World of Warcraft®

I personally really think it needs to happen.

Although CC is medium level server as far as population, I believe that since it is such a old server that the majority of the population are inactive toons/accts.

I think a server merger is needed badly as I feel more often then not that I am playing on a low pop server.

I don't like the concept for the simpel fact it IS a way to fix population problems. But I think the problems are not overall population, just zones. What I mean is, there is no WORLD in World of Warcraft anymore. Just chill in a city and que. Leveling is insanely fast and theres no reason to go outside anymore.

Realm merging, CRZ, neither fix the problem. Scenarios are also a huge issue. The idea is nice, but now they dont need to work on a new instance, just a mini dungeon that dosnt require a full group. The drops are on par or even better that some raid drops.

Thats what it boils down to. Gear and how fast you aquire it. A fix, that I personaly would love, would be class quests that caused you to go out into the world, get mats and craft your own stuff. But thats just me.

Will CC be merged? No idea.....

What I'm more interested in are the other things that the connected realms can offer: more variety on the auction house, and a larger pool of people to recruit to guild and raid groups.

Right now, it's easier to hop in a queue than to pug. I'm hoping a larger, steady population will give us enough of a community that people will have more opportunity to make friends and do group activities with people they know rather than random strangers. A larger community will make it easier for people to find guilds with schedules that match their own for PvE, PvP, and of course, RP.

I think Blizzard may have been trying to help with that community building with requiring pre-made groups for Heroic Scenarios, and now they're trying to make sure we have enough people that it's possible to get three people together without making it seem easier to grab a queue. Same with raiding; LFR won't be as attractive when it's easier to ask a friend to join their flex raid.

I don't think connected realms are going to fix the empty zones if CRZ didn't, but that's not what I'm hoping they'll will do.

Will it happen? I don’t know. My concerns come as a role player. A certain realm that will remain nameless has ruined the human starting areas and drove old standing role playing CC guilds from the area. It terrifies me that there could be a possibility that CC would be merged with a realm such as that. (*prays that they are too big to me merged with anyone*)

Two years ago when I started my search for an RP realm I read up and created characters on all the RP realms. I found CC to be one of the friendliest and stable. Not too big, not too small. It took me a year to transfer six of my characters over from the PVE realm I was on. It irks me that my research and money could be for nothing. I paid real money to come here and make CC my home.

I know I am probably the minority and will have to deal with it if it happens, but still it makes me a bit anxious.

Speaking of the AH, I dont think anything will change with that. BUUUUUUT....if it does, that is a key if not THE key indicator of the world being populated again. I do wish the world gets going again, the AH gets filled with all sorts of goodies and I hope people go out and explore the parts of zones poeople usualy dont go to. Theres a ton of cool of stuff to see, some monuments to players, devs ect, some just possible random craziness.

What I do hope though if we do realm merge, they take faction population and this being CC, RP realms into account. IE since we have a low Horde population, merge us with a high Horde population RP friendly server to somewhat even out the 3 to 1 ratio or whatever it is right now.

Having a high pop does not solve any problems. Sure your AH might be better, but how many times have you gone somewhere to rp and found a bunch of griefers there who could care less if you are doing rp.

As far as rp is concerned you are better off on a quieter realm with a few good friends than you are in a heavy pop realm with people running all over interrupting your rp. To me, it is almost impossible to rp with a huge amount of people around and trying to filter out their conversations so you can follow your own is kind of pointless.

I've gone back and forth on how I feel about CC getting connected.
My observation over the last year or so is that we've gone pretty stagnant.
At this point I don't think we'd be hurt by the addition of a very low pop realm or 2.

Stagnation has to do with content though. We havent had any new instances aside from the siege. I dont count scenarios. Only new thing since xpac has launched has been three islands aside from the raids?

I personally really think it needs to happen.

Although CC is medium level server as far as population, I believe that since it is such a old server that the majority of the population are inactive toons/accts.

I think a server merger is needed badly as I feel more often then not that I am playing on a low pop server.

I'm of de mind dat we're needin it too mon.

'Alf de damn poeple on dis realm be alt of de odder damn 'alf.

