Recently i had an idea how things could be solved. What do you think about it:
1. Use what's allready there. Servers were merged into Groups for PvP. Thats the first step. Redesign those groups, that there is a healthy amount of players on both factions in every group.
2. Take the next step. Redesign the Auctionhouse, that it is no longer per Server. Make it per Servergroup. First big problem on lowpop Servers solved.
3. Take Step three. Implement a Trademarket-Building. This should be a Servergroup-X-Realm-Zone. You enter it and you can see/trade/group/chat with everybody inside the building. Because it is X-Realm-Server-Group-Zone you can see/trade/group/chat with everybody from every Server in your Group.
4. Free Char/Guild Transfer inside the Servergroup (maybe restrict it in a way, that no one can move to the highpop Servers inside the Group), increase the costs of Transfers outside the Servergroup by at least 2x the actual costs.
This takes the Need to belong to a high Pop Server and solves the Problems you have on a low Pop. Everything important about a healthy population (good AH service, the possibility to Group together and Chat with others) will be accesible. With free Transfers and maybe the restriction for Highpop Servers the popultion on the Servers will even out.
The main Idea behind this is to take the things that force you to life on a highpop Server and change them in a way, that they don't rely on a single server. You chould have access to all those things even on a server where you are completly alone. With this, there is nothing that makes it worthwhile to endure high queues. And with free Transfers, switching to a lowpop Server is the best thing left to do.
All this could be thought through even more.
Some Hints:
1. Servergroupbound-Guilds instead of only Serverbound-Guilds (as it is now)
2. Servergroup-CityChannel (optional, because this one can get REALLY buisy)
3. Servergroup-LFG-Tool (implemented oQueue; restricted to the Servergroup -> no more english talking people in Russian Groups and vice versa)
4. Servergroup-Mail
Shure a lot of those things would need new technologies. At least names would need to be spelled with the server name nearly all the time. But i think some really smart people can come up with a good solution.
