I decided to not wait for connected realms to happen and transfer some of my characters from a really, really dead realm to a pretty populated one. The previous server I came from was (and still is) in pretty dire straits. Things like world boss groups and any sort of organized PvP/raiding just doesn't happen. The community is a quaint little niche that seems more interested in pet battles and dailies. If you wanted to pug you almost had to use OpenRaid exclusively.
I transferred to this new realm alone, to hopefully sink my teeth into raiding. It was really surreal at first. Not being used to the constant pugging, guild advertisements and busy cities. Just the hustle and bustle of an active server. Hell yeah, it was like I transferred back in time! Unfortunately I didn't realize (right away, at least) the inflated population came with the inflated number of assbags and shitty people.
I've only been on this server 2 weeks or so, but I've had so many bad experiences that have happened completely unprovoked. A couple days ago I was tinkering with my UI in Shrine when I was approached by someone that I /greeted and /cheered at. It was met with instant hostility, and the guy asked me how much I paid for my challenge mode carry. I laughed to myself, didn't reply and just threw him on ignore. He decided to take it a step further; make an alt, and keep berating me. Thank god for account-wide ignore!
A day after that I decided to do some 2's for conquest points. I understand looking in trade is almost like shooting yourself in the foot but hey, it's not the end of the world if we lose. I'm not the best arena guy (~2k Ret Paladin) but I couldn't understand how hostile people were getting at our first loss. I would have to cycle through partners because they would get so mad after a loss I'd be kicked off the team during a loading screen. To add insult to injury, they would throw me on ignore and just have a go. Not a big deal, another couple ignores.
Tonight again I sat in Shrine minding my own business. Apparently I had an old PvE title on (I think it was Magic Seeker?) I get this random whisper from some guy asking where I got it. As I'm typing my reply he just starts railing on me calling me some fat, kissless virgin. I shift clicked his name and we weren't even in the same faction city. Why go to that extent? Why go out of your way to be an asshole?
I shit you not, as I started typing this post out some random warlock started throwing expletives at me and telling me I was a scrub who "didn't deserve the armor I was wearing." He went on to say how wrong my glyphs were, and that I was just bad. Again, completely unprovoked and not even tabbed in.
I have a couple other stories, but to a lesser degree. I had someone put me on ignore because I didn't have the profession pattern he wanted, and I was declined a ToES normal for being "over hit cap" at 530ilvl. It just seems like this server radiates elitism and passive aggressiveness.
It almost feels like I'm exaggerating these claims, and I wish I was. I know I've been on a tiny realm for so long I've been shielded by most of this bad attitude. Where I come from though, shit like this basically gets you blacklisted.. but just on a smaller scale.
So basically tl;dr I've had a bunch of bad experiences on a bigger realm, and I'm almost considering going somewhere else or just transferring back. I realize you can't avoid assholes anywhere you go, but have you guys ever had to deal with such abhorrent behavior?