Appreciated, but…
I’m still not seeing prime-time for other markets. I’m seeing a stress test based around the devs rolling into work, getting briefed and getting ready to flip the switch (11am) and then collecting the data for the rest of their work day until they punch out and head home about 5pm or so.
Or is 2am in Asia and 4am in the Oceanic prime-time for stress testing too? The only argument to be made here is 7pm in the Euro market, but it’s not as global as one would think.
or they could have just stuck to the second plan they had.
shard low level zones for the first few weeks and call it good.
Sharding zones got massive backlash, so they said screw it and sharded the whole server. This way, theoretically you will not see people phasing in and out right in front of you as they’re either on your layer worldwide (continent-wide) or they are not.
I know I have read it all before. I don’t believe that Blizzard has actually fixed anything. To this day they still havn’t fixed the Squelch DC bug from the voice system. Hunter FD is still broken and pets still aggro people as they res in BGs forcing combat.
I don’t think that they have any dev talent left and they just have interns making mount art assets and pet skins.
I get suspended from the forums within days of being unsuspended, sorry i couldn’t let you know sooner. Rats report everything.
and sharding low level zones is still preferential to sharding ALL zones.
because that’s really all layering is. one big shard.
Except that is the very reason why we have layering. Many underpopulated realms kills MMO’s (RIP Wildstar).
It goes like this:
Option 1 - Creating many 4K pop realms and having many 800 pop realms after 3 months.
Option 2 - Creating fewer 20K pop realms and splitting them into 5 layers, and having fewer 4K pop realms after 3 months.
WoW’s population WILL DECLINE after a few months. It doesn’t matter how good the game is… there will be millions just looking for a quick nostalgia trip or for checking it out, given how accessible the game (any game actually) is nowadays.
Here is a wild guess: 80 realms worldwide announced by Friday, and this number will rise to 140 by launch.
NA had it’s primary (and underwhelming turnout) infrastructure stress test back in June. As has already been pointed out, now they’re more interested in verifying the other regions are properly configured, while also making sure no new surprises happen in NA, as it is still part of the Stress Test as well.
Don’t confuse the “focus window” to be the only point in time they will be gathering data for. It’s running for at least 24 hours. Lunchtime on the Pacific Coast may not make a great “focus window” for NA, but I’m sure plenty of people will be signed in all the sign come that evening.
Eh, debatable point. For some people, immersion is shattered if someone in Tirisfal Glades enters another shard of the pumpkin farm and fades out while doing the running man. They’d rather see fewer, but the same, people everywhere in the world (layering).
it’s simple. would you rather see people sharded away only in low level zones?
or would you rather see it happen in all zones?
The difference is that the Classic WoW launch, unlike Vanilla, has an established reputation as a quality game and, most importantly, there are already several million players on subscription plans for it who can just dip their toes into the pool and check it out with absolutely no additional cost.
Tough question. I’m for whatever solution doesn’t mess stuff up. Between people fading in and out (sharding), or possible exploits resulting in punitive measures that prevent me from playing with friends on a different “layer” (such as extended times between layer hops so I’m not getting extra Thorium, etc.), I’d go with sharding. Immersion is second to having a seamless play session with friends.
exactly. if i only have to deal with the issues of sharding in low level zones, as opposed to all zones, i’d take that in a heartbeat.
In many cases it did help actually. Just not “perfect”, and it won’t be “perfect” again.
Quote-fail!
People will be jumping layers for Devilsaur kills, Tidal Charm, Brokentooth, and other things. If Blizzard came out and said “We will only have layinger in starter and 6-12 Zones for launch” I would stf/u and accept it.
People don’t understand what the real effects of layering is but they might figure it out a few weeks into Classic. The Vanilla world and the way it functioned was not meant designed for layering. It’s not a amusement park like BFA where everyone gets a turn and there is a mickey mouse handing out balloons to everyone crying.
You’re behind the times. Disney charges about $12 for those balloons. The kids are all still crying, though.
Sounds like BFA.
Most people don’t take the transfer to a new/low population server because if they did, they fear being stuck on a low population server now.
For starters, there won’t be just random empty layers to jump to. Every layer will have 1000+ people in it. So unless your group is the first group to level 50+, jumping layers in Un’Goro will take you to a layer where other players are already farming devilsaurs, too.
So layer jumping to farm nodes and mobs is only going to be effective for the first few weeks, and Blizz still has put in cooldowns on layer swapping to make this tactic less rewarding.
people are weird about this.
“Vanilla resources are in-demand and matter!”
“Only my group will be farming leathers across all layers! ONLY ME!”