Guild Wars 2 (GW2) started off with a bang, with more than one million gamers playing over the three-day Headstart, and over 400,000 of us online at once. That’s quite a success. Almost too much of one. Gamers found themselves in the overflow server, rather than the servers of their choice–and the choice of their buddies. This left many believing that they would have to game on their own, as the overflow server would prevent them from being able to slay fiends with friends.
Not so, says ArenaNet.
ArenaNet told me, “[The overflow feature] is not intended only for solo play–in addition to running around with other people you can travel in overflow servers with your party members as well. Overflow servers will keep parties together, and players will be able to travel to the same overflow server as any friend or guild member who is also in an overflow.”
There was some confusion about the overflow servers during pre-launch. Understandably, as it turns out. “Unfortunately, during Headstart, some bugs prevented this from working as intended.”
But when it is working as intended, here is the procedure: “If players need to meet up in the same overflow, they simply need to be in the same map and right click their party member’s portrait and select ‘Join in.’”
In this way, guildies can share their war stories while waiting for their home world to open up and let them in.