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  1. #41
    Vashj EU, has less then 1 page of auctions on the AH. Alliance that is

    total. not just for one category.. the TOTAL amount is 1 page..

  2. #42
    Legendary! Rivellana's Avatar
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    The ironic thing is that I play on Smolderthorn-US and have for all six years I've played, and years ago it was a thriving realm. Then they opened up free transfers for Alliance players from Smolderthorn to Scilla (your realm, OP ). Quite a few large guilds took advantage and left and that was the downfall of my server, which has slowly deteriorated ever since.

    People on my server begged Blizzard to do something about it (and the huge faction imbalance that continued to emerge) but the only solution they gave was to label the server a "New Player" server which honestly did next to nothing for it's growth. It will continue to be in decline until they make a change.

    They say they won't make current raid tiers cross realm because they're afraid of what it will do to guilds, and I do agree with them in some respects...but if they outright refuse to ever close or merge servers this would be the solution that I would choose first. Allow players to choose whichever realm they want but do raids with any guild on any server.

    I doubt they'll ever do that though.

  3. #43
    Merging a couple together would be the fair thing to do, but they are to j***** to do that.

  4. #44
    Need more "free transfers" )

  5. #45
    Quote Originally Posted by PrairieChicken View Post
    They won't merge it for a while because it's indirectly admitting reduction in subscription
    I don't get this statement. Even when WoW was at its peak at 12 million in WotLK, I remember the server list having several low pop/dead servers, in fact that's been the case since vanilla WoW.

    There will always be these kinds of severs no matter how populated WoW will be. You can inject 5 million players in addition to the current base and what will happen is these new players will find these low realms extremely unattractive and they still won't populate them.

  6. #46
    Our AH is just dead. You can make money, but not easily, many items are not available, and what is is very expensive.

    Pvp(not going to be a crybaby about it) is very asymmetric, as you have entire Alliance guilds capping daily quest areas, and very few Horde interested in contesting it, often because they just aren't there. There just aren't enough players out in the world to enforce faction balance.

    Then, there are almost no Sha runs.

  7. #47
    The Lightbringer Highlord Hanibuhl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Synstir View Post
    I really think they need to give free transfers to any servers players want. In this way slowly take out some servers and give players the chance to join their friends's servers.
    This! A thousand times this!

  8. #48
    It's so obvious they simply need to merge low/dead servers, and they wouldn't need CRZ either. Instead they spend a huge amount of time to bandaid something that doesn't really end up healing the wound.

  9. #49
    Titan Arbs's Avatar
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    Leave them, cut them off from everyone else. Give them a reason to leave those low pop servers than remove them.

    People don't understand there is only 13-15 low pop servers on the US & there all PvP servers I have counted numberous times and they actually reach medium at peak timesNo joke. Yes they can merge half pf those & create 2 new servers. But if they did that the WoW Haters would have a field day with it and all other games sites would aswell. Its bad publicty and you don't want that.

    Merging Servers isn't as easy as people think it is, As in Blizzard's eyes those servers can reach medium they don't need to be merged.

    My best suggestion has always been pay the 25 bucks for your favourite character & you wont regret it. if your someone with lots of alts, choose your favourite and the one you play the most.
    Last edited by Arbs; 2012-12-04 at 07:26 PM.
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  10. #50
    Quote Originally Posted by Arnorei View Post
    If they merge 8 and create 2 new servers they could say they decided to make 2 new servers since they know there's people who want to start fresh, but to do that they had to merge some existing servers because there was a bad horde/alliance ratio. And done. In the end, this is kind of true too.
    Blizzard doesn't care about ratios. I watched my realm go from roughly 60-40% in favor of Horde during Vanilla and early TBC to 80-20% in favor of Alliance by the end of TBC. I left during Wrath, but I still play a random alt on it here and there, and it's just sad to walk into Org and count less than 30 Horde, all max level, all just standing around not playing the content because they can't even find a proper PUG team. What has Blizzard done about it? Nothing. What WILL Blizzard do about it? Nothing.

