Merge the serv- oh wait, that won't work...

Figured I'd take a pot shot at the whole "empty servers vs. full servers" thing in a way that'd use the best of both worlds. For the oft-explained reasons, merging the servers isn't an option, so I am not going rehash that old idea, but instead, I'll try to approach it from a different angle.

Individual freedom and versatility are good things. This is not to be contested - it seems logical enough. The ability to choose your environment, more or less populated, for example, can only appeal to a player, and in this post, I'll attempt to present a workable concept of creating such a mechanic.

As things stand, each character is locked to his individual server - usually the one he was created on. What I propose is the ability to make a character "transcendent" - essentially playable on every server, though a more accurate description would be that of not being bound to any server, much like a global name isn't bound to a character but an account. Of course, this approach is not as simple as it sounds, and there would be several hurdles that would need to be overcome;

1. Character representation on the server: Each server has a limited number of available character slots - how to deal with that limited resource? If a player's roster on a certain server is full, it would be unfair to grant another slot for free when additional character slots are a paid-for commodity. On the other hand, creating a mirror of the transcendent character on each server might tie up spots which the player might wish to use for non-transcendent characters. One way of dealing with this problem would be to show the transcendent character on each server, whether or not there is an available slot for them, but to have them "locked" by default. When the player decides to "activate" the transcendent character on the specific server and there is no available slot to do so, the player will be unable to do so until they have either purchased an additional character slot or deleted a character on that server, thus freeing up a slot.
2. Duplicate names: A character named SpiderWolfBatHulk may be available on Guardian, but someone already snagged it on Protector, and names must be unique to each character. The solution is simple - when activating a transcendent character on a server and its original name is not available, the character will need to be renamed into an available name before it can be unlocked. Whether or not a character rename token should be bought for that or not might be a more fluid issue.
3. Why would the devs bother?: SCR aside, I doubt this would be a simple system to implement and since it already infringes on some bought commodities {character transfer, for example}, it would need to be worth the devs' while to implement. That, in turn, begs the question of what exactly we would be buying and how much it would cost; would transcendence be applied to a single character and would expire when that character is deleted, thus removing it from all servers? Would deleting a transcendent character make it available to be applied to another?

An open letter to NCsoft

Wouldn't it be simpler to allow our EU brothers and sisters access to our servers.

While I support that idea, it... doesn't seem to have much to do with the original suggestion.

An open letter to NCsoft

Wouldn't this open the door wide open for exploitation?

What I mean is this: You create a character on one server. You level him up, and get a good build going on him. You load him up with tons of purples or rare IOs that are expensive. You transcend him to let's say three other servers. Now, you've got four copies of him, including the original.

You then take the three new copies of him, and do respecs on him, and sell off all of those expensive IOs, and then transfer that money back over to the original character any time you want (or any other characters you have, for that matter).


What, in your system, would prevent something like that from occurring?



For the record, I'd be much more in favor of a "serverless" environment, where you can find people from any server and team with them.

So what you're basically describing is a 'free'/unlimited server transfer option for a specified character every time you select it, with a possible rename as well? (With the said character option locking up one character slot on all servers) Haven't they said this is a manual process?

To the idea itself, in application to me, it seems good, but there are other issues. I play mostly on Champion, but when they're on, I also play on another server with friends. The idea would be nice, as it would allow me to transfer. Let's be honest, they're making money on the transfers. I've paid for them in the past. What, then, is the value to those transactions? And from a business perspective, what is the value of enacting such a thing? (Which dramatically limits future income for said transactions)

On the 'role playing' avenue, I would suggest if such a thing happened it would be a 'temp power', contact, or badge that allowed the character to log into one server, go through a dimensional portal (There is such a gate in P.I., of course, but Grandville as well) then select what 'shard' to enter. Or log into a 'neutral' server, with only one zone, a trans-dimensional hub, and transfer from there.

What, then, is the value to those transactions? And from a business perspective, what is the value of enacting such a thing? (Which dramatically limits future income for said transactions)

See point 3; it wouldn't be free, though how much is well, undefined. But definitely not free, thus hopefully justifying the work involved.

An open letter to NCsoft

OK. I think I have my mind wrapped around the way you're presenting this, and I can see where the rename/transfer bit is throwing people.

I have my main, Memphis Bill. I *know* the name is taken on a few servers, because I've made alts of him, while it's free on others. I choose this character to be "transcended."