And dose are alts of someone else.

Been makin me 'ead 'urt for years mon, YEARS....

Stagnation has to do with content though. We havent had any new instances aside from the siege. I dont count scenarios. Only new thing since xpac has launched has been three islands aside from the raids?

Stagnation on an RP realm has nothing to do with "official content". And everything to do with the people on that realm.

10/28/2013 01:40 PMPosted by Zalmar

Stagnation has to do with content though. We havent had any new instances aside from the siege. I dont count scenarios. Only new thing since xpac has launched has been three islands aside from the raids?

Stagnation on an RP realm has nothing to do with "official content". And everything to do with the people on that realm.

CC is indeed an RP realm, and Ive been on this same toon and realm for a long time and have seen a ton of RP, but the realm itself is not a large RP community as it should be.

New content does help drive RP though. AQ event, Sunwell event Naxx 40 and 2.0, pre cata event ect all brought a ton of RP groups, ideas ect. But my point is overall the game, any game will stagnate when new content isnt added or when it is, its small or dosnt last.

Just one of the things, at least in my opinion, that needs to be addressed to move the game forward, but for some reason isn't. A prime example is the Emerald Nightmare. That really should not of been resolved in a book and when it was such a massive part of the game! Things like that I think have taken the toll on long time players who enjoy lore, RP, community involvement ect. Blizz is making it harder to have a community when they remove concepts/events that the player base would love to be a part of. The Timeless Isle and Isle of Thunder events, though fun, just pale when compared to AQ, Naxx events as an example for getting the community together. Just my two coppers though.

Personally I think Blizzard is working in a better direction right now than I've seen at any other time since the beginning of Wrath when I started playing. LFG/LFR both started out as bad ideas and have been nothing but a frenzy of jerks and trolls since their inception. I made a killing selling my services as a healer before LFG came out, due not to gear but by having a good reputation for being reliable and fun to run with. The same was true when I got into raiding in ToC. LFG effectively killed off the principle of gearing and learning while running dungeons, making material more accessible but then nerfing it to the point where it became a loot piñata to be cruised through without thinking. LFR turned out exactly the same when it came out during DS.

Flex mode is an incredibly enlightened concept, honestly I was shocked when it was announced and implemented. As I view it, flex opens up new doors for guilds that can maintain a core raid group but also has members with scheduling issues or inconsistent availability. Now a guild can form a group with its core raid group and several non-regular raid members in a situation free of random trolls and scaled to the number of persons present. The difficulty is also beneficial in that even lower geared players can be helped through the encounters without detracting from the basic mechanics.

Connected realms is another concept that I think will end up as a success. Particularly on an RP realm such as ours things do tend to stale. Story writers have come and gone and things have gone quiet with the exception of sporadic RP in the recluse and some assorted events. Merging with one or more other realms introduces more potential connections between role players and RP guilds. The potential for a blossoming of new storylines and events, new allies and rivals, the potential is tremendous. There will undoubtedly be some attrition that will happen. As the servers and populations merge and overlap some guilds will likely fade into the shadows while others draw renewed interest and merge with others of similar nature, its just the nature of the beast.

Some people look at these changes with disdain but to be frank I see them as an opportunity, a viewpoint which many within Pia Presidium share.

The thing is, they are targetting the lower pop realms for this idea. CC is already in CRZ with MG and WRA, as well as a few Farstriders, maybe a few other realms. But if they really are looking to do the connected realms bit I do not see them doing it to CC.

If anything I can see Farstriders connecting with another smaller realm, or even with CC. But please take MG and WRA and separate them from the connected realms bit. They do not need the pop help. They are already overflowing.

But please take MG and WRA and separate them from the connected realms bit. They do not need the pop help. They are already overflowing.

I would agree with this. Take them off CC:CRZ. I wouldn't mind seeing Sisters of Elune, Farstriders or any of the other smaller realms merge with CC...just as long as MG/WRA stay out.

I say that from both an RP and PVE perspective. I have yet to run into any courteous or inviting RPers, and most of the issues I have in pugs seem to stem from these two realms oddly enough.

