Should Blizzard cross realm instances?

[Janfader]

Please discuss in a general manner pro's and con's. This was a hot topic in my guild last night and many feel that there should be.

My main concern is it should be only toons within the lvl requirements for the instances... but I think Blizzard should raise the lvl cap a few more levels though.

I'm kinda tired of helping out the lower level guild mates especailly for brd.

Few more notes/ideals:

1. Have an option in LFM > healer required, dps/cc required etc...
2. Run with horde or alliance > just an idea (to speed up the LFG's)
3. Loot requirements as per class/weapon skills, so others can't ninja the items.
4. If no one needs the item(s) (boss loot only), an automatic d/e occurs and an automatic forced roll is put in place or an option to pass on the shard.

I'm finding guilds are really focused on end game content now.

[Twoflower]

1 : you can put notes in the lfg tool where you write what you are looking for.

4 : would make the enchanting rofession pretty pointless, wouldnt it ?

but cross realm instances sounds like a good idea. i like it.

[Janfader]

1 : you can put notes in the lfg tool where you write what you are looking for.

4 : would make the enchanting rofession pretty pointless, wouldnt it ?

but cross realm instances sounds like a good idea. i like it.

I know about the tool tip in lfm/lfg, however, if Blizz indeed crossed realmed instances, thant at least the player can add what he can do for the group, so other groups/players can go > look, an ice mage! > look a tank! etc... instead of just allowing anthing to join.

4. The d/e portion of enchanting (which my lock is btw) is like an extra skill. Before patch 2.1 or 2.2 I believe, any enchanter at any level cound d/e any item lvl. So really, I wouldn't care if the "crossed realm instances only" allows for an automatic d/e if everyone passed. And enchanting wouldn't be pointless because of that :P

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*page hang up on me, now i have to retype everything....

Indeed the tool tip allows for a one line note. However I would like to see an option of where you can add in your class/spec. And also see what other players are in the lfg/lfm info.

The d/e thing doesn't make enchanting pointless. It only can be obtained by an enchanter yes, however pre 2.1 or 2.2 patch the d/e requirement to d/e anything was all you needed was a lvl 10 toon with the profession. And it's just for making things a little for controlled for Pug's. I wouldn't care at all if that implemented in only Crossed realm lfg/lfm's.

[Dhoum]

... but I think Blizzard should raise the lvl cap a few more levels though.

The concept of cross-realm instance queues does seem a little strange but I agree that it would be desirable to reduce wait times.

1. Have an option in LFM > healer required, dps/cc required etc

I'd love that, as long as there were corresponding options in LFG to identify oneself as being prepared to fulfil one or more group roles. I will never have to put up with a non-tanking warrior again!

(Please note that while I defend to the hilt every person's right to play the character they want to, I also reserve the right not to group with them)

2. Run with horde or alliance > just an idea (to speed up the LFG's)

I can't see Blizzard going for that, no matter how desperate things become. The Horde/Alliance separation seems to be inviolate.

[elsegundo]

i like the idea, but then again, half the fun of going to an instance is trying to get people there!! and well, being cross realm, you cant really summon them unless the summoning stone is inside the instance. and lately, they only way i can tell if an instance is nearby is by looking for the meeting stone.

i already hate how the lfg feature already locks me out of certain instances, even though the mobs are still green to me. so doing it cross realm wouldnt matter much to me. also, how will you communicate with other players of different realms outside of the instance in order to ask questions? i'd like to be talked to before i agree to an invite, and i'd like to talk to others as well. being that each realm has several server types, having another dedicated server for cross realm communications might be a bit much. i dont know the details, but i do know that each realm has at least five different types of servers (the number of server computers making up this type is unknown to me).
one for eastern kingdoms, one for kalimdor, one for tbc zones. then one server has every beast/npc location (not sure if there's one for each zone, or one for all zones, or mixture) and possibly computes location for everyone+their actions, plus server that does only the instances. then server that does all the bg's and interrealm stuffs. thats why you see loading screens each time you take a boat/zep, each time you hit the bg's and each time you hit the instances.

adding interrealm instances would require bliz to change all instances servers to work with several realms. or they need to have the ones working with the bg's work with instances content too. a whole lotta changes. a whole lotta headaches i bet. i think interrealm communications should be implimented in order for us to use the interrealm instances. how else would we schedule a run with someone we'd like to party with again, but is on a different realm? maybe they should make an interrealm zone. like a lounge where we can all cause major lag. we can talk, but we cannot trade.

