server-merges
Latest
The Think Tank: The MMO server merge stigma
Last week, Turbine announced that it plans to address Lord of the Rings Online's ongoing population problems. New executive producer Athena "Vyvyanne" Peters wrote, "We're taking measures to get everyone onto the more populous servers" and "working on [...] improved server transfer tools." And later, she clarified, "We are still working through the details, but part of our efforts here are to make the transition as seamless as possible for Kinship leaders to keep the players together. The idea is to bring you together, not spread further apart." In our post, we called this process "server merges of a sort," but some loyal LotRO fans went ballistic at the idea that mass server transfers to, you know, merge players onto populous servers might be called "server merges." The term has such negative connotations and implications for a game's health that neither studios nor fans will dare use it even when it's a reasonable term to use and when it heralds good things for an aging game. The stigma might even make some studios leery of doing merges at all. What do you think -- is there a better term for these sorts of faux-merges? Have you been through a merge and found it a worthwhile experience? Can we be done with the merge stigma already? We're talking server merges in today's Think Tank.
Age of Wushu previews new school abilities after server merge
The fifth inner skills for each of the eight schools are arriving in the next Age of Wushu update, and if you're a player, you'd probably like to know what they do, wouldn't you? I mean, one of them might instantly kill everything in a seven-meter radius, and the other might summon a moderate quantity of breadsticks and marinara sauce. That seems unlikely, though, as the preview of these new abilities mentions neither sort of talent. They do include attack buffs, HP drains, and major defensive buffs, though, so that's good. You'll be able to show these skills off to a wider range of players after the game's server merges from yesterday. The Golden Kirin and White Tiger servers have been merged into the Blue Dragon server; players whose names will need to change should receive name changing scrolls within the next few days. If you weren't able to log in yesterday and aren't sure about how the merge went down, you can double-check the quick guide to the process.
City of Steam is merging EU servers on December 22nd
If you've played City of Steam in the EU and thought to yourself, "Man, there are just too many servers for this game right now," the developers agree with you, which is why the server list is being consolidated down to a single server as of December 22nd. Characters will be automatically transferred, with character names getting server tags to make sure naming issues sorted out before they arise. Players on the current EU3 server will be receiving a compensation package that includes a 90-day subscription and a variety of other materials for character advancement. The five-characters-per-server limit will be enforced with prejudice; the staff is simply deleting the oldest or least-played characters on an account if the merge puts someone over five characters on the final server. So take care of that issue before it arises on the 22nd.
City of Steam is merging US servers on October 21st
City of Steam's US servers are coming back together. On October 21st, the US servers for the game will be merged into a single server for everyone in the US. Players on the US2 and US3 servers affected by the merges will be getting a bit of an extra benefit out of this change; not only will they get to play with a larger population, but a consolation package is being offered to players for the delay in starting the other servers in the first place. The packages consist of subscription time, Metal, Alloy, Revamp Gems, Vehicle Parts, and Lucky Scrolls; US3 characters get more of these things, but the core contents are identical. There's also an offer to European players to obtain a similar package by emailing the support department, as those servers are already merged. Read up on the details, and get ready for the world to become a bit smaller but more populated.
The Daily Grind: Do server merges make you more or less worried about an MMO?
Server merges, megaservers, connected realms, server consolidations -- call them whatever you want; a server merge is a merge, and it means a game's population has shrunk and servers need to be shed. Usually, MMO gamers take that as a herald of doom and race to the forums and blogs to argue over the technicalities of who's going where, what stuff will be lost in the transfer, and who predicted something patently inevitable a year ago. Onlookers pronounce the game a failure. But maybe that's the wrong atittude altogether. By the time most games merge servers, I'm usually heaving a sigh of relief. RIFT, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Star Wars Galaxies, EverQuest, even World of Warcraft -- all of these MMOs benefited enormously from their merges or faux-merges, in spite of the way merges look to people obsessed with schadenfreude. For players playing a game whose devs recognize a population problem and fix it while they still have the resources to do so, it's practically a game-saver, not a game-killer. When you're stuck on a dead server in a game that has just enough resources to keep going but not enough to merge, then the game is screwed. What do you think: Do server merges make you more or less worried about an MMO? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: How should studios handle server merges with open world housing?
