Cross-realm zones
- From: Catriona R <catrionarNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 11 May 2012 00:54:20 +0100
Wow, this is pretty groundbreaking stuff, just been announced that
regular zones are being made cross-realm, so all those underpopulated
lowbie zones where you never see another player, will have players in
again! Even more impressive, is they can have multiple copies of a
zone to reduce overcrowding, so probably every server will have
several copies of the Pandaren starter zone running on day one of MoP!
Gotta admit I personally like wandering round zones all on my own and
not having other people competing for my mobs, but I'm likely a
minority on that one and anyway overall I like the concept, especially
of reducing the crowd size in really busy zones!
http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2772-Cross-Realm-Zones-Coming-to-Beta
In the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria beta, we?re introducing a
new technology that will enable players to meet up and group with
other players in under populated areas of the world such as low level
zones or areas that other players may have outleveled or moved on
from. This technology will allow players to form a group with other
players from within a select pool of realms in order to quest just
like they normally would while still allowing the social structures of
their home realms to remain intact.
During the initial phase of testing we will be sharing the following
zones between the available beta realms: Northern Barrens, Ashenvale,
Azshara, Darkshore, Westfall, and Silithus. We are also able to split
over-populated zones and will be testing this new technology on the
Pandaren starting area (turtle zone).
For beta testing purposes, we will be matching up all realm types
whether they are PvP or PvE. This is different than what we plan to do
for the live realms, however. For the live realms we will be matching
realm types: PvP with PvP, PvE with PvE, RP-PvP with RP-PvP, and
RP-PvE with RP-PvE. As always, we plan to keep an eye on constructive
feedback while in testing of this new technology.
F.A.Q.
Q. Why cross-realm zones?
For many years now, the significant majority of the player population
online at any given time has consisted mostly of characters at or near
the level cap. This has resulted in an environment where characters
that are leveling up experience a world that has fewer other players
to interact with than what the world was designed for. Cross-realm
zones give us the capability to ensure that level-up zones retain a
population size that feels more like the high level areas of the game,
leading to a more fun play experience for characters of all levels.
Q. How do cross-realm zones work?
When you?re in a zone that is set as a ?cross-realm zone? you?ll
notice that in addition to the players you?d ordinarily see from your
realm, you?ll also see (and be able to play with) players from other
realms. This will happen seamlessly, and players will be able to group
and quest as they normally would with players from their own realm.
Q. How will this work on boats or zeppelins?
Usually transitions will occur on area boundaries (think moving from
Darkshore to Ashenvale).
Q. Can I form groups with the people I meet in the zone?
Yes! You can group and talk to others within the cross-server zone
normally though trading will be restricted much as it is within raids,
dungeons, or battlegrounds.
Q. Will my cross-realm group be disbanded if we move on to an adjacent
zone together, like from Goldshire to Westfall or from Thousand
Needles to Feralas?
Much like how cross-realm groups currently work, your party won?t be
disbanded when you move through different zones, though if you?re not
in the same home realm, you won?t be able to see each other if you?re
in separate zone instances.
Q. Will I be able to group with my friends?
Yes, you will be able to group with your Real ID friends, provided
they are within the same faction. The functionality works the same as
it does for cross-realm dungeons, raids, or Battlegrounds.
Q. What level range do my friends and I have to be within in order to
group?
There is no restriction on level ranges. You?ll be able to group with
anyone you would normally be able to.
Q. Can I go into main capital cities while grouped with others?
Capital cities and areas with regularly high populations will not be
set as cross-server areas/zones so you will not be able to enter into
the same instance of a city as someone who is from a different realm.
Q. Will I be able to trade with others I meet?
Trading restrictions are in place much the same as they are in
cross-realm dungeons, raids, and battlegrounds.
Q. How is group loot handled?
Group looting will function the same as it would with any group you
would create through normal play.
Q. Who will I be playing with?
You?ll be able to interact with players from within a select pool of
realms which will make it possible to run into a player in Redridge
that you already ran into within Westfall.
Q. What areas will be shared?
This can vary from realm to realm and relies on how densely populated
(or underpopulated) an area is. Capital cities and areas with
regularly high populations will not be eligible for area sharing.
Q. What about resources or gathering nodes, will those be shared too?
Resources and nodes will be available to all parties within the shared
area the same as always. We will be keeping a close eye on the impact
of area sharing and should an area become too populated, we are
capable of adjusting how many realms are able to connect to a shared
area.
Q. Does this mean that Auction Houses will be merged?
No, when any player access an Auction House, they will be only able to
access their home realm?s Auction House.
Q. What about zones that are already overpopulated, like new race
starting zones?
With this technology, we can also flag zones to allow for more than
one copy of that zone per realm. Players on that realm will be split
among those copies in order to alleviate problems due to
overpopulation. Players won?t normally see or interact with those on a
different instance of their zone, although joining a party will
relocate all party members to a single instance of that zone.
Q. How will this work for PvP vs. PvE realms? Will these realm types
be shared?
No. Realm types will be matched with like realm types. So if you?re on
a PvE realm, you?ll only be matched with other PvE realms. The same
rules will apply for matching RP realm types and will be restricted to
matching RP-PvP with RP-PvP and RP-PvE with RP-PvE. We plan to keep an
eye on constructive feedback while testing this new technology.
Q. How will RID groups work? Which realm type would we play on?
If you group up with somebody from a different rule type (via RealID
for example) and go into a cross-realm zone you?ll be on the ruleset
for that player?s realm type. So, if you?re on a PvP realm and a
friend joins your group from a PvE realm and enters a cross-realm
zone, the group will be in one of the PvP realm clusters and will use
the PvP realm ruleset.
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