So now that we're in all-out preparing mode for the Guild Wars 2 release, it might be a good idea to figure out the situation for EU members. As you may know, Lincoln Force is currently rolling on Yak's Bend, which is a US server. For the past two Beta Weekend Events, most EU members have also been playing on that server, and there doesn't seem to be any major lag or latency there. This seems like it would be the option upon release. However, there are a few other options:

• If enough members do experience lag on Yak's Bend, then we could join the guild on YB, but then guest in an EU server. This would mean that we still get to take part in WvW with the guild.
• There's also the choice of making an EU version of LINC on a home server, which would be a more stable option but means we would only be affiliated with Lincoln Force in name.

Feel free to make some suggestions or voice your thoughts on the matter, so we can make the release a great experience for all regions.

selfconfessedcynic has kindly listed a list of the positive and negatives. If you're on the fence about what to do they might come in handy for tipping you a certain side.

The main positives of being with us on Yak's Bend are;

• Not only can you play with eachother, but you'll have more opportunities to play with the rest of us (as you won't have to stop what you're doing to switch servers in order for us to group together)
• The Yak's Bend guild (from the events, though the roster seems to reflect this) is looking to be 60% US, 30% EU and about 10% Oceanic. Playing on Yak's Bend would make it significantly more likely to have someone else from GB to play with (even if it's a yank skipping college or staying up late) than otherwise, as there's simply more members there. I can say that most of us Oceanics will be sticking to Yak's if the brits do leave, mainly because of the next reason.
• Server loads from the betas suggest that the US servers are on average more populated than the EU ones (using the in-game "low", "medium", "high", "full" monitors). This is mainly because plenty of other guilds out there are facing the same decision making process as we are, and for them (for example, the gamebreaker community and the yoggscast community), a lot have decided to stay together on the US servers even though they're overseas (which I hope will be the case here) in addition to the US just having more GW2 players in general.
• Yak's Bend was amongst the highest population servers internationally
• (Again), none of the EU guys or AUS guys who played on Yak's Bend, to date, have complained of much lag at all, let alone excessive lag
• And finally, Yak's Bend not only kicks some serious ass in WvW, but also, having EU guys on here would allow us to kick MORE ass in WvW because we'll have a "night shift" (which will allow us to compete with other servers with a similar redeye community like Darkhaven)

The main negatives are;

• If you have EU friends outside of the guild that you play with a lot of the time (btw I welcome you to have them join us), you'll have to stop what you're doing and switch servers to play with them (though the guesting system looks to be very easy to use)
• Language. Yak's is a predominantly English speaking server, which could be a concern for some of you.
• Yak's Bend is unproven in terms of week-day EU night time activity. If it's anything like it was during the BWEs, there was still a bunch of people playing (again, whether they be EU guys or US/Aus guys up at strange hours) - but yes, it's unproven.
• You never know, there may be a chance of random lag - though as of yet there doesn't seem to be

My only concern about going on the US servers would be the time difference, with most of the US members tucked up in bed when I want to play.

Can you join a guild even if you don't belong on the same home server? If you can then we should just designate a server for EU members to all join so we can WvW together.

@Riddell: That's a legitimate concern. If it's anything like the BWE though, in the mornings here the Aussies are on, and as the day goes by, the Americans wake up to join in.

@SamStrife: You can be on different servers and still be in the same guild now that I think about it. At least in the Beta there were a few people on different servers.

@Maystack:Seems like the best way is to designate an EU server as one EU Duders should join if they want to WvW with each other and then all join the same centralised guild. Seen as you can play on any server anyway, that would seem like a win win for all.

@SamStrife: The only downside to that is that we wouldn't be able to WvW with the rest of the guildies.

@Maystack: Well if someone is THAT desperate to WvW with the US lot rather than the EU, then they can join the Yak's Bend server as their home.

@Dark_Lord_Spam: I don't know how much of a hassle guesting on a different server is though. If you have to fight through several menus with lag to get to a different server every time you log in, it might cause some problems. I haven't yet experienced any lag on Yak's Bend, but it may affect other EU members.

@Dark_Lord_Spam: If it's that simple then it shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'm quite happy to stay on Yak's, but if the majority of guys want to pick an EU server, then I'm more than happy to oblige. Need to see what the officers think as well.

@Maystack: I enjoyed playing on Yaks, managed to play with aussies and yanks alike and had literally no lag. I also really appreciated being able to join in the whole WvW. Similarly, if all/as many as possible of the EU memebers did play on Yaks then there would be less of a worry of having no-one to play with when other regions sleep. Those were my thoughts.

