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Tyrlien
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It looks like we can expect an announcement about server merges in the next few weeks. Take a look at the article Introduction to David Gilbertson on the Vanguard Players site.
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| 06/01/07 13:07 |
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Phedre_D
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Hmm, if it comes to that I hope they merge Hilsbury and Florendyl. It would be nice to see you again, Tyr.
***FEELS KINDA NAKED WITHOUT A SIGGIE***
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| 06/02/07 13:30 |
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lani
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Yes, exactly what FLorendyl needs. More people who don't Roleplay. Not directed at you Tyr :-)
As it is, since Florendyl has been touted as having a Healthy Population, we've been getting "refugees" for more than two months now. Making that health a self-fullfilling prophecy and changing Florendyl from RP preferred to RP barely tolerated.
I'm hoping they're doing it in a form of "Servers X,Y and Z will close in three weeks time. Your characters on there can transfer to the servers A, B or C as room allows. First come, first serve".
Also very curious as to how they intend to deal with Housing and plots.
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| 06/02/07 14:11 |
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Weahawk
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Well its honestly freaking me out a little as I have placed so much work into the housing side... what will they do if a plot on one server holds a house on the server it merges with??? I have taken to many man hours to count staking out good plot locations and building, not to mention the tedious placement of things… I am severely nervous about this announcement. It could send me back to EQ2 pretty fast… or explore another game all together, although if they do this right it could be nice. Good thing there seems to be only a few PVP servers so I may be safe…
***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***
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| 06/02/07 14:23 |
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Tyrlien
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It would be nice to see you again too Phe.
Granted a voluntary transfer would be preferred by a number of people but where would that leave the name issue? On the onus of those who transfer? I'd rather see a merge where creation date counts towards keeping a name. Anything else, for example adventure level, or combination adventure, crafting and diplomacy levels, would be penalizing casual players. Housing lots... that will be harsh for those who have them but chances are you will end up being reimbursed with hopefully whatever coin and resources you put into it put into storage of some kind.
People on the forums are a vocal minority, always have been, always will be in any game. I hate server merges. I've been through server merges in two games, three if you count UO's introduction of Trammel. None have been without issues that take months to resolve.
Tyrlien Darkwynd
Skara Brae Guild - Co-Leader
Everquest 2 - Half Elf Swashbuckler
Vanguard - Half Elf Rogue
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| 06/02/07 17:22 |
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lani
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Biggest issue I see is the relative value people put to things, which is often not the same. I'd be more attached to my main's name Kettle than her Houseing Plot for instance.
For someone else that may be the other way round. No way to tell though. Not to mention that anything will gain value exponentially the moment you have to give it up. Be it name, housing plot or duped wealth.
There's really no 'fair' way to do a merger. I'd almost be inclined to say, make everyone pick a new server. Only thing you keep is your toon's stats and gear. Pick a server, pick a name and start over. Maybe free up all Quests of your level-range + and - 6 levels to redo them for gear if needed. This is as close as you can get to a fair New Deal. The result is that everyone will holler rather than a third or so.
Names:
With a voluntary transfer (well, forced leaving, voluntary destination choice) Name-in-use could be a reason to pick one server over another. I would hope they do a wipe of say all characters under level 10 / 10 / 100 on the spheres, for inactive accounts for each servers. I know there's a lot of name-holder toons out there. Heck I got one or two :-)
Changing names, and the voluntary destinations scheme are liable to cause people to lose sight of friends with whom they failed to touch base prior to their 'moves' and even more so with some Guilds. People will lose people.
Server Names:
Then there's the issue that some people would be seriously put out if they'd loose the name of their server. I understood that. Never identified with a server's name. To me it's a designation, not an identity. The community of server A is hardly ever more special then that of B and certainly the name has nothing to do with that. Although, I must admit to automatically trying to avoid a server named 'Flamehammer' :-)
There might be something to it after all.
Plots:
Big issue. Bigger than 'usual' due to lack of instancing. I'm happy with my plot on Northern Stonepike Ridge. It cost me 10 Gold. If someone from say Hilsbury comes in who had a plot in the Deebs, also 10 Gold he'll be pissed to discover Deebs is filled up. A 'deed' item allowing him to pick a 10 Gold plot elsewhere isn't the same. Deebs is a lot better serviced than NSR. Deebs has a crafter outpost with Exchange Broker and Bank within one minute travel distance and a Riftway Stone plus Griffins at its heart. I have yet to find the NSR housing merchants and Mailbox. I payed 10 Gold for the isolated look. A Deebs buyer wouldn't care about that.
Still, such a deed allowing you to purchase another plot seems to me the only valid option. Possibly you'd be able to cash it in as well if you'd like to move to a cheaper plot or abandon your plot altogether. The one 'good' thing is that no server has close to one fifth of all the housing plots filled yet so there will be room for everyone.
Housing:
How to do this. I think Escrow Merchant / storage will be used for that one. All building components plus interiors will be put in. Tricky bit might be chests, VG's system doesn't 'do' containers in containers beyond the basic inventory. You'd end up redecorating though.
Maybe the above mentioned deed could contain all information on your plot / house and be an insta refurb. I doubt it though.
Duped Gold:
Underemphasized issue. Apparently especially the PVP servers had their economies brought to their knees due to the rampant gold duping which 'started' (became public knowledge) in April and lasted till mid-May. A lot of people have a lot of duped gold / items now. What to do with this has not been addressed in a public manner yet. It's not struck Florendyl very hard, I think we've got an inflation that'd be 'normal' for a MMORPG (i.e. badly managed economy) after a year, not 5 months. We've not reverted to a barter economy though.
@Weahawk: I've understood that the Team PVP servers are better of than the FFA ones, but be prepared to see a possible merge of either EU & US or FFA & Team PvP concepts.
Some of them have less concurrent players than the maximum search results at any given time, or so some people claim.
I sincerely hope you'll not get 'hit' by this too badly.
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| 06/03/07 02:18 |
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Phedre_D
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Of course you are as usually completely right, lani. But I am just too laid back to worry over it. For me your most valid point is that Florendyl might get a lot of non-RP'ers. That would be a pity, but I can survive evern that. Everything else is not worrying me. The look of the world stays the same, the quests stay the same, and my friends stay the same (maybe with a new name/toon). Everything else is irrelevent to me.
***FEELS KINDA NAKED WITHOUT A SIGGIE***
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| 06/03/07 04:55 |
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lani
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| QUOTE | | The look of the world stays the same, the quests stay the same, and my friends stay the same (maybe with a new name/toon). Everything else is irrelevent to me. |
I agree with you there Phe, excepting that I'm not usually right :-)
The point where Florendyl has more non-RPers than RPers was passed around May 1st I believe. So that's a moot point really.
I'm not worried for myself either. Even if I were to loose my Plot I'd not care much. I'd go find another. I do care about those friends you mentioned. Who may decide the forced namechange or plot loss, or more non-RPers on Florendyl is the last straw and they will unsubscribe. It's something that affects the community as a whole, and through that each and everyone of us.
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| 06/03/07 05:34 |
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