I’ve been thinking about it lately. Cross faction roleplay seems ideal this expansion. We’re even set to get cross-faction guilds eventually, right? That’s not going to work cross server I assume?
The horde RP community is mostly on WRA. The alliance RP community is mostly on MG. Has anyone talked about how much that sucks? It causes such a hiccup in cross faction interaction, and cross-faction guilds are going to be worthless from a roleplay standpoint unless one engages with the much smaller MG horde community.
I wish they’d combine the servers. If the tech is there for it. Why wouldn’t they?
5 Likes
It may come as a shock, but there’s actually an active community here dedicated to the Horde on MG. Blatantly dismissing it is not beneficial to any community. This is a dead horse beaten over and over on these very same server forums, to the point where the Forsaken community feels the need to organize an undead animal rights activists group.
That said, having different rp server options actually benefits everybody, because it’s good to not have a mono culture. Variety is the spice of life, and having just one generic hub benefits no one. There should be spaces in different options for rp.
14 Likes
So okay, acknowledging that MG’s horde community does exist but is small (this is objective), when will they simply bring the two servers together? Why not? 
4 Likes
Because having one option only one option for active role play is not a good option. It’s good to have options. And having only one venue to go to is not a good thing.
Even if it’s small, some folks might be shocked, many of us actually prefer a smaller community over a massive one. Not everybody enjoys a large, active, crazy space at all times, and some of us prefer the more relaxed space of a smaller community. If we just wanted numbers, we could go to WRA, but we don’t. Why? We like the smaller size.
People who enjoy large groups, have WRA Horde. By having variety both groups are well served. Variety and options are a good thing. Furthermore, the two servers attend to the need of two very different timezones for players.
(Edit: added timezone thoughts.)
4 Likes
The MG Horde community has a LOT of great people in it. There is no reason to squish all of WRA into MG Horde because we sort of have a situation where we work hard as guilds and small communities of people for the very rich RP we create. Great, WRA has a lot of walk up RP. We have a lot of world RP here. We kinda like it this way, to a great degree. Yes, Horde is small on MG, but it is not lacking, at all.
If the two servers merge, it creates a situation where our current Horde identity could be lost amongst the large crowd of WRA people, too.
This is not to say that WRA is bad, it is not. It is just different, and we do, at times, include WRA people into the events we put on here. The servers need their own identities, though.
4 Likes
It’s very strange I think to object to server combination. Most people exist on both servers. It’s not like each server has entirely different types of people. Would having more abundant walk up rp be any kind of detriment to those not sitting in cities regardless?
Forgive my ignorance I really can’t speak from experience on MG horde. But MG alliance essentially took on the vast majority of WRA alliance a couple of years ago and it’s only been active since. Why the defensiveness? Is it really that unique of a community, when the RP community across both servers share the same people? Why would a server merge hurt one type of rp over another?
6 Likes
The two servers do in fact have different cultures, lore, and rp histories.
5 Likes
As someone who transferred over from WRA Horde, yes, it is different enough to keep me here.
The Kosh’harg events we put on here were not a thing that ever came to fruition over on WRA. The people on MG Horde all rallied together when I pushed the envelope on it and we ended up receiving Blizzard employee support in the long run because of how many people rallied to pull it off. To me, this was worth everything to stay put here.
6 Likes
I see. I think that does make the most sense out of everything else in this discussion. The only wary point now is looking for people in the community outside of the select few that come here to speak on behalf of them all. Are most people just normal in the community?
Most, I find, tend to just plain be in game and RP instead of coming here. Those of us that put on events frequent the forums much more, yes.
1 Like
The merging of both WRA and MG have proven to be a issue multiple times upon multiple occasions. To me, I would advice against it. Both players and the game having their own separate servers without crashing.
Now for the MG Horde bit, small yes. Though the difference on WRA and MG is that you’ll find much more easier time to have a chat with one person than to having to be overwhelmed by a group. It causes some anxiety, to which MG Horde has a much slow and steady interactions. Whatever suits one’s fancy who you talk with.
1 Like
There needs to be some sort of in-game visa that allows for cross-faction RP. Something you can buy from a vendor in a capital city that allows you to be in the opposite faction’s capital cities for maybe 48 hours. If you get all stabby in the opposing faction’s cities then the visa becomes void and the guards hunt you down like usual but mind your Ps and Qs and you’ll be fine until the visa expires. It would work well with the Elixir of Tongues.
4 Likes
You don’t want a server merger. You want a server connection that would make more sense (and still solve the issue you are talking about).
