Nah.
@TURGENEV - Freedom Server / IRON / B.A.N.E / HORDE
Turg Fiction: Ghost in the Machine Acts III & IV coming 2012!
Turg Fiction: IX is now LIVE on Architect Entertainment!
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Thanks for being specific. |
Originally Posted by Turgenev
Nah.
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I concur
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Originally Posted by Turgenev
Nah.
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No thanks
Badging in a PvP zone?
If you are treasure hunting on a battlefield wearing an enemy uniform, there is a high probability that you will be attacked.
This is an enjoy-the-ride game. "50" is only a number, not the goal of the game. - Noxilicious
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Fourthed. All a server merger would do is create doubt in the minds of NCSoft Upper Management about the future profitability of the "City of" franchise, which would more than likely lead this game to the same fate as Tabula Rasa. |
Originally Posted by Turgenev
Nah.
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Considering Memphis_Bill doesn't play on freedom, I figure I'll post this for him.
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Credits to Memphis_Bill for writing this.
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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. |
Arc ID: 348998 - Becoming a villain
Arc ID: 373341 - To Save a Hero
Got Inf?
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The devs gave you six free character transfers a week for the holidays. You can do your own server merger!
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Originally Posted by JanewayFan
If you ask me, it's time.
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This.
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Originally Posted by Turgenev
Nah.
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This... my mate and I transferred a few toons to Justice to play with the other aussies in this game and since then we have played on full teams for the first time in ages and have had a ball.
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Originally Posted by Rodion
The devs gave you six free character transfers a week for the holidays. You can do your own server merger!
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If you think FREEDOM, of all places, is empty, no amount of server merging will ever help you. Last night, freakin' New Years Eve, there were 600 heroes and 300 villains online. I logged in my villain, which is the low-population side, and still had a LRSF running within 15 minutes.|
Originally Posted by JanewayFan
I miss the days when I would wake up and find a group any time of the day, morning or night. And almost none of the maps were empty.
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You're just not looking for team in the right places. The maps (aka. zones) are ALWAYS going to feel empty; people play on instances, not in the game world.
www.SaveCOH.com: Calls to Action and Events Calendar
This is what 3700 heroes in a single zone looks like.
Thanks to @EnsonsDeath for the GVE code that made me VIP again!
try not being on freedom and say that..just cause your on the highest poulation server doesnt mean it shouldnt happen or doesnt need to happen.
if only 900 people are on..how many of that is dual accounts?..take away a 1/3rd of that then..then on top on that look to the 100 people on guardian or a few others.you wont even get 200 not counting all the dual accounts .
subscriptions are low period..gr should be in beta already and theres been no word from posi in months...sorry but i dont take what bill says either.thats like listening to ac..just aint gonna happen
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Fact is.. there are some people who enjoy quiet areas that are not overrun with tons of other players... either solo or with a few personal friends. That's enough of a reason to keep low population servers open.|
Originally Posted by Coldmed
try not being on freedom and say that..just cause your on the highest poulation server doesnt mean it shouldnt happen or doesnt need to happen.
if only 900 people are on..how many of that is dual accounts?..take away a 1/3rd of that then..then on top on that look to the 100 people on guardian or a few others.you wont even get 200 not counting all the dual accounts . subscriptions are low period..gr should be in beta already and theres been no word from posi in months...sorry but i dont take what bill says either.thats like listening to ac..just aint gonna happen |
The current free server transfers can allow you to move out of an area you don't want to be in. If you don't like Guardian, anymore, and think Freedom is better suited to your needs, then just move here on your own. Why make the Devs force you to?
As long as the game can afford to keep the other servers open, and there are still people playing on them, there is no reason to close or merge them. The only suggestion I make would be to explain current server population/activity better to the new people who don't know which one to pick at first, so it wont cost them a transfer later.
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Then don't ask this question on Freedom. He asked for our opinions. We say "nah" (well, "I" said that, others agreed with more letters and syllables). Take it to General Discussion if you want to start Yet Another Whine Thread® about Architect, server mergers, PVP, zomgchumpions, etc.|
Originally Posted by Coldmed
try not being on freedom and say that..just cause your on the highest poulation server doesnt mean it shouldnt happen or doesnt need to happen.
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Now, if you asked me "how could we make this BETTER", instead of "what do you guys think about a server merger", I could wax rhetorical on what I consider possible and valuable options. But the OP didn't.
So, nah. We're fine here. If you really think that things are that bad on Guardian, you have four more weeks (end of January, right?) of free server transfers. Get going. We honestly don't mind fresh faces.
@TURGENEV - Freedom Server / IRON / B.A.N.E / HORDE
Turg Fiction: Ghost in the Machine Acts III & IV coming 2012!
Turg Fiction: IX is now LIVE on Architect Entertainment!
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My first opinion is that I love your avatar. I'm no trekkie or anything, but Janeway was awesome.|
Originally Posted by JanewayFan
If you ask me, it's time.
I miss the days when I would wake up and find a group any time of the day, morning or night. And almost none of the maps were empty. I understand all good things must come to an end, but a server merger would be a great way to slow that process down. With the new expansion coming and merged servers, CoH could be pretty close to what it used to be. Let me know your opinions  |
I don't see a need for merger either. I am on Freedom because I like crowds more often than not, so I do understand your sentiment. Things appear to be fine...but I never play other servers so I may be off-base on that.
