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Some thoughts on re-rolling
Like many that read WoW Insider, I've been playing World of Warcraft pretty much since release. Many people I know who've been playing that long have spent all of their time on one server. Mine has been spent with my guild, running up one of various characters to endgame. Raiding. Fun faction farming like Thorium Brotherhood, Argent Dawn, or Timbermaw Furbolgs. (I can hear your yawns of excitement now!) Then Burning Crusade came out, and I thought to myself... "Aha! Something new to do." Now I'm running my Druid and Mage up to L70, having run my Rogue up, and my guild is starting to look at running alts through Kara. And I'm farming rep again, only this time it's Lower City and Thrallmar and I think I even have faction with someones best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night... So when we opened up the It came from the Blog guild on Zangarmarsh, I jumped in with both feet for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to run a Rogue up so that I had a testing ground to play with maces and daggers and fist weapons and not just my beloved Swords. After all, if I'm going to help bring a good quality Rogue column to the Rogue community, I should be running the builds for myself. The second reason is because since Burning Crusade has come out, there have been huge calls for more new realms so people can run from 1-70 on them, fresh. I figured I'd see what it was like to seriously try to run a new character up after 2 1/2 years of playing the game on the same server with the same people, and a pile of gold just one in-game-mail away.
New realms for US and EU players
Yep, you heard me right. Today has brought news of four new US realms and one new English-language EU realm. US players have their pick of Misha (PvE, PST, Whirlwind), Ravenholdt (RP-PvP, ET, Whirlwind), Bladefist (PvE, PST, Whirlwind), and Maiv (PvP, PST, Whirlwind). European players hoping for a fresh start can look towards the new Burning Steppes realm (PvP, Nightfall). While there's no further details on the US front, CM Thundgot tells EU players that they should expect several new realms opening up when the expansion launches -- and thus they shouldn't hope for more new realms before then.
Two New US Realms Available
Two more US realms have opened today, adding to the two new realms last week. Both realms are in the EST timezone and include Undermine, a PvE realm in Battlegroup 10, and Anub'arak, a PvP realm in Battlegroup 11. Both of these realms will be closed to paid character transfer for six months, as opposed to the previous three months. (And if you're playing on a realm not yet open for transfers, the new six month limit applies to you as well.) So if you were looking for fresh adventures in Azeroth, this is a great chance.
New US Realms & Paid Character Transfer Update
In an announcement that will probably stop the "new realms plz!" requests for a good sixty seconds, two new US realms have opened this afternoon. Tanaris is available for the PvE-ers and Forgotten Coast for the PvP-ers. (And, before you ask, bot realms are in the EST time zone.) However, the most interesting thing about these two new realms is the fact that no transfers will be allowed to them for 6 months, rather than the previously standard 3 months. And what's better is that all future realms will follow the same 6 month rule. (Though whether this will be the case for all realms that aren't yet open for transfers is not clear.)
Four New Realms Today
Four more new realms opened today - for PvP players, there's Onyxia and Blackwing Lair, while PvE players can enjoy Gnomeregan and Anvilmar. So if you were feeling like a fresh start in Azeroth, here's your chance. The realms appear to be in the PST time zone, so if that's what you're looking for, this is your fix. There are ongoing complains on the forums about low population servers, but perhaps the combination of newer realms and pay for realm transfers this will aid in evening out population imbalances across all the servers. However, only time will tell!
Two New Realms Today!
New non-transfer realms Aerie Peak (PvE) and Lethon (PvP) opened up this afternoon. I find it interesting that we have two new realms after, just last week, Blizzard released a list of low population realms as recommended places for new players to start afresh. Of course, I'll be the first to say that new realms are great fun to roll on and play on - it's nice to start on a shiny new server, before there are farmers and twinks. But after a while the "new" will wear off and it will just be another server. Perhaps they're planning for future growth?
Two New PvP Realms
Two new PvP realms have been brought online today - Demon Soul and Jaedenar. These realms are on the new World of Warcraft site with all new hardware and are open for character creation. The reaction on the forums to this is surprisingly negative, as numerous players chime in with complaints on realm time zones (they appear to be EST servers), the realm type (still no new RP-PvP realms?), and the lack of Oceanic-flagged realms. I can't claim to understand the need for these new realms, but here's to hoping there's a master plan that we'll see eventually.
