How players are using cross-realm raiding to foster communities
With the introduction of cross-realm raiding in patch 4.3.2 and the Raid Finder, players have gone above and beyond in creating new and exciting server-less communities that bring in raiders from all over the world via Real ID grouping. While the Dragon Soul raid is not available currently for players using cross-realm raiding, all other raids and difficulties are, and there is no better time to go back to old content and finish off stuff during the wait until the next expansion.
Sites like LFRaid.com and Twitterland Raiding are two communities that have sprung up quickly in this new cross-realm raiding world. Twitterland Raiding is a website created for the Twitter WoW community to form up groups for raiding across server lines. With a centralized place to express interest in raiding as well as no server structure or logistics to worry about besides Real ID names (which gets immensely easier with the introduction of BattleTags), raiding can happen in greater volume and more quickly.
LFRaid.com is another site that has set up a system to advertise for raiding with a group in a cross-server community. The biggest difference between sites like these and guild recruiting sites is that they exist outside of the guild parameter. You do not have to spend money on a transfer as a new recruit to raid with a different group of people, and you skip that potentially expensive trial period that might not work out. LFRaid.com also has a great Teams Recruiting section that players can browse through to find a group that's looking for a guy or girl just like you.
Choosing to create a community in a very different way, @vitaemachina on Twitter administers the Sleepy Hams public Mumble server. Originally created to streamline cross-realm raiding groups that wanted a place to use voice communication, Sleepy Hams has sort of taken on a life of its own.
Many people threw up their hands in protest over the Dungeon Finder's unintended consequence of damaging server communities (or, in layman's terms, asking in trade chat for two hours for a tank, because we thought that this was fun for over 10 years). Instead, we got a robust system of dungeon queuing that has been revised, tweaked, and added on to since halfway through Wrath of the Lich King. The Dungeon Finder and, by proxy, the Raid Finder may have potentially been among the most important innovations for the MMO genre to this day, if only because of how much content it made accessible to previously unknowing players. What these projects show is that no matter how much community you think Blizzard is removing, by adding features that greatly enhance accessibility, players will always find a way at creating communities with the people they want to play the game with.
Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
