WoW Battleground Topic 2: Queue Changes

No such luck on finding my queueing theory books so I’ve just decided to throw some numbers around to try to imitate the cross server battleground bahavior. I just went through a horrible three day seminar so hold with me as I try to use my brain again.

Lets start with some Assumptions:
1) More servers are Alliance heavy then Horde
2) Usually the ratio between the two doesn’t get worse then 2:1
3) There are some Horde heavy servers
4) Servers balanced between the two factions are rare, almost non existent
5) Server population average is about 3,000 (could be anything)
6) PvP participation is about 10% (could be anything)

Current Setup
A normal server is looking at a ratio of 2,000 to 1,000 players with either the Horde or Alliance being the more popular faction. About 10% on each side partake in pvp which makes it about 200 people on one side of the queue and 100 people on the other side of the queue. With this setup only 50% of the people on the more popular faction get to play the rest are waiting in the queue.

Battlegroup Setup
Lets say a battlegroup has around 10 servers
7 are Alliance heavy with a 2:1 ratio
3 are Horde heavy with a 2:1 ratio
Assume average population of 3000 with 10% playing in PvP

Alliance: 7x2,000 + 3x1,000 = 17,000 and Horde: 3x2,000 + 7x1,000 = 13,000
New ratio is 17,000 to 13,000
With this setup 76% of people on the more popular faction get to play instead of waiting in a queue.

Other Considerations
The rate at which games start and end in a battlegroup setup is going to be much quicker then just a single server. The 24% of people who are on the more popular faction and have to wait in the queue should expect their wait time to decrease by a factor related to the number of servers in their battlegroup. I expect WSG and AB battles to start almost immediately once you enter the queue.

On a side note my exact numbers were guesswork but I be willing to bet my ratio of Alliance heavy to horde heavy servers was a good guess. I also know in general most servers have more then 3,000 people on at peak time and pvp participation flucuates between 10-30% depending on how close it is to Tuesday’s honor tally.