I actually see layering as a good thing.
If you expect 3x the population per server, which they need to or every server will be considered dead, you need to give them 3x the resources to play with. Have you ever seen a private server when it falls below 5k population? How many people spam “DEAD SERVER”?
If the population remains 3x the capacity of a normal server, they SHOULD have 3 layers at all times.
It’s a good system. It just needs some restrictions on movement between layers to avoid exploitation.
