Either way, I don't think layering will stay in for long, so it's pretty possible that by the time you realize your coworker plays as well then layering is already a thing of the past.
to the people who're whining about it; wait until Phase 2.
You know phase 1 is going to be months long right? It's not going to come and go like sharding would have (literally was said to not be a thing outside of starting zones). MC and Onyxia are going to be out during phase 1, so your solution to people that don't like layering is to just not play for months on end? You didn't seem to think through this post either.
Do you really think that is a solution? Because if you do, you obviously don't know what happens if you have a lot of medium/low pop servers after 6-12months. Then you have to do merges, you DO NOT want server merges. That's like a inbred cousin of layering/sharding.
I think it's a better solution than layering is.
I played on a server during vanilla that died so I got a free transfer and went to a larger one later whenever they gave them out. Merging is better than cross realms or layering, cross realms are absolutely disgusting and a very large part of why I quit the game. I don't see how merging is any worse than layering other than people having to change their names. (which is essentially the same thing as layering since only one person is going to be allowed a name on a server)
Queues are 100% better than all this convoluted garbage, you're playing an MMO.
Either way, I don't think layering will stay in for long, so it's pretty possible that by the time you realize your coworker plays as well then layering is already a thing of the past.
to the people who're whining about it; wait until Phase 2.
You know phase 1 is going to be months long right? It's not going to come and go like sharding would have (literally was said to not be a thing outside of starting zones). MC and Onyxia are going to be out during phase 1, so your solution to people that don't like layering is to just not play for months on end? You didn't seem to think through this post either.
I thought it through well enough, thanks for making me question myself on that. Yes, if layering is such a huge issue to you (or anyone else for that matter) as a player, then prioritize what you want to spend your time on like the adult you are and not play during MC/Onyxia. If that's an issue to you, then you need to deal with layering as well. To the "not playing in months on end" then sure, you've waited more than 10 years. What are a few more months? And yes, I do mean 100% that skipping MC/Onyxia is an option. This game is a service to you and not a right. If you dislike the service for some reason then don't buy it.
I've never really understood people who complain without offering solutions or any other kind of peace to themselves. Sharding in just the level 1-6 areas won't do it. With a little foresight it's easy to imagine how impossible it is to complete any quests in, say, Westfall, too. In my opinion layering is better than realm merges (accomplishes the same thing but on a much shorter timescale), and jumping ship when the server pop drops low enough is immersion-wise much worse than layering, too, no?
You come off to me with a subtle toxicity, which I don't really like or see the point of. I might be over interpreting, but then please say.
I've never really understood people who complain without offering solutions or any other kind of peace to themselves. Sharding in just the level 1-6 areas won't do it. With a little foresight it's easy to imagine how impossible it is to complete any quests in, say, Westfall, too. In my opinion layering is better than realm merges (accomplishes the same thing but on a much shorter timescale), and jumping ship when the server pop drops low enough is immersion-wise much worse than layering, too, no?
I suggested multiple realms didn't I? They would take care of people on servers that died with free server transfers like they have done before. It's better than manipulating the base game and allowing for players to exploit different layers for the auction house, item and mob spawns and gathering nodes and so on.
You come off to me with a subtle toxicity, which I don't really like or see the point of. I might be over interpreting, but then please say.
How does me disagreeing with you on a controversial topic make me toxic?
I'm totally fine with this for the first phase. I'd really be discouraged if the starting zones were super clogged with a billion people on day one.
I wonder what happens if there is 3001 players online. If they get split into two pools or if one guy gets the layer for himself?
I wonder what happens if there is 3001 players online. If they get split into two pools or if one guy gets the layer for himself?
I think they are still changing the settings of layering and we will get more information closer to release.
I wonder about that too btw :lol:
I wonder what happens if there is 3001 players online. If they get split into two pools or if one guy gets the layer for himself?
Showerthoughts :lol:
After considering everything, I understand why it exists and why it has to happen. I'm just holding my breathe for now. I know why it's needed but I worry about it being exploited.
