I saw ArenaNet came out with a win/loser chart for Beta Weekend 1. I think it is great they are trying instill server pride, but if they don’t change server names for launch that pride will turn into a double edged sword.
Let’s just say they don’t change the names and the servers that did great during the BWE’s constantly excel and the losers constantly… suck, we are going to have overpopulation issues on the select few great WvW servers. All the hardcore PvPers are going to flock to the winning servers along with all the Internet trolls/bloggers/Reddit asshats/information hungry gamers. That leaves the super casual, uninformed, weekend warrior gamers to populate the other servers. It will be a hole they will never be able to dig themselves out of and their WvW will be virtually nonexistent.
Yeah, the Latchkey Droolers and the Dodgeball Fat Kids will have a good time being pitted against each other, but the divide in brackets will never blur and the population on those servers will suffer. From day 1 there will be 2 definite types of servers, the overpopulated, great at WvW and the desolate, horrible at WvW.
The only way to curb this is to change server names for launch. Yes, hardcore players will stick with other hardcore players by communicating on forums and other social networks, but resetting the players and server names will help the not-so-hardcore spread among other servers. A bit more confusion will help scatter the people that want to be on a winning team, but don’t have time to refresh forums and cross check guilds whereabouts. The casual informed and information hungry, will be less likely to flock with the hardcore PvPers and trolls.
Like I said, this information is a double edged sword. It’s great we can finally pump our chests crying out our server names like William Wallace, but it’s going to kill the balance of WvW and crush population into overflow servers. Of course nothing is perfect or concrete until the game releases and the servers have time to settle in their groove, but naming winners and losers before launch ensures the start to be unbalanced and rocky population distribution.
My server, Maguuma, could do great in beta and suck live, but I’m not going to chance moving if every beta weekend ends with a 5-1 victory. That would be plain stupid to randomly chance getting stuck on a different server that might suck. Knowing that my server is going to be vastly overpopulated. It’s just human nature to stay in a comfort zone or flock to a stronger family. I prefer to stay nestled in my comfort zone, but at what cost?
I hope ArenaNet decides to scramble up the server names. Unfortunately, I doubt they will because a lot of the names are from the lore of Guild Wars. If it was me I would’ve named the servers BWES1, BWES2, BWES3, ect… Then at launch, place the real names on the servers. That’s just me thinking though… stupid blogger.
I could be wrong about the server population at launch, but I seriously doubt it.
Edit: Looks like the winning WvW servers are all full. Odd that WvW doesn’t matter that much, but all the ones ArenaNet showed as winning filled up in less than hour. It’s just going to be worse at launch.