Cross realm servers are an issue… but are not remotely close to the only issue.
Cross realms were suppose to solve a problem= dead servers. They just created a new problem trying to solve that problem.
They should have since the beginning just bit the bullet and do server merges as the solution. It is the best way to solve the issue.
Upset at the population imbalance between 1-120? Where 98% of the population is lvl 120. Redo the leveling experience so people feel compelled to roll alts, and also enjoy the experience for it’s own merit.
-No heirlooms
-lvl squish, collapse all content to 1-20 is former vanilla 1-60, 21-30 is BC OR WotLK, you pick either… 31-35 is Cata OR Mist… 36-40 is WoD OR Legion… 41-50 is BFA… In this you are cutting out 3 expacs from the leveling process(where you get to choose which path you want to go down)… and you stay in the ones you choose significantly longer.
Collapse the exp need from 1-120… into 1-50. Save 51-60 for next expac. so lets say it takes 1 million exp to get to level 120… make it 1 million to get to lvl 50… and put it on a linear curve where the higher level you are, the more exp you need.
-You need to reorganize the leveling experiences in all the zones where there is logical progression and rewards that can impact you at max level. Like completing a zones quests gives you X amount of Dungeon Points at max level(Whatever)…Make local pvp nodes count towards max level pvp points(only if you are the appropriate level for the zone). And if you do a pre-max level raid at the appropriate level, you also get rewards. Or even if you are able to complete the highest raid in the particular zones on heroic, if it has an heroic version… you get an enormous amount of EXP. Enough to where it is actually more efficient if you cleverly gear yourself through level progression and do that expansions raid, rather than questing/dungeon spamming… the exp gain is ONLY valid for people at the appropriate level for the raid(Or you can even have max level players help out by de-leveling themsleves. So people can help each other level by doing lower level raids with them at the same difficulty they were intended.
So many brilliant ideas on how they can fix stuff… and they don’t want to do ANYTHING that is original… Blizzard needs to be more risky.
Haven’t played the newest stuff. Only up to mid-Cata, which was more than enough to convince me, that it was no longer the game for me.
Pristine servers won’t cut it I’m afraid.
Always been of the opinion, they should have made it into trilogies instead.
Vanilla-TBC-WoTLK; 1st trilogy which concludes the story from the RTS games.
Cata-MoP-Legion; 2nd trilogy (WoD was a mistake afaik, so should have been cut, or used as a prelude of sorts)
BFA-??-??; 3rd trilogy
Yeah, this one isn’t my reason, or is pretty low down in the list.
Retail isn’t fun for me at all. Add a thriving community, and it still wouldn’t be fun. My community fracturing and shrinking in Wrath was a factor back then, but I kept playing all the way through Cata and a tiny bit into MoP. If I’d still had community to talk to in MoP, I might have kept paying just to log in and chat.
I’m an introvert and a loner. My social engagement in WOW is not necessary most of the time, but is a nice bonus.
I’m a demanding consumer. When I pay (regularly) for a particular form of entertainment, I expect it to be fun. Fun in WOW is mandatory, and when it faded into obscurity, so did I.
Pristine realms with Legion/BfA content would have little to nothing I find appealing.
Separately, Blizzard already fails to account for the impact of changes they make in their singular MMO. (A BfA example is the mess that Communities made to Guild management.)
Now, think about what happens to Pristine servers every time there’s a patch or new expansion. Would Blizzard keep a dev team sitting around just in case Retail broke the Pristine realms in some unexpected way? Would those realms get any priority, or would they be second fiddle to making sure Retail is working right?
The only RPG aspect of modern wow now is the leveling experience. Everything at end game is placed and then it’s just do this and collect that over and over. Way too many carrot on a stick mechanics to keep you playing because there is always something to push towards.
Like others said, game would need a total overhaul, at least with their systems. The only recent things I enjoyed with WoW was mage tower (solo content) and kara 2.0 (rehashed content)
I don’t like how they shower the player with new gear so you barely grow attached to anything. Wf/Tf & stat rng on every item make it hellish to try and “complete” a character. Personally it felt like vanilla did rng stats better. +48 healing on green gloves to me feels a lot better than getting modern gear with +300 haste/vers/mastery on it. The only noticable stat is haste, the rest feel invisible to the player.
While I would be attracted to that sort of server if there was no other option, its not the best option. Community is definitely the thing that kept me playing WoW religiously, up to Cataclysm, but when it all started to break down, I became a “Level up, visit each patch” player.
I think there’s a few problems with it though, because you’d have to redesign the server population for a far larger cap, to ensure that there were sufficient players for dungeons, raids and BGs etc. Players have lost the “always playing” mentality, and it would take time to rebuild that, during which time you’d have to ensure that there’s enough players simply on line for those communities to reconnect.
You’d also have to allow transfers (at least in) because people wouldn’t be willing to completely start over again and lose characters from Vanilla.
Its an idea that has some merit, but there’s a lot of sharp edges that would have to be worked out first.
The problem with retail is they’ve entirely lost touch with the player base. They don’t care. And they won’t listen to feedback. PvP has been a broken disaster since the pre patch and it’s only been downhill since but instead of doing something and fixing it, they let us stew in this awful version of the game, and it’s not fun.
Bugger $15/month. I’d play for as little as $20/hour. It’s less than I’m worth and much less interesting than my current job, but making my own hours and working from home with 0 stress would be worth it. If you offered me $30/hour or more I’d seriously consider it.
I’ll divide my time between the two. Sometimes I’ll focus on classic, sometimes on retail, other times I might get bored and not log into either for several months.
It seems like there is more to it then just restoring the potential of a realms community again. It seems that game play and systems are a major component of a great mmorpg. Maybe as high as 50/50 stand alone server community and community building orientated game systems
So maybe pristine would not be enough. Maybe if classic ends up being very successful the dev will see and adopt classic like systems to modern again.