Godless, The following is for you...
One of the most used Cut/Paste replys out there.
Thank Memphis_Bill for this... (Doc Roswell, I'm surprised I still had a copy of it saved...)
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Now honestly, Godless, At this point in the Game's life, if there hasn't been a server merge of some sort already, I wouldn't expect one anytime soon.|
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 people 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. |
Also, remember the flak given when the NA & EU Server lists were merged last year? You wouldn't believe how upset a good number of EU players were at losing their Globals to inactive, but valid, NA accounts.
Thank you for the time...
@Travlr (Main) / @Tymers Realm (Test) 
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So this is less about "how to get more players" and more about "how to make one specific player happy at the expense of hundreds of others by allowing them to do for free what anyone else would have to pay for."|
Originally Posted by Godless
--The ones being moved get the name change. The names I like that I have come up with over the years of game play I made characters on the other servers to keep others from using the name. I never use them, they are all level 1 or 2, they are just to park my character names on other servers. I will delete them for the transfer. I seriously doubt that I am the only one that has done that.
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And again, people are very attached to their character names. You're probably not the only person who's camped your names on other servers so nobody else can have them because they're mine all mine mwahahahahaha. But I can guarantee that the vast (and I do mean vast -- like, approaching 99%) majority of players haven't.
This would cause more cancellations of existing subscriptions than it would generate new subscriptions.
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Originally Posted by Godless
--Yes they split up but they keep their prestige and base. I know for a fact that many SG/VG have groups with the same name on other servers but I think there needs to be a 1 time game wide SG/VG rename. As far as forcing players to move to the same, no they can go to what ever server they want to they isn't being shut down.
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This would cause more cancellations of existing subscriptions than it would generate new subscriptions.
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Originally Posted by Godless
--You don't consolidate servers you shut down 3 of the least active servers and give everyone on those servers free character transfers and they pick what server they want to move to. Give them 6 months to do it, any characters that belong to inactive players are sent to a random sever but with the character transfer so if they become active again they can move to what ever server they want to. Send a mass e-mail to everyone to tell them.
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This would cause more cancellations of existing subscriptions than it would generate new subscriptions.
Plus, again with the names. I have enough problems finding a name I'm happy with because someone who played for two months back in 2007 and hasn't been back since took the one I want on Virtue. Now you're suggesting we add in the chance that even if it was never taken on Virtue, I can't have it because someone who played for two months back in 2007 and hasn't been back since took it on Pinnacle and then got sent to Virtue at random because they... haven't been back since 2007?
This would cause more cancellations of existing subscriptions than it would generate new subscriptions.
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Originally Posted by Godless
Doctor Roswell said,
"What about everyone else? I don't play on Pinnacle, but if the devs are just giving away free server transfers, I don't see why I should be penalized just for playing on a high-population server. Where's my free transfer? Or rather, where are my thirty-four free transfers, one for each character I have on Virtue? And my twelve for the characters I have on Exalted? And my six for Victory, and my three for Infinity? Now, I don't really feel that way, but I promise you, there are people out there who would. And if even a tenth of the ones who'd threaten to quit paying in outrage over the "unfair treatment" they were getting actually did, you'd see a net drop in subscriptions, not a gain." --No just the players that are losing there home. I think what everyone forgets even if there was 100 players on Pinnacle 24-7 they are scattered throughout the zones and in missions or SG/VG bases making the zones look like ghost towns. Shutting down 3 inactive servers will make it more then twice as likely to see other players. We'll never know how many people left COX because the servers are inactive. I'm sure a lot will come back for the server shut downs. This will benefit all players, the servers we move to will receive active veteran players with a much greater change to welcome and help the new players. |
This would cause more cancellations of existing subscriptions than it would generate new subscriptions.
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Originally Posted by Tymers_Realm
Thank Memphis_Bill for this... (Doc Roswell, I'm surprised I still had a copy of it saved...)
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He's so prepared he can shoot down ridiculous arguments without even being here!
