Merging servers at next wipe

[Bommel]

In my opinion an asset wipe is crucial if they are going to change important things like economics.

[Jonathan Villiers]

Why a server merge? When you want pvp on every island corner go pvp1 like many did before you. I personally feel very comfortable on pvp3. In the Carribean of that time there weren't huge fleets of SotL found in every square mile. Unrealistic. On server3 you can pvp around the hotspots or enjoy the quiet relaxation of sailing in the further away areas. I don't need no super server.

[Coriolanus]

 So, this is a simple suggestion/discussion and I'm sure most of you will just read the titles, and that's fine. I would like to see at the next wipe (ports/money/ships) that we merge the servers back together. The major influx of population from the release has no calmed down as most of us were predicting, and if we want to keep playing with a decent number of players we need to go back to a single server.

 

 I don't see any major downside to this, I personally didn't like the idea of splitting the server between regions to begin with, and most of you had agreed with that. So please use this thread to discuss and vote on whether or not we should merge the servers back together the next time there is a wipe, that way nobody will lose anything.

 

 I'm keeping the poll stupid, simple, and to the point to get the best gauge of what the player base feels like.

I agree with merging the servers, but only if you get to keep player rank,crafting level and as i said in another post the blueprints i've unlocked.

I, as many others, always played in server PVP 3 mirror and we don't want to start all over again.

That's it

[Azzak]

Why a server merge? When you want pvp on every island corner go pvp1 like many did before you. I personally feel very comfortable on pvp3. In the Carribean of that time there weren't huge fleets of SotL found in every square mile. Unrealistic. On server3 you can pvp around the hotspots or enjoy the quiet relaxation of sailing in the further away areas. I don't need no super server.

That's a point. However I reckon that maintaining a server with 100-200 pop is expensive for what it is and devs will want sooner or later to optimize costs.

[Vernon Merrill]

I think everyone needs to come to grips with the fact that servers WILL be merged at some point and all assets minus rank XP and crafting XP will be wiped. It's be stated by the secs time and again, and no amount of complaining will change that. If you don't think there will be a hard wipe at release, you're crazy.

[Jonathan Villiers]

That's a point. However I reckon that maintaining a server with 100-200 pop is expensive for what it is and devs will want sooner or later to optimize costs.

That's a valid point too, but then it is for the developers to decide if or if no. I don't see the point why players ask for it instead. Players have both alternatives they can freely choose from. If those who run the games decide so ... well then it may be so but why rush them into their decisions.

And fact is, this is still an alpha. So when the game goes gold and into final action there will be (at least in the beginning) new players who need a home. So then they might need the extra servers again. Remeber the queues when pvp1 had 3000+ inhabitants? So why lay down the infrastructure now during alpha test? It'll be more expensive to set up new infrastructure then.

So drink a tea, a grog, a rum and wait for things to happen.

What do those who ask for a server merge expect? Those 150 players won't enhance your play experiences on pvp1 dramatically or alter them to the better. the number is marginal. If you want A, choose A and let those who opt for B choose B.

[Aussie Pastor]

I don't mind that servers need to merge.

What is so obvious is that the player base is shrinking(stats of Steam Spy).

Wipes and lack of Devs positive game development that is seeing the game flatlining.

Merge, the servers to save money, and to have a more populated server.

But wiping due to a new game mechanic inclusion is absurd.

[Hethwill]

I don't mind that servers need to merge.

What is so obvious is that the player base is shrinking(stats of Steam Spy).

Wipes and lack of Devs positive game development that is seeing the game flatlining.

Merge, the servers to save money, and to have a more populated server.

But wiping due to a new game mechanic inclusion is absurd.

 

Any updates that directly interfere with player account stats directly are warrant a wipe. Many stats become obsolete and other new ones get implemented. Tus Devs will only wipe and implemente final versions once the systems have been tested.

Rollback situation can happen.

[Capt Hornblower]

I don't mind that servers need to merge.

What is so obvious is that the player base is shrinking(stats of Steam Spy).

Wipes and lack of Devs positive game development that is seeing the game flatlining.

Merge, the servers to save money, and to have a more populated server.

But wiping due to a new game mechanic inclusion is absurd.

 

what of those who are chasing down a ship carrying contraband and get jumped by a pvp'r? are they gonna have a choice on whether or not to engage? I wouldn't appreciate it

[Aussie Pastor]

Dear Devs,

I can't get the statistical information for a full Marketing Analysis but what I do get from Steam Spy shows me that if the Devs do any Wipe on their main server will result in a reduction of 30 - 60% of current players.

Sorry for the big difference, but I don't have enough data to narrow it down.

PLAYER DATA EDITING MECHANISM NEEDS TO BE SIMPLIFIED AND MASTERED.