I don't even know if we can come to a conclusion until all the EU members get their hands on the full game to experience lag for themselves. I don't think it will be an issue, but, will we all get free transfers again? Maybe if we suggest each member to try Yaks Bend first, and, if there does end up being an issue then we can choose an EU server and all migrate. If we all manage to play 1 server, it only means more people around when you're on to play with.

@Chavtheworld: That's a good point, I don't know if they'll be offering the free migration option though. I don't see why they wouldn't. In any case, I've sent them a tweet (god I hate that word) asking about it. Hopefully they'll get back with an answer.

@Maystack: Awesome, let me know.

I, for one, really hope that you guys don't head off to an EU server. Being one of the Aussies on Yak's Bend, I can say I've never had any lag and - perhaps more importantly - never lacked for people to play with, no matter what time I got on. Of course, our experience with this comes from beta weekends, which by definition are during times where most people aren't at work or school / uni and are playing during both daylight hours and night-time ones (but on the same note, weekends are when a lot of us do the vast majority of our gaming anyway).

The main positives of being with us on Yak's Bend are;

• Not only can you play with eachother, but you'll have more opportunities to play with the rest of us (as you won't have to stop what you're doing to switch servers in order for us to group together)
• The Yak's Bend guild (from the events, though the roster seems to reflect this) is looking to be 60% US, 30% EU and about 10% Oceanic. Playing on Yak's Bend would make it significantly more likely to have someone else from GB to play with (even if it's a yank skipping college or staying up late) than otherwise, as there's simply more members there. I can say that most of us Oceanics will be sticking to Yak's if the brits do leave, mainly because of the next reason.
• Server loads from the betas suggest that the US servers are on average more populated than the EU ones (using the in-game "low", "medium", "high", "full" monitors). This is mainly because plenty of other guilds out there are facing the same decision making process as we are, and for them (for example, the gamebreaker community and the yoggscast community), a lot have decided to stay together on the US servers even though they're overseas (which I hope will be the case here) in addition to the US just having more GW2 players in general.
• Yak's Bend was amongst the highest population servers internationally
• (Again), none of the EU guys or AUS guys who played on Yak's Bend, to date, have complained of much lag at all, let alone excessive lag
• And finally, Yak's Bend not only kicks some serious ass in WvW, but also, having EU guys on here would allow us to kick MORE ass in WvW because we'll have a "night shift" (which will allow us to compete with other servers with a similar redeye community like Darkhaven)

The main negatives are;

• If you have EU friends outside of the guild that you play with a lot of the time (btw I welcome you to have them join us), you'll have to stop what you're doing and switch servers to play with them (though the guesting system looks to be very easy to use)
• Language. Yak's is a predominantly English speaking server, which could be a concern for some of you.
• Yak's Bend is unproven in terms of week-day EU night time activity. If it's anything like it was during the BWEs, there was still a bunch of people playing (again, whether they be EU guys or US/Aus guys up at strange hours) - but yes, it's unproven.
• You never know, there may be a chance of random lag - though as of yet there doesn't seem to be

It may be a case where you guys simply can't reach a consensus due to the above reasons simply being too devisive - in that case, as earlier stated, you can be a part of the Yak's guild whether you choose one way or another, and perhaps everyone can find a solution that works best for them.

Oh, and I went back and pulled from the poll we held last time for a GB EU beta server. I'm hoping y'all can chime in (and sorry if any of you have since moved on from Lincoln Force or GW2 in general)

@Seppli: @zyn: @S0ndor: @eldiax: @Mustachio: @Xyber: @WinterSnowblind: @Sjupp: @Gargantuan: @CornishRocker: @MannyCalavera: @RIDEBIRD:

• How did the Betas go for you in the servers you tried out? (Winter and Cornish - you weren't on Yak's were you?)
• Did you give Yak's Bend or any US servers a shot during the betas?
• Would you be willing to give it a go during the next (and final) beta?
• Did you play with any GB guys on those servers?
• Do you want to play with us come release, or do you have your own guilds?

@MaystackLooking at that old poll, and seeing how splintered our EU guys can be (as a lot of y'all have a bunch of different reasons to be on a particular server, like language concerns), it may be a case where we go with Yak's and invite everyone else to give it a shot. It may be the only thing we CAN do.

@selfconfessedcynic: You pretty much put all of my thoughts into words haha. It does seem like Yak's would be the best option just at the start, and then if we run into problems on launch we can decide then.

@Maystack said:

@selfconfessedcynic: You pretty much put all of my thoughts into words haha. It does seem like Yak's would be the best option just at the start, and then if we run into problems on launch we can decide then.

Keep in mind that a server switchover costs $22. Better to decide during the next beta so people have more time to react if needed.

