Low Population Realms in World of Warcraft

People are complaining lately about low population servers in World of Warcraft. Once the number of players gets below a certain level, people start transfering away, and fewer people decide to join that realm. These realms should be shut down and replaced.

For years, players have been opining about the good old days of classic vanilla World of Warcraft, Burning Crusade, now Wrath of the Lich King, and eventually they will remember Cataclysm fondly. And there are a number of players who artificially limit their character level (called twinking), often just so they can play thru that classic content at the level it was designed for.

So, we have two problems. I say we can solve both! Lets take the seven worst realms in population and transfer all the characters out. Then we rename them, and open them back up with whole new identities and purposes:

Pandaria PvE Realm. Open it the first day Mists of Pandaria comes out. Everyone starts out at the same level, flood of new people coming on to level the content together, would instantly be a first-rate realm.

Cataclysm PvP Realm. Permanent level cap of 85. Pandaren playable, but transport to Pandaria disabled. Not available unless players own everything up to and including Cataclysm.

Northrend RP-PvP Realm. Permanent level cap of 80. Mage portals reinstalled in Dalaran. Revoke Flight Master License (for Kalimdor and Eastering Kingdoms). Not sure what to do about level 80 Cataclysm zones. Realm not available unless players have purchased Wrath of the Lich King.

Sunwell PvE Realm. Permanent level cap of 70. Mage portals reinstalled in Shattrath. Boats to Northrend Disabled. No Death Knights allowed, but I see nothing wrong with Goblins, Worgen, or Pandaren. Open to all paid players, since BC now comes with vanilla game.

Azeroth PvP Realm. Permanent level cap of 60. The Dark Portal is deactivated. Flight Master License @ 60, no need to worry about Cataclysm zones. Absolutely no Death Knights allowed.

Valley of Trials RP Realm. Permanent level cap of 20. All Free Trial players would be directed here. This realm should be open to Goblins, Worgen, and Pandaren, regardless of whether Cata, MoP, or even regular WoW are owned or not.

Scholomance PvP Realm. Permanent level cap of 40. Okay, so this realm is the least likely to happen. I propose that this realm be free-to-play for any player who has already purchased WoW, but has allowed their subscription to lapse. This would prevent free-to-play twinkers from being tossed in the same pool as genuine trial players. I'm fine with limitations: no Blood Elves, Draenei, Goblins, Worgen, or Pandaren; only classic WoW race/class combos; no realm transfer, ever... as long as we can have guilds, mail, and/or an Auction House. One permanently available realm would be a very good enticement to lure millions of former players back into the game again.

There we go. Seven low population realms transformed into active realms with their own distinct identities. Plus people would stop bugging blue posters about vanilla or BC realms. Play the game however you like it!

Lurker

More National Elections

For all the power the Federal Government has, there really is only one national office elected nation-wide, and that is only once every four years. That office is the President (with the VP as a package deal). Not nearly enough input from the voters, in my opinion.

Therefore I suggest that the office of the Vice-President be voted for separately, and every TWO years. So, instead of just voting for your congressmen (or not) on off years, a national vote for VP can be a national referendum on the party in power. Plus, it would add power to the office as a real heir-apparent, next-in-line, president-in-training. And it would be hilarious to split tickets.

The third national office (after POTUS and VP) would occur every four years, but staggered two years off from the POTUS. That office should be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Yes, really. But, like the VP, he/she would only be allowed to vote in the case of a tie. Now at the moment there are 8 normal Justices plus the Chief, but 5/4 votes happen all the time. I also propose bumping up that number to 12 Justices plus the Chief Justice, making him the tie-breaker less likely. Could still work either way. Anyway, there are just so many issue voters (Abortion, 2nd amendment, gay marriage, etc) and all that weight is thrown behind Presidential selection, for good or ill, and his potential appointments to the court. Voters should be more directly involved in the process.

So, we have the President as the head of the Executive Branch, the VP as the head of the Senate and ostensibly the Legislative Branch, and the Chief Justice as the head of the Judicial Branch. And 2/3 elected every election year. These tweaks would make the national government much more representative and subject to the will of the American people. We are supposed to be a democratic republic, after all.