FUN FACT: That burst of light when you level up is actually the effectiveness escaping from your enhancements all at once.
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Help WHO tremendously? Not the players on those servers, certainly, who are there by choice. More than once in the past, the devs gave us unlimited free transfers (for a limited time). Plus, these days we get a free server transfer every month just for being VIP, and there was a 90%-off sale on a 5-pack of transfers at Freedom launch. Not to mention how easy it is to just start over on a new server, what with cross-server email and the altitis rampant among the population. Almost everyone who doesn't want to be on a low-pop server anymore, isn't. Shutting down servers wouldn't help anyone, it only takes things away from people who specifically wanted them.
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Originally Posted by Godless
If the Devs shut down some of the less active servers and make everyone go to a different server(s) that will help tremendously.
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I am fairly certain that turning CoX into a spambox isn't going to get more people to join the game. It's just going to get people to put CoX under the spam category in their e-mail. Just like I have done with every online store and service that has decided to e-mail me more than once a week.
TPN trial guide video / MoM trial guide video / DD trial guide video / BAF trial guide video
/ Lambda trial guide video / Keyes trial guide video / Magisterium trial guide video / Underground trial guide
I think what the OP is trying to say is he is mad that he chooses to play a faction that has never been popular with the majority of players.
Furthermore while the OP was away for a year the devs implemented a feature that allowed the players to transfer their characters from the unpopular faction to the popular faction and the players used it.
So on the OP's return he has found that his chosen faction is smaller than when he left. This has left the OP with a decision to make.
1. The OP can use the tip missions to switch sides to where everyone else is.
2. The OP can do a little research and start playing on a server where his preferred faction has a higher population. He can either transfer his existing characters there or make new ones.
3. The OP can join some global channels on his current server and make new friends to play with on his preferred faction. Assuming that the OP isn't one of those individuals who we see from time to time who has offended just about everyone on a given server community and has been universally 1 starred/ignored/blacklisted and now claims the server is dead.
4. The OP could suggest that everyone should be punished and have their communities destroyed because they aren't playing the game the way the OP wants.
I'll say it one more time.
I play on Pinnacle because I WANT to play on Pinnacle.
Force me to move against my will because the server is being eliminated and I will be quitting the game. Immediately.
It's that simple, and I am not the only person who feels that way. In fact I'd say that probably half the people who play on low population servers feel similarly. If they wanted to play on Freedom, they already would be.
I'm not part of the giant throngs of people on Freedom by choice. Don't force me to be so YOU can play the way you want.
You already said you have your names saved on other servers. Use your free server tansfers and move them your damn self, instead of trying to get the devs to ruin the game for hundreds of people so you can be lazy and impatient.
Or you can pay $10 each if you want to do it right this second.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
Oh, and I checked Pinnacle's population at 6:30 Central.
243 people online in the places I could check.
Not counting the ones on /hide.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
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Seriously, don't use the server argument. This will only cause people to rage like you saw, you can always move. This is coming from someone who likes the crowded servers and plays basically only on Freedom and Virtue.|
Originally Posted by Godless
I have been playing COV/COH on and off since 2006. Total in-game time a little over 2 years, I just came back from a 1 year break. Any break that I took it was for financial reasons which are much better now so I won't have to take any breaks. I'm not suggesting to make the game cheaper I think it is worth $14.99/month.
Here are my game suggestions : 1 - Mass e-mails to all the COV/COH players telling them about updates and changes, even the inactive ones. The only e-mail that I ever get is when I purchase something. Maybe something in the e-mail may spark interest for someone to return to the game. *Lots of 'consolidate servers gibberish'* |
While I agree sending mails at least with each issue's news is a good idea (don't they already do that? The mails I receive from NCSoft always come with broken images for some reason, even clicking the link doesn't work and leads me to a blank web site or some korean stuff, and yeah it's in the usual coh domain and I have a US account despite living in Brazil), I don't think that trying to convince people to return is the best move.