We had an interesting question come up in the office the other day concerning all of the open world housing in ArcheAge. What if the game (perish the thought) shrunk in population and then faced server merges. How would the studio handle merging populations that had equal claims on housing plots? It seems to be a recipe for disaster any way that you look at it. One solution would be to force everyone out of the pool, er, server and then make a completely new server for those populations to fight over. Another solution would be to award a housing plot to the character with the most seniority. What do you think? How should studios handle server merges with open world housing? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar ain't doing so good
If you somehow missed it, last week the WildStar team announced that the game will be squishing into megaservers to help bolster populations. What the hell happened? Contrary to what the developers would like you to believe, this is not good news. It's especially bad news if you're part of the roleplaying community, as you're about to get shoved into a server configuration that's almost specifically designed to prevent you from roleplaying outside of a handful of shared plots, but it's bad news for everyone. And it's bad news for the game when server merges are a reasonable reaction after less than three full months of operation. We all know that the game launched to good reviews, and it's far too early to say, "Well, it failed." At the same time, this is not a sign of a robust and vibrant future. This is the first stage of an organized retreat, and it doesn't inspire confidence. So what, exactly, took place that brought the game from the high of its launch to server mergers today?
WildStar announces megaservers
WildStar will be cleaning up its server list and condensing populations in the future, as Carbine Studios announced today that it will be implementing megaservers for the game. The team did caution that it "still some ways away" from the change but wanted to get the news out now. "Going the megaserver route means that we vastly increase server capacity allowing for greater critical mass of our player base, resulting in more people, more groups, more activity and more raids... more of everything that makes WildStar so fun," the team posted. The new megaservers will eliminate the old rulesets and replace them with one PvP and one PvE server per region (North America and Europe). The region lock will still apply, however. The team will also be putting specific chat channels (such as roleplay or French) to offset this elimination of old rulesets. All players will be getting an increased number of character slots to 12 when the megaservers go live, and Carbine will be adding last names to avoid name conflicts. In the meantime, Carbine is allowing for free realm transfers for everyone.
RIFT to unify Euro region on a single cluster
July 3rd is reunification day for European RIFT players, according to a news blurb posted yesterday on the fantasy MMO's web site. All Euro Ascended will play on a single cluster and will be able to transfer "between European shards to participate in activities on whichever shard they choose." Trion has also increased its player capacity and is merging several shards as a result. Check out the firm's FAQ for full details.
World of Warcraft updates its realm connection timetable
Do you play on a lower population server in World of Warcraft? Fear not, as more server merges connected realms are incoming for everyone. The next batch of connections will be taking place on Thursday, January 9th. Maintenance for these realms starts at 9 a.m. EST and should run until 2 p.m. EST; as always, completion times are subject to change based upon unforeseen issues. Another group of realms is slated for connection but does not currently have a timetable, although one of the slated connections (Anvilmar and Undermine) is currently on hold due to undisclosed technical issues. The addition of new realms means more people to play alongside, so for lower-population servers these merges can't come fast enough. Check out the official post for the full list of realms being merged.
Massively's exclusive sneak peek of RIFT 2.6: Dreamweaving, Fae Yule, and the state of the game
While we're descending into the insanity and fun of the holiday season, Trion Worlds is looking ahead to 2014 and its road to RIFT's 3.0. We hopped on the phone with RIFT's team earlier today for a sneak peek (sneak listen?) of the game's 2.6 content update and how it will tie into the expansion later next year. RIFT 2.6 -- there is no official title as of yet -- is a ways out still. Trion is targeting early February for its release, primarily because so many employees are taking time off for the holidays to be with friends and family. That said, 2.6 should arrive on the public test server in January, and the devs promise that it will be well worth the wait. So what's coming with 2.6? Dreams, crafts, and conclusions, my friends! Let's dig into it.
RIFT merges away English EU servers, then adds another one
. Remember when RIFT merged servers recently? You might not have noticed, but it also eliminated the last server in the EU region flagged as for roleplaying. The players protested and tried to save that bastion of roleplaying, but the decision was made and the axe fell. So it was that the game's new server list was created, and everyone could rest easily knowing that this group of servers was a stable configuration. And then another English server was added to the mix. According to Trion Worlds the addition of the new server will help to reduce lag and stabilize the cluster in response to increased demand on the servers. Many fans are quite upset that the game removed the last roleplaying server and then simply opened a new one, although it's unclear whether or not the population on that server would have matched the population expected on the new non-roleplaying server. [Thanks to noit'snot for the tip!]
More connected realms on the way for WoW
Blizzard has plans to connect more World of Warcraft realms, according to a post on the Battle.net forums. Five pairs of servers are due to be linked, though the company doesn't yet "have a specific date on which these connections will occur." What's a realm connection? It's basically Blizzard-speak for cross-server tech wherein two or more standard realms have been permanently and seamlessly linked. "These linked realms will behave as if they were one cohesive realm, meaning you'll be able to join the same guilds, access a single auction house, run the same raids and dungeons, and join other adventurers to complete quests," the company explained previously.