Adding Econ, Diplo, Land in PB or even a server merge Does not warrant any wipe, the market is not into.....gee I stuffed up lets just hit the rest button.

The market has shown that close to 70K of the game sold, but only 2k max is playing regularly.

In any business model, this is dire and NEEDS urgent actions to increase retention of player.

Hope this wisdom and experience helps as I would not want this game to fail before it even started.

[Bommel]

Well they sold 70k copies and only have to maintain a server for 2k players (during development!) sounds not to bad, and there are several players who have more then one copy.

And maybe the fact that the game is not finished yet is one of the main reason why so many players do not play the game regularly?

 

MMOs are really time consuming, a fact that casual players tend to forget. As soon as they realize that some players drop the game, and the fact that others have a head start is a let down for others. 

There are many factors that contribute to players dropping a game.

On top of that the game suffers from high inflation so everything gets way more expensive really quick, which makes it even harder for late joiners.

 

I know this thread is about merging servers and not about wipe, but a wipe will be necessary to see the effect of changes to economic mechanics. If people are afraid of that they should really wait for a game to gain gold status before buying/playing it.

The people asking for a server merge most likely do that because of the fact that the map is too big for the current amount of players and have way too many "useless" ports. Nations fight over ports that have no real use for them and which are spread all over the map, which leads to exhaustion, they teleport to a port or sail for 1-2 hours to get there only to find out there won´t be any defenders or the flag is "fake" (bought to lure the fleet to that port), then they have to sail back or wait for their teleport to cooldown.

 

What I would like to see would be a shrinked down map with balanced starting positions (read: evenly placed capitals and an even amount of ports in between them). 

Edited April 30, 2016 by Bommel

[Aussie Pastor]

Well they sold 70k copies and only have to maintain a server for 2k players (during development!) sounds not to bad, and there are several players who have more then one copy.

And maybe the fact that the game is not finished yet is one of the main reason why so many players do not play the game regularly?

"Sounds not to bad".....is that on reasonable Sound evidence?

What facts or data are you drawing your opinion on?

Or it just a guess?

The retention rate is an abysmal!

I know that the aspect of an Alpha testing or Early Access or Beta stage of game development as this is not my first one, neither the fact about helping Start up Companies.

Merging servers is a sound money saving exercise for the Devs are losing money for the lack of Retention and weekly new sales.

But to, look at the poor choice of wipe for it is the easier option is a very poor direction.

That is why I'm talking to Devs in the post, not the general gamer.

No offence Bommel, but your point is very narrow in the aspect of product development and placement.

The little data we have seen shows it would be at a very worrying levels if a normal project outline was made on just a normal computer game from an "Indie" Develop team.

I'm sure basic technical Education on IT Development would have plenty of models to show what is a healthy level for a game Development process.

But opinions not based on any Data or fact but just on an assumption is very dangerous.

[Bommel]

Don´t worry I don´t take offence.

70k * 40€ is 2.8 millions, which is great for such a small indie development team I think.

 

If this game would be on subscription basis this drop would be a desaster but it is buy to play.

From what I read of the developers posts they do not care that much about maxing their profit they seem to be idealists and gamers, who want to create a game the way they like most and not trying to get maximum profit out of a product.

 

As far as I know they are based in Ukraine and 2.8 million is worth a lot more there then in America or Germany for example. In my opinion they allready earned enough to easily pay their bills and have enough spare money to keep the development going.

Keep in mind the development team is really low in numbers, I heard they have like 12 devs working on that game (no evidence if that´s true or not).

 

That´s why I think it doesn´t sound to bad. 

 

And to be honest the only hard data you have is 70k sold copies and the current amount of players, is that enough to value the development process on a professional educated level?

And no I´m not a professional economist I´m just trying to use my common sense.

 

So here we are both guessing based on the few data we have acces to.

[Aussie Pastor]

And no I´m not a professional economist I´m just trying to use my common sense.

 

So here we are both guessing based on the few data we have acces to.

So you are telling me that your humble opinion is based on your common sense?

What amount of the 70k had steam had to refund?

How much of a cut has Steam got 5-25%?

How much Debt has the creators put themselves and family or investors in to take?

How much do they have to pay to the government?

Did you take that into your common sense thinking?

The main point is that as a Develpoment that was started over 3 yrs ago, in my understanding to your maths is way under budget return.

The Main point is that the Devs for this game needs to get the experience of what I outlined earlier and need to develop those skills.

The main point you keep missing is that a "Wipe" is not in the best interest in all parties and defiantly not in the long term of the project.

[Bommel]

Do you have an answer to any of those questions?

I guess the answer is no, but you are telling them they have to develop certain economic skills even though you don´t have the necessary data to back up that claim?