There is a difference between “merge” and “connect” when talking about WoW servers. Merge is more destructive. You don’t want that.
5 Likes
Yeah I mean that would work perfectly fine I think.
2 Likes
Server merging has a plethora of issues. Aside from the stated above, you gotta wonder “who merges with who?” If WrA players go to MoonGuard servers. Then those who got server first achievements are now gone since it’s now Moonguard. Or vice versa. The economy in the AH changes. Even the “biggest guild” or “best raiding guild” may change if a different guild joins the scene. While I’m not against new people taking top spot, in fact I really couldn’t care for some “best raid guild on MG”, but the hard work those players put in would be for nothing if some WrA guild merged with moon guard and took the title all because of a forced server swap.
From an RP standpoint, server lore is a big one. If servers merge: “Oh yeah, a year ago I was in this great battle” “I’ve been around for years and that never happened.” People who have worked hard for their characters reputation are basically reset to 0 since now half the population don’t know them.
And worst of all? There are those who hate the other server. I am personally not one of those, I couldn’t really care. But if we merge? I can see handfuls of people basically treating the RP scene differently because now the other server is present. I think the healthiest way for servers to grow is individuals themselves choosing to go to one server or the other. I can personally say I know handfuls of people who have gone to WrA and like it their and I know plenty of people who came from WrA to MG and like it here. People coming in 2’s and 3’s is a healthy trickle of change rather than an entire server merging with another within an hour.
5 Likes
I think it will likely happen at some point in the future, but it will be a long long long time. We are at least the World of Housing expansion away from seeing the game go into maintenance mode. They’ve been laying the groundwork with consumables on the auction house being region wide. It will start with linked servers like they did with lower population servers. Then depending on how things are sorted out, they may starting merging.
Not to pick on this quote, but it was the one that made me chuckle the most. If your name isn’t Maxen or Banshih, no one knows who you are on Moon Guard. I’m not trying to pop a lot of egos with that statement, but just laying down some truth. Our guild has been on Moon Guard for two and a half years and most of our members would struggle to name even those two. I’m pretty sure it’s like that for most people on WRA as well.
I suppose my thought process behind what I said is: People build up a reputation in the community, no matter how small or large. Like if there’s a big company, you have your different friend groups within the workplace. But if the company brings in enough new people to double the workforce, those bubbles shift and change. You basically start from scratch as if you are in a whole new place.
2 Likes
Both servers have their own unique server cultures and approaches to RP styles. Merging the two into one big megaserver would be a disaster. MG is more community based while WRA is more guild based. MG has leaned more towards server canon while WRA has steered away from it. Having two different servers that cater to different tastes and RP styles is good for everyone. It gives people options. You take those options away and the RP community as a whole suffers.
You also, unfortunately, have people who subscribe to the idea of “my server over yours.” I’ve seen this on the forums and other social media sites translate to people actively cheering on the demise of MG or WRA, which is probably one of the silliest things I’ve ever seen. If one server suffers, everyone does. Putting these servers together would come with major blowback from the individuals who subscribe to this kind of thinking.
I definitely get the appeal of one megaserver, and it’s certainly true many people play both MG and WRA, but they’re two ponds with their own unique ecosystems that wouldn’t mesh well together.
4 Likes
Trying to speak softly, I feel like in the event of a Server Merger; the only thing impacted is the player’s ego.
Speaking from experience, I remember back in like… 2008/2009 when Scarlet Crusade RP was in its golden age, The Scarlet March was the big Scarlet group on MG, then Crimson Horizon transferred over from another server looking for a healthier RP community.
The two groups challenged each other all the time in schoolyard contests about who had the larger turnout, who was the most zealous, and who had a right to the Cathedral. In retrospect the rivalry was silly, but it also generated some fantastic RP encounters that will forever remain golden in my memory.
Nostalgia aside, the only other things affected by a merger like the AH or Server Firsts are moot. The AH changes every major game update and Server Firsts stay as Achievements.
Concerning WRA for Horde and MG for Alliance? That’s just an objective fact. “Yes” that fact can/will change with enough effort, but that dream is still something to work for.
4 Likes
The servers are merging organically anyways. People are leaving WrA and coming to MG at least for Alliance. It is inevitable as the overall population of RPers shrinks. There are at least a dozen RP realms only two are feasible RP servers in terms of finding actual RP and even then it is not sustainable. There is no need for Blizzard to force it when it is happening due to the pressures of the system in place.
2 Likes