What do you think, how populated frostmourne will be in couple of months?

[macbethad]

Im choosing between icecrown and frostmourne to start. Dont want to invest my time in realm that will be empty in some time

[Thorbjorn]

If population is your only interest then just go Icecrown. Frostmourne had low population in the last few months of its past season.

[ZpiXDK]

You will be able to transfer your Frostmourne char's to Icecrown when Frostmourne season ends

Icecrown is always at 12.000 players

Frostmourne will be 12.000 the most of the time till the last few months before reset (:

[macbethad]

So chances are for like 6+ months it will be at 12k?

[Kovachut]

So chances are for like 6+ months it will be at 12k?

I've played on FM in season 1 and 2, and I can tell you the following regarding the population (at least, this was the case for the previous two seasons):
- peak population only in the Naxx phase. Why?

• Many people love the idea for a fresh server, where everyone starts from scratch and is in equal conditions with the other players, and those guys join them every time one opens up.
• Coin farming. Gold and characters are sold for a lot of coins.
• Realm First achievements.
• Just want to experience the old content with the respective gear.

- Ulduar - around 9-10k players, dropping to 5k at the end of the patch. I can only speculate why the reason for this was. Like, Ulduar is a fun raid, and it's also quite challenging in a good way. People always aim to get RF achievements and claim that prestigious achievement, but I guess some are not invested enough and just play on FM for the progression and the RFs. Once those are claimed, then there's no incentive for some people to stay. This is a shame because I really wanted to raid the entire content, and when a guild disbands, finding a new home can be rather difficult especially if certain spots are already taken and the guild is looking exclusively for specific classes. Another reason why some people might lose interest in playing there is because the summer vacation ends at the end of Ulduar, and some want to concentrate on their studies?

In any case, what I have observed is that at the end of Ulduar the FM population is halved, and it gets worse after that. There are definitely some increases in the population (up to 7-8k) when a new phase is launched and people want to claim the RFs, but I'd say it was only temporary.

Just FYI on what you could expect from the third season. I'm not saying thatt it will definitely end the same way, but it's something to be mindful of. Though, I'd like to end on a positive note and say that Naxx and Ulduar can be really enjoyable phases for people, who do them for the first time. The game does feel different when you take a break from the ICC and RS routine and do the old content with lower tier gear.