@UssjTrunks: I'm currently inquiring as to whether they'll have a free migration at launch like in the beta. Don't know if I'll get an answer. They seem to only answer the same five questions over and over again.

@UssjTrunks said:

Keep in mind that a server switchover costs $22. Better to decide during the next beta so people have more time to react if needed.

O_O

Though, they HAVE said they will be making it free to flip flop close to release (however, I don't believe they've disclosed solid numbers in terms of timing or if it'll be # of switches based). Also remember that you can pay for it with in-game gold by converting from gems (and I'll be willing to help fund people's switches if they feel burned).

But yes, a decision before and during the next beta is pretty much required. No pressure @Maystack : P (I love being able to shove responsibility in someone else's direction)

@selfconfessedcynic: I guess that's what I signed up for :P

I guess we just need to wait for a few more EU members to pipe up with their opinion on what we should do, and then see how things go in the beta weekend.

@Maystack: Perhaps add my positives / negatives breakdown to the OP so people who come in don't have to read everything?

Anyway, GL dude - I only have to take care of like 6 other dudes : P (of which pretty much all can take care of themselves and/or are fine with whatevs)

We should all roll on Yaks Bend because that way we can all contribute to the guild's influence, contribute to WvW, PvE etc. We play on Yak's bend whenever the connection is good (which in my experience was all the time) and guest on other servers when it isn't or we need the best ping possible (for sPVP or something like that.)

Just my opinion but I think splitting the guild would be a bad idea and slow down influence reward progression.

I find it telling that only two or three guys have responded to this thread outside of the leadership team.

I guess that makes it pretty clear that we can just keep the status quo and keep rollin' as a big happy guild on Yak's, huh?

Worst case for those who don't want to main Yak's with us is that you can guest on Yak's when we're doing an event and just add our guild to your list (as you can rep multiple guilds across your account).

I'll jump into any server that the Lincoln Force (EU) guild is on.

@selfconfessedcynic: I didn't play any betas, so I don't know about the server latency.

@selfconfessedcynic: Well Cynic, you've completely sold me on joining Yak's bend. Look forward to playing with you.

@SamStrife: I'm just hopin' that wasn't sarcasm : )

You're more than welcome to join my merry night-shift raiding party in WvW. MAN the things we got up to.

I will be playing on the US server.

@selfconfessedcynic said:

• Language. Yak's is a predominantly English speaking server, which could be a concern for some of you.

I don't think this will be a problem, if they are on an English speaking website like Giant Bomb they can probably speak English.

@selfconfessedcynic: Nope, being genuine. Didn't realise there were that many EU players that I'd be able to roll with in a normal time...and of course I can always go to an EU server as a guest if I really wanted to. 25th August can't come soon enough.

@selfconfessedcynic: Yeah, seeing as I don't think any of the people that you got from the previous EU thread have posted it looks like it's official. Yak's Bend all the way.

I'd like an EU dedicated server for the Lincoln Force, I was hoping to join but I was put off by it only being based in the U.S servers.

@Benny: I dunno, I just don't like the idea of committing myself to an American server. I would want my home server to be an EU server because I would feel more comfortable that way, I might give it a try joining an American server if they allow guesting in the next BWE though. What server are the U.S. Lincoln Force on?

@Nihilius: Yak's Bend. The only thing you gain from your home server is the WvW bonuses for that server and the ability to play with people in a more local time-zone so I'd definitely recommend trying a US server in BWE3.

@Benny: Are you able to go in WvW while guesting? I think you cannot but I can't remember. Yeah another concern for me is the time differences. I'm from Scotland and its like a 7 hours difference from the U.S not great for organising events at all.

@Nihilius: You're right, you can only WvW on your home server.

@Nihilius: The time differences shouldn't be too much of a problem for us, because if you join Lincoln Force, there'll be a good amount of EU members on Yak's Bend also. In the past two BWEs, I haven't noticed any significant difference between amount of players on at different times. It might have been because everyone wanted to play as much as possible, but the only times that only a few guildies were online is in the early hours of the morning here.

Like Benny said, I'd give Yak's Bend a try just to see if you get any lag or latency. There's a pretty low chance that you will, but if some people experience it, we'll look into transferring to an EU server. All in all, Yak's Bend didn't seem any different than it would being based in the EU. Plus, if you join Yak's Bend, you'll get to party with Lincoln Force.

So will we know further information as to which server us Europeans are going to be joining?

As long as their is a lack of lag (Numerous posts suggest there wasn't anything noticeable) And people are playing at what would be our 'normal time' (GMT) then playing with the rest of the guild on Yak sounds fine to me.

@RekIvan:

We're going with a united EU / Oceanic / American guild on Yak's Bend for the foreseeable future

Yay!