server-population
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WildStar opens up free, indefinite megaserver transfers
How's your server's population in WildStar since the switch to megaservers? Does it still feel a little empty? Community manager Tony Rey says that the team has heard the complaints that the PvP servers are quiet, and the team is responding by opening up indefinite free transfers between the PvE and PvP megaservers in both directions. You can move your PvE character to the PvP megaserver as you wish, and vice versa. Rey says that while the team was initially happy with the stats on the PvP realms, the EU PvP megaserver in particular had certain difficulties with player numbers after PvP-to-PvE transfers were opened up but before the megaservers went live. Having free transfers in place does carry the risk of allowing people to level on a PvE server only to transfer over at the level cap, but players are assured that the team is watching for shenanigans and will shut down untoward transfers. These transfers are currently open for an indefinite period of time; Carbine will decide whether or not these free transfers will remain in place after monitoring the health of the server system.
ArcheAge boasts two million registered players
ArcheAge's local launch has gone pretty well, according to producer Scott Hartsman. A recent letter to the players confirms last week's whispers that over two million players have registered for the game, which certainly goes a long way to explaining those launch queues. Between North America and Europe, the game currently has 21 active servers in total, and Hartsman stated that character creation restrictions are being rolled back as the populations begin to stabilize. The letter goes on to address the issue of bots, many of which have already been unceremoniously ejected from the game. The game's most recent patch restricts chatting in several channels (Faction, Trade, Nation, Shout, and Need Party) to characters who are level 15 or higher, and a learning anti-spam feature is on track to be integrated into the base game. There's also discussion about catching up with holiday content and the like, so those two million registered players should have plenty of stuff to do.
Carbine Studios planning to address WildStar server issues
Does your server in WildStar feel just a bit empty lately? Of course it does; there are always population issues in a game after the initial subscription rush, and players trying to gear up for the game's larger raids have been feeling the pinch. There's good news, however, as the developers are apparently looking into solutions. Design Producer Stephen Frost replied to fans on Twitter earlier today stating that the team is working on some new technology to help alleviate the issue of population. Whether this means a more open server structure, guesting on other servers, or something else altogether remains to be seen, but it's at least comfort for players stuck in something of a ghost town.
Vaneras on the merging of high-pop realms
As we reported the other day, connected realms will soon be coming to WoW's EU servers. As expected, there have been a bevy of questions regarding the upcoming changes, and the EU community managers been busy keeping on top of updates. Connected realms represent a number of potential benefits that have many folks hopeful that their servers might get an injection of vitality, so Vaneras took some time to give a clarification of what the current intentions are behind the use of connected realms. Some players on high-population realms, particularly high-pop realms with an enormous faction imbalance, have been looking toward connected realms as a potential way to correct that imbalance. Alas, Vaneras explains in his post that this functionality is not currently a way in which Blizzard intends to use connected realms technology. Connected realms are specifically focused on improving the situation of small-population servers. If you play on a small server, you're likely familiar with many of the problems they face: few guild options, stagnant economy, very high prices for essential raiding supplements such as gems, glyphs, and enchants, as well as increased difficulty in tackling group content. These are the types of problems connected realms are intended to alleviate. Vaneras further explains that, because of the limitations of the existing technology, merging very high population servers just is not physically possible at the moment. The technology may expand or evolve in the future in ways that may make it possible, but for now, it's not an option. The full blue post is under the break.
Patch 5.2 PTR: The return of the unlockable Isle
For a brief moment in time, it looked as though the Krasarang Wilds in patch 5.1 were going to be a return, albeit a slightly tweaked one, to the days of Halaa in Burning Crusade. This ended up very much not being the case, but the area still acted somewhat like a fond reminder of the days of open-world PvP. However, patch 5.2 seems to be bringing back yet more of that Burning Crusade nostalgia with the Isle of Thunder -- an island that contains elements that will be unlocked over time. Sounds suspiciously like the Isle of Quel'Danas, doesn't it? Well, there are a few notable changes to the dynamic. Because the Horde and Alliance are working separately this time, instead of united under the banner of the Shattered Sun Offensive, each faction gets their own progress bar towards unlocking goals. You can see a glimpse of the progress bar above. As players complete daily quests and objectives, the bar will fill up. Once it's full, another section of the Isle will unlock for players to explore. Blizzard recently released an Under Development guide to patch 5.2 that clarifies this concept a little further.
