Stormbluff Isle is a server that has seen the highs and lows of WvW. While our period of glory at Tier 1 is now only a memory, all of the infrastructure built during our period of dominance puts us in a strong position to rebuild.
1. We have a community teamspeak like most other servers, but we make better use of ours. Unlike other servers where guilds are only found on their own VoiP, every guild can be readily found while they are raiding on our community teamspeak. This makes communication between our borderlands much easier. This is especially useful in off peak hours where many groups from our NA Prime guilds get together and maintain our presence in WvW during EU, SEA, and Oceanic Primetime.
2. We have a community forums that is among the most impressive in the game. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself: http://www.stormbluffisle.com/. The forums has member’s only sections that are used to coordinate server wide WvW events, most recently Ladies Night in WvW:
http://www.stormbluffisle.com/index.php/wvw/item/225-women-commanders
9/1 Update: Big little night (Community asura zerg)
http://stormbluffisle.com/index.php/wvw/item/241-big-little-night
3. Every server claims they have a strong community, but we can actually back up this claim. Every person who wanted to transfer off the server when we dropped from Tier 1 already did. The people who have stayed show up night in and night out to fight for SBI, and genuinely wish to see the best for our server. The people who have transferred to SBI in recent times have not been on multiple servers, and are intent on making SBI their final destination. They came to SBI because of this community that they wanted to play a part in.
Still don’t believe me? Take it from a member of the guild Dragonriders [DR] on Borlis Pass who said in a recent matchup thread:
Moorecore.6349: “I have always had fun fighting SBI even way back when i was on SoS and SBI was with us in T1. SBI as a whole has a very nice and respectable community and that is something to be proud of.”
4. We have a growing number of home grown NA Prime guilds as well as new additions from other servers. We all work together in WvW, and you’ll commonly see us working together in the open field to achieve the greater good. We work especially hard to maintain a strong home borderlands defense. We train the enemy early in the week that the home borderlands will bring them nothing but repair bills and misery.
Without overselling you, I find it is equally important to list server weaknesses, as well as the strengths. If I were a guild considering a new server, I would want to make sure I understand the full picture before I shelled out the money to do so.
1. If you like to zergbust in EB exclusively, you may find that our longest queue time (and generally only outside of reset night) is consistently EB. This is a result of EB being a rallying point for post-exodus SBI members when we no longer had the coverage to keep up with servers in our tiers as we dropped to our equilibrium point. EB was where one map could be filled and we could show servers that SBI was down, but it was never going to be out..
2. We lack reliable Oceanic/SEA coverage, like most of the other servers around our ranking. Despite this, we have a dedicated NA playerbase who is willing to stay up all night in lieu of organized guilds providing SEA coverage. While many of our players have jobs/school and cannot do this, when we have our common All-Nighter events, we produce the illusion that we have a very strong Oceanic/SEA coverage.
9/1 Update: The influx of new guilds has improved our Oceanic coverage dramatically. Take it from a BP player:
bradderzh.2378: “SBI has fronted a number of new guilds this week too. Skillful ones too. But they seem to play during my timezone (Australia) which has never been borlis’ strong point.”
We will continue to grow in the Oceanic timeslot, and we have the most potential to lure Oceanic/SEA of the needy NA servers, since many of these guilds used to call SBI home and are in the talks of coming home.
If you would like to know more, please send me a mail in game at Radioactive.1248, and we can coordinate a time convenient for you to talk over VoiP.
Finally, remember, Stormbluff Isle isn’t just another server, it’s Home.
[KEK]
(edited by Radioactive.1248)