Assuming transfer I would require (in an ideal world)...
- Automatic transfer of all characters from all four EU servers to the 4 lowest populated US servers.
- Provision of a server transfer token per character transferred
- Provision of a rename token for any characters with a naming conflict
- Transfer of all SG settings including bases
This would enable continuity for all players, and the opportunity to mingle off to other servers should it be required/wanted.
a quote that comes to mind...
[ QUOTE ]
Lisa Simpson: Look on the bright side, Dad. Did you know that the Chinese use the same word for crisis as they do for opportunity?
Homer Simpson: Yes. Crisitunity!
[/ QUOTE ]
While this seems bleak, and naturally this could go very badly for EU players, it's a real opportunity for NC soft to look at revising the service they give us and improving it. The more I look at it, the more moving our 4 servers to the US side appeals to me - it's the ideal solution from the player's point of view.
It gives us another eleven servers to play on, and the US players get 2-4 depending on how many languages they can speak.
Having the servers all in one location could simplify applying patches and maintenance for the support staff.
EU players would be eligible for closed beta, and able to join in with the US Test PVP.
Everyone gets access to the one set of forums, finally ending the awkward division between the EU and US forums.
Tackled well, it's almost 100% win-win for the player base. Of course it takes time to reconfigure the nerver network, and I won't speak for everyone, but if it took taking down our for servers for a week to switch them over and test I'd accept that to get this done. (provided our accounts were OKd for the US servers during the downtime)
Of course NC Soft will need to balance the cost VS benefits of this approach, but I really hope they're considering this. Hell, it's probably much easier to do this than try to merge Union and Infinity for example, a much more complicated process with name conflicts etc where the player database still needs to be transferred to the USA anyway.
"The Hamidon is a what what of what?" - Brian the mission guy.
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Assuming transfer I would require (in an ideal world)...
- Automatic transfer of all characters from all four EU servers to the 4 lowest populated US servers.
- Provision of a server transfer token per character transferred
- Provision of a rename token for any characters with a naming conflict
- Transfer of all SG settings including bases
This would enable continuity for all players, and the opportunity to mingle off to other servers should it be required/wanted.
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/argeed
alot of work but with they do wanta cut us out this would be their only real decision tbh. so if they dont wanta... sort eu out so we can be better.
and IF thts what they r doing NOW. then [censored] tell us. i think the biggest thing they need to sort is COMMUNICATION
My thoughts... (too big to post here. I got carried away)
My deal breakers: Losing my friends and the names of my favourite toons, and my badges, Vet rewards and purchased packs.
I wouldn't wholly object to restarting a lot of my toons again, but I've worked hard for three years - and I want to keep the bulk of what I've paid for.
Thelonious Monk
I sincerely doubt that booster packs would be lost for any reason.
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I sincerely doubt that booster packs would be lost for any reason.
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I tend to agree. But I see now reason why we shouldn't send the message 
Thelonious Monk
Dont forget as well, they have only just overhauled the EU websites too, so things may bot be as bleak as they are being rumoured to be.
That said, u would think they would want to keep their playerbase and would want to make them feel valued by keeping them informed when something like this happens.
Zhaan, Chakyra, Fiorina 161, Aeryn, Polly Nation, Dee Pression, Shazanne, Night Jester and too many more to mention.
Network Hell 47640
Valley of the Harpies 74519
Green and Pleasant Land 75966
Based on past experiences, I think they want to avoid that until they're 100% certain what IS going to happen.
Every time they've said "This is what will happen." about ANYTHING and it ends up not happening (entirely possible, because things change unexpectedly in real life), the playerbase has gone absolutely bonkers over it.
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Dont forget as well, they have only just overhauled the EU websites too, so things may bot be as bleak as they are being rumoured to be.
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It's highly unlikely that this decision had been made when the website was revamped. This is all down to the global recession.
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
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You know if they just ran one set of forums and used the PlayNC master account as the log in it'd be so much simpler.
[/ QUOTE ]is it not done by plaync account to log on here?....... it been a long time snice i needed to relog into this forum, i can't remember lol
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That's exactly why it isn't. Most people auto-login on forums, and using the same login for the master account with CC and personal info isn't... advisable. So, we need separate login for forums, with separate credentials.