  11. #51
    Pit Lord Doktor Faustus's Avatar
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    Add more servers to CRZ.

    CRZ is the first step in preparing for low populations.

    Oh yes, this has already happened.

    Blizzard seem to be ahead of the predicted drop.

    What's that 'fan boiz' you cannot comprehend this?

    Oh dear.

  12. #52
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    Since they don't want to merge servers... they should go in the opposite way.
    So not only CRZ the zones... but pretty much everything from cities to Auction Houses, guilds and raids, between different realms with opposite imbalances.

  13. #53
    AH is one of, if not the biggest problem with low pop/dead servers. The AH on Scilla sucks, the demand is higher than the amount of product on the AH so it's SUPER inflated, which really blows for leveling alts professions or even leveling a new profession period. Not to mention you just cannot find low level mats anymore. Merging the AH into 1 AH for a battlegroup or something would help solve that problem but I do remember reading/hearing that Blizzard is extremely against that.

    Someone's idea of a meta server is interesting, albeit I don't know how realistic it is.

    Quote Originally Posted by Rivellana View Post
    The ironic thing is that I play on Smolderthorn-US and have for all six years I've played, and years ago it was a thriving realm. Then they opened up free transfers for Alliance players from Smolderthorn to Scilla (your realm, OP ). Quite a few large guilds took advantage and left and that was the downfall of my server, which has slowly deteriorated ever since.

    People on my server begged Blizzard to do something about it (and the huge faction imbalance that continued to emerge) but the only solution they gave was to label the server a "New Player" server which honestly did next to nothing for it's growth. It will continue to be in decline until they make a change.

    They say they won't make current raid tiers cross realm because they're afraid of what it will do to guilds, and I do agree with them in some respects...but if they outright refuse to ever close or merge servers this would be the solution that I would choose first. Allow players to choose whichever realm they want but do raids with any guild on any server.

    I doubt they'll ever do that though.
    Yeah we used to play on Smolderthorn and left exactly when they did that, I forget why, it wasn't population related though I don't think.
    lol casual - Ret masochist since 05

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  14. #54
    Imo the best thing would be this: give free transfers OFF of very low-pop realms for like a month, then shut the realm down. Any character that was not transferred would be put into ''stasis'' (or purgatory, you pick) so that the next time the person logs on, they pick which realm they want that character to be transferred to.

  15. #55
    I think ultimately game companies need to find ways around servers. Most people don't care what server they are on. As long as they can play with the friends and guildies and there's little to no lag they will be happy. Then on the back end companies can add and delete servers as needed and there wouldn't be such a social stigma attached to it.

    I think Blizzard could get away from doing some merging/free transfers but just do it slowly so people don't get up in arms over it.
    Last edited by Skippy88; 2012-12-04 at 09:15 PM.

  16. #56
    It's an extremely simple solution; server mergers.

    Take the low population servers and start merging them. As for names, whoever had it first gets it unless said person has had an inactive account for over a year. Yeah, some people might be upset at losing their name, but it's a very small price to pay for having a server that actually thrives. As for guild names, same deal; whichever existed first gets the name.

    Problem solved and everyone except the extreme minority is happy. Players are happy to have a server populated and Blizzard should be happy at having to shell out less money on servers.

  17. #57
    Quote Originally Posted by PrairieChicken View Post
    They won't merge it for a while because it's indirectly admitting reduction in subscription
    Because announcing a 3 million player subscription loss over 4 quarters to their shareholders is so sneaky right? If Activision-Blizzard weren't a publicly traded company this conspiracy theory might hold water but Blizzard has been very frank and explicit with their shareholders and potential investors about the problems they have had and continue to have. There won't be mergers because it is a band aid fix. Want proof? Check out how many times EQ2 servers have merged. I lost count after 5. How is disrupting server communities repeatedly a good solution? Do you people even understand the implications of mergers? There will be guild name conflicts and character name conflicts and how does Blizzard decide who keeps what name? How can they do it in a way that won't piss off players just as much as they are already pissed about server population issues? Blizzard would just be trading one set of problems for another and that is NOT a feasible solution.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 02:59 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by gcmandrake View Post
    Grow a pair and merge them. But as said, it's an admission of a tail-off in subscriptions. Get their PR department to come up with a positive spin on it, and do it.
    Again Blizzard already announced losing 3 million players. I don't quite get how merging realms could possibly be worse than that.