Guild Wars 2 increasing population limits for the beta weekend
The Guild Wars 2 beta is getting hammered. No, it's not slipping off to the bar to order shots until it can't drive home, but it is getting filled with people eager to try out the game. To compensate, ArenaNet has just announced that world population limits are being increased for the beta event, meaning that several worlds previously listed as being full are now open to more characters. This may not fix the issue, but it should help alleviate some of the stress from the rush. Of course, the game is still in beta, and that means that not everything in the game is fully polished. Want to make sure that there's actually a problem and not just an issue with your computer? Check the updated known issues thread, which has an extensive set of understood issues. Perhaps most globally relevant is the fact that the game is apparently very heavily bottlenecked by the CPU; if you're having performance issues, lowering the video settings may not help you for this round of testing.
The Daily Grind: Should MMO companies reveal server loads?
As long as I've been playing MMOs, game companies have been obfuscating server loads. Oh, sure, you can make a pretty good guess as to how many players are playing on your server. You can look at one of the MMO charting sites, use a tool to parse how many people are in various zones at set times, or wave a calculator at the fine print in quarterly earnings reports, but those methods are admittedly imperfect. We're usually left with vague categories like low-, medium-, and high-population, terms that aren't comparable from game to game. High-pop for EVE Online doesn't mean the same as high-pop for Warhammer Online, after all. I can understand why studios want to hide the numbers. Players are bitterly cruel when it comes to data like these, and a small reduction in population one night could lead to a snowball effect of self-fulfilling doom-and-gloom prophecies. Still, players like to know how many other people they can expect to encounter on their server since that helps them plan which server (and which MMO) might be right for them. What do you think -- should MMO companies reveal the precise numbers behind their server loads? 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: What do you do when you're in a queue?
It's not hard to find an MMO player who's gotten to experience the singular joy of the server queue. Maybe you were trying to log in to DC Universe Online right after it switched business models; maybe you've been taking part in this weekend's beta testing for Star Wars: The Old Republic; or maybe you were around for the launch of World of Warcraft. There's no debate to be had over whether or not server queues are good -- not even the developers consider them something good, just occasionally something necessary. No, today's question is about how you handle it. Do you wait it out and watch the time tick down? Read a book while you wait? Whip out a handheld game system? Play some Solitaire? Fix a snack? When the worst-case scenario happens and you're stuck in a server queue, what do you do to help pass the time between the start of the queue and the time when you get in? 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!
Wasteland Diaries: Launch 2.0
Fallen Earth is officially free-to-play with patch 2.0. There are very few restrictions on the free accounts, so if you haven't at least tried it out, you really have no excuse. If it's been a while since you've played, you might want to pop in and check it out. A lot has changed, and there's no need to sub up to take a look. The world is pretty well populated now. Even Los Alamos was crowded again, like it used to be over a year ago. The starter towns were packed with new players all running around with their axes and air rifles. The population is certainly healthy at the moment; hopefully it will last. It's been over two years since Fallen Earth went live, and it's also probably been over two years since the wasteland has had so many people in it. LifeNet gear is back in style again. Players are trotting around on "Old Nags," and the Help channel is a fusillade of questions that many of the more helpful and knowledgeable players try to keep up with. I spent a few hours traveling around and watching the crowds. Seeing the swarms of players and the dead mobs littering the desert sand in Sector 1 reminded me of launch day back in September of '09. But the difference is this: There are more players everywhere, which means many of the old players have returned as well. I've noticed some big changes already, and I'll share those with you right after the cut.
PAX East 2011: Massively interviews RIFT's Scott Hartsman
With the launch of RIFT still fresh, members of the Trion team packed their bags and flew to Boston to attend PAX East. Even though they didn't have a booth, their "We're not in Azeroth anymore" banner made their presence known. In addition, Community Manager Cindy "Abigale" Bowens hosted a party in Boston to celebrate the launch with players and fans. Massively had a chance to sit down and talk with Trion CCO and RIFT Executive Producer Scott Hartsman about launch day, security, plans for the future, and a whole lot more. Read on for the full interview!
