World Vs. World NA Population

[Acemos.2856]

Hello WvW players and maybe Arenanet, welcome to my forum post!

As you may have noticed, the NA worlds/servers seem to be facing an issue of overcrowding. Out of the 24 worlds, 11 are full, 8 are very high, and 5 are high pop; We don't have any more medium population worlds left in NA. This is a clear sign of how popular WvW is in NA, but I feel it also creates some problems for the players and the game mode. I have two main concerns:

First, new players who want to join WvW have limited options to choose from. When half of our worlds are full, it can be difficult for players (new and old) to be able to play with their friends or guilds. This can discourage them from playing WvW and can reduce the potential growth of the game mode and maybe even the game.

Second, existing players who want to switch worlds with their friends or guilds have to pay a pretty hefty amount of gems, which have become more expensive due to the gold-to-gem ratio inflation caused over time and exacerbated by the Wizard’s Vault rewards. This can make them feel trapped in their current worlds or force them to spend a good chunk of money to change worlds.

I think we need either a recalculation of world populations or an addition of new worlds to NA. A recalculation could verify player populations among existing worlds, creating more open worlds. An addition of new worlds could also accommodate more players and create more space for players. Either way, I think it could benefit the WvW community and the game mode as a whole.

I understand that Arenanet is working hard on the Alliances system, which will hopefully solve these issues in the future. However, I also think that having some sort of temporary solution in the meantime would be helpful.

If you have any thoughts or opinions on this, please share your replies below. Thank you for reading, and Happy Holidays 🙂

[bq pd.2148]

34 minutes ago, Acemos.2856 said:

As you may have noticed, the NA worlds/servers seem to be facing an issue of overcrowding. Out of the 24 worlds, 11 are full, 8 are very high, and 5 are high pop; We don't have any more medium population worlds left in NA.

i think the population status is based on the fullest server not about absolute numbers. having mostly full/very high would thusly mean the populations of the servers in NA are much closer to each other than EU, it is a good thing.

edit: for example on tail end of the New Hero Jump Start event many EU servers dropped one stage in population status despite higher WvW activity in the mode.

Edited December 29, 2023 by bq pd.2148

[XenesisII.1540]

Why would they do any of that when they have their WR beta coming Jan 12th. If all goes well the WR system will be in place permanently very soon after, and none of these changes will matter. Best you can hope for is for them to change the thresholds for the populations to get some med servers back, but they're on holidays, and again the beta starts Jan 12th and runs for 3 weeks, literally pointless to do anything until feb if the beta doesn't go smooth and we're stuck with this system for another 6 or more months.

The fringe players stuck in these situations are just going to have to tough it out.

Also, they asked about new worlds 7 years ago, twice, to use as links, no one was interested in it.

You guys are literally coming in on the 11th hour asking for changes to the system. 

 

[bq pd.2148]

failed - pls delete

Edited December 29, 2023 by bq pd.2148

[Acemos.2856]

4 minutes ago, XenesisII.1540 said:

Why would they do any of that when they have their WR beta coming Jan 12th. If all goes well the WR system will be in place permanently very soon after, and none of these changes will matter. Best you can hope for is for them to change the thresholds for the populations to get some med servers back, but they're on holidays, and again the beta starts Jan 12th and runs for 3 weeks, literally pointless to do anything until feb if the beta doesn't go smooth and we're stuck with this system for another 6 or more months.

The fringe players stuck in these situations are just going to have to tough it out.

Also, they asked about new worlds 7 years ago, twice, to use as links, no one was interested in it.

You guys are literally coming in on the 11th hour asking for changes to the system. 

 

I hope that you're correct on the WR system being implemented soon, but I have a few points I disagree with.

• Because it's still in a testing phase, there may be some unforeseen issues or flaws that could delay its implementation. I think it's premature to assume that the WR system will be in place very soon after the beta.
• The "fringe players stuck in these situations" aren't some minority or anomaly to be ignored. They are a part of the WvW community. They shouldn't be dismissed or marginalized. I also wouldn't go so far as to say they are "fringe players" either; It's not rare to have friends in different worlds but the one they want to go to is full.
• The argument that no one was interested in new worlds 7 years ago is outdated and probably irrelevant. The game and WvW scene have changed quite a bit since then and so have the needs and preferences of WvW players. What worked or didn't work 7 years ago may not apply to the present or future. I think we should be able to voice opinions and suggestions based on current reality and not past history from 7 years ago.
• It's not like these are radical or unreasonable changes and they don't have to be implemented if they actually implement the WR system. I don't think it's fair or valid to say that "we're coming in at the 11th hour asking for changes". It's not like the changes that are being asked for are out of the blue, we're asking for changes after enduring and tolerating issues with the current system and waiting such a long time for Alliances to finally come along. I also want to say it's not like I'm asking for the changes for myself, I want something that benefits our whole community

Anywho, thank you for your response. I hope you can understand and respect my perspective. I welcome any more constructive and civil discussion on this topic.

[XenesisII.1540]

9 minutes ago, Acemos.2856 said:

I hope that you're correct on the WR system being implemented soon, but I have a few points I disagree with.

• Because it's still in a testing phase, there may be some unforeseen issues or flaws that could delay its implementation. I think it's premature to assume that the WR system will be in place very soon after the beta.

I said if all goes well, they are hoping it's the final beta.

 

9 minutes ago, Acemos.2856 said:

• The "fringe players stuck in these situations" aren't some minority or anomaly to be ignored. They are a part of the WvW community. They shouldn't be dismissed or marginalized. I also wouldn't go so far as to say they are "fringe players" either; It's not rare to have friends in different worlds but the one they want to go to is full.

