I'm on console so don't have the new chapter yet, but I think the majority are in Murkmire trying to get the oakensoal lead!

Ah thanks. That makes sense. It had not occurred to me that people would be in other zones, even for the HI expansion. Maybe I should do likewise and come back to doing the WB dailies a little later. I guess when everyone has their mythics and companions levelled, they too will start on the dailies. Mystery solved I think. 😊

I think ppl have also figured out that Zos will add things to the dailies later to tempt us to come back. Like furnishing plans. So a lot ppl I know are not doing the dailies much right now. No rush. They will drop better stuff later, probably.

I keep bumping into people wherever I go (which is nice even if we are all 'doing our own thing'), may it be PDs, Vents, WBs or just general zone quests, just not crowds of them.

Given that the big push of the chapter (ToT) detracts from people from being active in the zone(s) and that some the mythic leads (acquiring Mora's ones is proving a rather frustrating affair for instance) are IMO the worse to date I'm not surprised that the chapter doesn't feel 'crowded'.

Still Gonfalon Bay seems lively enough despite (again IMO) losing to Leyawiin/Vivec/Alinor in terms of convenience and functionality.

Which is a shame, I really like the architecture/general look and feel of the place (and the zone in general).

Everyone is in Mirkmire waiting for boxes to spawn.

I don't think there are as many people in the zone as there were in previous expansions.

I think people who are in ToT games arent actually visible in zones. There doesnt seem to be an idle animation for it, like for example if you are looking in the crownstore or the map etc.

I'm loving the new zone and everything with it so far and had this same concern yesterday.
I'm EST and earlier in the day and into late afternoon it seemed like there were very few ppl.
However there were large groups of players at vent events (leads, decks)

I had a wagonload of maps and surveys I needed to do so I took a break from ToT (ADDICTED) and while running other zones I noticed the ones that had new item lead(s) were very busy. (Zone chats in Glenumbra and Murkmire were... "colourful and youthful" )
Then into the evening and late night High Isle was much busier, how I would have expected at quests, overland, Gonfalon Gaming Hall, etc.

So I don't think the game or new zone is less busy than other launches, I think ppl are more scattered around other zones.
And when I think about it leads for many of the major new mythics ppl are after are in other zones from High Isle.

Judging from the addon BeamMeUp (on PC-EU with five guilds), most people are split between High Isle, with High Isle currently taking the lead, and the ol' favourite of Vvardenfell. So I would say it's probably just your play time.

High Isle is a pretty dead map considering its only just released, the new overland sets are garbage, the two public dungeons there had zero treasure chests and the mobs seemed to only drop the odd gold. World bosses drop like flies, the vents are just rehashed dolmens. It is a pretty underwhelming chapter so it's not surprising it's empty.

I went against my better judgement and ended up buying it even though I said I wasn't. I goto the map every now and then to complete a bit of it but tbh it doesn't even excite me and make me want to stay.

It's also summer in NA so players might be playing less as there is that whole outdoor thing you can do. My play time is certainly lower this time of year.

Parasaurolophus wrote: »

Unfortunately, this was exactly the case with Blackwood's release. Only if the High Isle had a high population on the first day, Blackwood was empty to begin with.

I didn't find the same thing when Blackwood was released. I was able to complete all the daily achievements (30/30) with no problem. There were always players at the world bosses. And plenty of players doing the other content.

With High Isle, it feels deserted. I arrived at a WB yesterday and decided to wait to see how long it would take for someone else to show up. It took TEN minutes. When I arrived at another boss, only one player was there (already engaged). With Blackwood, there were always other players there, usually waiting for the boss to spawn again.

ETA: I see a lot of posters saying players are elsewhere or doing something else or waiting for an event or there are more instances to prevent lag. I don't buy it. Players could always do that, but previous chapters were definitely more populated. Same goes for the instances. I suspect the chapter didn't sell well. Probably a lot of players are waiting for a sale.

Maybe as Alcast said it's more aggressive instancing than before but also you really can't discount the appeal for High Isle owners of the Oakensoul Ring, an inordinate appeal IMO, because the ring isn't really the end all and be all like some seem to think it is, but that's a different story.

There's a significant chunk of High Isle owners camping Murkmire safe boxes 24/7. Just take a trip there and you'll see that Murkmire is actually much more populated than High Isle at the moment.

As for me, I am just now leaving High Isle for other places for the first time since it released but that's only because Ember is at 1500+ rapport and I'm off doing her quest - a much more interesting and fun quest IMO, than that of any previous companion.