The best of WoW.com: December 8-15, 2009

The player base isn't shrinking and it doesn't take on average 30mins to find a group. Doesn't matter how many players you have to will always have a disproportionate amount of players playing a dps only class. Dual specs and hybrids help with that problem but try queuing up as a tank. It's instant.

I'd also like to point out that at least on my realm I've never seen so many people in Dalaran at the same time, couple all that with the fact that instance servers are at max load and I am going to either call you disillusioned or just trolling. (Additional instances cannot be launched)

Yeah, the player base is still pretty huge considering all the server ques and lag everyone got patch night. The issue is that no one wants to tank or heal. This was apparent even before the new patch. You’d open up LFG and see a list of about 20 people wanting to do the same dungeon as you, all of them listed as DPS.

How do you fix this? Not sure. You can’t really force people to play a role they don’t like, but it should start with the community’s attitude towards starting healers and more importantly, tanks. People are reluctant to start tanking for fear that they’ll get ripped apart for not being uber leet and decked out in the most epic gear. Many players are just spoiled by having tanks that are cutting edge and are harsh to any tank just starting out. In this kind of situation, why would anyone want to stick their neck out?

All I can say is that if you are a tank or healer, you don’t need to wait 15 minutes. As a healer, it literally takes me less than a minute to find a new group. The program isn’t trying to find available players. It’s just trying to find players that are willing to do something other than pew pew and nuke.

I signed back up for a month to check this new system out and frankly I think you're flat out wrong -- badly so. The server I primarily play on (Shu'halo) was busier then ever and it hasn't taken more then a minute or two for an instance to pop, even when I picked specific ones.

Sadly, in the time I've been gone most of the instances have seen nerfs and between that and the 5% buff to everything with the new system, bringing a healer (and I have three eighty healers) is almost pointless, an even half competent group doesn't really need one.

Even Oculus, once the terror of the heroic daily rotation, has been nerfed into kittenhood. As much as I hated that place, it's kinda sad to see Malagos reduced to being just another average mob you easily steamroll on your way to phat lewt.

In any event, the new cross-server system seems to be a huge success and all of the changes the game has gone through seem to have made it more popular then ever. I can't say as I really get why -- With no challenge what's the point? For me, I was bored after one day back, so I doubt I'll be paying for more then a month (not even sure I'll bother logging in again), but it'd be foolish of me to ignore that, my feelings aside, the game is clearly doing better then ever.

Yeah i have to agree with UniBrow, 15-30 minutes is absurd. Its possible but its not common, and has nothing to do with a dwindling player base...Dont know where you get your info.

Just so you know bud, WoW is actually one of the easiest MMOs to jump into. They make the starting zones for a new player very simple, alot of fun, and they hold your hand for a handful of levels. It is even better when you join a few friends who are already veterans.

I know WoW is the uncool thing to do in the hardcore gaming world, but I have been playing it since day one and I absolutely love it. It is an amazing way to end a long day of work and school to kill some shit with my fiance and bunch of friends.

Woops, totally forgot... try the free trial, you just might like it :)

If you ever want to play, do so now. With the next expansion they are completely changing the original game. Many areas will be changed, some areas will be gone, many quests will be gone. See the original game now, or you won't be able to see how it originally was,

Actually this patch included quite a lot of improvements for new players, including a brand new tutorial system. The new dungeon finder system is also a huge benefit to low lvl characters wanting to do the levelling instances. And in six months or so Cataclysm should massively improve the levelling experience. The barrier for entry is just getting lower and lower.

As someone who only started playing WoW in January I can tell you that WoW is really easy for a new player to get into, just pick a high pop server to level on so you don't feel too lonely at those levels.

Also it helps to have a friend that plays. (remembers my noobish days of play when my friend told me 'you can freedom on those frost traps),