After being drunk for three days straight and an unceremonious /gquit, I am searching for servers to transfer to for the purpose of raiding and PVP. The process happened like so:

What I want:
- decent battleground and arena action
- emphasis on mid-Karazhan and motivation to progress
- generally friendly people and proper economy

Step #1: I figured the easiest way I could narrow the field of servers was by looking at Battlegroup forums. Sifting through twink posts, I got a general feeling for how the battlegrounds and arena teams were. Once I had gone through the list of Battlegroups, I came up with three that were acceptable. From this list, I compiled 20 PVE servers I would evaluate for transfer to.

Step #2: I rated the 20 servers by first forum page results, guild progression, and amount of guilds (Y/N). The forums and progression were graded from 1 to 10, 1 being absolutely drab and depressing, and 10 being an exact fit for me. None of them ranked 10, and actually the highest ranked one came up at a 15 (adding progression score with forum score.) I picked the top four graded servers from my list and continued..

Step #3: For the last four servers, I checked their realm census and the first five pages of their forums. Forum results were graded 1-10, and the realm census either garnered a yes or no. Going through the first five pages gives a good idea of what guilds are/were recruiting, what the forum posters said to most people wondering if they should transfer, and the general attitude of the most active people on the server. After marking off one server, I'm left with three.

Step #4: Perhaps one of the most time consuming, it involves creating a throw away character to troll the capital cities of these servers. I haven't completed my tour yet, but the last three servers are: Aerie Peak, Dalaran, and Khaz Modan.

My boyfriend laughed at my process, and keeps on telling me to "transfer to Turalyon" or whatever, even though that was one of the lowest scored servers on my second step. I think I'm being thorough. :( I had to do this for me, since my guild recruitment post basically got laughed at because I'm a mid-Karazhan healer decked out in non-heroic (read: 70 PVP blues & purples) gear. My feelings are hurt.. but I'll just kill people to make myself feel better.