Server merge – Page 3

Sorry Grandpa: Everquest Server Merges Coming

So it’s been a bad month or so for MMO servers. We know that Vanguard is on the verge of server mergers, and that Aion is to shut down several servers, and that Everquest 2 may be getting some servers shut down on the horizon. New word comes from Sony that beginning June 20th, Sony will begin consolidating servers. The result are that Everquest will end up with ten servers, the result of twenty being merged on a two to one basis (two servers merged into one, ten times over). There are four servers that are unaffected.

Characters will receive one free transfer for their characters that will only be valid for seven days after the transfer. Characters will be automatically transferred to the merged-server. If you play Everquest, you will want to read up on the information in the above link, as there are a lot of important notices you will need to take heed to, including what characters/items/banks/etc will be kept and what could be lost.

Inactive accounts with characters under level 10 will be purged from the system

It is not all bad news, however. Sony announced that they will be opening up a new server, which players will have the opportunity to name.

I’ve said that server mergers are not always a bad thing, and for a game as old as Everquest I am certain the population will enjoy the increased number of players in various areas (or not, we all hate overcrowding). If the new server is a regular rules server, then we might see some vested new interest in the title by new players, as the lower level areas will be populated for quite some time by players rolling alts.

Aion: Server Merges Off The Port Bow!

Aion launched in late September 2009, and by November I had reported that NCSoft’s report that the game had sold nearly one million copies in North America and Europe. Not only that, but very shortly after release NCsoft released a couple more servers to alleviate load. They did this, of course, with very public opposition to the idea. With any MMO, adding servers within the first month is generally a poor decision, as the iconic mass exodus that follows any MMO’s launch in the first few months is bound to alleviate those overpopulation woes.

So it is not too surprising when Aion announces that they are merging servers:

“I don’t relish the idea of mergers, however, once it is complete you should notice improvements in each of the new server economies, an abundance of players to group and run instances with, a number of great Legions to join or people to form new ones with, and a more tightly knit community.When all is said and done, Aion will be a better game because of the server merge. We’re in the planning stages, and will have more information on the timing and execution in the coming weeks.”

Chris Hager is right! Seriously, he is. Server mergers are not always a bad thing, and can do a world of good to the game’s economies and servers, and often even incite people into resubscribing who may have left due to low population on their server, but an unwillingness to transfer and create a new character.

In the recent NCsoft Q1 report, Aion is down in the West, with the conference call noting:

“As for the Aion performance in the Western market, I should have mentioned that the number of active users has declined since the launch of the retail package in September and October last year. But I’m also very confident that at this point EU/US is able to maintain the current level of active users and since we’re expecting the 1.9 update soon, and also 2.0 in the third quarter.”

More on Aion and the server mergers as it appears.

Vanguard: Merry Christmas! We're Not Doing Well…

Vanguard is a tale of high expectations and the giant corporate belly. In fact, it only took four months after Vanguard’s release for Sony to gobble up the developers, Sigil. When Vanguard released in 2007, it was awarded the “Biggest Disappointment of the Year” award by Gamespy, noting the title’s lack of content, buggy performance, and the fact that the title was shoved out the door before completion.

It’s been a rocky two years for the title that was once touted as the Everquest 2 Killer. On the plus side, if anything just to get the good news out first, there will be more frequent (yet smaller) updates this year. Vanguard is looking at 2010 as a year to fix bugs, crush bugs, and fumigate the house. The developers are also looking at focusing on the story elements of the game, starting and ending chunks of storyline.

But the bad news, and there always is some, is that some planned updates have been shelved indefinitely:

Continue reading “Vanguard: Merry Christmas! We're Not Doing Well…”