maybe early access?
that way a good segment of the population will be out of the starting zones at launch and would help with server load.
i dont know im just spitballing.
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I’ve thought this, and Insupport it 100% even though I doubt it’ll happen.
I’m #nosharding but it’s naieve of people to think there isn’t a SERIOUS risk of population issues facing us.
Offer a Classic Collector’s Edition that also grants early access.
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aye im against sharding too.
but just how would they go about giving the early access? would they make you pay some amount or what?
hmm interesting idea. maybe with the pets included?
Yeah it’d have to be something you pay for - which I think is perfectly fine if they give 1-3 days of “head start” for like $50.
Puts money in their pocket, alleviates the starting congestion a bit, etc.
My fear with sharding is just that they’ll then use it anywhere/anytime. If we can set the baseline of #nosharding it becomes harder for them to justify it later.
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50$ would be a bit much. i was thinking more like 20ish.
Stress testing in an open beta period should be a thing. Optimally they start with one server and wait until its full before opening the next if necessary. And since its a beta phase, they can just wipe all the characters after.
One plus of this is that they can recycle the beta game data which reduces bandwidth near launch.
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i was thinking like a week early access with some nominal fee attached to it to spread out the population that paid for it from the others who diddnt so it would distribute the server load in a way that wouldnt involve sharding.
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Who gets the head start?
- Paid? If it is made a paid thing, players will call it “pay to win”.
- Lottery system? No one will be happy losers of the lottery.
- Active game time X months before release? Those waiting exclusively for WOW: Classic release will be enraged.
- No Retail access in X months? Those who want to play both will be enraged.
- Bonus for delaying? Someone will whine about being “forced” to wait to get the bonus or missing out because they want to start Day 1.
Basically, I know it’s a spitball, but any system that tries to stagger launch without it being entirely a voluntary delay is going to create way more uproar than launch issues, or even including sharding in the first zones, has.
EDIT: I’m already planning to delay playing myself, so this actually doesn’t impact me at all - unless I get a bonus for being one of those waiting and letting others get ahead. ![:stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes.png?v=6" ":stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:")
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The problem with charging for it is that you can normally attain a trial account/character or a 10-14 day trial (from back in the day).
So we can still get new people to play the game for free and then they may like the experience and be incentivized to buy it.
There could be a bonus subscription option that gives 1 month subscription on launch, full access to this early state and some goodies. However, in-game bonuses are pretty much ruled out unless they intend to re-implement a collectors edition type deal.
100% on-point. Isn’t a bad idea completely, but it has way more negatives than sharding the initial launch period does.
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meh i dont think it would be pay to win. it would be people investing in the game with their own cash with an added bonus to be able to access early. they get no items or gold its just early access.
it doesnt have to be a week even. maybe 3 or so days.
and im suggesting only a 20 $ charge.
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I agree with you. It seems no matter what you do. It’s going enrage someone. I was thinking the same thing my self. And it is sad that it would come to that.
I am also planning on delaying play myself for a little while. I am curious as to how things are going to turn out once it is all finalized and released.
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if there is early access, it should only be allowed for certain servers that are labelled as such, even after early access has been over for a month(but not two months)
some people don’t want to start out behind the curve
Huh. If the accounts are reset at launch then that would be fine.
WoW isn’t an open sandbox game. It progresses in level and has access locking. Giving someone a head start in access behind a paywall is very much pay to win.
They can do early access by doing an open beta.
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meh kinda defeats the purpose of spreading out the population.
ahh well just an idea.
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It’s not paytowin at all. That’s like saying, “This guy subbed to the game a week before me, so he got to play a week earlier. That’s paytowin!!”
The option exists for anyone to take it. If not, that’s fine. If people want to pay that extra amount, that’s fine too. And it’ll disperse the population without the horrible method of sharding. Each person gets to make a determination as to how they value the experience.
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Yeah, paying real money for an advantage is “pay to win”.
They can do early access with an open beta, which can be free or require a sub, (which everyone would have to pay for to play anyway and isn’t an additional charge) and at the end of the beta, all characters are deleted for a clean launch.
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Sounds good.
People with currently active WoW subscriptions (for more than 6 months) get to log in three days early to get clear of the starter zones and give the newcomers a chance to fight with each other.
Launch it on a Tuesday or Wednesday at like 12AM…
Everyone with a job will be sleeping and then working for the next ~18 hours.
The neckbeards will stay up all night power leveling and clear the starting zones, and even the secondary zones by that time.
The super casuals likely won’t even be able to really play until the weekend.
Does a pretty wonderful job of segregating people out. The only real downside is that the neckbeards might end up doing some WPvP, but that’s likely to end up happening regardless during the first couple of weeks, given how quickly neckbeards are going to level cap.
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