You and I both know that isn’t as true as we’d like with layering at all.
Mainly I think that being able to communicate with the whole server regardless of layer via zone chats will help with community building. Where as keeping them layer specific hurts more than helps.
If they lock layers, as in no one goes in or out. Aren’t we back to square 1? Isn’t that just normal realms then? And later on server merges?
Isn’t one of the points of layering to avoid those type of situations?
Yeah - this is another problem that OP raised. Blizzard is being very cagey with the roll out. We don’t know their server pop targets, layer size, cross-layer communication, world chat ect.
People don’t even know what to test.
A layer is essentially a server though. A layer is the size of a vanilla server. It would be like expecting to communicate with people from different servers, which only merged realms can do. I’ve never been on a merged realm, so I can’t speak to how well this works or doesn’t.
I get that it sucks to technically be on the same server as someone else and not being able to communicate with them, but it’s only temporary.
Ion specifically said you can talk and move between layers.
Layers will not prevent you from talking to and joining groups with people not in your layer.
No… I can talk to anyone in game regardless of server. I message people often via zone chats that aren’t on my merged realm (Onyxia, Burning Blade, Lightning’s Blade). What you can’t do is trade to people who aren’t on your merged realm which makes complete sense.
What doesn’t make sense is not being able to see (in zone or guild chat) what someone on your server says, just cause you aren’t on their layer. Sure I shouldn’t be able to see their yells or /say but zone chats imo shouldn’t be layer specific.
Oh yeah, i was there for that one too all the way. It was very crowded. But this kinda stuff only happens so very temporarily, and personally i found it fun to see the masses of people. The moment it’s on, sure, it’s crazy. But just as quickly as it starts, its gone again (assuming the actual launch, not stress test only).
I don’t think this is an unreasonable request. If this is all it takes for people to be OK with layering the first few weeks, I’m all for it.
That’s not a “request”. That is the way it’s supposed to work according to Blizzard. If it doesn’t work that way in Beta it’s a bug.
there’s supposed to be a single chat and a single AH.
Someone calls out LFM then anyone can join and you get ported to the layer of the group leader.
Correct. I have reported everything I could with layering in the stress tests to help them find where issues are. Unfortunately I can’t tell when I can’t see what someone in another layer is saying.
Solution 1: Layers are static. No layer swapping, either automatic or manual. This removes the CRZ/Sharding aspects of layering, while still keeping the ability to merge.
Solution 2: More servers, and allow for free transfers from low pop servers.
Solution 3: Extremely limited sharding in starting zones and days long, not weeks or months. Layering is far more detrimental than the sharding Blizzard originally mentioned; layering lasts much longer than what sharding was supposed to last, while having the same impact as CRZ on the community.
Solution 4: Get creative. Offer players a retail mount or pet if they delay their entry into Classic WoW by a week, so that launch isn’t as overloaded.
#2 is horrible and should be switched the other way if anything. You shouldn’t be able to transfer from a low pop server. All that would do is kill the server off completely.
just cap a server at 6k at launch and have dynamic respawns in the starting zone (1-10)
Then allow free server transfers to servers that end up at low pop.
It blows my mind that blizzard went with layering. but its this new technology so they have to justify its existence by shoehorning into a game it screws up i guess.
Sad to say this problem was built into the game from day 1 with segregated realms.
Small communities are nice until they aren’t.
Now ESO uses megaserver technology.
“Oh but it destroys communities” you say.
Well I can join up to 5 guilds and guilds can hold 500 players.
There’s my “community”
I belong to 3 guilds…social, trading, housing and in each one there are 500 like minded people. Currently looking to join a pvp guild for casual pvp play.
It is to cut down on server costs.
You have three options:
Where did you get your 75% from ? If you’re just making stuff up I could say the same and use 10%.
Blizzard has a history of bad launches…nothing new.
I think a lot of people would quit well before level 30, or just play it super casual.
Is that two weeks? Probably not, and Blizzard doesn’t definitively know, which is why the commitment is to end of Phase 1 at the latest.
In your opinion how long do you think phase 1 will be ?
IMO I think they will drag it out and milk it as much as possible to keep subs going and that could be months…3-4-6 even.
That-- doesn’t mean quite what you seem to think it means. ![:sweat_smile:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/sweat_smile.png?v=6" ":sweat_smile:")