World Of Warcraft Classic: 10 Reasons Why J. Allen Brack Was Right
8. Layer Switching
Sharding or layering is when, due to the overcrowding of an area, a copy is created of said area and players are transported there instead to reduce the stress on the server. Layering, while a necessary evil in Classic WoW due to the large server populations, shattered the impression of an open immersive world, which is what gave the game its magic.
Layer switching quickly became an accepted norm among players. For those unfamiliar with the term, layer switching is when, as the name implies, a player switches layers depending on their needs. For example, if the mobs that they need to kill for a quest are all dead on one layer, they can switch to another where they are still alive.
This is done by having someone on another layer invite them to their party. As a result, guild chat just became a place to make 'layer me' requests.