Layering on Arugal needs to return. The game is unplayable without it. Orgrimmar is already struggling under it’s own weight due to the amount of players there.
While layered, the server never felt empty - I did the Scarab Lord grind and banged the gong. I’m on almost every non working/non sleeping hour because we’re in stage 4 lockdowns during a pandemic and I have nothing better to do - and never once did I think “hm, this world seems empty” on either layer.
The decision to remove layering on Arugal is misinformed at best, or malicious at worst. The server is already reaching 1 hour+ queues on a Saturday night when usually not a lot of people are on. Tomorrow will be busier. Wednesday and Thursday will be a colossal nightmare.
Some Queue Data
Some beautiful data compiled over at the Arugal Subreddit (Thanks to /u/werfyaus)
Werfyaus’ Spreadsheet
Here are the queues that people are reporting
Saturday 22/08 Evening: 4+ hours
Sunday 23/08 Evening: 5+ Hours
Monday 24/08 Evening: 5+ Hours
I understand you may want to remove layering, but at least understand your community a bit more - wait for our lockdowns to finish and traffic begins to drop off before you make the call to remove layering.
All the threads are getting merged and I want to address a few of the more toxic posters/dismissals. Many of you are reading replies from Azazil, Aresia, Joyson, Twinkledum, Kickpoly, Askimos and others and may feel compelled to respond to them.
Their opinions are noted, and discarded. Their decrying of our situation is meaningless and worthless. Arugal as a community is speaking out about how we feel about OUR server and community and their opinions are null and void.
Either they are being willfully obtuse or trolling - all it says is that they don’t really understand our community in the slightest or how we want to play our classic experience.
I encourage you all to ignore them. Do not give them the satisfaction and attention they are clearly craving by constantly attempting to strike our nerves. Let them wallow in self pity and be jerks in their own little caves.
Why didn’t you take the free Transfers?
The free transfers were only available after many guilds and communities had already established themselves. Arugal was already locked and queued on Day 1 as it was the only PVP server for Oceania - Then another server was created, which also filled up and locked very quickly. Getting entire communities to transfer off a server is near impossible.
Why don’t you transfer off now?
We’ve opened our AQ gates and it costs money to transfer our alts. We already pay enough for this service. Asking us to pay more to move our communities into new dynamics is unreasonable.
This is your own fault - You knew what would happen!
No - we actually had no idea how they would manage this. Blizzard’s communication on this topic was Layering would be removed once the population issue had been resolved. The population issue has not been resolved. We had queues on TWO LAYERS during the 10 hour war.
Layering Ruins the game
Maybe - but being unable to play because of queues ruins it more. I think the vast majority of Arugal would prefer layering to queues. Our server does not feel dead in the slightest and while we’re in a global pandemic with a number of folks stuck at home, it will remain extremely active - I don’t expect traffic on Arugal to die down long term until late Phase 6.
But the Economy/World PVP/No Changes!!
These arguments are flawed. The economy will adjust itself based on the circumstances and Arugal’s is reasonably healthy despite the bots. There’s plenty of World PVP and with BGs and Padding, World PVP has lost all meaning anyway. No Changes is a long dead horse that can’t be beaten anymore because of changes that have been made to better replicate a better gameplay experience while achieving the Vanilla design goals - Layering doesn’t really detract from this
If you don’t like queues, you can leave - your guild doesn’t have to follow you!
I mean - in my individual circumstances, my guild helped me achieve Scarab Lord. I’m becoming a much more active part of the server’s community overall. Many of my IRL friends still play here. My guild also geared me and I’m a contributor to the raid in many ways than just DPS - if I left, it would be unfair to literally all of those people, and I’d become a huge hated meme, and vilified by probably the same people who want layering to remain off. This is not an option for me personally - now there are a lot more folks on the server who have similar ties or reasons for staying.
