Gamers on the Street: Thaurissan and transfers

Gamers on the Street logs onto U.S. servers to get the word from the front on what's going on in and around the World of Warcraft.

This week there was only one choice for where to go and interview players -- the Oceanic realm of Thaurissan has been at the center of realm population issues in the last week, as Blizzard opened up transfers from PvE to PvP realms for the first time ever. I rolled a Dwarf on the Alliance side (where Horde reportedly outnumbers players at huge ratios) to see what things were like and if I could find some people with opinions on the transfers.

Things seem to be better than they were before at first glance -- we'd heard reports that only double digits of people were playing during even prime time, but when I logged on (about 6AM server time), there were quite a few people in the /who list. Ironforge was far from bustling, but I saw groups running around the Isle of Quel'danas, as well as running Magisters' Terrace.

The first player I spoke with was a level 70 Rogue named Supdawg, who was guilded with Celerity. He had an interesting story, and a unique outlook on the PvE to PvP transfer mechanic

WoW Insider: So are you yourself a transfer? How long have you been here on Thaurissan?

Supdawg: Yeah. I just got here last night. I came from Khaz'goroth.

So you actually leveled to 70 on PvE?

No, I leveled to 70 on a PvP server. After I hit 70, my friends wanted me to switch to a Normal server, but when I found out I could get back on PvP I transferred right away.

Oh, so the transfer here was actually your second transfer. What server did you level on?

Agamaggan.

So why are you back here in a PvP server, then?

I think PvP is more fun, and more challenging.

Cool. So what do you think of this server so far?

There are already a lot of good players. The only thing so far is that sometimes it's dead and there's not a lot of people on.

Do you know anyone here from Khaz'goroth?

Yeah, I have a friend from RL who's a Holy Pally. He transferred with me the first time, too.

You're actually different from most transfers in that you leveled on a PvP server, but do you think it's unfair for people from a PvE server to come here without leveling PvP?

It doesn't really bother me. It at least gives PvE players a chance to see what PvP is like.

Right. Are you guys going to raid here?

Well I'm not much of a raider -- I like Arena and battlegrounds. But my friend will raid. He's up to SSC and TK. His gear is good enough to move on, but his old guild was holding him back.

And what are your goals before the expansion? What are you up to before Wrath?

I'm aiming to get my full Vengeful set [he's got everything but the chestpiece, it looks like after an inspect.], and I want to bring my Warlock to 70.

Sounds good. Good luck, thanks very much.

Thanks.

Next, I wanted to try and talk to someone who'd been on the realm before the transfers. I asked around in the City channel for Ironforge, and someone joked that "All of those people are already over on Dreadmaul." Finally, I got Hatfield, a 56 Priest in Ninja Assassin Sushi to chat.

WoW Insider: Heya.

Hatfield: Hi!

So were you here before the transfers started?

I've been around here since April. But I'm afraid I transfered with most to Dreadmaul.

So why are you here now?

Now I'm back again because I like the idea of being outnumbered 300 to 1. And old friend reasons.

Wait, so how many transfers have there been on this server?

A month or so ago, many were allowed to transfer to Dreadmaul (a new server), because we were outnumbered.

Oh, but that made it worse.

Yeah, it did, but in honesty, it did remove a lot of the loud, annoying people who whinge. Then, a week ago, they opened up PvE servers to transfer here so people could try PvP.

So how'd you get here? What kind of server is Dreadmaul?

It's PvP too. My characters are still there but I just made Hatfield to chat with old friends.

Ah, so you're a reroll.

Yeah. I can't afford transfers. :P

I was mostly wondering if things have changed on the server since the transfers started. Has the situation been fixed?

I guess it has in terms of numbers. But socially the players coming here are quite arrogant.

Arrogant? How so?

Most have completed BT and have gone into that form of elitism.

But you still like the imbalance?

Yeah, I consider it akin to 300. It's like finally holding back the tide, and I enjoy that kind of idea. But yeah, I haven't noticed much of a difference yet.

Have any plans once you level up?

Aye, I'm going to be raiding for the guild. I've been powerleveling -- hopefully I will be 70 by the end of the week.

Wow, that fast?

Lol, but that would require giving up all RL events, which is crazy. I take pride in not being a complete WoW addict.

Yeah, that is a little nuts. Well thanks a lot, good luck with leveling and fighting the Horde.

Lols thank you.

Gamers on the Street goes out to talk to players live on the realms every Monday, finding out what's hot on players' minds. The Sunwell hot on yours? Visit our Sunwell page, with nearly everything we've ever posted about patch 2.4.