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Server health is something that folks tend to focus on only when they’re considering transferring characters in game but it’s much more than the existence (or lack thereof) of a lot of competent players. For instance, I’ve spent the majority of my WoW career on three servers; Staghelm, Gnomergan and Proudmoore. Each of the servers has different strengths and weaknesses.

Proudmoore had the most talented and dedicated player base that I’ve yet to encounter in WoW. Most of the pugs I played in were at the low end, competent, and at the high end, exceptional. That said, the talented player base had its downside as well. Many guilds on the server were loathsomely elitist…take a gander at some guild websites to get an idea of the mindset of raiding guilds on the server.

Gnomergan will always hold a special place in my heart as it was the first server that I played on. For the most part, Gnomergan is on the seeping edge of raiding (not first, certainly not last, but somewhere in the nondescript middle). I’ll still drop in from time to time to check out the Auction House and listen in on Trade Chat to see how the server is doing. Its funny to try and contact players that I first met in the game almost five years ago; a digital walk down memory lane.

Staghelm is somewhere between Proudmoore and Gnomergan. The raiding population covers the full spectrum; from focused raiding guilds to a bunch of kids hanging out killing time. Compared to Proudmoore, the state of pugs (especially competent ones,) would best be described as slightly anemic. However, Staghelm is one of the only servers in the game where I’ve ever felt truly at home (players that share similar mindsets and play styles.)

What stands out in my mind as the real differentiating factor for each of these servers was the time that I spent on each. Gnomergan was Vanilla WOW, Proudmoore was TBC and half of WOTLK and Staghelm is the tail end of WOTLK. Each time I log into these servers, I’m reminded of all the treasured moments I’ve had in WOW on that server. Anyone else have experience on multiple servers that is similar (or even better, something completely different)?