What happened to COH?

Another reason it's a great idea to play on multiple servers are the global channels. I can't count the number of times I was playing on one server when I got asked on one of my global channels to join a team on another server.

This. I find Globals much more reliable for teaming than broadcast.

With the change to the email delivery options, I expect to see a lot more people showing up. I know I've been taking my characters off of 'Hide from Searches' since this change.

Now I can clear my ignore lists and start fresh.

Angel Red
"We're heroes. Fighting injustice is the thing we do." ~Rebel Scum

Truncated means that there were 84 matches available (or however many actually resulted), but only 50 visible in that search (or however many you actually count on the screen). When you /hidesearch, you hide both from the list and from the total number of matches found (with or without truncation).

You can test this by putting yourself on /hidesearch, then searching for a very specific set of data that matches your character. If you're on a level 15 mutant defender, limit your search to level 10-15 mutant defenders. What are your results? Now take yourself off hide. Repeat the search. What are your results? You'll be surprised to find that /hidesearch removes your entire presence from the search window, both your name and number.

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

Hm? Someone did it before you? I guess I missed that. Aha! You're quite right, I hadn't noticed that.

On the other hand, Forbin didn't go for the all-caps, and, for that matter, wasn't the one asserting that subs are down when they aren't. So I suppose we'll call this one a wash and move on to other things.

I stand (or sit, as the case is) corrected My personal view still stands - It is easy as ever to find teams, and the servers are not withering away into dried up wastedlands where you can hear the cries of "doooooooom!" on the wind on a full moon night.

Most players? or most players that use the hide function use those settings?

I highly doubt most players use hide, but I'd agree that if using the hide feature they will hide from searches. I don't see many hiding from tells unless they select several other ones as well.

Personally I've been having a really hard time finding teams redside on freedom lately for my elec/kin that I'm leveling. There are a lot of reasons for that to occur, but I really don't believe subs are "up". I believe they went up with Architect Edition box release, but since CO, Aion, School and AE nerf to name a few, I dont' put much stock in that message at this current date.

A press release or a dev can say numbers are up, but all I can do is go by what I'm experiencing and at least in my corner of the game numbers are anything but up.

Really if we pretend that many people are using hide it doesn't really help, if they are hidden from searches and not accepting tells as suggested and effectively just playing on a private server then they are no good to me, or anyone else making pugs.

I know it isn't this bad, but I've been having a few moments where I feel like I'm a diehard hanging on to a dead product. Admittedly, that applies almost entirely to my redside experiences though, which at the best of times has been pretty bleak.

I don't know what server you're on, but it sounds to me like what you need is a good VG.

The VG I am in on Virtue runs weekly events, has a very active message board, and an active global channel. There is almost always someone available to team with, get help from, or whatever, at all hours of the day.

Try posting in your server forum, or looking through your server VG lists. It could be the answer to your 'dead product'.

So then you're suggesting that the devs are liars then. Good to know.

I believe he meant most people that use those. He's been arguing against using anecdotal evidence as well, so I doubt he was trying to argue that most players use hide, since that would hard for any player to prove.

I don't think anyone is pretending that a lot of people ARE using hide. They're just saying you don't know how many people are hiding when you do a search. It is a fairly common practice, however (I know a lot of posters and friends in game that do it fairly often).

My arguments are solely based from what I am able to do in game. I use my SG, my friends list, my server's channels, search, and broadcast (though rarely for broadcast, unless I'm a high level hero in a high level zone, etc.) to create teams. Even at slow times, like late on a Sunday night, I am able to find teammates. And I make mid to full-sized teams quite easily during evening hours when most players are on (and I know plenty happens in the afternoon on my server as well). If you're using those tools, you should be fine looking for a team. If you're playing at 2 AM on your server, it'll probably be dead, of course. But that's the way it is.

Most of these posts seem to come from people not using SGs, channels, etc. to find teams. Though such posts are also a little vague on how the person is looking for a team too... they like to sit at "I can't find a team." Which is much different depending on if you're being active like I described, or waiting for an invite.

First I didn't get flamed because of the fact that in my first post I confirmed that there are in fact less players online this time of year, and I pointed out the reasons why that is happening.

Secondly they didn't flame me for my use of color and font size because that was being used to emphasize a sentence on the screenshot Prez provided, and not something he had said. I could have reposted his pic and circled that sentence, I chose the easier path.

Thirdly they didn't flame me because I was merely pointing out that the tool he was using to get his data was innacurate and not suited to base his argument on.

The closest thing I made to a flame was when I commented that he didn't know what the term truncated means. A comment that wasn't colored nor had the font size changed.

No not at all, I used to write press releases. So I have an understanding of the difference between lying and otherwise.

They may very well be at record highs and from the sounds of it you guys are experiencing huge numbers. All I can do is speak for my personal gameplay experience. If the numbers were released tomorrow that said we have 200k subs all I could say is that they aren't playing anywhere near me...

At any rate, anyone have the link to where they recently said numbers are up and did they give an indication of what "up" means in terms of tangible numbers?

