It's Time to Merge the Servers!!

[Christendom]

Given the possible changes released today by @admin, which seem to be good ones, I think it's time to revisit the Global and EU server split notion.  As much as I dislike the server split, I get that people don't want to be online 24/7 defending ports.  That was the old system.  With the prospect of these new changes it looks like the game is taking more of the EVE/Sandbox approach, which means one server no restrictions.  Don't want your corp/war company to lose it's holdings?  Better recruit around the clock support.  Conquest restrictions have zero place in the new proposed system IMO.  So why do we need 2 servers?

Populations appear to have leveled out between the 2 servers with Global maxing out around 250-300 and EU 400-500 (casual observation) and this seems to echo similar population numbers to what the servers were pre-wipe.  If you build it, people will come.  The game is still running less than 1000 people on average and given the significance of the changes it sounds like the more population being together to test, the better it will be.  Naval Action is too small to split up.  If this game is truly supposed to be a sandbox, it's time to throw everyone in it and say go have fun.  

Ping Issues?  I know a couple of EU based players in my clan on global get better ping to the US east coast based server than I do and I live on the east coast.....   @Wraith did a pretty good data collection of pings and what location might be the best for the game.  We should look at it.  

Anyway, it's time to merge the servers.  To use a line from one of my favorite shows.

Edited August 2, 2017 by Christendom

[Daguse]

100% support the Merge. 

There are even talks of bringing back flags and load protector. Absolutely no reason to have 2 pvp servers. 

[Aventador]

2 minutes ago, Daguse said:

100% support the Merge. 

There are even talks of bringing back flags and load protector. Absolutely no reason to have 2 pvp servers. 

Yes. Especially if the flag system returns you could set it in whatever slot fits your main player base and if you want to attack other people in different slots you could always make allies.

[Landomatic]

I totally agree. I wonder what that would take?  It's hard to conduct naval actions with a server that seems to have about 100-200 players online most of the time.  As it is, with the 10.0 patch, there were basically empty nations out of the box.  Please forgive me Dave as I'm talking about Spain.  I know Chuck Norris is afraid of you so I'll tread lightly for concern of reprisal.

[elite92]

agree on servers merge, and i can see also some little space for PvE players to join the party with new mechanics...

im all for 1 big server with pvp-pve-rvr

[HarryButpain]

well, I understand that many australians complained about ping issues last time. So EU/US ppl are probably not the right ppl to decide??

[King of Crowns]

server merge has to happen. that's all there is to that. it will inhance gameplay for everyone. since the euros have largest population. make the main server the euro time. a server merge will solve the night flip issue. the players are still the content in this game. lets face it. there will never be 2500 people on one server again. game has been out on steam for a year and a 1/2. the release date is now working against sales. merge the servers. bring back lord protector system with your war company patch. 

[Pada]

Let us bring together what belongs together.

[Christendom]

6 minutes ago, HarryButpain said:

well, I understand that many australians complained about ping issues last time. So EU/US ppl are probably not the right ppl to decide??

AUS players currently play on the US based server without issue.  Keeping the combined global server on the east coast of the US seems to be about the best solution for everyone.  

[Jean Ribault]

8 minutes ago, King of Crowns said:

....there will never be 2500 people on one server again. game has been out on steam for a year and a 1/2. the release date is now working against sales. ....

That is definitely an unfortunate fact.  So many problems with the current gameplay could be solved with 2500 players online.  Even half that.

The ping issue was the biggest thing discussed about the merge, by far, last time this was thrashed about.  Not sure it's ever been determined there's an optimal solution for location for everyone, and even here already there are two completely different locations suggested.

[Anolytic]

No. 

I wanted a unified server to work all along, but as it happened the server split was the best thing to happen to this game for a long time. And with the current server architecture, no matter where you put it - US or EU - a single server would make the game simply inaccessible to some players. 500 ping is alright for this game. 1500 ping minimum and with instability is not. I know that OP doesn't care that some player just have to "bite the bullet and not be able to play", but there should be servers so that players from all over the world that wants to play this game can reasonably do so.

[Corona Lisa]

40 minutes ago, Christendom said:

Don't want your corp/war company to lose it's holdings?  Better recruit around the clock support.

