We test PTR as a guild every time new content is coming out, much as many other guilds do. I personally spend as much time as possible raiding on PTR to be a better raid lead for my team and come in with a gameplan that matches my mix of raiders in comp and skill set. I find running with other guilds and pugs helps me both learn the fights from different perspectives and strategies, etc.
PTR Ghost Town
Fast forward to last night, the first evening of PTR (PTR1 / PvE Realm) and the server was a literal ghost town. As our team logged in to raid (~17:30 PST), we were the only people in /who in Dalaran or seemingly anywhere on the server, which is a stark contrast to previous PTR sessions where there are so many people Dalaran ceases to function. As a raid lead this is definitely concerning as PTR is typically some of the most dedicated raiders out there in the Classic universe of servers, guilds, etc. Before this PTR session, there was concern based off of the number of guilds that I see spamming for fills, GDKPs canceled due to lack of interest, and communications via other guild officers on server discord, yet we all expected that at some point people start trickling back from SoD, but that there would undoubtedly be some attrition from WotLK.
I can’t help to think that what now feels like a really rushed Ruby Sanctum (on ptr with such little notice, seemingly super early, etc.) is indicative of the problem created by fracturing the player base. We had 24 guildies on and ideally would have liked one random pug to join us, but there were no people to even ask. This does not bode well for the future of WotLK and potentially Classic as a whole. Maybe for most it’s because “The Guy on the Box” is dead and this instance felt like an afterthought in WotLK results in little to no nostalgia to go play it again? Whatever it is, I would love to see statistics of some kind for Ruby Sanctum PTR polls and if reviewing WCLs logged against Halion last night is any indicator there is significant reason for concern. I would love to hear community and blue feedback on this specifically.
Release Date
With today’s announcement that Ruby Sanctum will be released on 1/11/24 almost exactly three months after ICC’s release, I can’t help but to feel that this is rushed. Clearly there isn’t the level of feedback pouring in on the PTR because it was a ghost town. My guild leaders and I suspected an earlier release than based off the original gap of 7.5 months between ICC and Ruby Sanctum, but we were definitely expecting it to align with the completion of the 30% buff mid Feb. A couple weeks earlier isn’t a big deal, but I feel like this is a deliberate action to try to lure some people back towards WotLK as SoD slows down towards the end of the first content phase.
Impact on Raiding Guilds as Cataclysm Approaches
It is always easier to just be raiding in keeping a group together and many guilds seem to be struggling with this with current content. It’s my take that the GM and officers of a guild have to own creating an attractive raid environment for their raiders and that the players themselves contribute greatly to the overall enjoyment that people get from raiding. However, predictability in schedules and content releases is important to keep weekly raiding alive and meaningful. We are looking to roll into Cataclysm with a full raid team eager to take on new content. A preview of how content would be rolled out, much like Blizzard just did with the next few retail expansions would be awesome. Some smaller expansions may benefit greatly by condensed timelines (WoD perhaps?) Long periods of stagnant content or the opposite of rushed content that is buggy are both bad.
I know these topics aren’t new, but the lack of PTR interest was quite a wake up call.