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

World of Warcraft Free-To-Play Twink Tiers

This week Blizzard did something profound, and almost no one noticed:
They went Free-To-Play.

Well, kinda. People could sign up for free-trials to level up to a max of 20, but now those trials no longer expire. What does this mean? For starters, that I'm going to be playing again (mostly for Achievements). But also there will be a number of new twinks at level 20 (and possibly 19). Unfortunately there are a number of limitations that discourage twinking (profession caps, no trading or mail, etc) the main impediment for brackets under level 20 is the 10gold cap, the exact amount required to turn-off experience. I'm sure it can and will be done though

But, they should expand their free-to-play level-capped tiers beyond 20 to people who have actually bought the game:

Level 40 for Vanilla and Burning Crusade owners (since they combined the two anyway). Let them log in and play any character Level 40 and below. They would still have fast land mounts, BC enchants, and many armor sets from Scholomance to collect.

Level 60 for Wrath of the Lich King owners. There are still a few awesome level 60 raids and actual Tiers of armor sets. High incentive for BC owners to upgrade. And Death Knights for all!

Level 70 for Cataclysm owners who let their subscriptions lapse. This is the lowest level for Arena and to get to the bottom of talent trees. Tons of raids and armor sets at this level. Will whet the appetite of most WoW players and get them to pay for current end game content if they so choose.


The only difference between twinking and normal playing is that players choose the level cap instead of the developers.

WoW Achievements: Vanity Sets

Proposed Achievements for World of Warcraft:

Gear sets! Already many of these are collected for RP purposes, why not provide achivements as well! Since bonuses are gien for at most 4 pieces of the set, that should be the threshold for most of these:


Dungeon Set 1 (8 pieces) [10 points]
Dungeon Set 2 (8 pieces) [10 points] Quest upgrade of #1
Dungeon Set 3 (5 pieces) [10 points] BC dungeons

Zandalar Tribe set (5 pieces) [Feat of Strength] Zul'Gurub to be removed
Cenarion Circle set (3 pieces) [10 points] Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj
Brood of Nozdormu set (5 pieces) [10 points] Temple of Ahn'Qiraj

Tier 1 (8 pieces) [10 points] Molten Core
Tier 2 (8 pieces) [10 points] Blackwing Lair
Tier 3 (9 pieces) [Feat of Strength?] Formerly available from Naxxramas I
Tier 4 (5 pieces) [10 points] Karazhan, Gruul's Lair and Magtheridon's Lair
Tier 5 (5 pieces) [10 points] Serpentshrine Cavern, the Eye
Tier 6 (8 pieces) [25 points] Hyjal Summit, Black Temple, Sunwell Plateau
Tier 7 (5 pieces) [25 points] Naxxramas, the Obsidian Sanctum
Tier 8 (5 pieces) [25 points] Ulduar
Tier 9 (5 pieces) [25 points] Crusaders' Coliseum
Tier 10 (5 Pieces) [25 points] Icecrown Citadel

Arathai Basin Set [10 points]
PvP-Rare (6 pieces) [10 points] Honor Points
PvP-Epic (6 pieces) [10 points]
Battlegear (PvP) (5 pieces) [10 points]
Gladiator aka S1 PvP armor (5 pieces) [10 points] purchasable with Tier 4 tokens
Merciless Gladiator aka S2 PvP armor (5 pieces) [10 points] purchasable with Tier 5 tokens


There we go, over 20 new achievements! Thats not including all the potential vanity sets either.


Brewfest set (3 pieces) [10 points]
Winter Garb (3 pieces) [10 points] Feast of Winter Veil
Hallowed set (Hallowed Helm, Horseman's Ring, more?) [10 points]
Lovely set (Dress/Suit, Charm Bracelet, Bouquet) [10 points]
Festive Finery (red Dress/Suit) [10 points] Lunar Festival
Midsummer Reveler (3 pieces + Cloak of Ahune?) [10 points] Midsumer Festival
Noble Garb (Tux Jacket?, Tux shirt, Tux Pants, Spring Circlet, Egg Basket) [25 points]
Piligrim's Finery (Dress/Robe/Attire, Hat)




Lurker