[WoW] Thinking on coming back, how much has it changed?

[Vinen]

Honestly, there are plenty of decent high pop PvE servers.

I more or less returned to a character on Stormrage and it wasn't hard for me to find a decent Tier 5 guild (5/6SSC 2/4TK 1/5Hyjal). If the guild actually raided for more then 3 hours 3 times a week it would be a lot further =p.

Then turnover rate is so absurdly high in Tier 6 guilds that I've noticed also... already had a few try and recruit me to which I've just passed on. My gear isn't even that great, all Feral Druid Badge gear and Tier 4/5 shit...

[findar]

Originally Posted by Vinen

Honestly, there are plenty of decent high pop PvE servers.

I more or less returned to a character on Stormrage and it wasn't hard for me to find a decent Tier 5 guild (5/6SSC 2/4TK 1/5Hyjal). If the guild actually raided for more then 3 hours 3 times a week it would be a lot further =p.

Then turnover rate is so absurdly high in Tier 6 guilds that I've noticed also... already had a few try and recruit me to which I've just passed on. My gear isn't even that great, all Feral Druid Badge gear and Tier 4/5 shit...

gear drops like candy in t6 and if they have been farming it you will gear up even faster. turn around is because well... once you've beat it all what else is there? thats what stopped me.... + raiding at 7:30am. love those japanese.

[Sabyn]

Originally Posted by Kuro

I’m planning on returning to WoW (Played up until a few months before Nax, had a short stint in MW stuff but was still mostly playing EQ1. Tried out AoC, combat system wasn't my cup o' tea but the game was okay), but I’m in an odd position. None of my friends are still playing, and my old account is out, so I’m going to be starting over fresh with no one to hang out with.

I'm mainly looking for advice on starting over fresh; not knowing anyone. What kind of server would y’all think best? Big server, small server, PVE vs PVP?

The big servers seem like the best for having a pool of people to try to meet people, but overcrowding/hostility towards newcomers seems to be the theme of their forums. The flipside is that leveling up and making acquaintances on a small server can leave you stranded when it comes to raiding, or ditching friends to move to a server with more people.

Back when I played before, a large number of good players/guilds were located on PVP servers (and as far as I can see, there's no PVE/PVP transfers still), but the leveling process was plagued by bored dickholes camping 1-50 quest NPCs/leveling areas.

Class-wise, I assume playing a healer would be best for making acquaintances/grouping, as last I played the servers were drowned in DPS and Warriors (although few warriors competent enough to tank)?

Is there any way to find out what servers have a higher average competence level amongst the playerbase? I'd assume the release servers have a higher % of long-time gamers/their alts.

The WoW realm forums are little help, as they just make every server look like a cesspool of incompetence.

(Side Question: Are all the battlegrounds pre-level cap pointless to play in unless you're a twink?)

For servers: don't make a char on anything but a pvp server. It won't slow down your levelling at all (you will get ganked a few times, but its really not a big thing). Pve characters can't transfer to pvp servers (but pvp can transfer to pve), and pvp servers tend to be "better" in terms of good arena teams and high end pve guilds. Check out WoW US Guild Rankings :: WoWProgress - World of Warcraft Rankings and History to get an idea of the number of raiding guilds and where they are at by server. Pve servers just limit your options, and from my experiences there is not greater concentration of retards than alliance side on a pve server. As a general rule, consider the following for choosing a server: you want a healthy population (since everything of worth is instanced more people just means a larger pool to recruit people with a clue), a good BG group and queues, and at least a few good raiding guilds. Economy is another thing to consider I suppose, but its a little hard to quantify.

As for particular servers, I have a few suggestions if you are horde (no idea if its much different if you want to roll alliance). I have a 70 rogue on Tichondrius, and it is a pretty kick ass server. Lots of pugs going on, pretty solid pve raiding guilds, and has a really strong arena scene. Right now I am leveling a shaman on Black Dragonflight, and it has been pretty solid so far.

As for a class, you're right, healers and tanks are in way more demand than dps. And some servers are really short on either tanks or healers, but you shouldn't have an issue with either. Any of the healing and tanking classes are good (priests and paladins are probably the weakest, but I can't speak with much authority on those).

[Presarc]

Sabyn, six months ago I would have agreed with you on the PvE vs PvP front, and I still would lean towards a PvP server. Ever since transferring from a PvP server to a PvE server, and then again transferring to another PvE server (for guild changing reasons), I've realized that there is little difference between the two.

Initially I was really upset to find out that I could never go back to PvP, and in some ways I still am, but let me tell you why it's not a big deal.

1) If you're a decent PvPer (2000+), there is very little difference between the different battlegroups in my experience. I've had 2200+ teams on 3 different battlegroups, Whirlwind, Cyclone, and Bloodlust, and at the upper ratings, trust me -- all of the teams are very good. PvP isn't subtle and finite enough in WoW to really differentiate between the 2200, 2300, and 2400 players. Many times it's a matter of the team composition, and frankly, playing a lot of games and getting the right amount of the right teams to fight to get higher ratings (before wanting to kill yourself of course).

