So I tried to get some perspective about the other servers, without actually attempting to play there, through all the tiers, and on both realms: Order and Destruction.  I may have succeeded…to a degree.  I now know of something called Winkl, which is helpful, but only provides information for T4.  I only polled an average of 7 people per server, but when did number matter, right?  I asked some basic questions that I would hopefully get answered; I was hoping to hear what they’ve experienced.  Anywho, here’s what I found:

[Volkmar] – Destruction Sided

Destruction outnumbers Order here 95% of the day.  Most Order feel they have a good challenge in T4 with the large number of Destro that populate Volkmar, but the ORvR is very Zerg heavy Destro side (as would be expected with the population imbalance).  The downside to having such a large Destruction population is the long queues for scenarios.

Prime time for the server is between 3:00 pm and 10:00 pm PST.  With an average of 200+ players on both realms in tier 4 during this time.  Volkmar has a large Oceanic population, so if you’re a late night player you’ll find some company here to play with… m8.

Tier 3 is barren on this server most of the time, but we all know we can blame LOTD for that.  Surprisingly it’s usually Order controlled from what some have noticed, however there springs up some activity on occasion.  The lower tiers, all in all, tend to be active during the prime time until the dust settles in the evening.

I was gifted with some further information on this server, but I’ll gladly take more if I can get it.  If anyone knows more about the lower tiers on this server, inform me.

[Badlands] – Balanced… but poor stability (for now)

A very balanced server from both realm perspectives.  Badlands has recently seen a large increase in their population.  Tier 4 is currently full of low to mid RR players.  Word of mouth has said that the high RR players are taking breaks or re-rolling lower level characters.  Subsequently, this server has become increasingly prone to lag spikes and players crashing (specifically on zoning or exiting scenarios).  So, even if they are currently balanced in players, perhaps joining this server if you are very active during their down time would be more beneficial to players who don’t want to experience crashes and lag.

The prime time on this server runs a good stretch.  There’s rarely fewer than 250 players on both realms and the big numbers come out from 9:00 am till 11:00 pm PST.  If you’re more active after/before this time, I don’t think you’ll experience as many problems as most of the other players.

Destro’s “elite players” outnumber Order’s “elite players”, however the PUGs (pick up groups) for Order are better than the PUGs for Destro.

The lower tiers currently sway towards Destro (except for T1, which has a healthy amount of Order twinks), so if you roll Order I suspect you’ll find good opposition in the lower tiers.

[Gorfang] – Weird Hours

Gorfang has a strange situation on its hands.  The server has a healthy balance in terms of numbers, they’re all just on different schedules.  More Destro tend to be on during the earlier part of the day, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm PST.  After that the rest of Order pops online for a few hours and then the server quiets down till the next day.

Players agree that Order does well at holding its own in T4 against the slightly favorable Destro population, but the lower tiers generally fall under Destro control throughout the day.

[Iron Rock] – Getting There (Updated 7/15/10)

I would like to get more perspective on our server. Iron Rock is very Order populated in Tier 4.  The lower tiers are balanced during the prime time, with Tier 3 being the exception in some cases (usually one side will have more than the other).

Destruction feels like it has a better pool of good/experienced players through all tiers.  The skill factor falls in their favor more often during scenarios and it’s usually only during ORvR, when Order has it’s zerg together, that Order feels victorious.  The PuGs are split pretty evenly during scenarios and city sieges, but Order tends to have more “premades” in tier 4 because of their larger population.

Prime time for the server is usually in the afternoon, from about 3:00 pm until 9:00 pm PST.  With larger Order activity after 6:00 pm PST.

Overall, we need more Destro on this server.  I would especially request more post-10:00 pm PST (whatever time that falls to in your GMT) players, seeing as Order usually doesn’t get much larger than a warband or so and having more Destro during this time would make for some very fun fights (not as much of a “zerg” feeling).

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I feel that I learned a little more about the servers.  Hopefully this will help in choosing a server for those who are uncertain of the choices.

- Thrangis “The Red”