Technically CoX-EU and CoX-US are 2 separate games. Now, unless NC plans to re-code alot, or go ahead and merge billing as well as forums, they won't just tie forum accounts to master accuonts, - if they do, they get problem of, say, Lineage players getting access to CoX forums and vice versa.
So, my bet is that it would be either some form of full merger or nothing. Half-measures would cost more and save less.
NCsoft don't give a flying ... about us, the proof the don't even replay at the screems that the players are making for the momment 
NCsoft continué like this if you want to alienate a big part of your players commity BIG BRAVO
regards hellking
emmm, where are people getting the less lag on us servers idea from ?
the servers are in the us ==> if you are in europe you have to do more hops through more internet nodes to reach them, each hop == lag ==> us servers means more lag and not less.
doesnt make one bit of difference what bandwidth they have on their side of the atlantic or if they have a fibre mpls piped directly through their ISP and into a load balancing box. transatlantic traffic, especially that used for streaming or online gaming, will have a noticeable time delay (at least more often than a locally - relatively speaking - hosted server). Why else do you think large online entities start server farms in foreign hosting providers and ISPs in the first place ?
having said that: what do I think will happen next?
server hosting has probably been paid up to the end of the year and enough staff have been left to handle maintenance so I think we're staying here for the foreseeable future.
eventually either
a: move accounts to US servers (may have issues with billing laws)
b: force us to start new accounts on us servers (will cause loss of players if stuff is lost in the creation of a new account - though they could jsut reverse the previous server migration engine and suck us back to the states!)
c: physically move the servers to the states and join them to the cluster there. they already have the hardware in place and the front end, so it will just (just! sorry, its not just its a bit more than that) be a case of transferring the data from the servers and initialising new virtual servers in their cloud to take the images.
my .02 euro (or 0.0256546 cents)
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emmm, where are people getting the less lag on us servers idea from ?
the servers are in the us ==> if you are in europe you have to do more hops through more internet nodes to reach them, each hop == lag ==> us servers means more lag and not less.
doesnt make one bit of difference what bandwidth they have on their side of the atlantic or if they have a fibre mpls piped directly through their ISP and into a load balancing box. transatlantic traffic, especially that used for streaming or online gaming, will have a noticeable time delay (at least more often than a locally - relatively speaking - hosted server). Why else do you think large online entities start server farms in foreign hosting providers and ISPs in the first place ?
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For mainland Europe that is true, but that's NOT true for the UK. We have far better links to the US than we do to mainland Europe, and having played on the US servers myself, I can guarantee you, there's less lag from here to there than from here to Hamburg.
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
[ QUOTE ]
Dont forget as well, they have only just overhauled the EU websites too, so things may bot be as bleak as they are being rumoured to be.
That said, u would think they would want to keep their playerbase and would want to make them feel valued by keeping them informed when something like this happens.
[/ QUOTE ]
Employees will try to improve things like the website. Until one person at the top says: pull the plug. Before he decides to say that everybody will try to safe the ship.
The new website, the mac client, the new issue 14. It does not mean a single thing and proves nothing.
But lets not get distracted and try to stay a bit on topic. The question Now What?
Is anyone else not expecting that much of a drastic change? From the looks of things, we're going to get moderated from the US, but that doesnt mean we have to get merged with their forums in my opinion. The two can remain seperate if NCWest desire it to be so. I'm also not sure how downsizing and moving the team from brighton to USA affects our servers in Germany. I'll wait and see though, but the cheapest option for NCWest has to be keeping things as they are as much as possible.
@Jaw Dropper - Toons of all levels so drop me a line!
Imaginary Inc.
Twitter me!
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Is anyone else not expecting that much of a drastic change? From the looks of things, we're going to get moderated from the US, but that doesnt mean we have to get merged with their forums in my opinion. The two can remain seperate if NCWest desire it to be so. I'm also not sure how downsizing and moving the team from brighton to USA affects our servers in Germany. I'll wait and see though, but the cheapest option for NCWest has to be keeping things as they are as much as possible.