[dwarfenhelm]

a good part of pug groups is the ability to check new players out so that they could be invited to your guild or so people can team up with other guilds and check them out with a view to joining them.
cross realm groups would be a nightmare in my view

[caldepen]

I got diced for suggesting this a while back but I cannot remember why...

I think its a good idea. I had a bizzillion q's for ZF a couple of weeks that all passed me by because I could not find buddies. There just are not that many people around in Azeroth. Even though I sometimes have to queue to get logged in.

Just joined a leveling guild in order to address this.

[Aerath]

I don't know.

There's plenty of tools to be had on my own server, but at least I know which they are.

I'm not waiting for another's server's Ninjas or morons to join groups.

That said, I can't remember the last time I completely pugged a run, so I'll likely be somewhat biased anyway.

[Janfader]

25 minutes to get into this thread/ reply... this site is very slow. What's up with the ads?

Any ways...

As for the pug group coming from your own server or another can't make that much different. A pug is a pug.

Cross realming the instances may also invite a warm fuzzy to those who want to run AQ40, UBLW, LBWL, Scholomance, Strat, Nexx, MC, etc...

Another note mentioned last night in my guild, would be cool to if alliance could run rfc and for the horde to run stocks.

Any ways, just a thought. Need more voters!

[PlayThemAll]

a good part of pug groups is the ability to check new players out so that they could be invited to your guild or so people can team up with other guilds and check them out with a view to joining them.
cross realm groups would be a nightmare in my view

It may also be a nice way to recruit people from other servers. Person A no longer likes his/her guild or it is falling apart but they can't find one on the server that meets their needs. Solution, group with a guild from another server and try it out if all goes well then transfer.

I definitely would put this on a separate chat channel that you could turn off if you didn't want to pug across realms.

I'm all for putting a meeting stone inside of the instances. That alone would aleviate one of problems some people have with PvP servers.

[Janfader]

It may also be a nice way to recruit people from other servers. Person A no longer likes his/her guild or it is falling apart but they can't find one on the server that meets their needs. Solution, group with a guild from another server and try it out if all goes well then transfer.

I definitely would put this on a separate chat channel that you could turn off if you didn't want to pug across realms.

I'm all for putting a meeting stone inside of the instances. That alone would aleviate one of problems some people have with PvP servers.

Great angle on the subject! :idea:

[rgirty]

I think it would be a great idea, meeting stone inside the instance summon and invite people directly from the LFG que of any realm.

This would be good for 5 mans..but what about 10 mans and 25 mans?

That might be unfair for pvp/pve server differences.

It happens in bg's but its random, so its not quite the same.

I like the idea tho, especially for 5 mans and I think it would be great for kara/gruuls/mag.

[Janfader]

Some really nice views on this subject.

Another interesting fact about why this would work >

Qoute from a friend here at work.

"in consideration for your question, agreed a cross realm instance is the wtg. Now that you can level your toon throughout most of Azeroth with haste, many new players and alts are not getting the chance to run or complete their instances, i.e mage quests and warrior quests requires the toon to venture into a few instances which for one, I have missed out on, because I could not find a group."

I'll also add how many of the alliance members here have actually ran wailing caverns? Their is also a really nice LW'n recipe that use those lovely Perfect Deviant scales found only in WC.

Any ways, please keep the pro's and con's coming!

[mesonm]

You won't ever get this, unfortunately.

It will be too hard to find replacements, operate properly when the leader afk's, etc.,

Just coding it would be an interesting chore.

It would be hilarious though, to hear "Dang! That guy from the archimonde server I was in mech with stole my stuff! "

[Janfader]

You won't ever get this, unfortunately.

It will be too hard to find replacements, operate properly when the leader afk's, etc.,

Just coding it would be an interesting chore.