My greatest worry is that this is like sharding putting its foot in the door and Blizzard won't hold to its promise of it being only in phase 1, or using some weird technicality to Ion Hozzikostas it back into ghe game in later phases.
I worry about it being exploited.
I very much agree with you on this but I don't think it will be too bad because, I imagine, there won't be that many layers.
I worry about it being exploited.
I very much agree with you on this but I don't think it will be too bad because, I imagine, there won't be that many layers.
I can relate to this... I think its impact will be entirely dependent on how many people actually play, and how many servers they actually launch with and thus the population on each realm... The fewer realms they launch with, the more layers, the more impact layering has.
edit:spelling
The fewer realms they launch with, the more layers, the more impact layering has.
I agree, I really hope they don't have servers with 20k pop. I am hoping for sort of 5-10k per server max. That way natural attrition will bring it down to basically non layering levels soon.
The fewer realms they launch with, the more layers, the more impact layering has.
I agree, I really hope they don't have servers with 20k pop. I am hoping for sort of 5-10k per server max. That way natural attrition will bring it down to basically non layering levels soon.
Yea. Most of my concerns will likely subside when we have the full details of layering but its fun to speculate. I'd still have preferred temporary sharding confined to the start zones or dynamic re spawns, but if we find out each server has a max of 9k players with a hard cap of three layers, I could live with that temporarily. I am not concerned with 2 layers but once we start to get into the 3-5 layer region, I think it will have massive implications on gameplay.
I wonder what happens if there is 3001 players online. If they get split into two pools or if one guy gets the layer for himself?
I think the best solution would be to combine layering with queues:
If all layers are full you get put into a queue. Only if one person has to wait X minutes or N amount of people are in the queue, a new layer will be opened and everyone in the queue gets in. This way you prevent/unnecessary empty layers from happening.
I dont think that will happen though. I guess Blizz wants to prevent queues at all.
If you've ever played on a private server during a launch, you will know that it's pretty much impossible to play the game at launch, there are hundreds of people competing for the same mobs.
It's quite the opposite, anyone who has played on the launch of a private servers knows that sharding and layering aren't needed. Specifically, Nostalrius didn't have sharding or dynamic spawns and it launched smoothly with a larger playerbase than any Classic server will have - unless Blizzard doesn't launch with enough servers but that mistake would be on them.
The people who are pro-layering are imagining private server scenarios that they (nor anyone) have never experienced. People are claiming it'll take a week to be able to kill a single mob and all sorts of other hysterical fantasy.
The negatives of layering do not outweigh the positives. It negatively impacts all aspects of gameplay from community to economy to immersion.
Also keep in mind that Blizzard has kept moving the goal posts on sharding, and I'm sure they will move them again. At first it was only going to be starting zones and only for the first few days. Then it was the entire world, but only for a few weeks. Then it was the entirety of Phase 1. What happens when the population doesn't decline after 3 months of Phase 1? We've already seen on servers like Nostalrius that the population actually gradually increased over time. Then we're gonna be stuck with the meta game of phase-jumping for world bosses and World PvP?
It's not a deal breaker for me, but I'm definitely not happy about it, and I'm a bit disappointed in the community for supporting it.
What happened with the #nochanges guys anyway? They raise a stink over improved graphics but worldwide sharding is okay? They could introduce dual specs, barber shop, and tokens and it'd still be much less impactful to the game than layering.
If you've ever played on a private server during a launch, you will know that it's pretty much impossible to play the game at launch, there are hundreds of people competing for the same mobs.
It's quite the opposite, anyone who has played on the launch of a private servers knows that sharding and layering aren't needed. Specifically, Nostalrius didn't have sharding or dynamic spawns and it launched smoothly with a larger playerbase than any Classic server will have - unless Blizzard doesn't launch with enough servers but that mistake would be on them.
If you by smoothly mean 10s lags, constant disconnects and dramatically decreased visibility. Not to mention waiting for mobs all the time.
Definitely pro-layering and against the shitfest of 10k players at once.