Thank you again Grey.

I think I should just make a bind that thanks you automatically. heh heh.

What are you talking about Forbin, we all know that you're ALWAYS flaming.

There was a link posted a few weeks ago but I don't remember the thread or the name of the person who provided the link.

Please remember that we aren't denying that the number of people online at any given time has dropped, we're just pointing out that the drop doesn't automatically mean that subscriptions are down.

Peoples gaming schedules have changed. This happens every september, and whenever a new game gets released.

I've always felt I was a lesbian trapped in a mans body. . . . Wait, the tongue emote is probably the wrong one to use. That's better.

Ya that's what I figured, just wanted to be clear as suggesting the former would be silly.
I'm curious what a reasonable estimate for the population percentage that uses /hide from searches would be.

Anyone care to take a stab at what current sub numbers are for CoX? NCsoft hasn't published numbers for a long time now and I can only recall them mentioning subs are "up" and never "down". Have they continually gone up? what are they "up" to? What qualifies as "up"?

I dunno, I don't think I'm personally going anywhere for awhile, but I had a rl friend ask me the other day and saying subs are "up" just didn't satisfy the matter.

Signed

Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill Copypasta
Why server consolidation is not a good idea.

Welcome to the forum. You have posted one of the oft repeated suggestions, "Consolidate the servers."

Disclaimer

Yes. This is a cut and paste reply that I keep handy, as well as a quick bit of instruction on how to search. Neither are meant to cause fights or to be insulting. The search instructions are in, not just because forum rules say flat out to search, but to help you and anyone else reading this use the search tool effectively.

The body of the cut and paste reply is the way it is because we've seen these arguments numerous times before. They're a summary of the salient points that come up each time. They are not here to insult you, make you feel stupid or otherwise "bring you down a peg." Instead, they are meant as instruction and information. Please read through the points and the explanation behind them to see the issues that are commonly brought up in response. They may not always match your suggestion 100% - in fact, you may have explained around one or two of them - but they're there for consideration and refinement of your idea.

Yes, I do look forward to the time, with some of these suggestions, that someone not only addresses all the points, but does so exceptionally well. It'll probably be added to the end of the cut/paste reply, with credit. For now, though, read and consider the points. They really are just there to help you, and move discussion along to help ideas evolve.

If you're going to see this and say an "evil forum vet is just shooting down your idea," or "You think you're the last word because of your post count," you're wrong. Heck, if you say the second, you've just worried more about my post count than I have in the last four plus years. Tongue-in-cheek comments in here are meant as hummor, not put downs.


TL,DR section.
First, my stock answer, one which I stand by and repeat with all due fervor. HELL NO.

Searching effectively

1. Click on "Search" up at the top of the forum.
2. On the left, under "Forum(s) to search," select "Suggestions and ideas."
3. On the right, Keyword Search Terms. This is probably where your problem was if you did search. Try the following, exactly as typed:

+server -pvp -"re: "

This will search for anything with "Server" in the title, including Servers, Combine Servers, Consolidate Servers, and The Server At Mcdonalds Is Rude. it will eliminate "PVP," so you won't see PVP server requests, and the -re: portion of it removes replies, so you'll see the root of every thread that comes up, letting you see just how many threads there are on this. (The last helps for other subjects, as well.)

4. Click the "In subject" radio button. This is a search, not a cute blonde in a bikini. Here, you want to ignore the body.

5. Leave Username Search blank.

6. Date range, Newer Than, change the 1 to a 3, and the time to Months.

7. Result format doesn't matter. Click on "Submit."

As I try this now, (12/3/08,) we have:
Consolidate Server
Server Stats RSS Feed
$server modifier ofr chat
Fix the forum server
Earlyissue server
Merging low population server
Combine slow server
Server status
Global chat on the Character and Server Screens
Rated M server
Add Ponies, Nerf Vills, merge Servers, PistolMelee
Server Visiting
Display Central Time on Server Status Page

Ignoring the smartalec reply, that's three full discussions about this topic.

You should have read one of them if (inevitably) something similar comes up in your search.

Now, on to the topic at hand....

Why server consolidation is not a good idea.

1. Just because YOU like living in New York City doesn't mean I can't like Kansas.

Yay, you love having huge lag spikes as you get near the black market/wentworths and a busy broadcast. Congrats. Enjoy Freedom. Some of us - many of which you will get replies from with this subject - like *low population* servers. If we *wanted* to be on Freedom, we'd *be* on Freedom.

I have characters on Freedom. I rarely play them (and actually moved a character OFF of Freedom to finish leveling it to 50) because *I DON'T LIKE FREEDOM.* I dislike the banality of broadcast, the high percentage of *horrid* teams I've come across there, the lag around any gathering point- and I've got a decent connection and system. For much the same reason, I typically startin Galaxy City instead of Atlas Park - I don't *want* to log in to a costume contest with several 50s spamming powers and nonsense arguments in broadcast.

Some of us *like* nice, quiet servers.

2, Kansas, part 2.

