Your post history indicate you want population balance but here you say no. What do you really want then? How can you achieve population balance without change and using the current model?
I don’t have the answer to the population balance issue. However, that doesn’t mean your answer is the right one.
I do!
Create a maximum population for every server. For primarily pve folks, it doesn’t matter what server they’re on — this only has implications for wvw.
Once the population cap has been determined; start booting out accounts that are over the population cap. Two factors should be used when determining who to boot: 1. Account age on set server — how long has this account been on X server? and 2. How often do they actively play WvW?
Based on those two factors, accounts that are above the population count will be booted from the overfull server and offered a free transfer to any other open server.
Then Anet locks down transfers for a full year and has “Transfer Day” where people can move to other servers, once a year. No exceptions.
Allow two weeks for people to transfer preparing for this change. After the two week window, lock all servers down for a year. Send out emails to every single player, WvWer or not, to notify them of the impending change so they can plan — do it at least a month in advance.
If you’re split from your guild because of the move, then you either move to where your guild has gone (if to a lower pop server), or your guild moves for you to a lower pop server.
Lion’s Arch is changed to be linked to servers; so if your wvw population is low, you can go to LA and recruit. It’s up the various teams to get the players to come out — this means that players can do things like zerg sessions, community events, etc to show people that wvw is fun.
For those pve players affected by the boot, reemphasize that because of the megaserver setup there’s really no issue being on a different server — ensure that all guilds, no matter what server they’re on, have access to a single guild hall. kitten what other factors may influence pve players if they change servers because of seniority.
While the OP did take a lot of time to think out a solution, I’m with the others in this thread, I don’t think it will work. It’s a very short-term fix that will wind up having us back to where we are now, albeit a year later.
I want wvw to last longer than just a year. And the reason it has so far is because of the communities that have been built. The OP suggests you can remake alliances and friendships; I’m suggesting that while that may be true, it will turn off a heck of a lot of people who already have solid friendships in game, and play wvw because of that.
There’s a reason why people kept playing WvW for years and years without rewards. It was because of the community.