2) If you're truly interested in joining an end-game raiding guild, and are willing to put in the time, there are guilds on PvE servers that are willing to take you. Taking a quick look at wowjutsu, out of the top 10 US alliance guilds, 7 are on PvP and 3 are on PvE. Currently in a KJ downing guild on a PvE server (having just transferred from another PvE server), I can attest that the content is available for whoever wants it, no matter the ruleset you're on.

If I could do it again, would I transfer off of a PvP server again? Probably not. But having done it, I'm not that worried about it any more. No matter your battlegroup, there are PvP servers and PvE servers that comprise it. And as we all know, world pvp means nothing any more, so PvP servers basically just make it hard to farm shit if you want to farm shit and make the Isle of Quel'denas a gank-fest.

[Kuro]

After looking around a bit, methinks I'm going to try out Cho'gall Horde, since it's on the closest data server, same server timezone, and seems to have a good spread of active progressing guilds.

[Chaotic]

Roll a melee, at least until WotTLK resets things.

[Fadaar]

Originally Posted by Kuro

After looking around a bit, methinks I'm going to try out Cho'gall Horde, since it's on the closest data server, same server timezone, and seems to have a good spread of active progressing guilds.

Just don't ever roll on Gilneas. Either side.

[Zippygoose]

Originally Posted by Sharmai

Once i got into the group it was a nightmare healing. I forgot just how undergeared PUGs are and I quickly realized that at 70 it won't be any different for my resto shaman unless I start raiding again.

Although entirely subjective, I have found that while this is the case for normal instances, when you start switching to heroics exclusively, the gear of pug players tends to get a bit better. Timmy is more hesitant to attempt tanking a heroic in his blues for fear of being called a noob.

[Crell]

My question, and I think it was posted here sometime ago, but if your running the trial, can you still get BC with the trial?

My GF is playing it now, using the trial. But she only wants to be a blood elf. I have the BC box for my game, but will I still have to buy both copies of the full retail? Or can I just start a subscription on hers and then digitally update for the BC expansion?

[spronk]

there is an option to upgrade your regular wow trial to a bc trial, so yes a trial can be a BE. if your buying a 2nd account the cheapest is the relatively new box kit they have that combines wow+tbc, it retails for $40 I think although I've seen it on sale for as low as $20, which is a great price

im really tempted to reactivate my account for the summer festival which starts tomorrow, the only thing I'd want is the new ragnaros pet. ugh decisions decisions, lol

[Felonius]

Originally Posted by Vinen

Honestly, there are plenty of decent high pop PvE servers.

I more or less returned to a character on Stormrage and it wasn't hard for me to find a decent Tier 5 guild (5/6SSC 2/4TK 1/5Hyjal). If the guild actually raided for more then 3 hours 3 times a week it would be a lot further =p.

Then turnover rate is so absurdly high in Tier 6 guilds that I've noticed also... already had a few try and recruit me to which I've just passed on. My gear isn't even that great, all Feral Druid Badge gear and Tier 4/5 shit...

obviously not horde stormrage, primal dev represent

[Maleficence]

Originally Posted by Crell

My question, and I think it was posted here sometime ago, but if your running the trial, can you still get BC with the trial?

My GF is playing it now, using the trial. But she only wants to be a blood elf. I have the BC box for my game, but will I still have to buy both copies of the full retail? Or can I just start a subscription on hers and then digitally update for the BC expansion?

You can use the trial for both classic and BC. Just choose which one you want when singing up for the trial. However, if your GF already started playing with a "classic" trial, she'll have to purchase the retail version and subscribe to WoW. This can be done directly from account management. Once that's done you can opt in for the BC trial.

You can also purchase both digitally from blizzard's site and download the full clients as well. I think buying it all digitally comes to around $50 ($19 + $29.99). So, it might be cheaper and easier to buy the battlechest instead for $40 depending on your circumstances.

[Vinen]

Originally Posted by Felonius

obviously not horde stormrage, primal dev represent

There are horde on stormrage? This is news to me :3

[Needless]

This festival rocks. Xp buff + proc buff and ability to be a naked fire draenei dancer? win in my eyes!

[Vinen]

Originally Posted by Needless

This festival rocks. Xp buff + proc buff and ability to be a naked fire draenei dancer? win in my eyes!

Haha, I had a blast doing the boss in Heroic SP this morning; did him twice thanks to that sweet instance reset happening right after our first clear finished. Funny getting a piece of loot and noticing it wasn't on wowhead yet...

He's probably the hardest boss in Heroic hands down. If your group doesn't have high dps then lol... you ain't winning most likely. I was with a Shadow Priest, Holy Priest, Mage, and a Warlock (all of us Tier4/5 geared). Was really easy for us but we knocked him off in 2 weakness phases. I could see mana running dry for most groups if that fight dragged on past the second weakness phase.