On the four other servers the name's taken on, I have to give him a different name before I play him.

I play Transcended MB (I'm just goign with TMB after this) on Justice. I get a purple recipe drop. That drop is put into the "Transcended MB" inventory. The next day, I log into TMB on Infinity and craft that IO. I realize "Hey, my Defender over on Victory could probably use this more." Victory's slots are full, so I redeem another (vet or prepaid) slot and I can now play TMB there (who needs a rename.) I drop that IO off with an SG mate there, log into the defender on Victory and pick it up.

I end up, basically, with a character on every server, the database entry replicated across them all (EDIT: Noticed the last post, synchronized on logout not realtime) (to prevent me getting that purple and selling it on every server,) with space to hold up to 11 different names, 11 different logout spots - how does it affect Patrol XP? Am I earning it on ten servers while using it on one? Cranking on 11 day job badges at the same time? Can the character level-pact 11 other people? How does that affect his, and their, XP? Is it earned at 1/12 (versus 1/2) the rate? 1/23? What if two people "transcend" and LP their characters, and LP others?

And then there's naming. Say I haven't logged on to TMB on (say) Champion yet. What if someone else comes along a week later and wants to use Memphis Bill there - does the name show as in use, or do *I* have to rename if I finally log TMB on there a week after the new one is started?

Sounds, personally, like it'd be a nightmare to create, use (if anything went wrong,) and maintain. >.<

See my Guides and Tutorials

This doesn't really accomplish anything that you can't already do with the existing character transfer methods. The basic conceit, "I don't like the environment on this server now and want to go elsewhere," is dealt with by server transfers. It's cheap compared to games with similar features.

However, let's posit that it would be reasonable to do. How much would this have to cost without undercutting the one-time transfer option? I'd guess more than the vast majority of people would care to pay, and would therefore not be worthwhile developing.

I think creating a centralized PvP server would be a better use of development resources. This should let you do PvE-style PvP missions or arena matches from any of the other regular servers, as well as conduct social events like the devs have hosted on the Training Room.

This would work much like the PvP nights that have been conducted on the Training Room. Your character would be transferred to the PvP server only for the duration of your mission or arena match. When you exit the mission/match, your character is sent back to your home server with whatever goodies you won.

There would be obvious synchronization issues to iron out to make sure you don't lose anything if one server or the other goes down or your connection is dropped. But you would never be in the "real world" of another server, so I'd guess there would be fewer issues and exploits.

This would solve the population problem for PvP on small servers, and allow players from all the servers to socialize in one central location.

The naming problem could be dealt with by qualifying character names with the server name or global handle. So you could have Joe (Champion) and Joe (Freedom) battling it out in the arena.

It may also make sense to limit the items that can be transfered between characters from different servers to eliminate various scams. Seems like you should be able to give inspirations to other characters, but not recipes or enhancements.

Hmm; that's actually the good point. Offline activities {for lack of a better term} like auction house transactions... hold on, let me try to trace this.

1. I have a transcendent character on the Protector server named, oh, Bob the Protector. I decide to activate him on the Guardian server. That name is already taken on that server, so I name him Bob the Guardian instead.
2. I log into Bob the Protector and play him for a while. In that time, he gains three levels, five thousand influence, a handful of badges etc. I also score a Pancreas of Vecna which I put on the auction house.
3. I proceed to log out. The moment I finish logging out, Bob the Guardian is basically deleted and a copy of Bob the Protector is created in his place. Costume, influence, badges, personal inventory, the works - all except the auction house inventory, to prevent duplication of items. The game also remembers which version of Bob was last played - this will come into play in a moment.
4. While I'm offline, my Pancreas of Vecna is bought by Joe the Triumphant. Joe is now its proud owner and three million influence lighter. Because the auction house inventory was not synchronized with the recently {re}created Bob the Guardian, there is no second Pancreas on the auction block to be bought.
5. I log back in. The game looks up which Bob I played last and synchronizes his auction inventory across both instances of that character. That means that each Bob now has the profits from the sale in his auction house inventory, but since logging either guarantees that the other will be overwritten, it's a moot point.

An open letter to NCsoft

how many people do you know that will put their item in ww/bm so that it doesn't get dupped? i don't even need my hand to count because that number is zero. and you seem to miss the coding nightmare that this would be.