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This is a plea to disable Sharding, a feature which actively removes players of the same realm from seeing each other in WoW, and to design an alternative method for handling server stability in the future like was done for the launch of WoW Classic.
This letter was spurred when RP realms, which are normally free of Sharding outside of max-level content zones, required the feature’s temporary enablement and then haphazardly forgotten about.
It is long after population influx was an issue for most servers and yet finding friends organically is an awkward, cumbersome task; let alone making new ones in a game which combines population splitting by throwing players together with those of another server, who will never be seen (let alone interacted with) again.
Please remove sharding. Please let communities flourish again.
The launch of Shadowlands, observed with expectant skepticism and wistful hope, was a regalling success—Players of all backgrounds returned to the World of Warcraft to reunite with a game which once captivated their hearts.
For some, though, the momentous event felt different than occasions for previous expansions; for one, they didn’t suffer a 3 hour login queue only for their servers to restart and send them to the back of that line; for two, they hadn’t seen more than a few other players since hitting ‘Enter’ at their character list.
The content didn’t disappoint like many worried it might. It was fun, if whimsical with no one else to visibly enjoy it with; perhaps they should have invited a friend to play it with them? But, wait—They do have the in-game friends list; there’s someone online in Stormwind, even!
“Hey, what’s up?” they send a private message.
“Selling stuff on the Auction House. You?”
“Not too much; I finished leveling. Want to see my transmog?”
“Sure. I’m in Stormwind. Meet me by the Cathedral?”
Over whispers, both players discuss their experiences with WoW thus far; one was feeling optimistic, the other less-so because they were still weary from their experiences during the Battle For Azeroth. Several minutes go by before they both realize …
“Wait, where are you?”
“I’m at the Cathedral.”
“So am I?”
One of our two heroes right-clicks the other’s name and invites them to a party. The other, who had been in a Stormwind filled with people, is instantly transported to a different version of Azeroth.
It’s a version of Azeroth where there’s less than 20 people visible in the Alliance’s capital.
“Surely it’s a bug?” says the new player as their veteran peer laments the situation.
“No, it’s sharding. We phased to a different version of the city.”
A quick glance around proved that they were still on the same realm. Indeed, it was Moon Guard—One of the visible players was a naked draenei. There was no mistake, but something was still very wrong.
To further prove the issue at hand, our veteran hero uses their Role Playing addon to see how many people are in the same zone as them and using the same add-on. What they see isn’t a mere 20 players; it’s not even the 30-50 that they themselves witnessed before being transported over. Over one hundred dots fill the city of Stormwind and, by hovering their mouse cursor over each dot, our hero sees many familiar names.
There were Battle-Tag friends, guildies, acquaintances, people who complimented each others’ transmogs, and even enemies who were reviled or faced against in arenas; so many familiar players were revealed on that map, but none of them were visible in the game to our heroes.
And, in turn, none of our heroes could be seen by them.
They were alone, in a quiet phase.
A desolate neighborhood.
A disjointed home.
A dead game.
Dear Blizzard,
Server stability and population fluctuation has long been a hurdle of our game. In 2010, World of Warcraft held a population of 12 million concurrent players who each needed to be accommodated through the creation of new realm servers—As population decline was inevitable, maintaining these emptying realms naturally became a taxing issue; as has mitigating stability issues when new content is released and large waves of players return.
Attempts to rectify this issue have come in a myriad of forms. One of the first was Cross Realm Zoning, which took players who were in the same zone and brought them together so it wouldn’t feel as empty. The second was server merging, which brought existing underpopulated realms together and allowed players to speak with each other in the same Trade Chats, to create guilds together, and do content together; this has been used more and more heavily in recent years. Lastly we come to Sharding, which addresses the issue of overpopulation by taking a large group of players in the same realm and splitting them apart into smaller clusters.
All three attempts have come with consequences and, in my opinion, Sharding has had the most egregious and dangerous effect.
It is by design the opposition of creating a Massive Multiplayer Online gaming experience and, when combined with the two other supplementing softwares, the foundation of an ecosystem that is forever revolving and consequenceless.
When a player logs into their realm and plays WoW, they do not see people from their realm when they go to play world quests, nor do they compete with familiar faces for the same resources. They play with people from other realms, who will not be able to join their guilds nor take part in the same Auction House markets—They can choose to say anything they want to each other, or nothing at all, knowing that the other players around them will have 0 impact on how they entreat their gameplay tomorrow; this not only allows but also fosters a toxic, antisocial environment.
When a player is in a constantly revolving door of activities without partners to ground them in the experience, the only memories they matter are those that belong to themselves; there is no organic activity to create a shared sense of gravity with other players. There is no storytelling between the heroes of Azeroth for the vast majority of players.
When a player has no attachments to their activity, they accomplish what they assume is their own goal and leave the game; they have no online friends that they want to see succeed or plan to succeed with and they choose to LEAVE the game, removing themselves from any prospective opportunity where they might ever make the attachments which have led to real-life friendships, marriages, and more.
There is no consistency; there is no connection; there is no community.
This is a topic which was debated very passionately in the WoW Classic community; many of the points that I mention above were discussed in those channels as well. To many’s surprise, Blizzard, you AGREED with those sentiments and assured that Sharding and Cross Realm Zoning has no place in Classic World of Warcraft.
If these features are antithetical to the Classic WoW experience, why are they permissible in the modern game where most server communities have been so severely damaged that Third Parties like Discord (which need to be actively searched for) are the only consistent way to find people to play with long term?
On RP realms like Moon Guard and Wyrmrest Accord, sharding and CRZ have been so harshly criticized in the past that they’re SUPPOSED to be removed outside of “current content areas” like how Kul Tiras, Zandalar, and Nazjatar were during BFA. Unfortunately, I can log into any of my characters in Stormwind and be in the same place as a friend, only for them to not see me until we invite each other to a group.
The story I shared at the top of this post is based on that experience. It’s STILL active despite dozens of players reaching out on Twitter to @WarcraftDevs and @BlizzardCS trying to figure out when this unwanted, resented feature will be turned back off.
This letter shouldn’t be taken as an acrimonious, long winded complaint. It’s not.
It’s a request, knowing that soon you’ll be busied by a new raid and holiday breaks.
It’s a genuine plea, respectfully reminding all of the problems with these “solutions” and begging for them to be removed so that I can play with my friends, organically find them in their favorite AFK spots, and do the nerdy Warcraft-based improv that has captivated me and kept me resubscribed for 7 years straight.
