I realize you want more players on the lowest population servers so that they don’t stagnate and cause a mass exodus of players (and subscription revenue). But you’re really barking up the wrong tree by trying to make this specific recommendation to a target audience of players who by your own admission are choosing to create characters on servers that they already know are full.
Stop to think for a second, isn’t it obvious that these players have absolutely no interest in a low pop server? And if the server does stagnate, those players who caved to the pressure and were originally hoping for a more bustling game community, will be the first to unsubscribe.
You’re doing neither the players a favor nor the game’s chances by making those suggestions to those people.
One thing you could do instead is try to gather and share data and info about the cultures and communities and demographics on ALL servers, including the “Almost Full” servers, so players know what they may be getting into before switching. You are the community manager after all, if anyone can do it it’s you. That would be a display of leadership more likely to earn the respect of the players, rather than what comes across as desperate pissing in the wind (with all due respect, I know you’re trying your best).
WoW classic means a lot to some of us, especially those of us who are growing in age and feel this is a one of a kind opportunity. Many of these players would rather bite the bullet and endure the queue or play during off-hours, on a server that they know will have all the nostalgic drama they crave.
Asking that type of player demographic to switch to the lowest population server would be shooting yourself in the foot, and asking those players to do the same.
Should we be worried that the player-dev relationship is starting off on this foot? We might not have another spare foot to tread on, so let’s not shoot our feet.