NCSoft is doing something wrong with marketing. Nobody's even heard of this game in Brazil, for example (although there are a few brazilian players, before my break there was quite a big community, global channels, coalitions and all, we MoTF'ed, farmed, made all-Brazilian teams because a lot of them didn't write well in English, etc).
I say they're doing something wrong because CoX still has the second spot with a 8.9 rating on mmorpg.com when you see all their MMO reviews sorted by rating. And still, a lot of these games below CoX are very well known here. While Cox, well... Not only that, Virtue, despite being almost as crowded as Freedom, has a dead-ish Redside nowadays (compared to what it used to be, and also considering the fact I always played in the 'big' servers).
You'd think that the second highest rated MMO in a famous site, despite not being in the usual fantasy setting, would gather a lot more interest (and the review is from the Architect edition, a lot has been added since then) than it does, but instead it's far from being the second most popular.
And while I like the community as it is, both on these servers I play and on Champion (the channels there are pretty active, only reason I don't play more there is that I don't have 50s on Champs and I play in odd hours), I can't help thinking that there should be a way to make the game more widely known to other MMO players. A lot of games rated lower than CoX in the mmorpg site (the hobbit one which is like 15th, the Sony ones, the 2011 'refined' WoW clone) are very well known here. I know most of them are based on franchises (the WoW clone isn't tho), but CoX is about superheroes in general and with the advent of movies and growth of comics readers worldwide, I'd think they could capitalize on that. Yet for some reason, this game is still an underdog in the MMO world, and I bet you know how many people here (including me) can only stand to play this one because the others are 'slow', 'boring', etc. CoX is the only one that actually feels like an action game to me.
For the OP:
How to get more players?
FREAKING ADVERTISE. Though I think the time for that is really long past. The game's been out almost 8 years. How many ads can you think of for it, especially in the slew of superhero movies that have come up? Or TV shows?
yeah.
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It's kind of good in PVP-based games when the population starts to drop, but advancement in those requires having other players to fight. That's about the only reason I can see for doing so. And it's a reason that doesn't fit COH at all.
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Originally Posted by Oneirohero
It makes you wonder why suggestions like these show up in CoH and any other multi-server MMOs. Has there ever been a case of a successful application of server-merging that benefited a game both in hard numbers and perceptually?
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Wanted: Origin centric story arcs.
If you've only played an AT once (one set combo) and "hate" it - don't give up. Roll a different combo. It may just be those sets not clicking for you.
City of Heroes/Villains is advertised as a MMO - massively multiplayer online game, not a MSO - massively someplayer online game. If I was a new player logging onto CoV for the very first time today and only seeing 2 or 3 players in Mercy Island I would say, " I'm not going to play this game it's dead, I'm not going to waste my time checking out other servers because they are probably a inactive to." We have to think about the future of CoX, there are people that play just or the game, but there are a lot more that play for the social aspect of the game. Everyone that has responded is one including me, we call our servers home and take great offense when someone talks bad about our server. Every month a MMO game gets shuts down, when CoH/CoV starts losing money they will do the same, then we all will be screwed CoXless. In April CoH will be 8 years old and for the first time it is free to play. Why would a MMO with years of charging a monthly fee add a free to play? Because the Devs know the end is coming and they are trying make a buck to save the game. In my opinion shutting down 3 servers will save CoX. Unfortunately most of the vets are against changes, changes that I feel will save CoX. Whether I have to pay for it or it's free I am moving off of Pinnacle, my home from day one, for my own personal game enjoyment. Me and my son share my account, he was sitting beside me when I logged back on after a year and did the player search and saw 23 players on-line. I turned to my son and said "Where in the hell did everyone go?", he shrugged his shoulders. I gave my son his own server on Freedom to play on. I think they need to shut down 3 servers to save CoX, the end is near but most players are to narrow minded to see that.
All on Pinnacle Server
Godless - level 50 Ninja/Dark MM
Hero Hater - level 29 Energy/Regen Stalker
Xtc - level 35 Energy/Elec Brute
Thought you wanted to get more players, not get rid of more players.
