When I first started on World of Warcraft, I had no idea where I should create my new characters. So I decided to ask a few friends which server is the best. No one had an answer, so I went to the server where most of them are playing…Only to find out that it doesn’t suit what I want to do on WoW, or how I want to play the game.

I did a Google search to see if this was possible. I came across a website that nailed down exactly what I was looking for… Secret Warcraft by Jonathan Kenins has a podcast that offers tips and techniques on how to choose World of Warcraft servers according to your gaming style.

So in order to play the auction house game, I need to find a very populated server so I can take advantage of their economy.

Jonathan Kenins suggests I go to WarcraftRealms.com to help me determine the population of a particular server. This website uses an add-on to do a census on each server on either US or EU WoW. It will help you get an idea on how many Horde or how many Alliance players are on a particular server.

Basically here are the things you need if you want to make a lot of money on a particular server: A heavily populated server - Servers with less players tend to have less demand for things, so items are usually not very high priced because there is not a lot of demand for them. So go for a server that has a lot of people, in order to take advantage of their economy.

A good balance between Alliance and Horde. That, or you can choose a server that has a bit less people playing on the side that you want to be in. The side with less players will usually have a higher price range on items.

You can either go PVE or PVP. Depending on the way you want to play World of Warcraft. If you want to make money, you’d be better off on a PVE server than a PVP. Getting ganked while gathering goods in the wild is NOT fun. So PVE is a better choice for that way of playing.

Using the guidelines mentioned above, you will be able to narrow down your quest for a new server down to 3 to 4 choices. The next thing you have to do is to make level 1 characters on each faction and server, and bring them to their respective auction houses. Here you will be able to do a scan and monitor the price for high-end items. Herbs like Deadnettle, Goldclover, and Tiger Lily should be around the 40g range.

Take a look at trade goods that you are familiar with. Mithril Bars, Gems, Cobalt Ores usually go for a high price. What you’re looking for and what you need is a server that has prices on the higher-end. If these things are not going for a decently high price, it means that there is not enough wealth on that particular server, and therefore not suitable for the way you want to play the game.