How to find a 'good' realm to play on?

[Wardley]

Ok, anyone got any suggestions?

My basic setup is that I have a group of Alliance toons, who play on one realm and a group of Horde toons who play on another. These are both normal (non-PVP) realms. I originally choose the Alliance realm because I had a RL friend already playing who had his toon on it, but the Horde realm was just chosen as it was the recommended realm for new players when I started my first Horde character.

The Alliance guys are fine. I find there the AH is fairly active and things sell for a reasonable price and with random daily 5 man pugs we generally clear instances straight through with no problems.

The horde guys though are not. Items on the AH seem incredibly over priced (low level greens for +50g!??) and with random daily 5 man pugs it's unlikely that instances are cleared - it's not unusual for it to take 3 or 4 attempts to actually complete an instance. And by 'attempts' I don't mean we wipe 3 or 4 times in one instance - but that actually the group falls apart and everyone leaves and then you have to queue up again for another run etc. And I checked in the realm forums on wow-europe and asked if I was just unlucky or cursed and the response was generally 'Nah - that's what happens but it's not a big deal. If it annoys you roll a tank and then you'll get instant queues!'

So, to get ready for Cata, I'm gonna up sticks and move realm with the horde guys. Anyone got any suggestions on how to find a good horde realm? Do I just go and find the highest placed normal realm on wowprogress with a high horde:alliance ratio? Which, at the moment in the EU seems to be Draenor? Or is there a better way of finding a good realm (other than posting on every realm forum on wow-europe 'Is this a good realm for the Horde?'). Or does anyone have any suggestions on what's a good realm for Horde players to play on in Europe (english speaking realms only)?

[Emaluri]

Whenever deciding on a new realm, you should at minimum create a level 1 alt on that realm and run to a town and check out the AH for basic mats, finished consumables, and other metrics to get a sense of the economy. Also on the level 1 alt to-do list: Check the time zone, ask in trade an honest question (like how the battlegroup is for PvP and Dungeon Finder, you usually get a good number of positive answers among the trolling), and a few hours later (preferably during prime time), ask a stupid question to see how harsh the trolls are.

That said, you should definitely tend towards medium to high pop realms, because they're just that much more entertaining. More PvP, more players in the world, more pugs going on, more high-quality pugs, more guilds, etc. It's up to you what sort of pop is right for you.

As for me, I use wowcensus and cross-reference it with wowprogress. Additionally, I like to tend towards realms with solid Horde:Alliance ratios, but meh.

Anyway, yeah.