Anathema - gaming conditions

[Govedar 0]

Dear fellow players and Elysium administrators,

I recently decided to come back to the beloved World of Warcraft (I played for a while on the Blizzard servers - from 2005 up until 2015, took some time off and then played on Nostalrius and on the Elysium servers). I used to play on Anathema and yesterday, to my surprise, I logged in only to find out that the server is pretty much dead - it is very difficult to find people for a party or a dungeon and the server cannot be compared to the good old times when we used to have 5 000 + persons online. In other words, the gaming experience has completely changed. 

I would like to raise an issue which has perhaps already been raised by other fellow players and it is that it should be made possible to migrate our characters from Anathema to Elysium. At present it is very difficult to make the most of the WoW experience on Anathema and it is a shame that some of us have levelled characters there and now have to start from scratch on other realms if we, of course, want to continue playing. Both my brother and I are keen on going back to our characters on the Elysium servers, but as already pointed out, it is now very difficult to play properly on Anathema - especially whilst levelling characters (I do not know what is the situation when the end-game raiding).

How do the rest of players, still trying to play on Anathema feel and what is your opinion? I sincerely hope that the administrators of Elysium will take the current issues into account. Thank you very much, have a nice day folks! :) 

[Keala 28]

Apparently, opening threads regarding this issue has been marked as taboo by the staff and it's something they don't want us to talk about (which is exactly what Blizzard does when someone tries to talk about Legacy Servers outside of the designed thread. You think you do but you don't?).

If you go around the forum and look for similar threads, you will find very vague replies where they either say that we don't need threads like these all the time or that we're just complaining without offering any real solution to this (which does not mean you should close these threads to prevent players from discussing the problem).

According to them, they're already doing everything in their power for the sake of Anathema by running a Naxxramas PTR in order to release it as soon as possible, thinking that it will bring back players while it won't make a difference at all.

Personally, I feel like we will need a solution at some point, but it's not something we need right now: the only thing we really need is them to stop covering their eyes and look at reality. The real problem is their stubborness

[FEYAARES 3]

Hi Govedar ! 

They are closing all the thread regarding this subject and Keala has made a good recap of the situation.
Yes it's hard to lvl without a guild to help you for find dungeon. At the 60 you can raid with a guild if your guild is not sleeting like a lot (and good luck to find new player to join the guild).

I'm in the same case than you, dreaming to transfer on Elysium. But it's not the same timeline (AQ for Anathema and BWL for Elysium).
So they will not do something 

[arbet 9]

To be fair to them, there is not a lot they can do to solve the issue. The only solution is to transfer Anathema's characters to Elysium, but I believe those characters are further ahead so have better gear which makes it unfair on the existing Elysium players. Otherwise, it's just a matter of waiting. Some of the players will reroll on Elysium, (the same way I did when Zeth'Kur got shut down)  but many will just leave.

But yes both Anathema and Darrowshire are virtually dead. It is inevitable, with this kind of server. Bear in mind that it had been going for 2 years (with break in the middle), really not a bad run. It only died at this point because Elysium built two fresh servers.

[Keala 28]

6 minutes ago, FEYAARES said:

I'm in the same case than you, dreaming to transfer on Elysium. But it's not the same timeline (AQ for Anathema and BWL for Elysium).
So they will not do something 

Pretty much this. There were some suggestions around this problem, like speeding up Elysium and then merging, or completely freeze Anathema progression and wait for the 2 servers to be at the same patch and then merge. Or even allow transfers now and remove all gear that cannot be obtained on Elysium from Anathema characters (or even just disable it).

They simply consider these solutions not viable (while they are perfectly viable), which led to the unofficial (they did not say it, but I feel like it's what they decided) decision of letting it die, and use the Anathema community one last time by testing Naxxramas for them.

[FEYAARES 3]

5 minutes ago, Keala said:

Pretty much this. There were some suggestions around this problem, like speeding up Elysium and then merging, or completely freeze Anathema progression and wait for the 2 servers to be at the same patch and then merge. Or even allow transfers now and remove all gear that cannot be obtained on Elysium from Anathema characters (or even just disable it).

They simply consider these solutions not viable (while they are perfectly viable), which led to the unofficial (they did not say it, but I feel like it's what they decided) decision of letting it die, and use the Anathema community one last time by testing Naxxramas for them.

That's it. I'm pretty sure a lot of players don't see any issue to have the stuff "frizzed" until the release on Elysium.
But yup. Good luck to the tester. Hope Elysium will enjoy the final product Anathema is testing for you.

