Merging of servers?

[Miff]

Prydwen population is at all time low. I am shocked that most servers have twice prydwen population ,seems like at prime time it´s about 600-800 while 9 out of the 12 servers even at late nights have much moore than that. This makes the server really booring to play and i´m sure that´s the reason so many people cancel their subs. Only goa can fix this and it´s stupid to not do anything about the situation cause in the end you loose all prydwens players.

When WOW or even open beta hits the shelves there will be a loss of about 30-50% of prydwen active population again this means we will be having 300-400 players at primetime in the huge expansion called NF, and the rest of the servers will be in prydwens situation at the time beeing meaning they will drop fast as a bomb as well with the release of WOW. So would be nice with a GOA reply as well of what plans are to do, Requiel mentioned when population is as low as now there would be thoughts of merging Excal / Prydwen, well I think start working on that or WOW will kill DAOC.

 

[icklewillow]

Merging would kill us imho
I guess Midgard would lose the most having the prices double or triple. They would also have the nice warder zerg to farm so i guess the RvR guilds would rather the merge (more enemys)

 

[IainC]

Requiel mentioned when population is as low as now there would be thoughts of merging Excal / Prydwen, well I think start working on that or WOW will kill DAOC.

No I have never said that.
There are plans in the offing to get more players in (both from a marketing and distribution point of view) and revitalise the game using NF and Catacombs as a springboard for new growth. Don't write anything off yet. People said that SWG would kill DAoC as well remember...

 

[Corran]

There one big point that being missed. How will you treat the people that got people on prydwen and excally in different realms? You gonna take away all the characters from one as you cant play the same server on different realms with 1 account and mythic wont reprogram that factor out as they dont need it themselfs

 

[Daedalus]

I like Prydwen the way it is, seems like a scaled down version of Excal to me.

 

[Miff]

I like Prydwen the way it is, seems like a scaled down version of Excal to me.

Prydwen is ok now , but take away some of the population and it´s really booring and that will happen with WOW release.

 

[Miff]

I think my paranoia is justified since I tried WOW and overall it´s better except the PVP part.

I can understand how Requiel seems no problem in this i´m certain catacombs will bring lots of new players in the game, but the "oldtimers" will be gone soon. Out of a economical view i´m sure one server dying is not a problem , it´s probably cheaper to close down a server than having 400 people playing on it, but out of a players view there should be a solution to people who wish to change servers.

Like beeing allowed to copy one character of choice to another server or something. US servers had /charcopy implemented why can´t EU servers get something similiar in the hour of need? But I guess this discussion is better done when WOW actually has been released, would be interesting to see though how US numbers dropped after WOW release in US daoc if anyone can provide that info would be nice to see.

 

[Straef]

I wouldn't mind a merge tho the big time rvr guilds would prolly profit from it the most and it might not help random noobs (like me ~) at all :/
And ofc even more waiting for arti's :x

 

[Garok]

Would rather they just change the server rule set to PvP but your PvP flag was only on in frontier zones. So effectively makeing the server co-op in the home regions and PvP in Frontiers.

 

[Gamah]

well seeing the ammount of hibs/albs and mids out in alb frountier yesterday..I would say prydwen is far from dead.

 

[Zebolt]

I think my paranoia is justified since I tried WOW and overall it´s better except the PVP part.

And it's exactly that PvP part who keeps most ppl from leaving daoc. I'm not sure if I'm ready to leave for a good PvE game who I will enjoy for 4 months till I start missing PvP (RvR) :>

 

[SkarIronfist]

I play DAOC for the RVR nothing else.

PVE is ok, but its the battles I like.

 

[Oro]

Merging would be very bad indeed. Its not like you're merging PvP servers where it doesn't matter where your chars are. A lot of people would really lose out badly.

 

[Andrilyn]

Don't even think it's possible to merge a server (correct me if I'm wrong) I mean what if 2 people of the same realm or another realm for that matter have the same name and stuff like that they would have to change alot of peoples names and in the housing zone you would get double house numbers or something like 300a and 300b? or would they have to wipe all houses which would be an even bigger problem seeing as it's hard to get a house lot these days and would be near to impossible with Excal and Prydwen merged.