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That's the option: With a little help from our friends.
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emmm, where are people getting the less lag on us servers idea from ?
the servers are in the us ==> if you are in europe you have to do more hops through more internet nodes to reach them, each hop == lag ==> us servers means more lag and not less.
doesnt make one bit of difference what bandwidth they have on their side of the atlantic or if they have a fibre mpls piped directly through their ISP and into a load balancing box. transatlantic traffic, especially that used for streaming or online gaming, will have a noticeable time delay (at least more often than a locally - relatively speaking - hosted server). Why else do you think large online entities start server farms in foreign hosting providers and ISPs in the first place ?
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For mainland Europe that is true, but that's NOT true for the UK. We have far better links to the US than we do to mainland Europe, and having played on the US servers myself, I can guarantee you, there's less lag from here to there than from here to Hamburg.
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not sure I agree with that.(not saying you are wrong, but I'd have to see it to agree with it) from working in an ISP and providing hosting to american companies that want a gateway to europe, local regional hosting beats trans oceanic every time.
granted, its been getting better all the while (I used to do netwrok planning for SAP systems international customers and satellite uplinks and isdn bandwidth calculations were a nightmare) but i still dont think uk to usa can have less latency than uk to germany (not line speed, but latency, though I would argue line speed as well).
must see if i can dig up the server ips and run a test to check this out.
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emmm, where are people getting the less lag on us servers idea from ?
the servers are in the us ==> if you are in europe you have to do more hops through more internet nodes to reach them, each hop == lag ==> us servers means more lag and not less.
doesnt make one bit of difference what bandwidth they have on their side of the atlantic or if they have a fibre mpls piped directly through their ISP and into a load balancing box. transatlantic traffic, especially that used for streaming or online gaming, will have a noticeable time delay (at least more often than a locally - relatively speaking - hosted server). Why else do you think large online entities start server farms in foreign hosting providers and ISPs in the first place ?
[/ QUOTE ]
For mainland Europe that is true, but that's NOT true for the UK. We have far better links to the US than we do to mainland Europe, and having played on the US servers myself, I can guarantee you, there's less lag from here to there than from here to Hamburg.
[/ QUOTE ]
not sure I agree with that.(not saying you are wrong, but I'd have to see it to agree with it) from working in an ISP and providing hosting to american companies that want a gateway to europe, local regional hosting beats trans oceanic every time.
granted, its been getting better all the while (I used to do netwrok planning for SAP systems international customers and satellite uplinks and isdn bandwidth calculations were a nightmare) but i still dont think uk to usa can have less latency than uk to germany (not line speed, but latency, though I would argue line speed as well).
must see if i can dig up the server ips and run a test to check this out.
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Every one of the dozen or so people i personally played with from the UK on US servers had less lag there than in the EU game.
Also most of the people iv seen post here or talked to had the same experience.
cool
unexpected. maybe the links to the german server or the hardware is the problem.... in any case. if its less lag then thats good news for the community.
also, moving the EU players to the US servers would maximise the US server usage time (peak hours and slowtimes would help cancel each other out) and on top of that, bandwidth is a lot cheaper in the states
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Is anyone else not expecting that much of a drastic change?
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Me.
oooh, maybe SOE will step in and lend a hand running (ruining) things ?
Short term: no change (albeit possible US Forum migration).
Long Term: Pack your suitcases, I can't see it lasting without an EU.team to cater for our support.
I think they'll just wait for all the hullaballoo to quiet down before shuffling us over there this year sometime.
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Short term: no change (albeit possible US Forum migration).
Long Term: Pack your suitcases, I can't see it lasting without an EU.team to cater for our support.
Longer Term: Someone from NC actually talks to us
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By my mohawk shall ye know me!
my toons
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oooh, maybe SOE will step in and lend a hand running (ruining) things ?
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Bad Ramon! - Naughty!, Straight to bed!- No Tea!
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Uh....are you mental?
[/ QUOTE ]Common sense isn't used a lot on the Internet, you should know that by now. Anyway, agree with the rest of your post.