Server populations are collapsing with most having 50% declines like Firemaw, Pyrewood village, Пламегор, Earthshaker etc. Some have returned to their original populations before their population spike and subsequent lock. There is no reason to keep them locked anymore.
Any population increase from the release of Ulduar is unlikely to lead to similar population spikes as the decline started in late November. People are simply quitting Wrath as nostalgia wears off.
Locked servers will be unlocked when the population is deemed suitable by blizzard with their own data. Even if the numbers are lower than when they were locked, it doesn’t mean anything
I used to be annoyed by the lock since I couldn’t transfer alts, but tbh it’s pretty nice having way less bots than unlocked servers. Only my main character really matters anyways
They already stated in a recent blue post that do NOT intend to open locked servers… because the population will skyrocket again after phase 2 release and queues will return.
Stop crying over it! It is what u choose… if u need a megaserver to play on then deal with the consequences (server locks, eventual queues, player anonymity, gdkp mafias, etc)
I’ll let you in on a secret, if you have a character on any SoM PvP realm you can bypass the lock and transfer it to one of the locked PvP realms, then you can make a new character and level it there or carry on with the transferred character.
snort
Yeah this’ll happen.
Earthshaker has never ever had a queue and it’s still locked btw. How would it possibly get to the point of having a queue again with it being, yanno, locked?
Sorry for breaking your hopes, copied from another thread:
Hope is lost guys.
After months of locked servers we get a response - a single hidden line in US blue post regarding PvP:
“we have no plans to lift realms restrictions on these realms in the near future.”
We’ve seen Blizzard change their opinion often on the topic.
Don’t hold your hope. It’s the exact same sentiment they made the day they locked the servers. Ergo it’s stayed true for last 3 months
Change has to start from somewhere. It’s quite logical to keep some servers locked such as Gehennas and Firemaw. But some servers have their population return to their pre-spike levels and during that time they had no queues. There is no point keeping them locked. There are no free transfers that lead to major swings in populations.
Alternatively, Blizzard can also consolidate smaller servers. There is no reason to keep PVP servers such as Patchwerk, Amnennar or Transcendence, or PVE servers like Chromie, Nethergarde keep or Giantstalker as separate servers.
And when players return, queues once again show up and Blizzard decide to tone down on layering again we’ll once again go and cry. Also try telling remnants of RP community that merging all their realms into Hydraxian was a good move. I’m sure they’ll really agree with you
So you want to tell me that whoever created characters on Firemaw etc. at the beginning, are the luckiest players ever? Who created then → will be able to play forever and the rest of us - F off? We have to chose the most unstable realms that are left. Of course people from Firemaw, Golemagg etc. WILL NEVER transfer, even if it’s free transfer, if you get free mount or whatever. That’s just dumb af.
Well you had entire month to get out and prepare your Alt in whatever server you wanted aside from Firemaw thanks to JJ. Did you use that opportunity?
If the Hydraxian merge was not successful it is not written in stone that any other merge will have the same fate. Ask people on dying servers how they feel. I’m sure they won’t agree with you.
Read my tag will ya? We’re on the same freaking realm and I am on the lesser side. And I somehow make by. But sure merge us onto Earthshaker or Pyrewood. I definitely would could use more reasons to hate those places than I already have.
Honestly though I really enjoy not seeing GDKP advert every single second nor offerts of boosting.
NGKeep can be merged with Giantstalker.
But that’s not the topic of the discussion. The discussion is about opening locked servers. You disagree. That’s fine.
Take care.
Thank you 
Only because mega realm player cry that a realm is “dying” doesn´t mean, it really does.
None of the RP Realms were “dying”
There was a reason why none of those realms wanted to be merged. 
And not everyone on a medium pop or high pop realm does want the realm to be merged.
I know a (now full/high PVE) realm, who did NOT want to become merged when they were still medium pop. When someone suggested it, they were mad. Because they liked the friendly atmosphere and community they had and didn´t want to loose in “favor” of an overcrowded realm.