Two New US Realms
Two new US realms were opened today - Alter of Storms (PvP) and Uldaman (PvE). These are non-transfer realms and are open for character creation by all players, and they're both running at the new site, on all newer, better hardware platforms. Anyone planning on starting afresh on a shiny new server, with the hope of shorter queues and less lag, or are you happy where you are?
New Oceanic Realms Coming
Well, they aren't going to be opened immediately, but there are plans for two new Oceanic realms (one PvE and one PvP) to open mid-May. With only a few existing Oceanic servers, this will hopefully alleviate overcrowding. Of course, this does not much help existing Oceanic players who started out on non-Oceanic realms before there were any Oceanic realms - chances are they'll be waiting for pay-for character transfers if they want to swap.
New Servers: A Month Later
Remember the slew of new US servers that opened about a month ago? Well, a lot of players from other servers jumped on the opportunity to start anew - myself included. The chance to start on a fresh server has been a thrill. No queues, no lag, and no gold farmers. But the servers have already started growing up. Gold and characters are available for purchase on most and queues on my new server have already surpassed those on my old. After weeks of watching the queues increase, I'm starting to realize that this may not be just a passing thing - people aren't just coming to visit the servers just announced or tagged new, they're sticking around to play.So what does this mean for population balance? I haven't heard anything about queues or lag dropping on older servers - though perhaps people are too busy playing to post about it. Short of establishing draconian policies that force players to one server or another, it doesn't seem like there's much Blizzard can do to normalize server population aside from making new realms and transfer servers attractive options to players. But a month after a major wave of new transfers, new realms, and new hardware, are we seeing improvements - or are the problems just moving from one server to another?
Norgannon and Thrall Transfers Opening!
Finally, I'm sure some of you are saying. Initially announced on March 24th and delayed three times since, it appears that transfers to the new Norgannon and Thrall realms are finally going to happen. Begining Monday, April 17th, at 3:00 AM PDT, players from Shadowsong and Azjol-Nerub will be able to transfer to Norgannon while players from Alleria and Hellscream will be able to transfer to Thrall. Transfers will close on Thursday, April 20th, at 3:00 PM PDT, so get on it while there's a chance.
PvE to PvP Realm Transfers?
Because I do not play on any of the affected servers, the fact that Blizzard has opened up PvE to PvP realm transfers was not immediately obvious to me. Hyjal, Lightbringer, Shadowsong, Zul'jin, Alleria , Hellscream, and Whisperwind are all PvE servers, and have recently been given the opportunity to transfer to new PvP servers Black Dragonflight and Dalvengyr. This is interesting, primarily because Blizzard has, in the past, always kept realm transfers within their realm type. So these new transfers will allow seasoned players from old PvE servers a taste of the excitement of PvP without the difficulty that faces most players who wish to make such a switch - rerolling and releveling.
Update on Upcoming Character Transfers
Transfers to the new Norgannon and Thrall servers are still on hold until further notice, though CM Drysc posted on Saturday assuring us that preparations for the transfers continue, and that they have not been canceled. Drysc has also provided an update on transfers to new realms Black Dragonflight and Dalvengyr. Due to "gameplay-related concerns" the Khaz'goroth to Dalvengyr transfer has been dropped from the list, but the remaining transfers began this morning at 3:00 AM PST. These transfers end on Thursday, so if you're interested, get to it as soon as possible!
Norgannon and Thrall Transfers Extended
Transfers to new servers Norgannon (from Shadowsong and Azjol-Nerub) and Thrall (from Alleria and Hellscream) were set to close this Thursday, but due to yesterday's extended maintenance (and perhaps the fact that transfers were offline on Monday), the transfer period has been rescheduled to start Thursday, March 30th, and to run until Tuesday, April 4th. Remember, transfers are only available between 3:00 AM and 3:00 PM PST. If you're interested in transferring, hit up the character transfer page.