Wanted: Origin centric story arcs.
If you've only played an AT once (one set combo) and "hate" it - don't give up. Roll a different combo. It may just be those sets not clicking for you.
You are the one refusing to see the other side in this argument. You've been shown how numerically you are wrong, been shown reasons for why you might be seeing what you're seeing, and been told that some people LIKE the lower-population servers. And yet somehow WE'RE the narrow-minded ones?!?!
I'm sorry that you feel the way you do...truly. But merging the servers will NOT accomplish what you think it will. It will actually do just the opposite. This has been shown by many games who have done this in the past. It causes annoyance in the current population, and doesn't bring in new players, because merging servers indicates to new players that the game is dying.
So it won't do what you want, and will annoy people. And you still think it is a good idea?
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
Y'know, Godless, you need to air out your text a bit, let it breathe...
Here, I'll do it for you.
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Fair enough.|
Originally Posted by Godless
I should have clarified this in the original topic I only play on Villain side so I don't know the numbers on the Hero side.
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Originally Posted by Godless
Also the 10 character transfers would be enough,
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Originally Posted by Godless
I have 5 characters that I care about the rest of my villain characters are in the teen levels and I have no problem deleting them. I just assumed most players have 10-12 characters that they care about.
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Originally Posted by Godless
Everyone that has responded are active players there is no way to see how many players left COX because of inactive servers.
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Originally Posted by Godless
But I think the server merger would be a good idea.
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Originally Posted by Godless
I have done missions in the past that I needed a team, which will be harder to do now,
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Originally Posted by Godless
also if someone new has a question and doesn't know about the Global/Help Channels will be screwed.
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I can understand about the Global Channels, but th Help channel is available right there on the Communication window, so that's no excuse.
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Originally Posted by Godless
Everyone thinks closing server(s) would be bad and drove players away,
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Originally Posted by Godless
you have think about new players starting this game for the first. If they log-in now they will see 4 - 5 players in Mercy,
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Like Hyper said, if a new player sees "only 4-5 players in Mercy" (which I doubt very much unless you're playing in the middle of the night) and quits without experiencing the game any further... well, "there are not the players we are looking for..."
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Originally Posted by Godless
after the server merger and it will at least double, if not more.
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Originally Posted by Godless
In my opinion someone would be more likely to stay if they saw more players running around.
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Originally Posted by Godless
I have called Pinnacle home for many years and I understand how everyone feels about closing servers, in my opinion Pinnacle is dead.
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Originally Posted by Godless
I am sure there are other servers out there that are in the same shape.
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Originally Posted by Godless
I will be moving I can only afford 1 character transfer a month so it will be a slow process for me.
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Originally Posted by Godless
On Saturday I will go server jumping to see if the others servers are suffering also.
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Keep NCSoft from shutting down City of Heroes : http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
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Because it's a cash cow. MMO's that have switched to this hybrid business model have started making a lot more money than they did with just subscriptions.
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Originally Posted by Godless
Why would a MMO with years of charging a monthly fee add a free to play?
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Ok, to add something positive to this thread:
Re: How to Get More Players
Simple answer (which some of you mentioned earlier): Advertise more !
TV ads might be a bit over-budget for Paragon Studios, but what about
- banners on gaming blogs and websites ?
- ads in magazines and comic books (where I first heard of this game) ?
Keep NCSoft from shutting down City of Heroes : http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
Aett_Thorn said,
"You are the one refusing to see the other side in this argument. You've been shown how numerically you are wrong, been shown reasons for why you might be seeing what you're seeing, and been told that some people LIKE the lower-population servers. And yet somehow WE'RE the narrow-minded ones?!?! I'm sorry that you feel the way you do...truly. But merging the servers will NOT accomplish what you think it will. It will actually do just the opposite. This has been shown by many games who have done this in the past. It causes annoyance in the current population, and doesn't bring in new players, because merging servers indicates to new players that the game is dying. So it won't do what you want, and will annoy people. And you still think it is a good idea?"