World of Tanks sets Guinness World Record
Move over EVE Online -- there's a new sheriff in Single Server Population Town, and his name is World of Tanks. This surprisingly popular MMO, which is still hip-deep in beta, already has one record for the books -- literally. Wargaming.net announced that World of Tanks set the Guinness World Record for Most Players Online Simultaneously on One MMO Server. The event happened on January 23rd, as 91,311 players crowded onto its Russian server. CEO Victor Kislyi thinks the game can do better: "However, with the population of the game growing steadily another week or two, [it] would let us report a more impressive record as the current PCCU number surpasses 120,000 players." If you'd like to get in on this record-setting title, the North American beta and the European beta are both accepting tank drivers every day.
Lost Pages of Taborea: What's in a server?
Welcome back to another week of Lost Pages of Taborea. I'm switching gears and answering some reader mail. I'll answer the question to the best of my abilities, and then I want to expand the topic to cover server density and personality. Roger Ringo has returned to Reni from a hiatus which prompted the following question. Roger Ringo asks: I was wondering if you could give me a rundown on the population and community of the servers you have played on. I would really appreciate it. This is a great question about server populations. How populated are the Runes of Magic servers? For that matter, how do we go about finding the number of people on any MMO's server? It never seems to be a cut-and-dried answer with one almighty server-status site to feed us the numbers. A lot of our own perceptions can sway answers to these questions too. What days and times a person logs in, his playstyle, and what he pays more attention to in-game can all affect an opinion of whether a server is a ghost town or a small but happy community. Do my conclusions match with yours? Find out after the break!
The Daily Grind: Do server merges worry you?
NCsoft's Aion probably weighs in as the highest profile server merge over the last little while. That said, it hasn't been the only one, as SOE's Vanguard also slimmed down, and scuttlebutt says that EverQuest II's recent free-to-play announcement will eventually lead to a consolidation of the game's subscription shards. While the pros of merging servers are obvious (keeping the game afloat, swelling the population, and helping group content), there are also some decidedly negative effects. In a PvP-centric game like Aion, it becomes more difficult to quest, particularly in the Abyss where there are now a lot more daevas rubbing shoulders in what is ultimately a rather small zone. In Vanguard, players may have gained questing partners, but they also lost prime housing spots and, in some cases, communities forged over years of gameplay. Do you think server merges are worth the cost? More importantly, do merges (or even merge announcements) signal the impending decline of a game and cause you to begin looking elsewhere?
The Daily Quest: So then he said
Here at WoW.com, we're on a Daily Quest (which we try to do every day, honest) to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Some people have things to say about everything under the sun -- like the goblin pictured above, who is engaging in a frank and earnest discussion about poultry-based thermodynamics and the merits of their application in conjunction with other forms of flightless fowl. Unfortunately the only person that would listen to her is Chilly the penguin, who simply doesn't know any better. Fortunately, we've found some posts that are much more entertaining than Miss Yammersalot. Mana Obscura discusses the growing yet shrinking world ... of Warcraft. World of Warcraft Philosophized comments on guild perks and the effects on individual players. The Pink Pigtail Inn asks whether Twitter chat is really the best way to communicate. And speaking of birds, Bible of Dreams has a Friday Five about our feathery friend, the boomkin. Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment, and you may see it here tomorrow! Be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites.
Vanguard US server merge complete [Update]
It's been a rough ride for players of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes over the past few months, with the dreaded "maintenance letter" back in December that left players uncertain about the game's future. That uncertainty wasn't helped when rumors began circling that the game would be merging servers, followed by a confirmation of same. As of now, the server merge is complete, with the game's population all concentrated on a single server dubbed Telon. The good news for players is that the merge, on a whole, went fairly smoothly. There was a slight extension of the expected operation time, which is really normal when dealing with a large-scale operation. It should also help the game's players enjoy the game with a larger population to draw from. The bad news is... well, a server merge is never exactly a comforting fact for any game, and we can only hope that the long-term benefits for Vanguard outweigh the negatives. [Update: This does not affect the EU server which is set to merge at a later date. Thank you to everyone who tipped us on this!]
