I agree. My main issue is I don’t see how they fix this issue without getting rid of layering.
Think about it. How do you make it so you can’t endlessly switch layers to farm nodes without making it so if that nodes are specific to characters. Then if they do that you can just make alts or party with friends and farm their nodes…
Really haven’t seen anyone propose any fixes for the exploits that don’t involve outright removing layering
heres the clip
They developed it, they would know how to do it. Let them figure it out.
just make it so you cant loot anything but quest objectives if you arent on your session layer. everyone is assigned a session layer that is permanent till you log off. that resolves hopping exploit but doesnt resolve relogging. the relogging exploit seems nearly insurmountable.
i had suggested a hardmode server type for people who didnt want to do normal layering servers and were willing to wait in a login queue. the idea was to create 4 layers per server with names like red,blue,yellow,green. then let players select the server AND layer they want to make their character on from the server selection screen. no layer hopping. no layer changing. you’re permanently assigned to that layer forever. and load balancing is done via the login queue instead of distributing logins between layers.
A rational wow forum poster??
Easy fix. When you switch characters you are placed in same layer.
Man that was too easy.
How about joining a party? Well aside from being a nightmare keeping track of who’s on what layer (or just plain luck) Put a 5 minute timer on layer hopping.
BOOM! Fixed another problem.
I’m not really concerned about layering if it isn’t permanent like they claim it to be.
if a resource is consumed on one layer, causing it to be consumed on all layers, then resources would be depleted 3 times faster than normal, meaning that there’d be 3 times less layers than normal for everybody else; not everybody is gonna be outside of the starter zone by the time layering is over
layer hopping means that people can level their professions to the max 3 times sooner than everyone else can, and that grinding spots become 3 times better
can only switch layers once every 30 minutes.
So if you switch characters you’re placed in the same layer? Sounds like not layering to me. That sounds like a realm.
If everyone is stuck in the same layer what need is there for layers?
Lol
Absolutely! But with the added condition that anyone who comes to the forums (or Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, J-Date) to complain is immediately perma-banned.
You’re missing a couple key things to consider with this solution.
If you want to group with a friend that’s in a different layer, now you have to choose between being able to gather resources for your profession or gold and playing with your friend. Not a good choice to make.
As for the lockout: maybe one of your friends on a different layer needs help with a kill quest. If you want to help them, now you’re forced to sit around for 5 minutes until you can group into their layer. God forbid you’re in STV and happen to get ganked. Combat happened, timer reset. Wait another 5 minutes. And again. And again. Maybe you could just hearth/fly back to a capital. That’s dandy, but now you also factor in the 5 minute wait, plus whatever travel time to get to your friend.
Way too many negative repercussions for the “problem” it would fix. I put problem in quotes because AFAIK the layering system won’t be permanent. It’s a short term solution for the masses during release. Tbh I would rather let players abuse the hopping for a couple weeks at release than see the solutions you suggested be implemented.
those are good observations! personally, i think they should just make layers that cant layer hop at all and that are selectable at server selection screen. lol
Not really a bug, which is why Blizz should reconsider how it works.
I can see your thought process with this. However, that’s literally just a second layer (pun absolutely not intended) of server selection. Maybe it could work if the layering is truly temporary. But if they go that route, they still need a solution for grouping with people on separate layers. You know, you fix one problem and two more appear. Again, I would rather let a minority attempt to abuse the system for the first couple weeks until layering is phased out, than see any restrictive solutions that would have any kind of negative effects on normal players.
It’s obviously an issue, but let’s be real: there will most likely be a small amount of players willing to sit in loading screens/logout timers for a chance at the same node on a different layer. And by doing this, the 20-40 seconds wasted relogging means they can miss more nodes from their original rotation than they would make by layer switching with this method. As for the group hopping method, the logistics of maintaining a group of people on the different layers and the potential for someone to just move into your layer instead of you moving makes it a headache and unreliable.
In conclusion: I really think this is close to a non issue. The amount of players willing to put up with the headache of doing this will most likely be minuscule. I would imagine the vast majority of players will just be playing the game how they normally would. But, these are all assumptions and I could be wrong. Even so, I’m sure blizzard has seen this and will work out a way to deal with it that won’t have a negative impact on the majority.
well you wouldnt group with people on the other layer because you would have friends/family/guild mates, on the same layer since they can manually select it. the downsides are:
the login queue does the load balancing, which means long login queues.
you wont get a chance to meet people from the other layers till all layers are merged at the end of phase 1
The second 2 paragraphs weren’t a direct response to your second solution. That was just me putting my thoughts out for the current iteration of layering. Only the first paragraph was addressing your solution.
The solution you’re proposing is literally the same as just not having layering. From what I understand, the whole point of layering is to minimize queues. So this solution is just reintroducing the problem that the system is meant to solve.
Edit just to clarify:
I don’t personally like layering or sharding or any system of that form for this game. However, I do see the (very substantial) positives in the short term after the release. For a short term solution to server crashes/login queues during release I absolutely agree that layering is the correct response. Keyword being “short term”.
well it solves some problems, as follows:
server set up would look like this:
STORMRAGE (server listed in server selection screen. click it and layers menu drops down revealing layers with population of each listed next to it)
-red (pop. 1494)
-blue (pop. full-locked)
-green (pop. 2941)
-yellow (pop. 130)
select one of those and it becomes your permanent layer and not just a session layer
Like I said, I see your thought process with this solution and I can appreciate it. However, to my understanding the whole point of layering was to solve the queues at release. If the solution is just going to reintroduce the initial problem, then what’s the point? As for sharding, layering is very different to sharding. For the auction house issue, I don’t believe that’s something that blizzard should have a hand in regulating. If a massive influx of people floods the AH and causes prices to plummet, then be smart and buy up all the cheap mats until short term players leave so you can resell them at a higher price when supply diminishes. Also, I would imagine the short term players won’t stick around long enough to farm high level zones, where the real money is. So cheaper copper ore isn’t really a big deal. And even if it is, the fact that everything would be merged at the end anyway completely negates the idea of it being a solution. The problem wouldn’t be fixed, it just wouldn’t be immediately noticed until the merge.
But realistically, I don’t think this solution has enough benefits compared to the current iteration to justify implementing it. IMO the current iteration is good and just needs a couple careful tweaks to either completely eliminate the few issues or make it more difficult. It’s a slippery slope though. I don’t think the amount of people that would be willing to do this justifies any negative effects on normal players. Especially considering the amount of time this system is expected to be used.