So nothing changed....

 

Dont merge it

[HarryButpain]

4 minutes ago, Anolytic said:

No. 

I wanted a unified server to work all along, but as it happened the server split was the best thing to happen to this game for a long time. And with the current server architecture, no matter where you put it - US or EU - a single server would make the game simply inaccessible to some players. 500 ping is alright for this game. 1500 ping minimum and with instability is not. I know that OP doesn't care that some player just have to "bite the bullet and not be able to play", but there should be servers so that players from all over the world that wants to play this game can reasonably do so.

How would that even look like on steam's store page? If some people cannot play due to distance from server, it would be necessary to point that out on its store page..

Edited August 2, 2017 by HarryButpain

[Christendom]

4 minutes ago, Anolytic said:

No. 

I wanted a unified server to work all along, but as it happened the server split was the best thing to happen to this game for a long time. And with the current server architecture, no matter where you put it - US or EU - a single server would make the game simply inaccessible to some players. 500 ping is alright for this game. 1500 ping minimum and with instability is not. I know that OP doesn't care that some player just have to "bite the bullet and not be able to play", but there should be servers so that players from all over the world that wants to play this game can reasonably do so.

Who has 500 ping to the global server or EU server.  Can you show me screenshots of this?  

Judging by this data.  No one has an average ping of over 250

 

Edited August 2, 2017 by Christendom

[Guest]

Not exactly convincing given how global server conquest is doing so poorly that now you guys want to get rid of PBs entirely.

On 8/1/2017 at 10:08 PM, Slamz said:

The devs keep coming up with ways to have them and players are unrelenting in their quest to avoid having them. The whole reason we have an EU server separate from everyone else is so at least one group of people can experience prime time port battles. Everyone else mostly gets off-hour port battles and various ways to dodge that 25v25 setup.

If anything, that's just a foreword to how the clan warfare is going to be - mega-clans trying to monopolize timezone coverage for easy wins while all the risk-averse players just pile on the problem. Same old.

It works fine on the EU server, the only rough spot at the moment is that *contested* hostility is hard work, so PBs aren't all that common anymore, apart from that it's been absolutely lovely compared to what it was like before.

[Christendom]

6 minutes ago, Jon Snow lets go said:

So nothing changed....

 

Dont merge it

considering EU has lost almost 2/3 of the population it had since the start of the wipe, I'd say your 5 hour window of fun is perhaps not all it's cracked up to be.  

This post by your leader makes it seem the 5 hour window is too much and you only want 3.  I mean why even bother playing?

 

The game is simply too small to have 2 servers.  Time to give One global server a chance.  

 

Edited August 2, 2017 by Christendom

[Archaos]

46 minutes ago, Christendom said:

Don't want your corp/war company to lose it's holdings?  Better recruit around the clock support.  Conquest restrictions have zero place in the new proposed system IMO.  So why do we need 2 servers?

I am afraid this comment spoils the whole argument you make. The main reason for the split was because people could not recruit round the clock support especially the non-English speaking nations and this will be the same with the War Companies that have been proposed.

The only way I can see it working is if the bring in the ability for the port owner to set a 3 hour window when they can be attacked, if not you end up with the same old empty port battles except now people will be more annoyed to find they wake up or return from work and find their port gone along with the contents of their warehouse.

[Corona Lisa]

1 minute ago, Christendom said:

considering EU has lost almost 2/3 of the population it had since the start of the wipe, I'd say your 5 hour window of fun is perhaps not all it's cracked up to be.  

This post by your leader makes it seem the 5 hour window is too much and you only want 3.  I mean why even bother player?

The game is simply too small to have 2 servers.  Time to give One global server a chance.  

Everyone has his opinon and thats fair, like Aegir stated PB timers are great on EU server. Meanwhile you are just griefing each other on global, if you enjoy that it fine but dont get us involved in that shit again. Thanks.

 

And dont even try to blame the low pop on the server split, check the reviews and you know whats wrong with the game atm.

[Anolytic]

2 minutes ago, Christendom said:

Who has 500 ping to the global server or EU server.  Can you show me screenshots of this?  