RIFT frees up inactive character names
No one likes changing a character's name because of a server merge, but there are definitely ways to add insult to injury. If you wind up losing your original name to an active high-level character, it feels fair. If you lose your name to a naked bank alt someone made years ago and has almost forgotten, it feels like cheating. That's why RIFT is freeing up the names of inactive characters prior to the next major server merge. Any players with characters flagged as inactive will be sent a letter stating that the characters in question are in danger of losing their names. If it's a mistake, you can just log in on that character and you'll be fine. If you legitimately don't play the character, then someone who does use the name will be able to use it. Everyone wins -- assuming that there aren't two active characters with the exact same name, in which case we're back to the default situation where someone wins and someone loses.
Trion answers questions about RIFT's server merges
Next week's RIFT server merge is far from the first time that the game has compressed its servers, but it's still producing no shortage of anxiety and apprehension. The game's community managers took to the forums to answer some of the more pressing questions, starting with the (unwelcome) news that the merged EU servers will wind up without a server flagged for roleplaying. Name changes will be necessary; surnames are possible for the future, but they will not be in place for the merges. Players with more than the maximum number of characters after the merge will only have access to the first 12; players will need to delete existing characters to see the characters in overflow, but they will not be lost. Guild banks do not need to be emptied. Players are also reminded that characters can be transferred before the merger. The one bright point is the fact that the EU servers will have an auction house supporting French, English, and German clients at the same time, allowing all players in the region to interact successfully on the merged worlds.
World of Warcraft sews together realms to solve population issues
Instead of simply merging some of its lower population servers, World of Warcraft is going a different way. Starting in patch 5.4, Blizzard will introduce connected realms: servers that are functionally joined together with other servers to share population and resources. While the affected realms will remain technically independent, the lines between the two connected realms will be blurred. These realms will be able to share population, have one linked auction house, and allow players of both servers to group, guild, and PvP together. So why not just merge? Blizzard's official answer reasons, "Other alternatives such as merging realms would require us to force character name changes if there were conflicts, and could lead to confusion for returning players who'd log in to find their realm missing from the realm list. Some players also feel strong ties to their realm's name or history, and we don't want to erase that." The list of what servers will be connected has yet to be released.
Director's letter for Age of Conan talks loot, merges, and dungeons
If you've not been happy with loot rewards in Age of Conan, you can take some succor in the fact that the designers aren't happy with them either. The latest director's letter discusses the problem of rewards in the first Dragon's Spine dungeon and explains that the team is trying to create interesting loot without creating a huge power imbalance between new and veteran characters at the cap. While the next few dungeons will fill out the loot sets that have been established, the team is actively working on long-term solutions. Beyond that, the game remains on-track for server merges in the summer, with older unplayed characters moving into "archival" status to make database merges less onerous. The tradeskill revamp and further dungeons are also in the works; Coils of Ubah Khan is nearing launch as the next dungeon. For more details on the updates and discussion of achievements, take a look at the full letter.
Matt Higby discusses PlanetSide 2's roadmap and server merges
It's unsettling for anyone to know that a game is undergoing server merges, even when it's a game that's received as much good press as PlanetSide 2. Fortunately for the game's gun-toting fans, creative director Matt Higby is on tap to provide players with a bit more clarification about exactly what the merges will involve. Ten total servers will be affected, bringing the game's total number to nine after the merges take place. Server transfer tokens will also be available afterwards for players who would prefer to move to a different server in the wake of the transfers. Higby also discusses the game's roadmap, a feature that the designers have been pleased with thus far. Going forward, the roadmap will provide more accurate dates regarding when players can expect to see the new content rather than the current system showing internal development targets. For more specific details, check out Higby's full address to the community.
Smedley announces PlanetSide 2 server merges
PlanetSide 2's servers are going to get a bit cozier in the not-too-distant future. SOE CEO John Smedley announced upcoming server merges on Twitter today. "Server merges soon. Info coming by Monday. No server transfers coming till after that's done. Wouldn't be right doing it the other way around." While we'll have to wait for more information, Smedley did say that "too many people went to some servers and not as many went to others" and that this should in not be seen as a sign that the game hasn't been as successful as might have been hoped.
Anarchy Online dev update talks new engine, server migrations, and more
There's a new monthly development update for Anarchy Online on the game's official forums. It's a fairly lengthy read, but then again there's a lot going on with Funcom's long-running sci-fi MMO. First of all, the devs are extending Halloween festivities through November 12th due to Hurricane Sandy. The team is also finalizing its scripts for the upcoming server migration, and work continues on the much-anticipated Dreamworld engine upgrade. New character models, animations, textures, and mesh armors are all on the table, and Funcom says it's "in the home stretch" on the project as a whole. Finally, this month's letter touches on AO's Steam presence as well as Funcom's plans for upgrading the new player experience. Read all about it on the game's official forums.
