11/06/2018 12:17 PMPosted by Khorteth11/06/2018 12:12 PMPosted by FallanaaI agree with the 3-5k server pops.
Private servers have skewed the perceptions and expectations of those that have played on them. No way is a 10k+ mega server representative of Vanilla.
They are horrible to play on and far too overcrowded for the world that is designed.
I'm ok with a 5k cap. I've just seen people throwing around 2.5 or even 2k MAX. That's way too low, unless your goal is to have everybody playing on a 500 pop server three months in.
I actually agree with you, although I think you are far more optimistic than I am. I expect servers will start to decline the first week. I will be shocked if 50% stick around past week one. I think a vanilla capped server will be down to ~500 by the end of the first month if they haven't merged by then. The one benefit to mega servers is that they can lose 80% of their playerbase and still have a playable server.
I do think mega servers will decline faster. If the plan is to only shard starting zones, players will hit a questing roadblock when they step into the next zones. Retail trials will drop like flies when that happens, whereas they may stick around a bit longer on a vanilla capped server.