[mike1097 2]

It's sad that the realm Anathema, the only reason Elysium became so popular, suffers in regards of population. But people need to realize that a server with 1k+ people is not dead. Looks like you have an absolute wrong sight on this. While I fully understand that people like crowded servers, I cant understand you saying our realm is dead. Say it often enough and people will believe it, like they did on Zeth' Kur.

Having multiple realms is bad, we all know that now. Having different timelines even more (yes I unterstand that you guys who havent played on Nostalrius already wanted a fresh start), but right now - probably the most loyal players are on Anathema - are getting left behind because of the newer realm.

[arbet 9]

^ well it may be fine for the people on there but no one can join because the only players are max level. so yes in my eyes it is "dead" because the population can only decrease.

that being said if the people at max level are enjoying it and able to continue raiding with their guilds I see no reason to shut it down tbh. apart from to save money

[FEYAARES 3]

33 minutes ago, arbet said:

^ well it may be fine for the people on there but no one can join because the only players are max level. so yes in my eyes it is "dead" because the population can only decrease.

Thanks. For sure 1k people is not dead sometimes we go to 1k6 during EU Time.
But yeah, after AQ a lot of guild were like "ok this is done, we don't care about Naxx so cya".
Population is going lower and naxx will not fix this. We have the more progress timeline but with more "newblood" for sure MC/BWL will be full again.
Latest raid are open ok... end ? No one tells to people rush 60, find a guild farming AQ, avoid the first raid and burn yourself.

So yeah, it can be saved, condition is people start to reroll on it instead of going on Elysium.
But in a way I understand the newcomer who don't want to take this risk. 

[Roxanne Flowers 15]

Anathema is on patch 1.10 and is due to advance to 1.11 in September 2017 (so, next month), hence the push to PTR Naxx right now.

Elysium is on patch 1.6 and isn't due to advance to 1.7 until October 2017 and if plans are not changed will reach 1.11 in September 2018 (a full year after Anathema).

Once the two realms are operating on the same patch, presumably they could be merged then without major issues (since it would be an "apples to apples" type of character database merge), but that point isn't slated to occur until September 2018 at the earliest given current planning and progression.  Doesn't deal with any name conflict issues that such a merge would bring about, but that's the nature of the many-tentacled beast whenever doing a merge where character names MUST BE unique.

There's only two (complimentary) ways for Anathema to be merged into Elysium "Soon™er" than the above outline ... which is to slow Anathema's advancement to 1.11 (which we already know will NOT be happening, since Naxx is being texted for release on schedule) ... and/or ... speed up Elysium's progression through the patches to catch up to Anathema (which, realistically speaking, we also know won't be happening because it would be "unfair" to the Players on Elysium).

So *IF* Anathema is going to get merged into Elysium at some point down the line, the first realistic opportunity to do so shouldn't open until September 2018 ... which if you'll check your calendars isn't going to be any time SOON™ (at least as far as forum threads are concerned).

This then means that threads which basically amount to "I'm inconvenienced NOW so FIX IT NAO!" run counter to the structural issues I've just enumerated.  The conjunction of stars will happen eventually but it isn't scheduled to happen for at least 1 year yet ... which isn't exactly the message that people want to hear, let alone accept (obviously).

[FEYAARES 3]

We know this @Roxanne Flowers and if you take a look on all the open topic there is a lot of way to fix this.
A lot of player are ok to Freeze the stuff until Elysium reach the same patch (they want the merge and are ok to do a lot of sacrifice for it).

Some Daro player are ok to merge with Anathema (so to loose the PvE mode), and around 3k people would be a really healthy population (4k is better for me than 8k).

Everyone is ok to sacrifice a lot of things just for playing in better condition. There is solution and not only wait one year because it will be too lat.

[Ickus 40]

Wow what a good idea! One we've never heard before! No dude why the hell would you allow that? Let's take more pop from an already decreasing population... 

it would be nice if the staff did legit anything to help out. 

[FEYAARES 3]

@Ickus it's suggestion someone has made and it's not so bad. In a way we can't merge with Elysium or only by FREEZING all the stuff until release of AQ. 
Staff want solution lets offer solution. You have some ? 

[Haestingas 30]

I found it galling that they were saying that Naxx ptr was just for anathema. Yeah sure like Elysium gets zero benefit from Anathema testing out Naxx so they get a smooth launch. Just like War Effort was just for us, really though thank you for that. I'm sure you will implement the same WE on Elysium since it was so successful. /s

[Guest]

This thread is a lot of deja vu. @Roxanne Flowers pretty much nailed it on the head as what the outlined problems are. There is no solution to Anathema and Darrowshire's problem that will make the majority happy. Any assertion of such is wishful, blind, self-preservation. The staff has asserted they are focusing on delivering Naxx to Anathema and have no intentions of a merger of any kind. The issues that caused Anathema/Darrowshire to 'be in the state they are now' are well documented so any further rehashing of the problems at hand are pointless and unnecessary. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, the Project can do to make Anathema/Darrowshire better without a drastic shift in the leadership's position on those two realms, and if my experience is any indication they would all rather let those realms die naturally rather than slap a half-assed bandaid on with a solution that only half the project wants (which is what my quoted suggestion below is).

