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The Downsides to Layering in WoW Classic

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Layering is a limited form of sharding invented specifically for WoW Classic. It will be implemented to ensure a smooth launch in August, but comes with downsides and recent Closed Beta footage demonstrates just how easy it is to abuse the system in its current iteration.

Layering in WoW Classic

The purpose of layering is to shard entire continents at launch, meaning one server will have multiple layers that will be gone in a few weeks after launch when all layers merge into a single realm.

Redditor Salvage_di_macaroni posted an image which highlights differences between sharding and layering on reddit.

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You can find more information about layering in the article below.

The Downsides to Layering

Now comes the fun part. Redditor omegalulreddit posted two clips showing how easy it is to abuse the new system. In the first clip, we have a demonstration of switching between multiple layers. Each character represents a different layer and you can control the layer of your main by logging in with an alt first.

The second clip takes place in Gurubashi Arena and shows how layering can be abused in world PvP.

A player gets invited to the party, phasing into another layer with different players and leaving the party causes him to phase back out, making his enemies disappear. For some odd reason, we're unable to embed the clip, but you can watch it here.

What do you think about layering? The current suggestion is to disable it outside of starter zones.

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I do not think this is a big deal in any way - even if someone does "abuse" it, its simply not a big deal. Classic population will most likely be small anyways

 

Lets focus on being positive for the games we love ? not need to create issues out of total edge cases. 

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Wait, wait, we don't get the AUTHENTIC VANILLA EXPERIENCE!?    Where every time something was added we'd have realms down for hours, crazylag when they were up, and zonewide disconnects whenever a ZG berserker feared someone?     This is an OUTRAGE.

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13 hours ago, PatrickHenry said:

I dont see much practical difference in the issues occurring than there were with Sharding.  

Me neither. We have that kind of "server-hoping" with sharding, don't we? In both situation we joining an other instance of the zone, don't we? Instead of switching shards, we switch the layer. So as far as i understand, this is a technical thing - but for us as a player, where is the difference?

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Keep the layering, but have no interaction between the layers, then merge them after a month. 
So you would select the layer when making a character, a new layer would become available when one fills up.
so you would have mini-servers. i.e frostwhisper 1, 2, 3 etc. you are stuck in that layer till the merge.

Downsides would be a friend coming late and can't get on the same layer as their friend. but if it only lasts a month thats not rly gonna matter, also you're not rly gonna play with your friend you're 60 lvls ahead of.  
 

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I don't really understand how people expect them to accomplish this and not have something like layering.

The technology that exists can't handle the amount of influx it will receive.

At this point, you don't understand what you're trying to deride by making insinuations like "just make it go away".

 

?

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15 hours ago, Migol said:

Wait, wait, we don't get the AUTHENTIC VANILLA EXPERIENCE!?    Where every time something was added we'd have realms down for hours, crazylag when they were up, and zonewide disconnects whenever a ZG berserker feared someone?     This is an OUTRAGE.

Well there goes my plans to play a hunter just for when ZG launches.

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4 hours ago, Tucky said:

Keep the layering, but have no interaction between the layers, then merge them after a month. 
So you would select the layer when making a character, a new layer would become available when one fills up.
so you would have mini-servers. i.e frostwhisper 1, 2, 3 etc. you are stuck in that layer till the merge.

Downsides would be a friend coming late and can't get on the same layer as their friend. but if it only lasts a month thats not rly gonna matter, also you're not rly gonna play with your friend you're 60 lvls ahead of.  
 

As far as i understood, Layers will be created much faster than you think. Layering is a good thing, it keeps WoW playable. For me, it's not an abuse what you see in the video. This is how layering works, intentionally. How i already said, at my PoV we have same "issues" with sharding. I often used this behavior in Legion if there was WQ-Ganking on my PvP-Server. I just hoped to an PvE-Server ? . To be said, this layering needs more effort to "abuse". Because you need to have people (lets call them friends) who invite you from one to another layer. As i understood in videos you don't automatically "layer" back after quit a group. You stay on this layer till another person from another layer invite you.

For me: Good system, works as intended, nothing to worry about ?

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1 hour ago, Allseye said:

This is how layering works, intentionally.

No, it's how it works technically but not intentionally. The intention of layers is not to hop in and out of combat or farm nodes through layer-hopping. Like you said, we had similiar issues with realm-hopping in WoD and Legion, and Blizz tried to minimize that behaviour, meaning that they don't intend for this kind of "clever use of game mechanics".

I think there will be some no-life goblins out there who will abuse the *filtered* out of this system. To say that it's nothing to worry about is very optimistic considering we don't know exactly to what extent it will be abused on live servers. So, it's definitely an issue that they should at least try to solve.

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"phasing" introduced in Wrath, and LFD also introduced in wrath...

 

Decimated server communities. I have friends that haven't logged in since, that I chat with on other platforms.

Toss in LFR and cross realm.   They destroyed what they had.  Ghostroller is the guy who did this, prob others who we aren't sure of.

I'd bet not Tigole.,..  But, maybe Morheim cashed out, not sure.

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