What server did you go with? I am interested in just vanilla classic as well. However, I am struggling to pick a server as they are all low. I am not sure where to start.
I think I’ll probably choose the Pagle-Ashkandi-Windseeker-Mankrik-Westfall-etc meag-server - probably Alliance - but I’m a Horde at heart lol, so we’ll see.
Alliance seemed the busiest to me? But it’s hard to really know. I’ve been logging in (on and off for a month or so) on various servers on both sides and Pagle (mega-server) Alliance had anywhere between 10-50 people in Stormwind and about 1/2 that in Ironforge throughout the week.
As I type this, there are 31 in Stormwind and 24 in Ironforge now. It’s around 9pm Server Time on a Tuesday, so not bad! 
Half a dozen or so guilds were represented in /who. Of course, it can be a ghost town certain times of the day. But I saw groups of raiders come on and go to the mailbox during peak raid times. I asked people in the city to share their Discord link and, once in Discord, they usually have their schedule and activities listed. It seems like if you want someone to level with, a guild is super helpful, since there isn’t hardly any activity in LFG Channel. People were pretty friendly and I learned about their leveling/raiding/social activities in Discord.
I’m still tempted to abandon the Wrath hype-train. It’s already stressing me out lol. It just feels…like Retail to me. I just want to play WoW with some friends, put my brain into the World of Warcraft and chill out - away from life’s stress. I don’t need more stress - to be the fastest and richest and best lol.
Can I play Wrath and enjoy it? Maybe? I’d probably have a better chance at what I’m looking for in Classic Era…or so I keep reminding myself.
Then roll horde. Horde guilds are raiding and, with a smaller playerbase, good players will stand out more and get more opportunities.
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@Imirak, I found wowclassicpop (dot - com).
It’s the one that serves the data from the CensusPlus addon. But, it’s confusing to me, because the addon is available for Wrath now and the site does not seem to distinguish between the Classic Era and Wrath (progression) realms…it’s just a list of realms. (That makes me assume it’s current progression realms (Wrath) I suppose.)
Yeah, that’s only covering Wrath Classic servers. I don’t think there is a website with Classic era population numbers, but I have been running Census on Mankrik for both alliance and horde side regularly so I have a pretty good grasp on what the populations are like. Right now, about 200 new characters are consistently being created on a daily basis. At this point, it’s clear that new players are joining rather than the addon just picking up characters it missed on earlier runs.
So when you say Mankrik US East cluster, I’m confused. Did they implement phasing or cross-realm on classic?
There is a cluster on east that includes Mankrik and other servers (Windseeker, Pagle, Ashkandi, etc). Mankrik is a free transfer for Classic era players outside of the cluster, so I expect that’s where most players in the cluster will create characters.
Okay, so you’re saying that Blizz intends to migrate people onto Mankrik to create that larger community by offering the free incentive to do so?
Another question I had. Say I wanted to roll on Alliance Mankrik to play with/against my new friend Imirak here.
Has Blizz made a statement on future plans for BC Classic servers yet?
AKA Acknowledge an eventual plan to do progression servers on a routine basis like Everquest?
edit: I guess what I’m getting at, is I wouldn’t mind jumping into true classic now, with the option to do further expacs later?
Reposting this for visibility:
I myself play on the PvP East Cluster of Benediction/Faerlina/Heartseeker/Incendius/Netherwind.
Okay, that’s helpful thanks.
These are all phased to Naxxramas I’m guessing?
Correct they are in phase 6/6
Blizz is offering free transfers to the Mankrik cluster. So you might expect to see a consolidation of pve Classic era players on this cluster because it is a free transfer (as opposed to transferring away from it).
There are no announced plans for BC Classic era servers. All BC Classic players are being forcibly migrated to Wrath Classic. For Vanilla, they created separate Vanilla-only servers and gave players a choice. Most people see this as Blizz having no plans to support TBC servers.
There is currently no option to start in Vanilla and progress to later expansions. There are currently Classic era servers (Vanilla only) and Classic Wrath servers. No TBC and no guarantee that Classic Wrath player won’t ever be migrated to Classic Cataclysm servers at some point.
So basically it seems that you have to choose between Vanilla or Classic progression servers which are currently at Wrath.
Pretty sure this is false. Mankrik is locked meaning you cannot create a new character here if you don’t already have one on that server and you cannot transfer to it.
Also, you guys have pretty much derailed this thread into oblivion. The OP wanted to know a good classic era server to join (not a progression server). I’d say the best opportunity would be to look at the Classic Era server list in-game see what the population is like during peak play times. While not an exact number, it will give you an idea.
If it were me trying to decide, I’d hop in-game on a server I’m curious about and see how busy/dead the trade chat/LFG channels are.
Mankrik isn’t locked in Classic Era.
You might be thinking of wotlk not era sir.
There are two Mankriks. The Mankrik on Classic era is not locked. Mankrik in Wrath Classic is not applicable to this thread. I don’t have the Wrath launcher installed so I wouldn’t know its status.
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Are there by any chance discord servers for these mega servers clusters for guilds who are recruiting? I recently transfer over to Mankrik. I’ve searched online but it seems the discord that is available is for the wrath version of classic not classic era.
All of the Classic Discords I’m familiar with look like they transitioned to Wrath. But if anyone knows of a Classic Era Discord, please let us know.
You have the option to join any guild in a cluster, which for you, would be the Ashkandi, Mankrik, Pagle, Westfall, and Windseeker cluster PVE East Coast one.
I opened the Social panel and whispered some people to learn more about their guild or ask to speak to a guild officer and requested their Discord link. Some Discord servers were pretty locked down, while others were very open - which is very telling, itself, of the type of guild they are, I thought.
Conveniently, since these realms are all connected, the user numbers and peak times
(on Horde and Alliance sides) are the same between all realms in the cluster. (E.g., if you look at the Social panel on one, you will see the same people on all.)
I also noted an added benefit of the connected realms: faction balanced seemed better. For instance, current Makrik is primarily Horde and current Pagle is primarily Alliance. But in Classic Era, Horde and Alliance ratios are fairly balanced on both.
Classic Era Server Realm Grobbulus RPPvP Alliance
Come have a Blast on the nostalgic Classic Era. As some of you may know our guild is the main active guild on this server with about 50 active raiders on the Alliance. I wanted to reach out to the community and recruit anyone interested in joining the fun.
We are a casual raid and need 5-10 more active raiders to progress content in AhnQiraj40 and Naaxramas.
We are currently Raiding Monday/Friday 7:00 PM - 10:00PM PST
Molten Core 10/10 2.5hr~
BlackWing Lair 8/8 2.5hr~
After Raids and Weekends and other random times
Onyxia/Azuregos/Lord Kazak/Lethon/Ysondre
AQ20/ZG
We have around 50 actives player making our server and guild very tight knit. Everyone is very nice and will help with leveling, bags, mounts, professions, guidance, and a good time!
Choose whatever class you want and most importantly enjoy your time. So many fun and original character names to choose from
Recruiting PriorityHealers Druid/Priest/Paladin
Tanks Warrior/Druid/Paladin
DPS Mage/Rouge/Warlock/Hunters/Warrior/Druid/Paladins
We hope you find your way into our realm
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