2022-12-27
Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft Classic will soon enter its next phase. Due to high server populations, players may be asked to leave some servers with longer queues. Wrath of the Lich King Classic will be available on September 26th. Many players have returned to the Blizzard MMO or made their first visit to the World of Warcraft Classic servers since the pre-patch was added to World of Warcraft Classic servers.
Many of the new World of Warcraft Classic servers, such as Skyfury or Maladath, are experiencing long waits. However, established servers such as Benediction, Grobbulus and Faerlina are filling up quickly. YouTubers from North America, Europe, and Asia have posted videos warning their communities about the long wait times. Some are using remote desktop to log in, while others are left waiting for over an hour to play. Blizzard responded to the outcry from the forums by posting a blue post in which they recommend that you transfer to servers with fewer people like Sulfuras and Mograine. It also lists other ways that the developers are dealing with the situation.
Aggrend, WoW Classic Game Producer, stated that no new characters can currently be created on mega servers and that players cannot pay money to move their existing characters there. Although server transfers are free, the developer said that more people are needed to stabilize things and that layering like they did in previous phases of World of Warcraft was "not the solution". Aggrend confirmed that server capacity has increased in the MMO's 2008 days, with some servers tripling in size. However, layering won't increase it further and there is no way to expand the capabilities.
Sulfuras has hosted over 40,000 players from other realms since Blizzard began offering free character transfers to players on mega-servers. According to Aggrend, there are more on the way. While many World of Warcraft Classic players enjoy the idea of a mega-server, Blizzard did not want to restrict player freedom or break up friendship groups. The ultimate decision was to allow realm movement and limit overpopulated servers. Aggrend acknowledged that some servers are hosting over ten thousand concurrent users during peak hours. However, it is not yet clear how many players are playing. Queue times can often reach the thousands even on World of Warcraft Classic fresh-start servers.
Many World of Warcraft Classic players have voiced their dissatisfaction on the forums. However, Aggrend's blue post has brought some relief. While some players pointed out the difficulties of moving a World of Warcraft Classic guild with its friends to another location after having called Faerlina or Benediction their home, one player suggested that a free faction switch might be a better option for those who are hesitant to join the Alliance or Horde.