Orgrimmar Chains



Connected Realms are the way of the future for World of Warcraft. One after
another realms have been connected to each other and with pretty good
results. Players on forums are clamoring for not only more connections, but
faster ones. With so much success out there, it is not surprising that
players want more of a good thing. However, as has been proven time and time
again, faster is not always better and sometimes (but not always) Blizzard's
intentions do not always match up with our own.


This was proven as some nasty problems popped
up while completing the recent connections of a few realms and a blue post
emerged detailing Blizzard's real intentions concerning these mergers.
Read on to learn more:


Connecting Realms = Vanishing Characters

After the successful merger of so many realms,
many players are wondering why exactly the process is still so slow. They
know their realm is on the list and can't wait to get a piece of the magic
that goes along with connecting another realm to theirs. So is Blizzard
just being lazy? Are they simply going slow to torment us? The answer to
these questions is a resounding no.


Blizzard has a very good reason for taking
their good old time when it comes to realm mergers. The fact of the matter
is, despite so many successful mergers, the process is far from perfect.
This was proven many times over when a recent World of Warcraft realm
connection went horribly wrong.


After maintenance took place on US realms,
players on the recently connected realms Nesignwary and Vek'nilash logged
in to some very disturbing issues. It seems that a fair number of these
players logged in to find that their characters were totally gone.
Vanished. Player's who were lucky enough to still have characters in tact
found that they could only access a few of them.


The madness doesn’t end here. Other players on
these realms reported not being able to access guild banks with guild bank
logs showing up years out of date. Things only got stranger as the
problems progressed. Players started having random characters flagged for
renaming, and duplicates of characters that had long been deleted
appearing randomly.


Connected Realm Problems


Blizzard posted Vrakthris has been doing his
best to weigh in and help where he can, but these problems are pretty
major and may still be evolving, even today. However, with the updates in
the forum thread we can take comfort in knowing that something is being
done to fix these problems, but we can never tell just how long it will
take. Not to mention, what the consequences will be for any accidentally
deleted characters that will eventually be restored. Be sure to check out
the forum post “ Nesingwary
and Vek'nilash having major issues
” for full details of the problems
experienced by these two realms.


Without a doubt this story makes me glad that
Blizzard is taking their time with the realm mergers. Sure, it may be a
one time thing, but I don't think I am alone in saying that I would be
more than willing to wait a little longer to be sure nothing like this
happens on my server. Talk about a cautionary tale!


Still wondering why your server hasn't made
the list of realms to be merged yet? Perhaps your realm does not fit into
Blizzard's ideal fit for potential merge realms. Learn more about
Blizzard's intentions for realm connections in the next section:


Blizzard's Good Intentions

While you may be placated with the slowness of
the realm mergers, you may still be wondering why your realm has not been
listed as ready for a merger. With all the benefits that go along with
connected realms, it is no wonder that people are chomping at the bit to
get in on the action. To clear things up a bit, Blizzard poster Vaneras
took some time out to explain of what the current intentions are behind
the use of connected realms.


Vaneras explains right off the bat that
Blizzard does not intend to use connected realms to clear up problems on
high-population realms. This is quite a blow for players on
high-population realms with a huge faction imbalance that were looking to
realm connections to fix the problem. Instead, connected realms are
specifically geared towards improving servers with low-populations and if
you are on a small server you know exactly what he is talking about.
Low-population realms face a bevy of problems including few guild options,
a stagnant economy, high prices, and difficulty in doing anything that
requires a group. All of which can be (hopefully) cured by the merger of
realms.


High Population Realms


With that being said, Vaneras explains that
they are aware that some high-population realms have problems too.
However, Blizzard feels this situation is harder to resolve, especially
with connected realms, because of how close the population is to capacity
there. There are still some technological limitations on populations and
right now Blizzard just can't get around them at this point in time,
making is very difficult to address faction imbalances on high-population
realms.


Vaneras ends by assuring us that the problem
will not be forgotten and that just because a realm connection for these
servers is not possible now, it may be in the future. A bit of waiting
will be needed from these realms, but hopefully they too will see an
answer to their problems in the near future. Check out Vaneras's
post on this forum thread
.


Closing Thoughts

After the problems seen on Nesingwary and
Vek'nilash it is blatantly obvious why Blizzard is taking the slow and
steady route in realm connections. No one wants to log in and find their
characters are gone. That would ruin anyone's day.


As for Vaneras's comments on Blizzzard
intentions for realm connections, I am also in agreement. While I think
faction imbalances need to be addressed on high-population servers, I
personally feel that stagnating low-population servers should be the
priority. The long a server stagnates, the more players leave, making the
problem worse than before. As part of a low-population server myself, I
speak from experience.


Have you experienced any problems in realm
connections? Do you agree with Blizzard's outline of their intentions for
connected realms? Should high-population realms with faction imbalances be
forced to wait for a solution to their problems? Share your thoughts with
us in the comments section below!


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Amunet, also fondly known as Memtron, is an organic life form best known for its ongoing obsession with Blizzard Entertainment's numerous properties. To that end, Amu has authored hundreds (thousands?) of the most popular World of Warcraft guides, editorials, and Top 10 lists on the planet. When not gaming and writing, Amu is busy chasing after her three children in a perpetual loop of ongoing disaster.

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