Some people look at these changes with disdain but to be frank I see them as an opportunity, a viewpoint which many within Pia Presidium share.

That's a good healthy viewpoint to hold :) .

there is no WORLD in World of Warcraft anymore

That's very true for content players as much as it is for RPer's....at least it seems from my narrow scope of things :P

Personally I think Blizzard is working in a better direction right now than I've seen at any other time since the beginning of Wrath when I started playing. LFG/LFR both started out as bad ideas and have been nothing but a frenzy of jerks and trolls since their inception.
[[SNIP]]
Some people look at these changes with disdain but to be frank I see them as an opportunity, a viewpoint which many within Pia Presidium share.

Oh fer cryin out..I don't.../sigh

I love raiding, but given my schedule, LFR is all the raiding I get to do. And I'm getting sick of how trendy it seems to be to trash it. LFR/LFG are what you make of them. I've been in bad ones, I've been in great ones. Stop slagging on it because you feel you're better than it. I've been here darn near since CC opened its doors. LFR is a godsend for me, my schedule doesn't allow me to join any raid before about 9:00 at night, and let me tell you, those are PRECIOUS FEW on this server.

And before you say "FIND A GUILD FLEX OQ NERPA DERPA DOO", I've been looking. It ain't easy. Standard requirements for oQ these days seem to be "you've done it on normal already" or "are kitted out in 530+". And what with me being stuck in LFR and sitting at about 514 right now, that aint' gonna happen. And I gave up on finding a genuine late-night (as in, starts late, not raids late) guild sometime mid-expansion. They don't exist, or if they do, they're not recruiting. To get into a good guild, you need social capital. To get social capital on CC, you need to play a LOT. And to play a lot, you need more time than I have. This isn't to say my current guild isn't good, they are, and they're a lot of folks I've played with for years...but they don't have a raid I can join on my schedule.

Next, gearing and all that doesn't mean squat, sure, it was something of a marker in the old days, but what mattered way more was the reputation of the person. Even in Vanilla you had really well geared people who couldn't play for crap. And, well, not to put too fine a point on it, the old days are over, and they ain't coming back.

I'll admit, I really miss the reputation and camaraderie we had back then, I miss it a lot, but I don't miss not being able to cook dinner for my family or otherwise pay attention to the real world because raid started 20 minutes after I got home from the office. That might be okay for some folks, but my priorities are a little different, and I am not going back to treating pixels like anything but pixels, or annoying 9 to 24 of my comrades by making them wait because I have to deal with household stuff before I can play with them. And LFR? LFR allows me to raid, without inconveniencing my raidmates, on my schedule, and I can still progress, after a fashion.

Would I like to do normals or flex? Oh hell yes. Desperately. But it ain't gonna happen.

Consequently, it honks me off something fierce when I see people trotting out the old "LFR is nothing but a55hats and jerks huhr huhr huhr" saw. That kind of talk doesn't solve anything, and is just wildly, borderline insultingly, dismissive of those of us who go into LFR with preparation, basic courtesy, and good attitudes, so please, just...stop. Stop with the LFR bashing. You don't have to like it, but think before you lump everyone who plays on the mode into the "bigot, nuub, or a55hat" category.

Just one of the things, at least in my opinion, that needs to be addressed to move the game forward, but for some reason isn't. A prime example is the Emerald Nightmare. That really should not of been resolved in a book and when it was such a massive part of the game! Things like that I think have taken the toll on long time players who enjoy lore, RP, community involvement ect. Blizz is making it harder to have a community when they remove concepts/events that the player base would love to be a part of. The Timeless Isle and Isle of Thunder events, though fun, just pale when compared to AQ, Naxx events as an example for getting the community together. Just my two coppers though.

I 100% agree about the EN... that should not have been a "book ending". I was in Vanilla though, and while I'm admittedly nostalgic about it, we did have a lot more varied and open RP back then. Serverwide stories and events that weren't just limited to certain guilds. far less emphasis on romance and secrets, way more on " character X is gonna be a genuine threat, we gotta stop him/her".