 

[Escape]

The two US PvP servers were merged, I don't know how they managed duplicate names/houses though... probably made the players fight for it oO


I think there's still some life in Prydwen until Catacombs. After that the full effects of WoW will be known and if prydwen population drops to below 500 and Excalibur to 1000, a merge would be in order

/edit/ There're Spanish servers opening too? Excalibur could take a hit from that aswell...

 

[Thadius]

5 out of 6 friends I play daoc with are leaving to play WoW. Some of my guild have left to play EQ2 and I think more will leave to play WoW

 

[Tesla Monkor]

A few players losing badly is better than everyone losing when the server goes below critical. I will gladly sacrifice my albs and hibs on Excal in order to move my Middies there. Don't think it's really a matter of choice.

 

[Tristessa]

People said that SWG would kill DAoC as well remember...

Aye and there were definetely alot more die-hard Star Wars fans that would've stayed yet they came back. Imo the people that are leaving to play WoW are mostly just leaving to take a break from all the crazy crap in DAOC. Ok some wont come back and not because of WoW but perhaps RL issues etc, but when catacombs comes out, I reckon lots of people will return, not to mention possibly several new players too.

 

[Ilum]

No I have never said that.
There are plans in the offing to get more players in (both from a marketing and distribution point of view) and revitalise the game using NF and Catacombs as a springboard for new growth. Don't write anything off yet. People said that SWG would kill DAoC as well remember...

Since then DaoC has gotten worse...and WoW will probably be a lot better than SWG

 

[Boomeruk]

No I have never said that.
There are plans in the offing to get more players in (both from a marketing and distribution point of view) and revitalise the game using NF and Catacombs as a springboard for new growth. Don't write anything off yet. People said that SWG would kill DAoC as well remember...

this id like to see..

people have been asking for copys of daoc,si,toa to be stocked for over 6 months now and you still cant buy it just about anywhere on the planet. theres never been any form of uk advertising for daoc/toa etc to my knoweledge, and im subscribed to 2 of the biggest pc gaming mags...

new players comming to the game, 2 years behind the big boys, so what ya gonna do, give them a free /level 50? make it easier to get to 50? thats still completely discounting the mind numbingly boring timesink that is toa, not to mention the leet peoples attitued towards camping artis / ml steps for farming purposes.

and why people keep going on about "wooo catacombs will save the day!!11" im still not seeing where this daoc saviour lies, its a friggin graphics update (thats long been over due) with yeap you guessed it.. MORE PVE!

then you got FH, what a welcoming and friendly community!!11, it will embrace all new players with open arms and make them feel right at home!

/sarcasm off

I'd discourage anyone to play this game and dont compare the wow release anywhere near the same leauge as the swg release in terms of competition for daoc customers mate, cuz if you are, you're in for a big shock tbh ;o

 

[Gamah]

More PvE to address the leveling issues faced by players, making it eaiser to get a 1-50 and you guessed it..that makes it more attractive to players. Have you actully read the catacombs features? I think not..c ya hope WoW comes out soon so the whiners fuck off there.

 

[Boomeruk]

More PvE to address the leveling issues faced by players, making it eaiser to get a 1-50 and you guessed it..that makes it more attractive to players. Have you actully read the catacombs features? I think not..c ya hope WoW comes out soon so the whiners fuck off there.

ofc, cuz all you gotta do in daoc is get to 50 and your set to compete!!1

farm farm farm farm toa toa toa farm more farm farm farm toa toa camp camp farm toa toa farm cap toa farm cap farm toa toa toa farm camp camp farm argue farm camp argue toa toa farm camp farm toa camp argue....

ToA is about as appealing as a trip to the dentists, only to realise your detist is actually BLIND!

then NF... hmmm NF

Mythic game design 1: ok, toa kinda fucked up rvr, ppl whining about op'ed abilites and RAs, lets change the ra system so everyones almost identical! but, and heres the REAL sales point: give them a FREE rr5 ability, which is 100% usless, and doesent even work on some classes, and make another classes COMPLETELY OVERPOWERED! that will help balance things mate!

Mythic game design 2: dude, that sounds like a plan! but, how do we address our underpopulated servers?

Mythic game design 1: ahhh, i thought you'de never ask! well, you ready for this? well make the zones EVEN BIGGER!!!!!!!!! then, make level 10 keeps only touchable by 40fg's that'll really fix things man!!!

