something. However when i sent stuff from my bank alt on an oceanic server to a US server, it said 'you can not mail that character'. and vice versa when i tried on a level 1 to send back to oceanic. So i guess oceanic and US servers are different regions after all. I was planning on x-ferring for the 'server being in the same time zone as me' reason anyway

You can mail Bind on Account items to any server, however anything else is only server specific, or if your realm is now connected. (oceanic connected realms are Dreadmaul and Thaurissan, Nagrand and Caelestrasz, Gundrak and Jubei'Thos, Dath'Remar and Khaz'goroth)