It would be hilarious though, to hear "Dang! That guy from the archimonde server I was in mech with stole my stuff! "

lmao.

Another thing brought to my attention is deaths and wipes. :hide: That pretty much kills everything. Unless Blizzard allows a respawn @ the enterance/meeting stone > however would have to wait out the release until the battle/fight is over with the whole party for res.

As for the leader thing, seeing the cross realm group can only begin the invite in the instance, then it should be easy to get another invite in. Same thing anywhere else. It would be very cool as well if a lock could summon "any met lvl required" in any realm that is in cue for the instance.

Interesting, but if the demand is there I think it can work. :thumbsup:

[surodat]

What would happen to loot? All sorts of situations would arise around legitimate trading/non-legitimate trading. I wouldn't want to touch some of the problems that could come from that.

Trading 10,000g?
Trading Consumables?

[Findariel]

I voted "yes", I even suggested the idea of cross-server instances before because there's hardly anyone to find to do instances - not only BRD but also the regular tbc instances, both heroic and normal.

In my opinion, Blizzard created too much content for too little players. Especially now with battlegrounds and arena again taking away a large part of the server population, it sometimes seems a little deserted sometimes and finding a group for a particular instance or 5-man quest can take hours and you may not succeed at all.
No wonder people decide to queue for BGs - at least you don't need gear, skill, a certain class requirement, you have guaranteed rewards!

So if Blizzrd won't enlarge the maximum population of servers, I think cross-server instancing would be othe only way to keep the game playable.

1. Have an option in LFM > healer required, dps/cc required etc...
Sure why not.

2. Run with horde or alliance > just an idea (to speed up the LFG's)
I don't think so.

3. Loot requirements as per class/weapon skills, so others can't ninja the items.
Well bigger ignore lists that also work cross-server would serve this purpose enough I think. Personally I hardly ever meet a ninja looter.

4. If no one needs the item(s) (boss loot only), an automatic d/e occurs and an automatic forced roll is put in place or an option to pass on the shard.
I don't see how that would be neccessary, it's ok as it is.

What would happen to loot? All sorts of situations would arise around legitimate trading/non-legitimate trading. I wouldn't want to touch some of the problems that could come from that.

Trading 10,000g?
Trading Consumables?
They could do it the same way as in other cross-server instances: battlegrounds.
Yes you can trade conjured consumables but for the rest only with people from your own realm.

[snowieken]

Nah. It would be nice to have less waiting time, I agree, but it would create far too many problems. One of these would be that whenever I find an awesome player to group with, I want that player in my friend's list or even in my guild. This problem already occurs in BG's for me... every now and then you find that golden combination of friendliness and competence in there, and it's always sad that after leaving the BG's the chances of meeting each other again are very slim.

I don't think I like any of the other suggestions you were making. Alliance and Horde doing an instance together is specifically out of the question. Blizzard made two factions for a reason.

[caldepen]

I agree Snow, the cross faction thing is a def no go, but although you have a good point about teaming up with good players never to be seen again I would vote that the good outweighs that negative. Less waiting for an instance trumps that. And I would still rather meet a good friend and never see them again then never meet them at all!

[snowieken]

True, true, but I'm speaking from my experience in BG's. It's excruciating sometimes. Let alone it being an instance where you are playing with the same 5 people for a few hours.

[caldepen]

Could they start a cross realm friends list that you could send mail to or something (with no attachments of course)?

[Wintrow]

I don't even see why attachments should be banned? The multi-server thing is merely there for performance reasons and in order not to overcrowd certain areas (can you imagine Shatt'rah if there was only one big server??? :shocked:).

If at all possible nearly everything else should be cross-server.
- instances
- BGs (I'd like to seem them cross-battlegroup even)
- chat, but only whispers and /party, /raid and /bg off course. Trade chat and Barrens chat would be murder otherwise :tongue:.
- Auction House is debatable since it'll really mess up Auctioneer's memory usage :tongue:. On the other hand... if cross-server instancing is allowed cross-server AH might be needed to keep the economy in check... but that thing isn't my forte :smiley:.