If you are unhappy on Anathema/Darrowshire and don't wish to wait for Naxx, re-roll on Elysium. 

Before anyone tries to bring up just merging and removing itemized loot, below is my insight into the matter. tl;dr it won't happen because no one on the team that has the knowledge has the time to implement it.

Quote

Quote

You can't merge a later patch realm with an earlier patch realm. You'd have to remove loads of items that aren't available in earlier patches, and that's just not happening. I don't see Elysium bumping everyone on Elysium up to Anathema's timeline either, that'll just piss off the vast majority of the community!

There's nothing stopping someone from actually doing the rather large amount of effort to apply an equivalent to the itemization patches on the character DB to remove items wholesale that aren't meant to be present in a lower level patch but time and knowledge. 

Shiamorah actually took a modified form of one of my suggestions which was a bit more drastic:

• Open transfers to Elysium from Anathema and Darrowshire, applying itemization to remove any items that are not meant to be present. Keep a database of all items removed from each player that are derived from quests and re-add those items once the appropriate patch releases.
• Forcibly merge the Anathema and Darrowshire databases of remaining characters, applying itemization to blah blah...to match Darrowshire's current patch.
• Rebrand Darrowshire as Elysium PvE, continue along the same timeline.

Done. We keep our PvE community, Anathema/Darrowshire characters aren't completely screwed by a merger with Elysium (if the player chooses not to transfer), Anathema characters possibly can get a much smoother AQ opening event experience this time around, and the Project continues to provide a home for Nostalrius's legacy that we have to desperately pander to. A lot more complex than this suggestion would imply, but as I said: time and knowledge.

Do I think it's an overall good idea? No, but short of just ignoring the issue I don't see many other options.

 

[Keala 28]

39 minutes ago, Phoosy said:

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, the Project can do to make Anathema/Darrowshire better without a drastic shift in the leadership's position on those two realms, and if my experience is any indication they would all rather let those realms die naturally rather than slap a half-assed bandaid on with a solution that only half the project wants (which is what my quoted suggestion below is).

If you are unhappy on Anathema/Darrowshire and don't wish to wait for Naxx, re-roll on Elysium. 

As much as I would like a transfer or a merge, I can see this being the only outcome.

If that is the case though, then I would love to see it written right from them so I can move on and completely abandon this project, since I have the bad habit to hope for the best and thus end up wasting my time on something hopeless like this. On top of that, there's all these silly teasers we have seen around about TBC, which would also be a solution to the problem in the case they are implementing it. Just stating that there are plans for it would help the issue greatly. If that happens to not be the case, then please at least make it official. Being left in the dark with no idea what's going on behind the scenes is painful, especially when it's what is keeping me from completely leaving.

And no, even though I am not happy with the current situation of Anathema and Darrowshire, I will not re-roll on Elysium. I couldn't care less to throw away 220+ days of played on Anathema just to move on their golden child server (and before you judge me for not wanting to lose my progress, I don't mind losing it because Blizzard shuts this down or in the case I'm completely done with the content, since the timpe spent served it's purpose. The problem is that it is not the case yet). Reading the suggestion "Just re-roll on Elysium" simply hurts every single time. If I will ever do that, it's going to be on Crestfall.

[Haestingas 30]

Nah I think instead of sticking with the project that sabotaged my server, Ill instead go back to kronos where I will get a Naxx experience far quicker. At least there I don't have to worry about custom bullshit killing the server. Or rabid censoring of their forum to cover up their mistakes. Or god awful locking of threads that make you uncomfortable, MAYBE if you left up a merge thread then there wouldn't be a new one created every fucking day, ever think of that?

[Ickus 40]

turn anethema tbc with an option to transfer from elysium. 

[FEYAARES 3]

Yup but say good bye to Elysium ! :)

[Keala 28]

3 minutes ago, FEYAARES said:

Yup but say good bye to Elysium ! :)

If they allow transfers from Elysium to Anathema TBC, it's clear that we're saying goodbye to Elysium. The issues will only rise in the case Anathema turns into a TBC realm and they don't let the Elysium community transfer there, I kinda expect them to just complain about how unfair it would be.