Mythic game design 2: dude, your too good at this shit, you should be working for microsoft, here... have a bud.

mythic have never got anything right, ever the TL program is a complete joke, the nerfs were often far to harsh without any regard towards the player, the expansions... "toa wont effect rvr" "NF rulez" etc etc open you're eyes gamah. although saying that, you play a mincer, so no worries there mate, go charm a sally with your bb and solo artis and sell em for insaine amounts of money, go pwn in rvr with your "insaine" character utility yada yada

 

[Gamah]

Random Whine

Don't like the game don't play it, and if you don't play it don't whine about it, because some of us like TOA and some of us like NF so go fucking play HL2DM if you want a game where u can just jump in and play.

This is a MMORPG it takes TIME to make your char the best..I know people like you want things handed to you on a silver platter but come on..

Most of the fucking bitchy whiney wanks that come here don't even play anymore but just fill up the boards with there whiney shit arsed drivil.

 

[Ilum]

My 3 step plan towards a better Daoc :

Step 1 ) Make PvE more enjoyable and involving.
- Make artifacts something you can start doing at lvl 10 or so - and have them increase in power as you level. Artifacts should not be about camping, it should be some sort of instanced quest that wasn't about having the 2 right classes to do an artifact (focus shield and a bot). All players should have about equal access to artifacts - imagine all the artifacts you can do with 1 death servant necro and a bot that a zerg of 20 wizards couldnt pull off. Master Levels should also be something you start with at low level, that is involving and not in the sense that you need the exact right classes either. It should be more about puzzles, and things that involve the players in other way maybe than normal PvE. It should take much less balanced and optimized groups to go through Master Levels. Can also use classic zones for Master Levels, they are heavily underused at the moment.

What you need to avoid in PvE is:
1) Camping waiting for spawns - this is not content and it is not fun.
2) Chain killing same mobs over again to get experience for hours and hours.
3) Too hard content that frustrates low level players.

Step 2) Polish and rework classes
Currently, the classes of DaoC seems to be in a bit of a chaos. The new classes from Catacombs won't help this at all I fear. Each class should have its own clear identity. Maybe merge some classes.

Step 3) Polish and rework the realm abilities.
The new realm ability system by New Frontiers has a lot of flaws in it. The fixes that was needed to certain things like Thorn Weed Field, Static Tempest etc shows that Mythic didn't really think through these abilities enough. Do you really want to give certain classes very strong area of effect abilities that makes RvR combat a real mess and unenjoyable? If an ability needs a timer of more than 3 minutes, maybe it is too overpowered to have it in the first place? In my opinion, focus on realm abilities that enhcances a characters already existing abilities in a balanced manner, not give them new overpowered ones on short timers.

Major flaws in the current system:
- Creates a huge gap between high and low realm rank by giving access to high cost highly powerful but low reuse timer abilities.
- A lot of the abilities are too strong stacked and even alone most of all because they are area of effect and can effect an infitive amount of people.

All in all, the biggest mistake Mythic has done is to make drastic changes to the game instead of small steps in the right direction where small changes was needed (Trials of Atlantis and New Frontiers), and small steps in the right direction where drastic steps was needed (Buffbot issue, for example)

 

[Gamah]

Well Thought out, clearly worded post.

BoomerUk you can learn something from Ilum...

 

[Boomeruk]

 

[Elitestoner]

maybe the population will drop enough so i can solo again

 

[Boomeruk]

BoomerUk you can learn something from Ilum...

unfourtunatly, mythic don't employ people that share the same vision, and posting what you think would be nice, isnt going to make it happen im afraid.

yea, its a shame, i loved daoc for a long period of time and i closed my eyes to most of what was going on around me, but lets get this back on topic...

prydwen will loose numbers when wow retail hits, (no one knows just how many, but it is going to happen) when i was in game, it already had population issues, and with all these new incentives to start playing, i feel it to be to little, to late, and ofc, this is just my opinion, obviously gamah will never agree with me but... as far as prydwen is concerened, im still interested as to what will happen in the near future

 

[Zebolt]

Since then DaoC has gotten worse...and WoW will probably be a lot better than SWG

We yet haven't seen the PvP system tho which is an important part for most players I think. The only important part for me :>

 

[Ilum]

We yet haven't seen the PvP system tho which is an important part for most players I think. The only important part for me :>

Blizzard has created some of the best player vs player games ever so I think most people will have faith in them on that point.