 

And I do not miss the point "that a "Wipe" is not in the best interest in all parties and defiantly not in the long term of the project.", I simply disagree with it.

I am not telling them how to run their buisness, I´m only stating my opinion.

I know my guesses can be wrong I just wanted to state that there may be some other factors involved which you or others didn´t mention yet.

 

 

[Vaz]

It should be noted that admin has said several times, I don't have the quotes, that he is not making this game to make a profit. He is making this game because he wants to play it.

[Fastidius]

"No Offense Bommel" is not a blanket allowance to try and talk down to a person over multiple posts.  You don't have any different rights to an opinion than he does and being high and mighty doesn't wash well

 

According to Steam reviews it has 1600 views and is very positive for a game that release on steam 3 months ago.

According to current players whats there is good but there are some things we are waiting on

 

All drop in players is not equatable to failure

 

There are many players that got to RA who don't play anymore because......

There are many player who did not get to RA that don't play because

 

Just because YOU think negative things about development does not make them real.

 

Things are fine, it is early access,  They have enough to test with, They are improving the game........why so sad??

[kaboki]

I vote no because currently i am playing on PVP2 because i am from Australia and my ping is already 250 ping, merging to a Europe server will mean i will have 350 ping and that is terrible to play at.

 

for those who say that ping does not effect the game they are wrong or just delusional, with my current ping I have to shoot 1-2 seconds before the ship to actually hit the target, crafting is slow and generally everything else is.

 

Agree, and I dont want people with high ping bringing the overall server ping down. Keep the servers, I don't know what the servers can handle but im seing peaks at 1500 people almost every day on EU server, crowded enough for me:), And there could be many new players coming in when the game gets more polished....

[Vernon Merrill]

Why are there so many people who *think* they know so much more about game development that the devs themselves? So many doom and gloom posts on these forums. Listen, the devs have commented on player population multiple times and have answered the question you are implying. If you are unhappy with your gaming experience, move on... It's fine. But to think you know more about game development than people who clearly have spent years in the business is just insulting.

[Musuko42]

The retention rate is an abysmal!

 

It's in early alpha. They're not trying to retain players. I doubt they're even trying to gain players. They're trying to finish the game. We're testers, helping them build it.

 

Efforts to gain and retain players come AFTER the game has been made.

 

To be honest, I doubt they'd want to even gain players right now, because those players might well be put off by all the work-in-progress flaws and never come back when it's complete. Perhaps this is also why the game is so high-priced for an early access game; so that it only attracts the properly-dedicated age-of-sail nerds like us, who'll stick through all the bugs and fight to help them build the game.

 

Anyway, I vote yes on a server merge. It's a big map. Lots of room for us all. I think it'd be great if we were all playing together.

[Aussie Pastor]

Why are there so many people who *think* they know so much more about game development that the devs themselves? So many doom and gloom posts on these forums. Listen, the devs have commented on player population multiple times and have answered the question you are implying. If you are unhappy with your gaming experience, move on... It's fine. But to think you know more about game development than people who clearly have spent years in the business is just insulting.

I have over 20 years as a non executive director in companies especially Startups.

Those skills and experience are easily transferable to other ventures.

My issue is not the merg, it's all about unnecessary server Wipes.

[Kokerpiraat]

Agreed. The other servers are pretty much pointless with the small playerbase they have. I was against extra servers for a start, would be a good opportunity to do it. I say, keep one PvE server and one PvP. There's always a few people that don't want to do PvP.

 

Yet, I'd rather have them introduce single player for the people that wish to do PvE only, I don't see the appeal but.. seems like some want it. 

I disagree.

 

Keep split US vs EU, so that the timers for PB can be set to normal times FOR THAT TIMEZONE.

E.g.: between 14:00 and 00:00 for the time zone of that server. 

 

That way abuse for that stuff is gone as well.

The timers exist in the first place so that people can play internationally together.

[Crayon]

The decline is steady. If the trend continues like this, there will be a player base half life every 3 months! In March alone 1/3 of the playerbase signed off for good. It would be nice to see some reward while not sailing such as rested bonuses, or even static income while in port.

 

Maybe a server merger too please!?

[Fastidius]

if they wipe all the servers at once it will probably just happen out of people wanting  to go to the busy server and having nothing to hold them from it.

 

surely the only thing you keep is your guild tag at bets from a full wipe and your xp stuff is on steam so its not server locked.

 

it will  be forced by players regardless except for those that don't understand whats happening and then the devs will be forced to either merge or resplit...and a forced resplit will cause massive issues to playing groups

[BusterGut]

I'd like to see a merge with a pvp and pve server for each type of player. Currently I play on pvp eu3 and its basically dead, can sail all round the map and miss real players but there's plenty of massive bot fleets, and there's not much fun to be had chasing single traders.