But i am pretty sure, if they were still medium pop, you would have added them to the list of realms “that should be merged”. Because YOU think it´s “dying”.
It was the realm most of the german RPer went when their realm was doomed, EXACTLY for the reason that this realm was medium pop and the community the way it was. But hey, there is a “MEDIUM” pop realm, IT IS DYING" MERGE IT!!1111!!!
Not everyone wants to be stuck on a toxic mega realm. Not everyone does want the mentality of a mega realm.
The entitlement of players who prefer overcrowded realms to think they could speak for every realm, amazes me again and again.
And as Kiryaa said: There are still possible ways to play on big realms, you “just” had to level from scratch.
It was even possible with some preparation, to get a new character on one of the locked realms - you just had to think ahead and create a lvl one on one of the SoM realms. Guess how i managed to get a spy char on every locked realm 
Luckily the devs won´t merge medium pop realms, because they don´t consider them to be too small. And especially they won´t merge medium realms to create a bigger one - would be a bit useless when they try to get the realms smaller…
The topic with mergin realms, is a topic you started and not Kiryaa
However, if the devs do not unlock realms for PCT you can assume, they consider those realms still as too big. 
I like the solution the devs offer.
Now i can consider to move my last Firemaw character from this toxic realm to a more friendly realm, and still play PVP with my RL friend 
They should be unlocked but the sole intern working on Wotlk might not have worked it out or got to it with his 100,000 bug tracker to-do list.
Do I need to point out they already explicitly said no longer than day ago they have plans or intent on opening those transfers and realms?
Honestly at this point I don’t think you actively give a damn about server health or issues. Yes smaller servers are struggling. But your solution is just to allow those with disposable income to get away and make the realm die out even faster. And then you’ll come back crying again should queues come back again.
Okay, let me break this down.
Firstly, the Blizzard team who don’t play Wotlk or care about it in general can say whatever they want. I said they should do it, regardless of what they said in the past doesn’t mean I or anyone have to agree with them. OP doesn’t and the hundreds of threads a month about this issue show many do not either.
Secondly, I would never attack anyone for having little or no income. I think transfers should be free regardless - so don’t put words in my mouth. See below.
Thirdly, again putting words in my mouth. I have protested on these forums for months and months and made threads with 15k views regarding transfers. And that they should be free for the less fortunate.
I have also never cried about queues, so I won’t “be back again” crying. Even during peak the queues didn’t last long and I’d rather have small queues for a few days or a week one time than suffer a dead realm.
You can remain here shilling for Blizzard because you want to remain on your dead realm with 800 active raiders, of which probably nearly half of them are alts, but the majority as clearly shown here do not want that, and a massive chunk of mega realm players want their servers open so they can play with friends and the other reasons found of the countless threads about this issue being made weekly.
Stop with the nonsense.
Outside of Firemaw and Gehennas the only thing stoping anyone from playing with their friends is one’s unwillingness to make a new character on new realm. After all if you have long established friends there should be no issue for them to help you get up to speed and even lend you gold so you can gear up right? You don’t need to transfer a character and those that are “locked from playing with their friends” are mostly people like me who made their characters when WotLK started so lacking any real reasons to keep their characters. And if you started before WotLK Release there was nothing stopping you from being on a currently locked server
I said it to you once, I’ll say it again. Let’s wait a week shall we? Ulduar will drop and if you and the ones sharing your sentiment are correct there should be no problems at all right? No spikes in population, dead servers should remain dead.
I tried to level up a character on Pyrewood and honestly I don’t see the appeal of big realms. GDKP adverts, constant pressure on going fast when doing dungeons and despite being 10 times the size of NK still handful of “efficient” dungeons is being ran. And thanks to higher bit population making cash from gathering proffesions isn’t really a thing.
Could say the same to you. Because all this begging for mega realms is that for me - nonsense.