  18. #58
    High Overlord Kissme's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rulk View Post
    Serious question. I know some of us enjoy the Low pop servers at times, and CRZ's has been a bandaid fix for them, but the fact remains, there are just too many servers in this game. I play on US Scilla, and that server is about as dead as it can get. So my question to you is what should Blizzard do, if anything, about all the low pops? Free transfers off of low pop to medium? Free transfers from medium/high to low pop? Absolutely nothing?

    I have to admit as a player on said server it's extremely frustrating to log on and see the same 5 people on everytime because the server is so dead.
    What they should do is merge servers in such a way that they equalize faction populations per server. This won't happen for several reasons though. First off, merging servers will cause a perception of game failure (regardless of whether it's true or not) which will be more damaging to subscription numbers and investor confidence than having low pop servers. Secondly, massive company induced server mergers would cause outrage among those that paid to get off the servers and those that prefer low population servers (these people do exist). Third, server transfers are a source of income and they are available to anyone who plays. This means that Blizzard can say that those on low pop servers want to be there, as they have the option to move to other servers but choose not to exercise it (basically putting the burden on the player).

    Another thing to consider is that Blizzard has systematically destroyed those things that make a server important. Battlegrounds are cross server. LFR is cross server and there is cross server LFG functionality. Dungeon groupings are cross server. It's highly likely they will implement cross server auction houses and raid formation in the future. At a certain point your server will be meaningless as Blizzard continues to implement tools that make the server irrelevant. The fact that this negatively impacts the game community is of secondary concern to them and they've said as much (the players make the community).

    Back as DS was released my guild decided to server transfer off a dead low pop realm so we could recruit and go back to 25 man raiding. We went to a solid, high pop server with a decent raiding reputation. We went back to 25 man raiding. 4 months later most of us that had transferred had quit, and by mists less than a handful of the 15 to 20 that transferred remain subscribed. Server population alone is not enough and so server mergers alone won't solve your issues. We got raiding again, but it was the friends we lost and left behind that were what had really been keeping us playing. If you have such reasons to play on your low pop server, then you'll keep on playing and having fun, if you lack those reasons, then having more people around won't make the game any more fun . . . or at least it didn't in my personal experience.

  19. #59
    Quote Originally Posted by Tyrven View Post
    Not really all it means is that or a few servers are low pop. Now if all of a sudden all servers were mid to low pop it would be something different. Seeing how we still have a few servers with log in queue times that is not the case. I know some ppl are resistant to the idea of them merging servers but i think it would be great. I have seen it happen in other games and it greatly improved things for the player base.
    Also something to keep in mind and as a reminder to those myopic players who don't look at the big picture, most "low pop" realms aren't low pop at all. There are just heavy faction imbalances and those realms would not be merged because of that. Again this only makes it more obvious to those without an agenda that mergers don't really solve much of anything and just cause more problems.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 03:04 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by gcmandrake View Post
    Even if subs aren't decreasing, server merges have often been the first sign of a dying MMO, and would be perceived as the death throes of WoW, even if it wasn't because of a decreasing number of players. I remember the server merges of Warhammer Online, it wasn't a good time.
    It doesn't matter what Blizzard does. Every single decision they have made in the past 8 years has been seen as a sign of a "dying mmo". The chicken littles have basically turned the whole thing into a joke.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 03:06 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Arganis View Post
    This, the only thing to do is merge but pride is still in the way for now.
    It isn't pride it is reality. Yes there are low pop realms. Yes there are realms with faction imbalance. There are also millions more players than most "dying mmos" have when they merged servers. It isn't a matter of pride it is a matter logistics.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 03:08 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by whoranzone View Post
    Free transfers of course. If necessary permit transfers to stupidly high population realms.
    Awesome idea. Let's trade low pop realms for endless queues.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 03:11 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Arnorei View Post
    Merge them. It's the only option. Right now it's like they have a broken machine and they're adding ductape with the CRZ.
    For the millionth time Blizzard has flat out said cross realm zones were only meant to address ZONES not realms. Yes even high pop realms have empty zones and that is what Blizzard was addressing. Does it make low pop realms seem more active? Of course it does as that is its function, to create player activity where there was none before and to fill zones with players. Blizzard has other plans to directly address low pop realms including cross realm auction houses and possibly cross realm guilds and other such technologies. This is why they refuse to merge because it doesn't solve the problem for once and for all it only puts off having a real solution.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 03:14 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Tehgypsy View Post
    "what should they do?", sort them out thats what, free transfers off, merging, something anything...