-- You think shutting down servers will give new players the impression that CoX is dieing but they will get the same thought when they log-in and see there are only 2 or 3 players in each zone. I understand how everyone feels about changes but I also know paying for a V.I.P. doesn't guarantee me anything. If CoX starts to lose money everyone is gone regardless of who you are. They will shut the game down, with out any warning. That's why I called everyone narrow-minded they can't see the inevitable future if things don't change soon.
All on Pinnacle Server
Godless - level 50 Ninja/Dark MM
Hero Hater - level 29 Energy/Regen Stalker
Xtc - level 35 Energy/Elec Brute
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Off topic. Learn to use the quote feature. If you are too lazy to click on the quote button then have the decency to use [] with quote at the beginning and [] with /quote at the end so your posts don't look like an unreadable wall of text.|
Originally Posted by Godless
Aett_Thorn said,
"You are the one refusing to see the other side in this argument. You've been shown how numerically you are wrong, been shown reasons for why you might be seeing what you're seeing, and been told that some people LIKE the lower-population servers. And yet somehow WE'RE the narrow-minded ones?!?! I'm sorry that you feel the way you do...truly. But merging the servers will NOT accomplish what you think it will. It will actually do just the opposite. This has been shown by many games who have done this in the past. It causes annoyance in the current population, and doesn't bring in new players, because merging servers indicates to new players that the game is dying. So it won't do what you want, and will annoy people. And you still think it is a good idea?" -- You think shutting down servers will give new players the impression that CoX is dieing but they will get the same thought when they log-in and see there are only 2 or 3 players in each zone. I understand how everyone feels about changes but I also know paying for a V.I.P. doesn't guarantee me anything. If CoX starts to lose money everyone is gone regardless of who you are. They will shut the game down, with out any warning. That's why I called everyone narrow-minded they can't see the inevitable future if things don't change soon. |
On topic
You are the one being narrow-minded and having a hissy fit because you play a dead faction that was never popular, no one agrees with you, and the devs have added to the number of servers during the year you were gone rather than merge them.
Quote:
If that was true then WoW would offer the same, but they don't they are pay to play.
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Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Because it's a cash cow. MMO's that have switched to this hybrid business model have started making a lot more money than they did with just subscriptions.
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All on Pinnacle Server
Godless - level 50 Ninja/Dark MM
Hero Hater - level 29 Energy/Regen Stalker
Xtc - level 35 Energy/Elec Brute
Quote:
Better?|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Off topic. Learn to use the quote feature. If you are too lazy to click on the quote button then have the decency to use [] with quote at the beginning and [] with /quote at the end so your posts don't look like an unreadable wall of text.
On topic You are the one being narrow-minded and having a hissy fit because you play a dead faction that was never popular, no one agrees with you, and the devs have added to the number of servers during the year you were gone rather than merge them. |
The reason I am having a "hissy fit" is as I explained CoX is dieing, I am willing to do what ever it takes to keep it. I love this game, but I don't think we have long to play.
All on Pinnacle Server
Godless - level 50 Ninja/Dark MM
Hero Hater - level 29 Energy/Regen Stalker
Xtc - level 35 Energy/Elec Brute
Quote:
No they aren't. That game has been Free to play for about 6 months now. They gate their paid content behind a level cap.
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Originally Posted by Godless
If that was true then WoW would offer the same, but they don't they are pay to play.
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Quote:
People have been saying that for years.
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Originally Posted by Godless
Better?
The reason I am having a "hissy fit" is as I explained CoX is dieing, I am willing to do what ever it takes to keep it. I love this game, but I don't think we have long to play. |
Quote:
Yes they cut you off at level 20 then you have to pay, so it's not free to play.
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Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
No they aren't. That game has been Free to play for about 6 months now. They gate their paid content behind a level cap.
