Why didn't they consolidate servers?
By
Aggelakis,
Posted on: 2012-09-03 07:36 in Suggestions and Ideas
Quote:
It's not likely that the game was doing poorly. It's probably just what they said, they want to focus on fewer projects. I know enough about accounting to know that I don't know what specific advantages NCSoft sees in this decision. As much as I hate them for this decision, I will not believe that the decision was made with malice, but instead was just business. |
Originally Posted by Talionis
Most games that die, so signs of weakening, they reduce staff, they reduce the number of servers. I was actually getting excited for the new sets that have been in production. I really get the feeling that this is news to most of the staff.
Any chance this is a precursor to COH2? |
That our great dev team fell victim to it just makes me want to punch somebody.
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
This was the worst part of the announcement...
I mean, it was a total surprise, dont think anyone saw this coming.
One would think CoH was closer to end around I10 than now.
I24, tons of new content in production, not even a year as F2P, 16 servers...
If we had servers reduced, or a noticeable slow down in new updates or very long time without new issues or content in market, one would think something is going wrong with the game, resources and population.
And this announcement would not be a SHOCK.
But as far as we know, even if it wasnt a huge moneymaker, CoH was good enough for a F2P 8 years old game.
I hate NCSoft.
I feel like they kicked me out of my own home or killed a part of my life...
Also feel terrible for our awesome studio who just lost their jobs, when they are awesome proffesionals who work with passion. They are the best of the industry.
See above:
Although "hate" may be too strong a term, I'm certainly not inclined to give NCSoft any more of my money, where I was perfectly happy spending an extra $20 / month on Paragon Points on top of my subscription fee in order to get all the cool stuff they were making. And there was even more awesome new stuff coming soon.
The worst part about the way this was done is this: even if the petitions and letter writing campaigns work, and NCSoft revives the game, there will still be a lack of trust towards them. They have already pulled the rug out from under us and the greatest team of developers in gamedom once. We all may be less inclined to give them money in the future, knowing full well that NCSoft could yank the rug again the next year or even the next quarter. I would probably buy new powersets and costume sets, but I wouldn't keep a "bank" of points for impulse buys any more. I would buy points when I need them, and only as many as I need.
I fear the bridge has been burned, and it was NCSoft that burned it.
New story arcs coming soon (ARC IDs will be aded when I finish the arc):
So, you want to join the Hellions? (level 1-14 Villainous arc)
Sparks & Steel (level 5-20 Heroic arc)
and
So you want to join the Skulls? (level 1-14 Villainous arc)
Unfortunately consolidation can sometimes drive players away, whether the 'rats leaving the ship before it sinks' effect, or people angry at losing their character names/sg bases due to server merges leaving. If someone plays on more than one server, there's a chance for some altoholics to have too many characters on the merged servers.
Not only that, but the CoH servers were apparently changed to be not separate blades, but instead virtualized servers on a cluster, scaling resources depending on virtual server load, with the bigger servers like Virtue getting more of the resource pie compared to say, Vigilance, the French Legacy server.
Quote:
That actually doesn't happen in as many games as you'd think. Additionally, it is only done when doing so would mean a significant savings in maintenance costs.|
Originally Posted by Talionis
Most games that die, so signs of weakening, they reduce staff, they reduce the number of servers. I was actually getting excited for the new sets that have been in production. I really get the feeling that this is news to most of the staff.
Any chance this is a precursor to COH2? |
This game isn't being killed because it was unprofitable. It is being killed because NCSoft is an example of a company that always goes for the next shiny, and because they've done that too many times, they feel they have to sacrifice an old game that was actually making money for them.
If there was going to be a COH2, they wouldn't have dissolved Paragon Studios.
"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
It just seems like someone would have bought it and had us keep paying to keep the servers open. Killing a MMO should really hurt NCSofts reputation. If they had a new superhero game for us to transfer into, I'd understand. But this...
What would consolidation have done besides drive some players away that lost their toon names?
I mean as a cost issue as far as I know all the different servers are actually just partitions run off the same machine, so no cost difference there...
Merging the servers wouldn't have done anything besides pissing off a bunch of people who lost their homes.
Quote:
I had seen that happen in other games as a cost saving mechanism. Loosing my name or losing my all my toons... Seems like a no brain-ER. Now, if it doesn't make anything cheaper and the game doesn't stay then combining servers doesn't do anything productive.|
Originally Posted by SinisterDirge
What would consolidation have done besides drive some players away that lost their toon names?
I mean as a cost issue as far as I know all the different servers are actually just partitions run off the same machine, so no cost difference there... Merging the servers wouldn't have done anything besides pissing off a bunch of people who lost their homes. |
I just can't believe they aren't taking in enough to keep the game going possibly with fewer or no additional updates.
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I agree, but it wasn't at that point, and merging wouldn't have saved any money anyway. The game was doing fine. Great actually for how long we have been around. We weren't losing money at all. More and more players coming back, plus lots of new faces...
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Originally Posted by Talionis
I had seen that happen in other games as a cost saving mechanism. Loosing my name or losing my all my toons... Seems like a no brain-ER. Now, if it doesn't make anything cheaper and the game doesn't stay then combining servers doesn't do anything productive.
I just can't believe they aren't taking in enough to keep the game going possibly with fewer or no additional updates. |
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It's a conspiracy to rid the world of "horrible" Superhero games "that nobody plays and are universally hated because nobody thinks superheroes are interesting. Fantasy games are better."
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Originally Posted by Lemur Lad
This game isn't being killed because it was unprofitable. It is being killed because NCSoft is an example of a company that always goes for the next shiny, and because they've done that too many times, they feel they have to sacrifice an old game that was actually making money for them. If there was going to be a COH2, they wouldn't have dissolved Paragon Studios. |
to 
TO THE END!Villains are those who dedicate their lives to causing mayhem. Villians are people from the planet Villia!
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Funny when the biggest movie of the year was... Avengers?
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Originally Posted by cursedsorcerer
It's a conspiracy to rid the world of "horrible" Superhero games "that nobody plays and are universally hated because nobody thinks superheroes are interesting. Fantasy games are better."
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Consolidating servers in City would have done nothing; they are all virtualized so they share resources; if a server needs more, it takes more temporarily to cover the load, then it gives it back up when the load dies down. Closing a server would just mean you gutted part of your community for no reason.
Paragon Wiki: http://www.paragonwiki.com
City Info Terminal: http://cit.cohtitan.com
Mids Hero Designer: http://www.cohplanner.com
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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.
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I conceded already. I'd just rather anything than have my toons disappear.
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Originally Posted by Talionis
I had seen that happen in other games as a cost saving mechanism. Loosing my name or losing my all my toons... Seems like a no brain-ER. Now, if it doesn't make anything cheaper and the game doesn't stay then combining servers doesn't do anything productive.
I just can't believe they aren't taking in enough to keep the game going possibly with fewer or no additional updates. |
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[Bitterness showing through for a moment]|
Originally Posted by Aggelakis
Closing a server would just mean you gutted part of your community for no reason.
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...and why gut just a part of your community? Think big!
[/end bitterness]
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Originally Posted by Talionis
I'd just rather anything than have my toons disappear.
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Do follow the efforts of the Titan Network to make an emergency tool to download and save your character files in case there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Even if they can't save the game in current form, having saved the files would give you something, and might enable the characters to be "awakened from cryosleep" at some point in the future.
If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
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The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog
Most games that die, so signs of weakening, they reduce staff, they reduce the number of servers. I was actually getting excited for the new sets that have been in production. I really get the feeling that this is news to most of the staff.
Any chance this is a precursor to COH2?