Are you curious to learn more about the WoW Realms? Click this article to see what you need to know and check the WoW server status before playing.
World of Warcraft is one of Blizzard’s legendary titles that has been around since 2004. Despite being almost 20 years old, the game continues to attract players from all over the world. Since there are millions of active users, not all of them play together because the servers won’t be able to hold them. That’s why there are different WoW realms in every region.
Even though the WoW realms are easy to understand, a lot of new players are having problems learning more about them. Every realm is essentially the same when it comes down to the things you will find. However, some realms focus on PVP, whereas others are more PvE-orientated, so choosing the right one is important.
This WoW realms article will show you everything you need to know about those things, so let’s dive in.
WoW Realms – What are those things?
A real is basically something like a server where World of Warcraft players can play their favourite game. All WoW realms are hosted on server blades, which are physical devices whose goal is to make sure the realm is stable. This is achieved by having a maximum player limit that prevents the realm from having too many players.
Every World of Warcraft realm has its distinct name, playstyle, and language that shows where most of the community comes from. Each region (Europe, US, China, and Korea) has different reals, and to play, you have to choose one of them. As mentioned, this is a very important process.
Types of WoW Realms & Their Functionality
Before checking the WoW server status and choosing which option you want to play, you should know that there are different types of reams. Generally speaking, we can divide them into the following groups:
- Player vs Player (PVP)
- Player vs Environment (PVE)
- Roleplaying (RP)
- Roleplaying Player vs Player (RP-PvP)
- Test
Each of the WoW realm types has its expectations towards players, which is why it depends on what type of a person you are. That said, most people usually choose the PvE and PvP realms, which explains why they are more popular.
Starting with the PVP wow realms, those places are characterized by the fact that there is more player versus player action than in the rest. Usually, players who enter specific contested zones will automatically be included in the PVP combat, and they can’t disable this until they get out.
PvE realms, on the other hand, are more relaxing when compared to PVP because it is more difficult to fight with other players. Consequently, many people refer to those types of reals as “Normal”.
Roleplaying realms and Test realms are specific and usually have fewer players than the rest.
WoW realms Functionality
The most important thing to remember about WoW realms is that each one contains a complete version of the game. People playing in a specific realm and having a character there won’t be able to access the same character in another realm. Furthermore, players can’t form guild parties, send mail, interact, and trade with players from another realm. Furthermore, all game progress is also specific to that realm.
Even though you can’t access your character in another realm, you can move it from one to different WoW realms using free migrations or a paid character transfer. However, there are limits because you can’t move a given character from one region to another.
When talking about WoW realms, we need to mention that some of them use the so-called “Connected Realms” feature. This means there are things like cross-realm zones, where characters from different realms can come together. Players can also play against or with each other if they are in a battleground, arena, or using the dungeon finder. Moreover, players from different World of Warcraft realms can play together if they have each others’ BattleTag. Once they are in a party, all characters from that party will be moved to the current leader’s realm, and they can do pretty much everything together.
World of Warcraft Realms – Regions & Populations
People who check the WoW server status will notice that there are different regions. Due to WoW’s massive fan base, players worldwide can access the servers located closer to their homes. This ensures they have the best possible connection.
Speaking of regions, WoW has the following ones:
- Europe
- Americas & Oceania
- Taiwan
- China
- Korea
As mentioned, each WoW acc is specific for a given region. Moreover, players can’t interact, play, or transfer their characters between regions. What’s more, the World of Warcraft leaderboards are also region-specific.
Another essential factor to consider, aside from the WoW server status, is the population. The whole idea of having different realms is to control how many people are playing so that they can have a good experience. To show how many users there are, Blizzard uses five specific options:
- Recommended
- Low
- Medium
- High
- Full
Interestingly, Blizzard will allow you to create new characters if you use the full WoW realms. Generally speaking, using a more popular realm is better because you will have more players to play with. However, there will be instances where you may need to wait in a queue to enter the given realm, so keep that in mind.
Interesting WoW Realms Stats
Each region in World of Warcraft has tons of realms, so it is impossible to list all of them. However, thanks to some sites that provide statistics, there are a few intriguing things you may be interested in.
When it comes down to the World of Warcraft factions, around 64.50% of people prefer Horde, meaning that close to 36% choose Alliance. Of course, most players will have a character in both factions, but the data clearly shows that the Horde has more fans.
At the time of writing this article, there are close to 32800 guilds in WoW, and as expected, the Horde has 2x more guilds than the Alliance. Regarding the Characters’ gender, around 53% are male, whereas close to 47% are female.
Europe is the most significant region in the game, so when you check the WoW server status, you will notice that it has 267 realms in total. The US is second with 246 realms, followed by Taiwain with 25 realms. Korea comes last with 18 realms.