Did I not say that? You might want to work on your comprehension skills. I said one can affect the other but sharding is a server side system, not a gameplay system. Gameplay systems would be things like your talent systems, how combat works, etc.
And I know exactly what it is, I just don’t need to resort to name calling.
People always make such a big deal about it.
I really don’t think a smooth launch is as important as not having sharding.
It’s a frigging launch - it’s to be expected you’ll have lag and won’t be able to play optimally. It’s temporary. It’s no big deal.
Sharding though - I get and don’t mind that they might use it for launch even if I don’t think it’s necessary, but I do worry they will use it post-launch.
Thing is as much as we discuss it here, that’s really a decision Blizzard is going to make without us. It just comes down to how they want to see things work and the game to flow early on.
Just deal with it, there will be sharding, get ready for that anal [Soul Shard] spam in The Barrens.
pve servers for life, f pvp
I remember getting 7/fpm (frames per minute) and three and an half hour queues. Nothing encapsulates the Classic experience like being unable to play. I’m still a bit upset they aren’t using the original 2004 server hardware and blades.
Oh well, you make a good point there.
I just logged in to retail, on 8.1.5 client, and found myself having 20fps in Wintergrasp.
So, when it comes to AQ even, if this performance doesn’t change - It’ll be a perfect restoration of the vanilla experience, except that with much lower FPS
If you can’t trust Blizzard with sharding, then you can’t trust Blizzard period. If that is true, then sooner or later Blizzard will do something that will break Classic for you, so why are you planning on playing something that you think will be ruined for you?
Why are people worried about “tourists” coming over from BFA? Nobody plays BFA now anyways.
Really on the beginning areas are going to be an issue to be honest. The higher level you are, the more likely you will see less overcrowding anyways. The reason is because the higher level you are the more areas are open up for you to level in.
…At the expense of authentic Vanilla gameplay by using sharding, you mean?
The original Game Director of Vanilla WoW, Jeff Kaplan, once talked about the important lesson of introducing changes to game:
…people mostly just think about what they’re gaining. But the thing players really need to think about is what asking for certain changes forces them to give up.
— https://classic.wowhead.com/news=275688/wow-classic-servers-jeff-kaplans-thoughts-and-blizzard-hiring
Sharding may smooth out the launch - but at the cost of community.
Sharding forces me to give up the very thing we are asking for and the main objective if this project (according to Blizzard themselves): the authentic Vanilla experience - which never used sharding.
And, in Mr. Kaplan’s own terms, it’s the community that matters most - NOT a “smooth launch”:
What I think made old World of Warcraft great was the sense of community
I could care less about a smooth launch, to be honest.
I care most about community, however. It’s the whole reason I want to play WoW again.
And sharding kills community and is anti-Vanilla in every way.
You are forgetting other crowded areas after the starting areas.
It follows that, if sharding is used to reduce player population load in starting areas at launch, then it could be used anywhere there is player population load after launch.
What about people standing in line for the Defias messenger, Eecheeyakee or anything else beyond the “starting zones”?
By that point you have other options for questing as well as people who have levelled/completed quests at different rates. You can’t say that about starting zones because everyone has a max of 2-3 quests they can even physically do with no other quest options, no options to do dungeons, you can’t even effectively do professions til level 5.
I agree that there are more things for players to do once they leave the 1-6 starting areas. That does not mean that everyone will choose to forego leveling to do those other things.
Even if they don’t choose to forgo levelling, they still have levelling options. There are more quests available, there are dungeons to level in, and that’s not even taking into account that some people will level faster thus diminishing the competition naturally.
I hope you are correct and that Blizzard will not use sharding outside of the 1-10 zones, preferably not even outside the 1-6 areas. I will not hold my breath, however.
I do not foresee those retail players that are only concerned with their own convenience above all else being very accepting of increased competition once they leave those started “starting areas”.
I doubt it will be restricted to just the 1-6 zones because I don’t think the servers actually consider them their own zones. They all seem to be a part of the parent 1-10 zone.
Even with sharding, there will be competition so if tourists can’t handle that, they’ll be hit with it right away and be deterred from playing at all. All sharding will do is prevent extensive queue times that will outright prevent anyone from even logging onto the server. That, for me, is the most dangerous issue that could face classic. If you can’t even log onto a game you’re having to pay for, dedicated fan or not, you’re going to have people who are just going to give up completely or not play for days/weeks/months.
Not sure if this is a troll post or you just are not up to date on your Classic info but Blizz has already stated they will have sharding at the start to help with the high numbers and then take it away as numbers lower as they do with any release. If you wish not to play then more power to you, more room for me and my friends.
They actually never said they were definitely using it.
They said they knew it was antithetical to the overall concept but they were looking into it to alleviate some of the early stress.