Free realm transfers announced
Blizzard poster Turrit announced yesterday that free realm transfers are being made available to address faction imbalance and overpopulation issues on the following PvE realms: Aggramar (Alliance only) Area 52 (Horde only) Blackhand Hellscream Stormrage (Alliance only) Thrall (Horde only) Undermine Destination realm: Drak'thul The free transfer period will run from Tuesday, May 25 (today) to Tuesday, June 1 at 11:00 a.m. PDT. However, Turrit did make a point of mentioning that Blizzard has a transfer goal in mind, and if it's reached, they may shut the free transfers down early. If you're on any of the affected realms and have been considering a transfer, this might be a good chance to save yourself $25. To my surprise, it turns out Drak'thul was actually a PvP realm until very recently, and after a quick look at WoW Progress's list of U.S. realms, I have to agree it looks like the server needs some love. While it's possible the page hasn't been updated, it's apparent that the Drak'thul's raiders are struggling -- and there's some rather illuminating commentary in this thread (I'll grant I can't verify the accuracy) on how some of the server's troubles may have gotten their start. Two things come to mind: Blizzard's observations a year ago concerning only PvP realms being low-pop, and: what's happening on Cho'gall. Interesting. The full announcement is past the cut.
Searching for the most popular server
Kris over on the WoW LJ has an interesting question: what's the most popular server in the game? Blizzard never has (and likely never will) singled out one server as the most popular in the game, as the QQ that would ensue might bring the forums down (not to mention that it must change pretty often, as people transfer and reroll on other realms. It seems that everyone on a high population server thinks they must be top dog when they see queues during prime time, but the most widespread concrete numbers we have are probably from the unofficial Warcraft Realms census: they claim that, with over 35,000 characters on it, Whisperwind is number one.Of course, even that can't be trusted -- those numbers are picked up from the site's addon, all within the last 30 days, and it could just be that WR has more info about more people on that server. But at the same time, I'd guess that Warcraft Realms' numbers are in the ballpark, as long as you're talking about Yankee Stadium. Whisperwind, Cenarion Circle, Stormrage, Moon Guard, and Proudmoore are all big servers, I can promise you anecdotally, while Laughing Skull, Blood Furnace, and Malorne are definitely at the other end of the spectrum. As for a most popular realm, there probably isn't one specifically (it changes periodically, if not even at different times of the day). But if your realm is near the top of Warcraft Realms' list, it's probably busier than the others.
Runes of Magic nabs 700,000 players at launch
In the free-to-play market, the competition is fierce. It seems like we hear about a new game being ported and launching just about every week, and have for the last while. That said, Runes of Magic, the recent entry into the market by Runewaker Entertainment in partnership with Frogster Interactive has definitely caught our attention in playing through the game recently. That's why we were glad to hear that they've announced 700,000 players are checking out this interesting new world. According to their press release, response has been so good that they've been required to add another European server to their line-up for a total of nine launch servers altogether. They've also had to lock down character creation on the Laoch and Aotacht servers due to population, and state that if any other servers reach max, they've got the infrastructure in place to open more servers should the demand become greater. With mechanics cribbed from everything from World of Warcraft to EverQuest II and even a bit of Warhammer Online and Final Fantasy XI for good measure, this is definitely one of the strongest new titles to hit the F2P market in the last while. Just how large the game will continue to grow, considering it reintroduces some less popular mechanics like death penalties and a fairly involved tradeskill system remains to be seen. Still, it's a good sign for Runes of Magic, and we wish them all the best luck on the future of their game! Gallery: First Impressions: Runes of Magic
Another round of Warhammer Online free character transfers begins
Maintaining a balanced server population is always a tricky issue in Warhammer Online, hence the periodic need to have characters transfer to different servers. Mythic Entertainment has announced that another round of free character transfers begins today, February 19th. The source and destination servers are: (Red Eye Mountain, Ungrim --> Monolith, Iron Rock, Ironfist), (Sylvania --> Volkmar, Gorfang, Vortex), and (Azazel --> Volkmar, Gorfang, Magnus). As an incentive to get players to make the jump to these servers, they'll reap a 20% experience and renown bonus for a limited time. Have a look at the Warhammer Herald announcement for more details, as well as their FAQ on free character transfers. Mythic has announced the first expansion to Warhammer Online! Check out the announcement itself, the two brand-new classes coming to the game, and the enormous new dungeon/zone slated for a few months away! Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
No PvE servers are under populated
We've been paying pretty close attention the server issues lately. From the missing mail a few months ago, to instability in instances, to the creation of a new U.S. PvE server.Zarhym has come out and said there are no PvE realms under populated, and that's the reason why Blizzard has introduced a new PvE realm, and not a new PvP realm. He goes on to point out that while some PvE realms are not having queues, they are only a few hundred people away from having to suffer through them every evening.And while there are PvP realms that have queues, there are "several PvP realms that are a little too under populated."So what does this mean?