To those that don't like crowds, just do what I do.../hide, "not accepting invites", turn off chat box. It's really easy to play this game alone...no need for a low pop server at all. You'll see other toons, but you don't interact with them. Not sure if that bothers anyone or not.
I wonder if there will ever be a need for mergers and how we will know when Memphis Bill's post is no longer applicable?
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Totally agreed. There's a server transfer going on right now, so just transfer. No need to wipe a server for that.|
Originally Posted by Turgenev
Nah.
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Or, to quote the poet:
/j-ranger
J-Man- Lieran, if you were Paris Hilton, I'd be the chihuahua in your purse.
If they made Supergroups and two or three instances of each PvP zone cross-server that'd make sever merges obsolete and work much better imo.
I'm with the "Nah" crowd. Bill puts up some good reasons why this is not a good idea. I'll also add that the things the OP seems to think it will accomplish (bring the game 'back to pretty close to what it used to be') would not be accomplished by a server merge. All that would do is cause a number of hardcore vets to quit as communities they are invested in are arbitrarily destroyed.
As for having more people outside, that's as much a result of instancing as an indicator of population. The OP is talking about seeing plenty of people outside, but it's important to keep in mind that factors like half debt in missions, mission bonuses, arc bonuses, Merits, fast travel options such as Bases have all contributed to an overall shift towards instancing in an already instance-heavy game. A vast majority of people online are going to be in instances. If those people are also employing /hide options (as many do, especially on Freedom), you will never know they are there.
All of this just means that you need to make use of all the tools available to get teams - simply shouting in broadcast or inviting people you see overland were never good systems to begin with and work when there's tons of people around outside. As there are few reasons to be outside on the maps anymore, you're reaching a fraction of the people you could. This is true on any server. Many of the so-called 'dead servers' are very much alive if one just uses tells, searches and global channels effectively.
Now, could the /search tool use some work? Absolutely. Would a "Looking for Members" option for teams be invaluable? Sure would. That is where we need some attention. Merging the servers is a radical move with a huge host of negative consequences and should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. And it's not even close to necessary now. As for cross-server PvP, I'm all for that.
Iscariot's Guide to the Tri-Form Warshade, version 2.1
I'm sorry that math > your paranoid delusions, but them's the breaks -- Nethergoat
P.E.R.C. Rep for Liberty server
lol, usually the merge threads are in the Guardian or Triumph forums.....but Freedom? I agree with 'nah'
Trust me, OP ... coming from a recent returning player who is coming straight from SWG, you have NO IDEA how good you have it here.
I find this odd that this is on Freedom, by far the easiest server to find a team on. I've been on Freedom (except for a few earlier toons that never teamed) since free transfers and have no issue getting on or assembling a decent team.
Infinity and Victory mostly
dUmb, etc.
lolz PvP anymore, Market PvP for fun and profit
the last time I remember a server merge was PlanetSide...
...it didnt end well
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Originally Posted by Gearford
the last time I remember a server merge was PlanetSide...
...it didnt end well |
*blinks* You were Planetside? When? What server? Does the phrase "Remember Heyoka!" mean anything to you?
@TURGENEV - Freedom Server / IRON / B.A.N.E / HORDE
Turg Fiction: Ghost in the Machine Acts III & IV coming 2012!
Turg Fiction: IX is now LIVE on Architect Entertainment!
The last server merge I was an active part of was on Dungeons & Dragons Online before it went Free to Play. The almighty (and sick and twisted devs (I still love you Patience!)) decided (with I believe to be some hilarious glee and laughter) to stick the powergamer server, Xoriat, with the Roleplay server, Thelanis.
Yeah.
Quoting me from the DDO forums:
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That first week after the merge was a blast. Player 1- Oh, the dungeon walls are slick with moss and slime, yet we shall ever persevere in the face of untamed evil, only those true of heart and valor will overcome the vils contained within these walls... Player 2- Optionals? Player 3- Sure! Player 1- Surely the foul stench of chaos is afoot here, I must tread carefully... Quest Complete! |
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started late 2005 or early 2006, but dont have many memories of it due to my auto accident, anything pre -=DeMeNTeD=- with P149U3 is a wash.|
Originally Posted by Turgenev
*blinks* You were Planetside? When? What server? Does the phrase "Remember Heyoka!" mean anything to you?
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when they merged emerald and markov into gemini (i wasnt even around for the johari/konreid days) it was a pretty big clash of playstyles, west coast (markov) having more of a spammy thing going on since they were the CN (chinese network) home, east coast (emerald) having more of an unreal gameplay culture.
they not too long ago merged gemini with the euros on werner, not too long ago every gen got blown, people with packs of 12+ plasma grenades started appearing, and the game died.
If you ask me, it's time.
I miss the days when I would wake up and find a group any time of the day, morning or night. And almost none of the maps were empty.
I understand all good things must come to an end, but a server merger would be a great way to slow that process down.
With the new expansion coming and merged servers, CoH could be pretty close to what it used to be.
Let me know your opinions