I guess it depends on personal priorities whether it’s the best solution for the server population problem. For example, someone who prefers smooth access and gameplay over the spectacle that is a big MMORPG launch, and all the crazy it brings with it, will probably much prefer an approach like layering.
But is this modern approach (stemming from retail wow’s sharding etc) really fitting to use for an old game like this, that entirely depends on it’s community/social dynamics to stay intact?
These will be changed if layering goes in. If the community gets weakened from the start, it will in turn weaken the whole game since it’s so dependent on having communities that can form appropriately to it’s game design, which layering will disrupt due to it’s flexible nature.
However, there are alternatives still. There’s also those players who would rather go with the most authentic approach, leaving the game and it’s most important aspects intact as they are, while still addressing the special influx of new or curious people this time around.
That’s why we’ve come up with suggestions that allow for an alternative approach that allows for the game to remain the same, with the least amount of drawbacks possible:
They only differ very slightly from eachother, but they all allow for a much more authentic experience than layering would, yet still deal with the big wave (and it’s potential aftermath) of the tourists.
Additionally, they also have the advantage that unlike layering, these approaches allow new players and tourists to experience the game in it’s finished/real form from the beginning, as they level up through the world with their own realm communities which are so important to have intact to experience the magic of vanilla/classic.