In addition, servers have their own personalities. No, I don't mean that literally, there's no AI to worry about if you start hearing "Daisy, Daisy" over your speakers or headset. Freedom's a crowded mess. Virtue is the RP server. Pinnacle is the "Drunk" server. Others have specific communities, such as those from Australia/NZ, Europe, etc.

3. "I only saw one other person. World of Conancraft has eleventy billion!"

So what?

We don't run around camping spawn points in this game. People are in missions. People are spread across many zones. Search on a map or do a /whoall and you'll miss those in missions, as well as those who are, for whatever reason, on /hide. Your "search" there didn't give you a full picture, not in the least.

I understand the "feel" of things being "not very populated," but take a good look around when you're in game. Typically, you don't really have a lot of visibility. Standing in steel canyon, there could be multiple, full 8 person groups surrounding you, and it's likely you'd never see them. We have buildings, walls, architecture, trees and more limiting our visibility. Yes, it can make you feel more alone... but that's rarely the case. Add to that that the population is spread between many, MANY zones, most quite large, and among two sides... well...

4. "I put up my LFT flag and nothing happened!"

Learn to search. Don't just wait. Form a team yourself.

5. "I AM SPARTACUS!" No, not any more.

Remember logging in and seeing all those slots? Everyone has those - some buy more than the base 12, you get an extra one each year, you could have a total of 36 on any server. Everyone does. Every one has a character with a unique name. Maybe not a *good* name, but a unique one. Every one has a character with a unique name. Maybe not a *good* name, but a unique one.

Now merge servers. Suddenly, CoolBlasterDude from server 1 is getting merged with CoolBlasterDude from Server 2. Who gets to keep their name? Nobody has been able to answer this with any degree of satisfaction. Add a number? But I am NOT CoolBlasterGuy1. And what if the name's too long? Does the older character keep it? What if they're not as active?

People are *VERY* attached to their names. They are, quite obviously, part of their character.

6. "This Is SPARTA!" Sorry, Sparta exists already. You are GenericSG 8734 287 9798.

What else has a name? Supergroups. And I can *guarandamntee* that the same name is in use on multiple servers. Sometimes it's 'branches' of the same SG, sometimes it's coincidence. But with *everything* involved in an SG - from its identity and reputation on the server, to everything stored in the database about what it owns, what its base is like and such, this would be a disaster in the making. And no, auto merging them when the servers merge, even if they have room to, is not an option.

This, of course, assumes that they *CAN* move supergroups as a unit. More than likely, it'd just be a mass character move, with bases, prestige, anything stored in bases and all SG affiliations just gone forever.

7. "I am... where'd Spartacus go?"

Remember all those slots? Well, you start with 1/3 of the available ones. You can buy up to 36 total (24 on top of the ones you get initially.) Now, what do you suppose would happen if you merged two servers, and someone has, say, 20 characters on each? Not unusual. In fact, before those extra slots, I had *filled up* several servers. Do those characters just disappear? Do they move? Free move to another server sounds great, right... well, except you now kick them from their supergroup, remove them from their friends lists and more. This makes for angry and unhappy customers. Or rather, ex customers.

8. I will play where I damn well want to. And you can too.

And that should be blunt enough. If I want a crowded server, I'll go to Freedom. If I want an RP server, I'll go to Virtue. I do NOT want to be shoved onto another server I *don't* like. If I wanted to go there, *I'd be there.*

If the server you're on isn't "busy" enough for you, you have two options that won't bother anyone else.
(A) If it's low enough, reroll. You have a ton of character slots for a reason.
(B) If you don't want to reroll, server transfers are available, and relatively cheap. They also finish fast - you should be up and running and being spammed to join someone's SG on the new server in a few minutes, in most instances. So YOU can go to the server of YOUR choice without screwing ME over.

9. "It'll free up server hardware for Freedom!" No, no it won't.

Freedom, because of the load it tends to have, already has more resources dedicated to it than other servers. And ALL of the servers have been upgraded multiple times. The servers are not allocated exactly the same. The servers that handle less of a load have less dedicated to them. So this argument doesn't fly.

10. DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Last but not least (at least until better points come along to be added,) server consolidation is widely viewed in the industry as an MMO going on life support. No, we don't have WoWs numbers (and you should actually pay attention to when and how they got those.) They're an abberation in the MMO industry. COH has had and does have a very successful, sustainable population even at its lowest points, so there's no economic need to combine anything. The flip side of that, of course, has been suggested above - you crowd people together, break up their SGs and friends lists, cause characters to go missing and poeple definitely *will* quit, both out of annoyance and a sense of "The game is almost dead!"

In conclusion....

As stated before, when it comes to server consolidation... HELL NO.

To be honest I'd like to see 4 more servers added. The ones I have in mind are the EU servers.

I think it is possible Freedom has lost some of its active playerbase as people fed up with MA farming (remember all the threads hating on it and how often it was always Freedom?).

Some people may have relocated to other servers to play.

Why don't they just close the 2 highest member servers and spread them around the others?

Just sayin'.