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All on Pinnacle Server
Godless - level 50 Ninja/Dark MM
Hero Hater - level 29 Energy/Regen Stalker
Xtc - level 35 Energy/Elec Brute
Quote:
^This. People have been complaining that the game is dead and that servers are empty for since 2004. It wasn't true then, and isn't true now.
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Originally Posted by Stone Daemon
People have been saying that for years.
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Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
Quote:
Yes they are the people that can't stand instancing and shards. They prefer games where everyone is forced into the same open world environment where they can let other people do all the hard work and while they sneak in and ninja mission objectives and rewards.|
Originally Posted by Stone Daemon
People have been saying that for years.
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Our style of play is the bane of their existence because here they can be easily spotted and 1 starred/ignored/blacklisted by smaller server communities. Leaving them with nothing to do but cry that their server is dead.
Doctor Roswell said,
"Names. So if you merge servers, what happens if there's a player on both with the same name? Who gets it? The player who's already on that server?"
--The ones being moved get the name change. The names I like that I have come up with over the years of game play I made characters on the other servers to keep others from using the name. I never use them, they are all level 1 or 2, they are just to park my character names on other servers. I will delete them for the transfer. I seriously doubt that I am the only one that has done that.
Doctor Roswell said,
"Super groups. Do they just split up? Are they all forced to move to the same server, even if they don't agree on which one they want to move to? What happens to their prestige? Their base? Their name, if it's taken on the new server?"
--Yes they split up but they keep their prestige and base. I know for a fact that many SG/VG have groups with the same name on other servers but I think there needs to be a 1 time game wide SG/VG rename. As far as forcing players to move to the same, no they can go to what ever server they want to they isn't being shut down.
Doctor Roswell said,
"Which server? Do you just consolidate the two with the lowest populations, thus not giving anybody a choice where they move to? Do you give everyone a server transfer for all their characters and say, "be moved out by Friday or you're getting deleted"? If you do, you'll likely end up with most people jumping ship to a place like Freedom or Virtue, in no small part because they'll see the writing on the wall and not want to have to go through all this again six months later if the devs decide to shut down another "dead" (but not really) server. Which will really just give the high-population servers even higher populations, while the lower-populations ones will stay low, and then someone would be complaining about how they need to shut down Guardian or Champion or Triumph or whatever -- and this part is important -- "like they did with Pinnacle." See, it would create a precedent for shutting down low-population servers, which would create a mass exodus from those servers, which would just make future server shutdowns more likely. It's what called a "death spiral."
--You don't consolidate servers you shut down 3 of the least active servers and give everyone on those servers free character transfers and they pick what server they want to move to. Give them 6 months to do it, any characters that belong to inactive players are sent to a random sever but with the character transfer so if they become active again they can move to what ever server they want to. Send a mass e-mail to everyone to tell them.
Doctor Roswell said,
"What about everyone else? I don't play on Pinnacle, but if the devs are just giving away free server transfers, I don't see why I should be penalized just for playing on a high-population server. Where's my free transfer? Or rather, where are my thirty-four free transfers, one for each character I have on Virtue? And my twelve for the characters I have on Exalted? And my six for Victory, and my three for Infinity?
Now, I don't really feel that way, but I promise you, there are people out there who would. And if even a tenth of the ones who'd threaten to quit paying in outrage over the "unfair treatment" they were getting actually did, you'd see a net drop in subscriptions, not a gain."
--No just the players that are losing there home. I think what everyone forgets even if there was 100 players on Pinnacle 24-7 they are scattered throughout the zones and in missions or SG/VG bases making the zones look like ghost towns. Shutting down 3 inactive servers will make it more then twice as likely to see other players. We'll never know how many people left COX because the servers are inactive. I'm sure a lot will come back for the server shut downs. This will benefit all players, the servers we move to will receive active veteran players with a much greater change to welcome and help the new players.
All on Pinnacle Server
Godless - level 50 Ninja/Dark MM
Hero Hater - level 29 Energy/Regen Stalker
Xtc - level 35 Energy/Elec Brute