Queue Times - Explain?

[Bermuta-skeram]

It’s been like this forever. I’m not complaining or upset. What I am wondering is the basis behind the queue times, and why they are so long.

I just joined AB queue for the 10th time today (7 wins - 3 losses - For the Horde!!!) and it dawned upon me that I did not understand the structure of WoW Battlegrounds. There were 265 active games going at the time and the average queue wait was 10 minutes (down from earlier today which was around 12 min). Now, I’m not really sure how long the average AB game is but I’d imagine 25-30 minutes on the higher end. The 265 games lasting 30 minutes each would average 8.8 games per minute (At 265 & 25 Min. = 10.6 Games/Min.).

Now, I think the Horde outnumber Ally about 3 to 1 overall from population polls I’ve seen recently- this isn’t hard math just observation/estimating. Even if it was something like 5 to 1 the math wouldn’t really make sense. If there are 8-10 games being played every minute, that would mean there were enough Ally to Horde to allow 1.6 - 3.2 games per minute. So, where is the disconnect?

Do Blizzard servers lack the bandwidth to process games? Is my math complete garbage? Do Murlocs act as Gremlins and slime up the insides? It seems like most games I play process battlegrounds very quickly with little to no downtime. Why do WOW loads take so long? The demand is obviously there - 265 active games - and lord knows how many people queued up and waiting for the next one! What is the major factor? I legit just want to be educated here. I’m not upset but merely curious.

[Razergore-pagle]

Its very simple. There are more horde than alliance. Alliance is the bottleneck. I have instant ques.

Edit: I really cant understand your math. Lets say it is 3 : 1. that means you should have to wait two game lengths between ques on average which would be like 30+ min ques ignoring everything else.

[Dispelme-kromcrush]

there are hundreds of horde infront of you in the queue waiting to be paired up against the alliance, each time 15 more alliance queue you are put 15 places closer to the front of the queue

[Àpathy-arcanite-reaper]

Just boost an ally toon then

[Shadows-grobbulus]

This has been true for most of WOW’s history. There may or may not be more Horde players overall, but there are absolutely more Horde players who PVP compared to Alliance. Alliance tend to focus more on PVE, and Horde tend to focus more on PVP.

[Bermuta-skeram]

Wait 2 game lengths? Not if its 3 to 1. Again were averaging 8-10 games a minute at 265 games and 25-30 minutes per game. Horde queue times should be 1 to 3 minutes. Especially if Alliance are getting instant queues.