    "what will they do?", nadda. people continue to pay for migrations, so the model is still working as intended.
    And yet with each and every cross realm feature they add, they made paid transfers more and more obsolete. Blizzard's goal here is to eliminate the concept of realms entirely not to make a quick buck.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 03:18 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Kevyne-Shandris View Post
    It's the impression and the upheaval they cause for any delays. Gamers know if servers merge the population is not sustainable and too many will bail. The upheaval part is once merged is settling in on a new server. That is not easy, and chat flame wars can exist for months as those transferred continue to act like the new server was like their own, and not acknowledging they are the new guys on an existing server and no rep. It's a hierarchy thing.
    Server disruption is precisely why mergers will never happen. It isn't a matter of pride. It isn't a matter of perception. It is just a plain out bad idea that many mmos have done before because they didn't have the funds or resources to come up with a more elegant solution.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 03:21 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Arkenaw View Post
    Continue to come up with terrible features like CRZ
    It is only terrible to people who never understood what a mmo was and thought Blizzard intended on having empty zones devoid of competition and other players.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 03:24 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by MoanaLisa View Post
    Cross-realm guilds, more cross-realm raiding and combining auction houses for low population servers is what they should do and eventually very likely will.
    And people will continue to cry about "loss of community" while treating everyone not from their realm like crap and wonder why the community feeling left.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 03:26 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by lunchbox2042 View Post
    They already answered that question with CRZ.
    If cross realm zones was a solution for low pop realms why was it applied to high pop realms? Explain that one to me.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 03:28 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Zhab View Post
    Need more "free transfers" )
    Free transfers don't work and never will work. You can't make people play where they don't want to play.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 03:30 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Raybourne View Post
    It's so obvious they simply need to merge low/dead servers, and they wouldn't need CRZ either. Instead they spend a huge amount of time to bandaid something that doesn't really end up healing the wound.
    Yet again cross realm zones was intended to fill up empty zones. This isn't a problem unique to low pop realms. As another poster pointed out this is a problem all mmos have regardless of how popular they are. Most players end up lvl capped and don't go back to the lower lvl zones leaving lving players feeling like they are alone in the game world. Cross realm zones fixes that.
    Last edited by xanzul; 2012-12-04 at 10:15 PM.

  20. #60
    CRZ does not fix so many issues which are the reason I stopped playing wow back in january, came back for MOP and lasted two weeks.

    Lack of realm economy
    Lack of goods on auction house to buy including raw materials/crafted items.
    Lack of player pool to enable a functioning guild when you lose members.
    Inability to form a Pug because the 15 people in ogrimmar already did it that week.

    Dead realms like Trollbane - EU are one of the primary reasons wow has steadily hemorrhaged subs until MOP, once the gleam wears off I expect the numbers to continue. There are too many servers that simply lack the multiplayer of an MMO anymore. Having people rename chars/guilds is a small issue compared to ensuring consumers are able to enjoy all aspects of the game.

    With how devoid many dead realms are at the moment you pretty much only have access to certain aspects of the game.

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