Update: Trion has put together a great Server Status Page that can help you find a shard with some room.
I went to the Rift forums. It’s a dark, frightening place full of frustration over server queues.
But I did get a list of servers added since launch that I wanted to share, so you don’t have to go there. If you’re just starting out, these are your best bets to avoid long queue times, which aren’t expected to get better any time soon (ie, existing servers won’t magically be getting more capacity, so until people leave them, the queues will remain).
[SOURCE]
Rocklift- US-EN PvE
Dimroot- US-EN PvE
Shivermere UK PvP
Dayblind US PvP
Harrow — US PVP-RP
Immerwacht DE PvE
Rhazade DE PvP
Grimnir – FR PvP-RP
Sagespire – En EU PvP
Deepwood US PVP
Feenring PvP-RP
Stonecrest US PvP
Faemist US EN PVP (added at 12 pm PST)
Alsbeth US PvE (Added 1 pm PST)
Regulos US PvP (Added 1 pm PST)
Estrael US RP (Added 1:50 pm PST)
Tearfall US PvP (Added 1:50 pm PST)
Aedraxis US PvE (Added 3:30 pm PST)
Freeholme US PvP (Added 3:30 pm PST)
Emberlord US PvP (Added 3:30 pm PST)
Silkweb US PvE (added 4:15 pm PST)
Corthana US PvE (added 5:00 pm PST)
Laethys US PvE (added 5:00 pm PST)
Friday 2/25/2011 Updates
Brutmutter DE PvE (added 9:50 am PST)
Felsspitze DE PvP (added 9:50 am PST)
Holy crap that’s a lot of servers. I wonder if they didn’t get the correct numbers from their vendors or if there was a last minute pre-order rush. If I crash out on Faeblight – which isn’t common, mind you, once each in the past day – I simply can’t get back in. OTOH, having had these two days off, playing as much as I have (upwards of eight hours per day) is giving me a really bad case of Rift Head (i.e. I’m not young enough to play those kinds of hours any more lol.)
As an aside, I have to say it’s been many years since I’ve been in on at launch for a new MMO (WoW being the last one) and the behavior of many players is just short of appalling. However, respawn (of everything, including resources) keeps that from becoming a nightmare. I really haven’t had any problems completing quests, for example. The up side is the massive invasions can certainly be fun, even if the player zerg borders on being epic.