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, Keala said:

On top of that, there's all these silly teasers we have seen around about TBC, which would also be a solution to the problem in the case they are implementing it. Just stating that there are plans for it would help the issue greatly.

It actually wouldn't make any difference at all. Announcing intent and demonstrating purpose to go to TBC wouldn't suddenly make Anathema or Darrowshire viable - everyone would still roll on Elysium to inevitably move to TBC once Elysium does. Without getting a brand new core the Dev team isn't going to magically shit out a fully working TBC realm for Anathema in a reasonable time frame for it to 'save' the servers. 

13 minutes ago, Keala said:

If they allow transfers from Elysium to Anathema TBC, it's clear that we're saying goodbye to Elysium. The issues will only rise in the case Anathema turns into a TBC realm and they don't let the Elysium community transfer there, I kinda expect them to just complain about how unfair it would be.

People playing on Elysium would just view the Anathema migration to TBC as the PTE for Elysium's inevitable TBC launch (which isn't really much different from now, to be honest).

[Hurricane2 2]

36 minutes ago, Haestingas said:

Nah I think instead of sticking with the project that sabotaged my server, Ill instead go back to kronos where I will get a Naxx experience far quicker. At least there I don't have to worry about custom bullshit killing the server. Or rabid censoring of their forum to cover up their mistakes. Or god awful locking of threads that make you uncomfortable, MAYBE if you left up a merge thread then there wouldn't be a new one created every fucking day, ever think of that?

It's dumbass posts like this that contribute nothing that gets the other threads locked.

[Haestingas 30]

1 hour ago, Hurricane2 said:

It's dumbass posts like this that contribute nothing that gets the other threads locked.

First of all I remember you. Hurricane is the non stop complaining fresh cuck from ZK who threw up a gigantic stink about the inactive ZK people having their chars go to Anathema.

That being said, I have contributed some of the most well thought out solutions to this exact issue multiple times and they still locked those threads. I spent hours researching and found a god damn blizzlike solution to a merge and they still locked the thread.

"In retail the patch's either came out faster or the world first clear took forever. Retail had 8 months between WoW release and BWL coming out for the US, for EU they had 7. Nost had 6.5 months. On retail Ragnaros took longer to kill after his availability than any other boss ever made in WoW. He wasn’t killed until 5.5 months after the release of the game. That means for the world first retail guild they had 2.5 months of Rag gear before BWL came out. On Nost it took 2 weeks for the no lifers, and by 2 months in a fair amount of guilds were killing Rag. So the average Nost raider had 4.5 months of Rag gear.

On retail the time between BWL release and the start of the war effort was a bit less than 6 months. On Nost/Anathema we had 9 months.

You then couple that with the fact that a ton of guilds killed nef in the first 3 weeks on Nost. The WORLD FIRST kill on Nef for retail took 2.5 months. So if you just compare the average raider on nost to the world first raiders on retail from a gear perspective, the average nost raiders had 8.25 months of nef gear, the world first guild had 3.5 months of nef gear.

So why is this even relevant to this thread? Because I'd like to suggest that there's a BLIZZLIKE solution to catching up Elysium to Anathema for a merge before Naxx. You just take the time between the world firsts of retail and the next patch on the retail timeline and apply that time to Elysium. People complain up and down how easy raiding is on Elysium vanilla compared to retail, and this is one of the main reasons its so damn easy. Because you have time to farm full BiS before the next content comes out, which in retail FOR THE WORLD FIRST GUILDS they didn't have half the time generally.

So applying this to Elysium, you would want to release BWL ASAP since it should have been out in early April to be Blizzlike. For BWL-AQ there should be 3.5 months between the first Elysium Nef kill and the start of the war effort. This solution gives a far more blizzlike experience to raiders on Elysium, and catches up Elysium to Anathema within ~6months. We then wait for a couple of weeks for Elysium to get some Cthun kills, and merge the servers for the eventual release of Naxx."

They locked this thread. Total dumbass post amirite?

[Ickus 40]

@Haestingas I like it. Sounds fairly reasonable

[Keala 28]

9 minutes ago, Ickus said:

@Haestingas I like it. Sounds fairly reasonable

I totally agree, but it seems like someone else doesn't considering that almost all threads about this topic have been locked. I suppose they don't really share our meaning of "fairly reasonable".

EDIT: Either way, I think it's pretty pointless to argue about whether one solution would be viable or not. It's pretty clear that they haven't liked any of the proposed solution and just went with "let's leave things as they are", which is probably not even the worst option among them all.
At this point it's more worrisome to just see them close all these threads like this, preventing the players that want to share their opinion to discuss it.