Why dont hivers leave for upper planes?

Most of the Upper Planes clearly don't let in just anybody. The lawful planes probably patrol the portals-- Arcadia would just turn them right back around, Celestia might try and convert them first, and maybe a few lucky sods would actually find work in Bytopia. As for the chaotic Upper Planes, they're *dangerous*. You could get eaten by wild animals in the first two, and you could fall over the edge of Ysgard, or get keelhauled by vikings.

You'd think Elysium would be all for saving those Hivers that could be saved. I daresay it's factions, gangs, and just their fellow Hivers keeping them down. Some are afraid, and those they're afraid of don't want to give up the power they've got, however little.

And chances are, some people in the Hive are just comfortable there. It's home.

Why don't poor people in Africa all head for Europe? Why doesn't everyone leave Detroit? It's expensive to move. It's risky; travel is dangerous, and more dangerous under medieval conditions.

People have bonds with a place. Some are practical -- you have wealth invested in your home, and if no one is going to buy it (which is what happens if everyone leaves the Hive and no one comes in), then you have to abandon that investment. You have a job, of some kind, even if it's being a thief, and if you leave to go somewhere else, are you sure you're going to find a new one?

Some of those bonds are emotional. Sure, the Hive may suck, but godsdammit it's your Hive. You were born here, you'll die here, and in the meantime you're a Hiver and that means something. Damned if you know what and you'll probably be damned for it after you're Kadyx meat, but it's still what you are, and moving somewhere else means you lose that. At least you have some idea how this place works. Maybe, maybe some day you'll claw your way into the Lower Ward. But leave Sigil? The center of the universe? Never!

And Upper Planes, really, are for the dead. It's not really a place for mortals to live long-term. We do, because we can adapt to almost anything, but every Upper Plane is made out of raw, intense virtue in one form or another, something you have to deal with every time you try to tell a little white lie in Arcadia, or take a personal day in Bytopia, or hire on for the money at a job you don't much care for on Arborea. Living mortals have messy ethical muddles they have to deal with that the dead don't. Take chastity, for instance. The dead can all be celibate if their god says so. If mortals intend to continue the species, that can't happen. The Lower Planes will torture you, enslave you, kill you, and make you a jerk in twenty-four different orders, but at least they're not judgmental.

Taking magic portals are lot more risky than just a little step.

Most of the bashers in the hive have not read the PS:CS. We know a lot more about how Sigil, the gates, the keys and the planes work than them.

Most important you'd have to know about the portal. Even if there are plenty of them in Sigil you'd have to be sure it really leads to a "land of milk and honey". If leaving Detroit via a portal could mean sending you being pressed into war service: You will think more than once before entering the gate. Even more so as gates are not always reliable. Then you will have to get the key and not everyone offering you a gatekey will be really honest about it. And depending on whom you ask: The upper planes are not a land of milk and honey anyway.

I think there will be a lot of hivers trying to leave the hive for this promised lands. Most of them will just never arrive there, because they'll get ripped by those, who sell fake portal keys or simply take the money and let the witness vanish, dead or alive, via any gate available. (Milk and honey every day is boring anyway )

So to keep your example:
Stepping into the portal is more like jumping off a bridge to escape the bus. You'll have to hope the bridge is not too high, there is (enough) water for a safe landing and someone will pull you out before you drown. Others will just stay and take the chance with the bus. It might just miss them or at least not kill them.

Residing on even the upper planes can be worse than "uncomfortable." Aside from the aforementioned dangers on some of the planes, I seem to recall that Elysium has an effect that parallels the overwhelming despair of the Grey Waste. Spend enough time there, and you not only don't want to leave, you don't really *want* anything anymore. You're just happy and at peace with the way things are. That might sound great to some, but it means abandoning all ambitions and accepting a life without excitement or change... some people would be horrified at the prospect.

Plus, I doubt that the Guardinals really *want* any immigrants in Elysium. The goodly dead have already given what they had to give and can do no more (save perhaps by ascending to become some manner of exemplars themselves). If a living being has a truly good heart, it should be out there in the muck, saving souls and protecting the innocent.

So go back to the hive! Open a soup kitchen! Start a vigilante group! Preach peace to gang leaders! Or simply lead by example and be a decent person. If you do even a little good before you die, then your life will not have been wasted, and there will be time enough to enjoy the fruits of Elysium afterward.

Of course, such words aren't likely to be very comforting to a bunch of desperate hivers turned away from the gates of paradise by a party of heavily-armed lupinals.

I personally like the alignment-restriction argument. Sure I think they would all love to get to any of the upper plane to get the free goodies. But a quote from the guide to the cage offer us insight:

"But worse than the cries of the doomed creatures were the reactions of the gathering crowd, a motley collection of drunks, hoodlums and urchins who saw the animals' agony as great entertainment. Some clambered on rooftops for a better look. Some pelted the goats with garbage. Some urged the proprietor to do the butchering right there in the street. So the wagers could be placed."

The hivers alignment run from NE to CN. The are some CG but the are very sparse and few. The attitude of the hivers creates this hellish environment. Besides the 4 guilds residing the loves the place. It's the only place where the Xaositects can fool around without getting caught by hardheads for breaking the law 300 times a day. Dustmen like it, lots of deads to pick up. Bleakers likes the hopelesness of the place. Doomguards loves it because it look like a warzone.

The permanent portals in the hive leads to: Pandemonium, Limbo, Ooze, Lightning and Prime. No portal to upper plane. I would say getting a temporary portal to an upper place is probably almost impossible there. It's like getting a direct portal from Avernus to the one of the layer of Mount Celestia. So a Hiver would first have to get out of the hive to get to a place where he has a chance to get a portal to an upper plane.

Second, even if by a slim chance a portal to grand Elysium would pop up one day in the middle of the hive and a bunch of barmies would cross it, the Guardinals on the other side would be quickly alerted and would probably slay the evil ones and push the rest back through the portal and try to close it ASAP. They want to keep their plane clean. Only a good character would be admitted. One cutter might slip through unnoticed and hide for a while, but he would not be able to permanently stay there unless he get his attitude changed to good. The only place where they might have a chance is for CN characters in Ysgard. They would quickly be clossing steel with vikings.