Merge the non-hardcore servers

[Kaboom2112]

I can't speak for the rest of them, but Ghallanda is dead. Hardcore has pulled enough away to kill it.

I've no interest in HC, yet this is affecting my fun. The game's more fun in a group but LFMs just are not filling.

[redoubt]

I can't speak for the rest of them, but Ghallanda is dead. Hardcore has pulled enough away to kill it.

I've no interest in HC, yet this is affecting my fun. The game's more fun in a group but LFMs just are not filling.

I don't know if this is the answer, but I've had the same trouble on Sarlona. Even less LFM than normal.

[kned225]

Playing around on the hardcore server reminded me how much fun this game is when its buzzing. Crowded banks and auction houses, packed lfm. Just a great atmosphere.

I'd love them to merge servers, and i think they would if they had the resources/man power......but...

[Kaboom2112]

Make character moves free and let us self migrate.

[tralfaz81]

LFMs were way down last time I even bothered logging in.

[droid327]

Make character moves free and let us self migrate.

That's just a forced migration then, because you're depleting all the other servers, and anyone left behind will have to deal with even worse conditions than the conditions you're trying to escape. Its white flight, MMO version. Which is what you're experiencing now, because people are on Hardcore and you're left behind.

Just calm TF down and wait till Hardcore is over and everyone will come back to their Live characters. Or if being on the high-pop server is that important to you, so fundamental to your enjoyment of the game,
pay the 2495DP and move to Cannith

[Potatofasf]

Merge everything in one server.

Population in all servers are depleting in a faster rate after new Hardcore server was opened.

I know it is at cost of hard technical work, but is what the game needs.

The Hardcore server has shown LFMs are the key to keep the game alive, to keep LFMs up for all Level ranges is a healthy population.

So, put everyone in a common server.

[droid327]

Merge everything in one server.

Population in all servers are depleting in a faster rate after new Hardcore server was opened.

I know it is at cost of hard technical work, but is what the game needs.

The Hardcore server has shown LFMs are the key to keep the game alive, to keep LFMs up for all Level ranges is a healthy population.

So, put everyone in a common server.

Merging servers sends the message that the game is dying. You'd achieve the opposite of what you want in the long run - new players would stop joining the game, old players would keep leaving, and the single unified server would soon be as empty as the individual servers are now.

I think the better solution is in cross-server instancing/LFMs

[Potatofasf]

Merging servers sends the message that the game is dying. You'd achieve the opposite of what you want in the long run - new players would stop joining the game, old players would keep leaving, and the single unified server would soon be as empty as the individual servers are now.

I think the better solution is in cross-server instancing/LFMs

The game is already dying, what is the difference between cross server LFM (an unnoficional merge) and a server merge?

[Phoenicis]

The game is already dying, what is the difference between cross server LFM (an unnoficional merge) and a server merge?

Cross server LFM there are few/no issues with character names/slots and guilds losing RL money spent on amenities (Astral Shards).

A full merge they have to figure out how to handle character name conflicts, guild name conflicts, character slot issues, guild amenities, including things RL money was spent on.

[Kaboom2112]

Just calm TF down and wait till Hardcore is over and everyone will come back to their Live characters.

No.

My sub's up, I'll just not renew until this is over. Making your main game suck for a side quest is a bucket of fail.

[droid327]

The game is already dying, what is the difference between cross server LFM (an unnoficional merge) and a server merge?

The game is not dying. The game has reached a long-term steady state.

The game is a white dwarf, it'll keep shining steadily for another trillion years. You want to turn it into a type-I supernova, where it might burn bright again for a brief while, but then you end up with a black hole.

Making your main game suck for a side quest is a bucket of fail.

The game is unchanged. Go play it.

Other people are not here to be your content, and its not up to the devs to make decisions based on keeping them convenient for you.

[Kaboom2112]

Other people are not here to be your content, and its not up to the devs to make decisions based on keeping them convenient for you.

Wrong. It IS on the devs to keep the game fun for all players. Those not interested in Hardcore are currently screwed.

[ComicRelief]

"Dormammu, I've come to bargain."

[TheMaxpower]

I agree with the OP. Merging the servers may be the best way to prolong the life of the game.

Veteran players eventually stop playing, for numerous reasons. New players, in my experience, don't last long, especially when they realize how far behind the power curve they are and how much work is required to catch up. Taken together, this means that it will be very difficult to maintain server populations over the long run. At some point, when all the server populations get to a low enough point, some people may stop playing because there is nobody to group with. Merging the servers will mitigate the problem of people leaving the game b/c there is nobody to run with. Just my opinion

[SerPounce]

/signed as always

Honestly when hardcore is done (or dies down) it will probably be break time for me. I don't think I can go back to mostly dead main servers after seeing activity on Hardcore better than it was in 2010. Turns out playing a MMO with a lot of other people is way more fun than playing one mostly alone with a ton of built up power.

I know people will worry about their shards, or their guild, or their names, or whatever else, and this probably isn't going to happen. But it should.

[LucidLTS]

Make character moves free and let us self migrate.

^This

I'd scream bloody murder if they *forced* a move, but I'd strongly support even no new content or bug fixes for 6 months if they could get free transfers or cross server grouping available for people. They obviously have single character moves automated (or they better have in 3 months when 1000+ characters come back from hard core), make that free to ease the pain of your players.

But don't force it on anyone, people happy as they are should be allowed to stay.

Cross server LFM there are few/no issues with character names/slots and guilds losing RL money spent on amenities (Astral Shards).

A full merge they have to figure out how to handle character name conflicts, guild name conflicts, character slot issues, guild amenities, including things RL money was spent on.

All this, plus if you have cross server LFMs then any problems you have are one at a time and customer service can help people in a timely fashion. In a merge, it happens to everyone at once and customer service will be backlogged for months, it will be a disaster.

Remember how bad the simple data center move was? How many thousands did we lose over that. A database merge would make that look like a bad update by comparison. Attempt a merge and have one minor detail missed, and it's lights out.

Don't do it.

[Anuulified]

Wrong. It IS on the devs to keep the game fun for all players. Those not interested in Hardcore are currently screwed.

I've completed 2 epic past lives since the start of hard core.

[Kaboom2112]

I've completed 2 epic past lives since the start of hard core.

Only two? I'm starting life 4 but it still sucks.

[mikarddo]

The real issue will be when those enjoying the full groups on HC return to the normal servers and find them ghost towns by comparison.

There is a latent risk that more people will stop playing after that than if HC had never happened.

Imho SSG have taken a great risk with the HC server if they are not ready to deliver cross server grouping shortly after - which I doubt they are.