Fringe, very small minority. In two months since moving to 4 week relinks, this is only the second thread with this concern.

 

9 minutes ago, Acemos.2856 said:

• The argument that no one was interested in new worlds 7 years ago is outdated and probably irrelevant. The game and WvW scene have changed quite a bit since then and so have the needs and preferences of WvW players. What worked or didn't work 7 years ago may not apply to the present or future. I think we should be able to voice opinions and suggestions based on current reality and not past history from 7 years ago.

There's still no point to add new worlds at this point. I've already pointed out in another thread that it could have been a good thing, so it's not like "I'm against it", it's just 11th hour too late. Anything they add to the system is a waste when the new one is around the corner.

 

9 minutes ago, Acemos.2856 said:

• It's not like these are radical or unreasonable changes and they don't have to be implemented if they actually implement the WR system. I don't think it's fair or valid to say that "we're coming in at the 11th hour asking for changes". It's not like the changes that are being asked for are out of the blue, we're asking for changes after enduring and tolerating issues with the current system and waiting such a long time for Alliances to finally come along. I also want to say it's not like I'm asking for the changes for myself, I want something that benefits our whole community

Anywho, thank you for your response. I hope you can understand and respect my perspective. I welcome any more constructive and civil discussion on this topic.

They are on vacation right now, they probably won't be back until middle of next week, then beta starts the week after, runs for 3 weeks, then we'll have to see what happens with that, and then that's into feb before we get back to the regular system for who knows how long.

I think it's valid to say 11th hour. Everyone will have to tough it out the next two months as we go into the beta and hopefully test it for the last time before it goes live. The only thing you can hope for is them adjusting the population thresholds in the meantime, but again, that won't even matter until feb.

[SweetPotato.7456]

Reminder to Arenanet assuming you already taking it into consideration but if you haven't
1) We have to assume player's population will fluctuate.

2) WR needs to take into consideration that there will be times when there might need to have less or extra tiers. And that new world can be created to accommodate the extras.

3) With the new Wizard's Vault system, Anet will have roughly know how many players are WvW only players by looking @ what players picked.

 

 

 

[Knighthonor.4061]

Doesn't server fullness include PvE players and SPvP players that never touch WvW?

[Chaba.5410]

2 hours ago, Knighthonor.4061 said:

Doesn't server fullness include PvE players and SPvP players that never touch WvW?

No.

[TheGrimm.5624]

14 hours ago, Knighthonor.4061 said:

Doesn't server fullness include PvE players and SPvP players that never touch WvW?

Agree with Chaba but as a reference below are links if interested. 

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/wuv/World-Population-Changes-Are-Coming/page/5#post5326517

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/World#cite_note-6

[TheGrimm.5624]

On 12/28/2023 at 9:45 PM, Acemos.2856 said:

Hello WvW players and maybe Arenanet, welcome to my forum post!

As you may have noticed, the NA worlds/servers seem to be facing an issue of overcrowding. Out of the 24 worlds, 11 are full, 8 are very high, and 5 are high pop; We don't have any more medium population worlds left in NA. This is a clear sign of how popular WvW is in NA, but I feel it also creates some problems for the players and the game mode. I have two main concerns:

First, new players who want to join WvW have limited options to choose from. When half of our worlds are full, it can be difficult for players (new and old) to be able to play with their friends or guilds. This can discourage them from playing WvW and can reduce the potential growth of the game mode and maybe even the game.

Second, existing players who want to switch worlds with their friends or guilds have to pay a pretty hefty amount of gems, which have become more expensive due to the gold-to-gem ratio inflation caused over time and exacerbated by the Wizard’s Vault rewards. This can make them feel trapped in their current worlds or force them to spend a good chunk of money to change worlds.

I think we need either a recalculation of world populations or an addition of new worlds to NA. A recalculation could verify player populations among existing worlds, creating more open worlds. An addition of new worlds could also accommodate more players and create more space for players. Either way, I think it could benefit the WvW community and the game mode as a whole.

I understand that Arenanet is working hard on the Alliances system, which will hopefully solve these issues in the future. However, I also think that having some sort of temporary solution in the meantime would be helpful.

If you have any thoughts or opinions on this, please share your replies below. Thank you for reading, and Happy Holidays 🙂

Seasonal players are a known factor. Add to that the reward tracks are a fast way to gain in the seasonal currencies in the form of the Wintersday presents plus players either being off from work or of from classes and we have good chances to increase population. The Alliance sub-system of the World Restructuring (WR) project is onhold but the WR system is set for a beta next week and runs from Jan 12 - Feb 2. I think the resources we have that might deal with population calculations will be tied up in trying to verify if the sorting logic is creating balanced populations during those weeks. Once that beta is down we will be out of the holidays and server numbers are going to be thrown off even more as they will now include more non-regular WvW players that might be interested in the beta and/or there if they do as they usually do and apply the Call Of War bonus that draws player regardless of the beta event or not.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Call_of_War

You make a good point, but I think having them focus on the project they are on, regardless if I am in favor or not, makes more sense since a part of it is to allow for the issues you are referring to. One of the WR main goal is to address over-stacked servers and underpopulated one in the same frame. While they do this it may include both adding new servers if needed or reducing servers as need to also account for seasonal play.

For those that may not be as active in this subforum, and thanks again to the Wiki players and all the time you spend there, reference as linked:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Alliances

Acemos, I point out the Alliance versus WR bit since a lot of players do intermix these and as Josh Davis pointed out in a separate web publication about upcoming game changes that this is something they noted so they are trying to make sure that when they say Alliances are onhold but the WR is not. So if my tone came out wrong, just wanted to explain why especially since even the Wiki World Restructing redirects you to Alliances. 🙂