I almost made this argument a while ago as well but then i realized it doesnt address the eventual issue of dead servers at all, while layering does. I delibe re ately abstained from creating characters in Classic on High pop servers, which solved the server crash issue (theoretically anyway), but the same proportion of folks quit over time.
But you’ll have a bigger selection of dead guilds several years down the line to scrabble runs together for your alts with. Srsly tho dead servers ARE a big issue, even for the asocial like myself.
That is why they will have current subscribers test it and then pat themselves on the back. Because for current subscribers layering will mean they wont see people from other realms so they will think it is great.
I am not worried about dead servers, if a server is actually sub 1.5k pop during peak hours I am sure Blizzard would offer free migration from astoundingly high servers to it. People keep crying about the fear of dead servers. Can’t figure it out.
I’m hoping that “layering” turns out to be like loot trading, where they announced a completely unworkable version of it, then after massive outcry softened it to a version that, while still objectively terrible, isn’t nearly as bad.
Why isn’t there a blue post
There I fixed the title for you
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I love you Gummy52.
Nor can I actually. I was simply echoing the fears of others. I was actually just formulating a post asking why server merges or free transfers would be all that disruptive.
To be clear a dead server is undesirable because it is hard to find groups. But if a solution like merging is available I have no issue.
Did all the people voicing grievances with layering play Vanilla day 1?
I ask because I played months after the game came out, and I still had an amazing experience meeting people throughout the leveling experience, clearing dungeons, joining a guild, and doing world pvp.
Layering will be gone for sure by phase 2, and hopefully gone sooner. If someone is concerned about layering, perhaps they should wait until it is removed from the game.
Essentially, I hope that the Classic experience, like the vanilla one, is rewarding regardless of when you start playing; whether it’s phase 1 or phase 6.
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I’m not particularly sure that a plan predicated on a game collapsing within weeks is a good plan for the game in question
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Ever heard the term “content locust”?
Who knows, maybe Blizz will manage to snag some of those locust in a glass Skinner jar.
I’m familiar with the concept, but I don’t think it really applies to vanilla. Other MMO’s died off quickly because they were unable to match the volume of content that this game once offered. Few, if any, will be out of content in a matter of weeks, even if they played 24 hours a day. By the time WotLK came out, dedicated players had two years of /played - think about that.
Nothing I’ve heard about Classic has been bad over the last couple days. Layering is a great idea.
I didn’t even know about “layering” until reading about it in the forums threads discussing it. Something like this should have been in an official announcement or a pinned topic on the forums since sharding was one of the main concerns people have been having.
First… the dev stated it would be 2 weeks… maybe a month.
Second… you are making this into WAY more than it needs to be.
Layering, for the most part, does not affect the player’s experience. If server cap is normally 3000, and they set layer cap to 3000… then when you log in… you experience EXACTLY the same as if there was a queue… the ONLY difference is that instead of making your friends, guildmates, and fellow server residents WAIT to play while you get levels ahead of them… they get to join another 3000 players to play along. Again THEY are getting the same experience as if you and your layer full of people were stuck in queue.
Where it is better is that it allows you to FORCE people onto your shard (like friends you absolutely want to level/group with.
They are also going to see about forcing guilds onto one layer as well.
Is it perfect? of course not. But it is WAY better that having a dead server or an over full server Having to be forcefully redistributed. It is also better than having half your guild way ahead in leveling because the other people could not log in.
But I will agree that timers and limitation to layer hopping must be created… it could be abused quite easily for ore/herb nodes, rare/limited recipe/item vendors, AoE mob farming, chests and rare mobs farming, etc.
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They are going for it. It’s a bold move.
I think they want the flexibility to make adjustments without being locked down by EXACT phrasing in a blue post. In this situation, better to be vague IMO than to say things they don’t know yet.
I think they opted not to have a blue post about layering simply because they have not pinned down all of the details yet. With as big of an issue as this seems to be, I would expect a blue post sometime before launch with further details.
You’re completely right, that was the wrong term, i meant tourist.
This will be the biggest launch in blizzard history. Bigger than any of the Warcraft diablos or wows previously. You get one shot to pull all those EU private server players back into subbing. Do not screw it up by implementing any sharding or layering! That was NOT classic. 3k players on one mob then make more realms and reduce when player base leave. Classic was hard and not for five year olds. Keep it like it was and stop trying to make everything so easy or you’ll realize it’s not why people still play it underground.
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Clarify with what though?
“We have an experimental process we call layering that we are still testing and evaluating. While we have a general idea of what we want to do with it, we are uncertain as to the specifics of it’s implementation at this time. Once we have specifics we can share, which don’t present security or stability risks, we will do so.”
Is probably about the most you’d get out of them, and it tells you almost exactly nothing that isn’t already known.
Edit: And then I realize this thread is a necro from over a month ago. By somebody who wants to advocate for the dead realm server cult.