Judging by this.  No one has an average ping of over 250

 

You link a survey on the forum. Which means that only players who use the forum and speak English would give feedback. The results have absolutely no value whatsoever, even anecdotally. I have spoken to SEA players who cannot play on EU server due to 1500+ ping and lag spikes on top of that. I also know of Eastern European/North& West Asian players who cannot play on Global server due to similar issues.

[Jean Ribault]

2 minutes ago, Christendom said:

...

The game is simply too small to have 2 servers.  Time to give One global server a chance.  

 

It is possible you are correct, yes.  But the two problems with proposing this merge (again) are:

- The ping issue, which after hundreds of posts, has never been resolved to anyone's satisfaction.  Discussed ad infinitum.

- It would utlimately only be a temporary workaround to the real problems in the game.  If the game is truly dying, merge makes no difference except a temporary safety net.  If the game is flourishing, then a merge is not needed for any reason.  Either way, it wouldn't seem justified.

[Landomatic]

9 minutes ago, Anolytic said:

No. 

I wanted a unified server to work all along, but as it happened the server split was the best thing to happen to this game for a long time. And with the current server architecture, no matter where you put it - US or EU - a single server would make the game simply inaccessible to some players. 500 ping is alright for this game. 1500 ping minimum and with instability is not. I know that OP doesn't care that some player just have to "bite the bullet and not be able to play", but there should be servers so that players from all over the world that wants to play this game can reasonably do so.

Then how does CCP do it? I would guess 500-1500 ping is the exception, not the norm. Maybe move the hive to London with a merge? Seems to me Aussies and Pacific players play EVE just fine.

[Christendom]

1 minute ago, Jon Snow lets go said:

Everyone has his opinon and thats fair, like Aegir stated PB timers are great on EU server. Meanwhile you are just griefing each other on global, if you enjoy that it fine but dont get us involved in that shit again. Thanks.

 

And dont even try to blame the low pop on the server split, check the reviews and you know whats wrong with the game atm.

Majority of the reviews basically say the game doesn't have content.  More players = More content.  

Remember, port timers are going away.  This is a new system, or soon to be a new one.  It's time to test it fully with as many players possible.  If 2 servers are necessary, than so be it.  It needs to be tested first.

[Barbancourt]

Just now, Jon Snow lets go said:

Everyone has his opinon and thats fair, like Aegir stated PB timers are great on EU server. Meanwhile you are just griefing each other on global, if you enjoy that it fine but dont get us involved in that shit again. Thanks.

There really isn't much choice. When people can do night flips and work flips on their enemy they naturally do.  The whole point of war is to make it unfair for the enemy.  That's why port battles are a failing mechanic and regional control should take be something that take a sustained campaign of several 24 hour cycles to change. 

 

 

[Christendom]

2 minutes ago, Anolytic said:

You link a survey on the forum. Which means that only players who use the forum and speak English would give feedback. The results have absolutely no value whatsoever, even anecdotally. I have spoken to SEA players who cannot play on EU server due to 1500+ ping and lag spikes on top of that. I also know of Eastern European/North& West Asian players who cannot play on Global server due to similar issues.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

Again, show me the screenshots.  I've submitted data provided by wraith that says differently.  

Cute video btw.  It amuses me you guys actually cut and saved it.

[King of Crowns]

14 minutes ago, Anolytic said:

No. 

I wanted a unified server to work all along, but as it happened the server split was the best thing to happen to this game for a long time. And with the current server architecture, no matter where you put it - US or EU - a single server would make the game simply inaccessible to some players. 500 ping is alright for this game. 1500 ping minimum and with instability is not. I know that OP doesn't care that some player just have to "bite the bullet and not be able to play", but there should be servers so that players from all over the world that wants to play this game can reasonably do so.

lord protector system is coming back. so timers are not an issue. and yet again. it is still true. that if the servers had a minimum of 300 people online at all times then the timers wouldn't be an issue anyway.  point is this this game is not going to grow anymore. release you may see 1500 players online again. that's with a hopeful outlook. with the servers being split the game is pop is growing weaker 2x faster than it should. Go try to play POTBS. that's what you will have in a year or at the most 2.