It’s clear that over the past few days the total number of layers has been reduced. I now see tons of people all over the zones. Also, last night specifically my server Sulfuras had one of the largest queues it’s ever had, even though there are free server transfers currently being offered off the server. As layers get reduced, queue times will increase as the total server capacity will drop. This is why blizzard is even offering free transfers off of high pop realms, as their end goal is to reach a single layer by phase 2
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People complain, but it’s a pretty smart system. Yes it’s exploitable but we’re all still able to enjoy the game 99% of the time.
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Or you’re just now moving to the zones other players have been in all along…
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Layers have no effect on queue times. Layers simply divide the amount of people logged in, it doesn’t increase the population cap of server. This post is hogwash
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More layers != higher realm population capacity
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So Vampa and Canofbull, are you saying that when layers are removed we’re going to have megaservers?
The layers aren’t dividing up vanilla-like server numbers. Layers were added to allow more players, using the theory that there would be a drop off of players, and then the layers are phased out.
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My buddy, do you not understand how layering works?
Server capacity is a constant. Layers are there to aid competition of resources (quest mobs). Reducing layers will just mean more competition for resources on the same layer. This is why people layer hop to get a new spawn of quest mobs. If layering had anything to do with server capacity then we should be stuck on whatever layer we log into to prevent one layer from exceeding capacity
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I would direct that question right back at you. Layering was implemented in order to address the drop off of players after the initial excitement wore off. How does simply splitting the server into layers deal with this drop off?
Edit: This is why Blizzard decided to launch with a smaller number of servers as opposed to lots of servers with no layering.
At launch, the starting zones were completely jam packed with hundreds of people. Packed to the point where you were better off skipping quests and leaving with a party of five to kill higher level mobs. If a vanilla-like level of capacity would have been split into several layers, places like the Valley of Trials would have had far less people appearing at one time.
That would have prevented friends and guild mates from partying up, which is why it is possible to “jump” from layer to layer.
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Exactly that’s why it doesn’t work the way you think it does.
Blizzard has already said servers are way bigger than vanilla. Not because of layering just general server capacity.
INCREASING/DECREASING LAYERS DOES NOT INCREASE/DECREASE SERVER CAPACITY
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Layering is what allows servers to be bigger right now and still be functional for players. Remove layering from vastly higher server capacity and the end result is megaservers like Light’s Hope with 8k+ people at the same time. The game was not designed to have this many players in world at the same time.
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Layering was only implemented to prevent everyone starting at once in the same zones and not having enough quest resources. All layers happen on the same server so it’s already proven that they can handle the capacity they are already handling.
false.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/hnewman/2019/08/26/warcraft-classic-layering-and-realm-queues-ion-hazzikostas-explains-why-youre-waiting-to-log-in/#76287ede7e45
We are trying to manage long term healthy populations on these servers around a unique sort of game launch. There’s no box that you have to buy on a shelf in a retail store for an outlay of dollars. We are opening this world up to millions of people, many of whom are just going to want to check it out as a matter of curiosity.
There are others who’ve been waiting for this clearly for years and they are in, as in as can be, but they’re all going to be there contending for the same server space on day one.
We are fairly sure — we can’t know for sure without being fortune tellers, but most of them align — there will be a fairly steep drop off compared to that day one interest, and we want to make sure because of how important community is in Classic in particular, that we have healthy server populations.
That’s why we’re not jumping to, hey, let’s just open up dozens and dozens of servers. We have the ability to do that. This isn’t about limiting costs or available hardware or anything like that. We could do that easily if we wanted to, actually much more easily than having complicated tech like layering.
But where we would that leave us down the line is with underpopulated servers that we have to start looking at merging or offering transfers from them to other servers to get back down in population. That’s tremendously disruptive to communities and something we really, really, really want to avoid.
they added it to counter the drop off of population as people leave, allowing healthy realm pops after the tourists bail.
not because of any competition for resources.
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You are just pulling crap out of your behind. That is not true. Blizzard could turn layers off right now. No changes in q times. You would just see a lot more people in your zone and it would be impossible to do some quests
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haha, if you truly believe this you need to check the interviews.
I should rephrase. Yes the server would be unstable because there is so many people in one area but the server is designed to have the same capacity if players are spread out
the server might. the world is not. and blizzard already said they plan on the server being around 2500-3000 strong online tops.
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The post above yours explains exactly why layers were implemented. Making it easier to finish quests by reducing the number of people in a zone at one time was not the driving force behind this technology.
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Sure but your whole argument which you initially disagreed on is still completely invalid. LAYERS WERE NOT DESIGNED TO INCREASE SERVER CAPACITY. Stability yes, capacity no
More layers != increased server capacity
Less layers != greater q times/less server capacity
The number of players allowed in a server will remain a constant
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We’re pretty much going in circles here. The goal wasn’t specifically to have bigger servers, so you’re right in that regard.
Server sizes were increased to deal with the drop off, and this went hand in hand with layering. Layers allow more server capacity temporarily without causing all sorts of additional problems. Stability wasn’t the big concern. You could have tons and tons of players, but having potentially 3000 people in a zone is against the spirit of how the game originally existed.
The number of players allowed in a server will not remain constant however. The server cap will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 3k by phase two, which is when the layers go away.
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Ugh. Soo incorrect.
Each layer has a set limit, by Vanilla standard, as to how much population is on a realm.
Remove a layer, drops the realm cap by 1 layers worth of population. See?
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