And, IMO, the main reason we had that? We didn't have anything else to do besides run MC/BWL till our eyeballs exploded.

The next expansion though might be a godsend for you, I believe they're on record as saying "no new classes" AND "no new races". Which means...100% content.

I'm kinda excited.

10/29/2013 03:47 PMPosted by Plainswander

Just one of the things, at least in my opinion, that needs to be addressed to move the game forward, but for some reason isn't. A prime example is the Emerald Nightmare. That really should not of been resolved in a book and when it was such a massive part of the game! Things like that I think have taken the toll on long time players who enjoy lore, RP, community involvement ect. Blizz is making it harder to have a community when they remove concepts/events that the player base would love to be a part of. The Timeless Isle and Isle of Thunder events, though fun, just pale when compared to AQ, Naxx events as an example for getting the community together. Just my two coppers though.

I 100% agree about the EN... that should not have been a "book ending". I was in Vanilla though, and while I'm admittedly nostalgic about it, we did have a lot more varied and open RP back then. Serverwide stories and events that weren't just limited to certain guilds. far less emphasis on romance and secrets, way more on " character X is gonna be a genuine threat, we gotta stop him/her".

And, IMO, the main reason we had that? We didn't have anything else to do besides run MC/BWL till our eyeballs exploded.

The next expansion though might be a godsend for you, I believe they're on record as saying "no new classes" AND "no new races". Which means...100% content.

I'm kinda excited.

Dont remember who, but a blue mentioned a possible purely buff class in the future. I have no problems with classes/races being added, just wish they would add the ones I want! another thing I think may of been a boon/bane is flight....it has helped with some exploration of the world, but it also has hindered it tons IMO. so much to see on foot.

Another thing I wish they would do is to just add content to zones that already exsist. Phase em if they must, but just add stuff for us to do that causes one to head back to the zones that already are. Sure make some new areas, but keep what we have viable as well!

::edit:: And as a side note, I could dust off the ol RP brain and give some of you a villian again! Been a while since Didios has been out and about in public, maybe he should return?

I would agree with this. Take them off CC:CRZ. I wouldn't mind seeing Sisters of Elune, Farstriders or any of the other smaller realms merge with CC...just as long as MG/WRA stay out.

I say that from both an RP and PVE perspective. I have yet to run into any courteous or inviting RPers, and most of the issues I have in pugs seem to stem from these two realms oddly enough.

See, I've had the opposite experience. I have fun experiences with courteous, inviting and respectful RPers from MG and WRA every single day.

Heh, I actually had a great time in LFR last night. We had the tanks leave because they didn't get what they wanted off boss one (Blizzard, take note, DO NOT PUT MUST HAVE ITEMS ON THE FIRST BOSS OF A WING!), but then we all hung out, busted out some toys and fooled about, had a drink or two, got new tanks, and finished the run no problem. All in all, a blast.

In addition to that, I had a lovely conversation about incoming merges and states of realms with, naturally, someone from WRA...

Just goes to show. Generalizations are DUMB. <---- see what I did there?

I can't stand running LFR week after week, I don't find it fun. However, it is so useful for those who don't have the time/ability to run with a group that is doing flex, normal or even heroic. Only recently have I started running normal on my druid but before that I only ran it once for the story and didn't touch it until I learned I was going to tank for a flex group which has turned into a normal group.

With other servers, I've had good experiences and bad, from pretty much every server so far. When CRZ came out, Ravenholdt was used by 3 other guilds, most of them were on different realms from each other. We got along with each other however, these days it is just my guild who uses it, and we don't use it that often.

Now in an attempt to return to the original topic. Will we be merged? Possibly, I won't rule it out just yet. It would be nice to be connected to one or two other servers, it would be... In my opinion, a bit of an improvement from what we currently have. Currently I think we just have too many people. Too many people trying to do everything, it brought back world pvp some which is awesome but gathering materials for professions is harder because there are so many others fighting for the same things. With connected realms there won't be so many people that it makes it hard to do things. However I see this could also be an opportunity, just as there was one with CRZ, which it seemed some people didn't want to take advantage of. However, maybe this will be better than CRZ, only time will tell.