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I've been playing on Icecrown for some time now and I am thinking about trying out the 1x rates on Lordaeron.
How does the population feel? I notice it is usually a few thousand less than Icecrown at any given time, but is it ever really 'empty'? Does RDF take forever to pop, etc.
The population is rather healthy and I'd describe Icecrown as 'overcrowded'. On Lordaeron, Dalaran has just enough people for you to feel like it has a good playerbase and there are quite a lot of people in the leveling zone. Especially during peak hours, you would have no problem making a raid group, but it might get a bit harder later in the night (NA times) and early morning.
As for RDF, it depends on your role. Tanks and Heals obviously get faster pops, but if you're a DPS, you'd most likely be stuck in a queue for 30min+. That being said, since this is still WotLK, RDF gives much less experience, so people who wish to level quickly, do quests, since that way you reach level 80 much faster.
The server is pretty much the same as Icecrown with lower rates. You will encounter the same level of inexperience or even worst.
RDF takes some times, I could say it takes a bit more than icecrown, but not that much anyway. (sometimes you can spend an hour wishing for a tank or healer to queue) The good thing about RDF is the gear on players entering the RDF is different than icecrown, cuz of the x1 rates people have more time completing quests and getting the **** they really need before you could even queue.
So entering a level 15+ dung, you'll encounter a better geared tank, compared to the gray tanks of Icecrown.
At level 70+ leveling becomes a boredom of magnificent proportions:
Few RDF, and experience doesn't go fast as you wanted to, unless heirlooms or boosted or aoe class.
Few gankers. You'll encounter less higher level gankers as in Icecrown. (that's a good thing)
Once again, your gear match up the zone, so you'll encounter less problems than most icecrown players how are still wearing level 40 items.
Thanks for the replies. Started my druid and working on leveling up. I was actually pretty surprised - I logged in late last night and there were still 3-4 other players in the NE starting zone.
As for dungeons and raids, I believe I have read that these are boosted to be harder on this server. Is that true, and if so, how much harder are things? Do people have crazy requirements for gs for things because of it?
Also, last question. How 'late' am i to things here? Are most level 80s bis now and just farming ICC, or are there still plenty of players in all ranges?
The content is buffed'by a small margin (in the beginning was really hard, but over time nerfs were applied), there is no ICC buff, and boss health is boosted and enrage timers shortened. But the effect of this realm is such that it ultimately produces somewhat better raiders, so gearscore-wise, its basically the same as icecrown, maybe even a bit more lenient. But as far as raiding goes, you should most definitely join a raiding guild here.
You are not late. Most guilds are doing ICC and RS, but there is plenty of Ulduar and ToC runs every week, with the occasional Naxx run and earlier expansion raids also.