Faster Release Cadence Requires Changes
While this philosophy for servers certainly adds a lot of positive aspects to the game, it's fair to say there are some drawbacks, too, and we'll examine them below.
Server Community
With the introduction of the mega servers, there are certainly pros and cons for the overall community. On one hand, there are so many people that, on average, it's easier to find groups. Yes, there are issues with finding tanks for Heroics, for example, even on these realms, but imagine how much harder it would be with fewer players. Not only that, but it's even easier to find groups for quests such as the Tempest Keep: The Eye attunement "Cipher of Damnation" quests.
On the other hand, it's not common that you'll run into the same people or have those go-to players for certain professions. Sure, you can add certain players to your friends list and try to group up with them later, but there was something unique and special about running into the same players organically or knowing that "Jim the Mage" is the guy to go for a certain enchant or craft.
That said, with how solved The Burning Crusade Anniversary and other versions of Classic are, it's much easier to find players who have these crafts or, let's be honest you type into trade chat "LF Chanter with Mongoose" and some player with an addon auto-invites you with a macroed RP message, they perform the service, and they fade off into the ether.
Auction House Lag
Whether you're using an addon like Auctioneer or using the stock Auction House UI, chances are you've experienced Auction House lag. While it's not game-breaking or anything, it is just laggy enough to be annoying.
There could be more to this than just the number of players on each server, but that seems like the most likely source of the lag.
Layering Issues
One of the core gameplay mechanics and tips for playing on mega servers/realms like these is utilizing the Nova World Buffs addon to see what layer you're on, joining the "Layer" channel on your realm, and hopping from layer to layer to layer to layer to complete quests or farm mobs.
Should Blizzard Change How World Bosses Work?
Looking at both sides of it, layers certainly help make mega servers/realms possible, but what about maybe a setup where there are multiple realms with 8,000-10,000 players and faster respawns all on one layer?
All that being said, it is a bit strange that part of optimizing your experience is having an addon, joining a "Layer" channel, saying "layer 6," someone auto-invites you, and you layer over.
All things considered, the mega servers/realms may very well provide more positives than negatives, but perhaps they could be refined even more. Let us know what you think in the comments below!
