Server merges?

[trammelite]

lag is already big enough without more people on the screen.

 

[Cear Dallben Dragon]

what would probably happen

Server message: were going to blow up your server in 90 days.

Game message: a shard transfer token has been placed in your packpack


I doubt a merger would ever happen. thats got to be the hardest thing to program on earth.

 

[Gandie]

Let me just say i can see all of your points. I just don't feel the same about my house or the history of the servers... I play this game because it still is the game where PvP have most Playerskill into it.

And maybe the idea only came becausethat i am one of the people who only focus on the PvP aspect of the game and don't enjoy the PvM at all.
The pvp crowd seems very small these days. And there is no fun for a PvPer when you can only find some good action once a week if you are lucky.

And please stop saying i should move to a more populated shard. Im on EU and for ping reasons Drach are the only other choice, and that shard are less populated then EU.

 

[woj1s]

I think server merges sooo need to happen. I'm tired of feeling like the guy in "I am Legend" - even most people I run into (in Luna of course) act like mannequins.

As far as housing, why spend all this time designing and decorating if there is no one to see it? Do people just sit in there house and tell themselves how nice it is?

Yes there needs to be mergers. I used to be able to run over to Britain bank and find a giant bustling community there. Now theres tumbleweeds and it makes the game boring. I tend to find those against the mergers are lil bratty kids who feel they are entitled to the giant castle they somehow weaseled into. Then again.... they probably feel coll running around on a shard, being able to say they are the most powerful one in the land.... yet no ones around.

 

[Setnaffa]

Yes there needs to be mergers. I used to be able to run over to Britain bank and find a giant bustling community there. Now theres tumbleweeds and it makes the game boring. I tend to find those against the mergers are lil bratty kids who feel they are entitled to the giant castle they somehow weaseled into. Then again.... they probably feel coll running around on a shard, being able to say they are the most powerful one in the land.... yet no ones around.

You need to go to Luna. The crowd moved from Britain Bank to Luna 2 or 3 years ago after the Despise invasion.

I'm not a bratty kid, but I am entitled to my castle which I bought fair and square.

I don't consider myself any more powerful than anyone else, and I don't think I'm anymore cool either. It's just alot more fun to attack a dragon than to stand around waiting in line to take my turn.

I think what it comes down to is PvPers want a crowded shard for the same reason we all joined the fullest server when we played Unreal Tournament online- more competition or more victims. PvMer's like a sparse shard because they can actually find high-end creatures that aren't camped by gold farmers. Since there are far fewer PvPers than PvMers, it's probably more noticeable to them when a shard has a low population. Fortunately EA/Mythic created Siege and Mugan specifically for the PvP crowd.

 

[sapphirediablo11]

howabout a server merge, the people who have house will get houses in the new zone on the other server, all accounts that have not been active in X years, will be cut off and not house will be moved, all items in house will be in the other house or something.... i own 6 castles, all not on ice.. and perty close together, other than the malas one... and it would suck some big harry balls if i lost them, but the game really relies on there being a big group of people out there doing things... Good idea and Bad idea all at the same time :O

 

[Spree]

NO, If you want to move to a shard with more people you already have a means to do it.

 

[It Lives]

No, No sever merge. With the ability to move right now, People are where they are right now by choice.

 

[Gandie]

And still people dont read the problem with being from EU as a PvPer, and keeps telling that i could just move shard.....

 

[Yalp]

The more I read of peeps posts wanting shard mergers, the more the "lack of good pvp" reasoning comes out...as well as bank sitting *!* I know pvp'rs have been espousing the fun and virtues of pvp for years... to which the majority has answered a resounding NO THANK YOU. (with reasons a plenty as to why not).

Reasons for low population pvp are numerous and well documented. Merging shards to eliminate that will not only NOT correct the situation, it will create bigger and worse problems which will do far more to reduce the population.

Reasons for NOT merging shards are numerous and well documented.

Some solutions as to increasing your shards population?

1) Bring in some friends to play the game!
2) Form bigger guilds/alliances
3) Create characters on different shards
4) Transfer your characters to a more populated shard.
5) Transfer to Siege for non-stop pvp action.

 

[Radun]

If you don't like playing on a low-pop shard, move to a high pop shard. If you don't like playing on a high-pop shard, move to a low pop shard. It's not as hard as people make it sound...

I see a lot more people moving from high-pop shards to low-pop shards. A lot of people like having less competition for resources

exactly... if you're sick of feeling like 'I am legend' then you pack up and move yourself to Atlantic. lot's of people prefer low pop shards, and they have valid reasons.

 

[Lord Drakelord]

It does keep coming up, but it continues to be a bad idea.

Agree.

Also agree

 

[Gandie]

1) Bring in some friends to play the game!
2) Form bigger guilds/alliances
3) Create characters on different shards
4) Transfer your characters to a more populated shard.
5) Transfer to Siege for non-stop pvp action.

1. Tried, they dont like the graphics. I know, stupid them!
2. Think im in the biggest PvP Allience on EU
3. Only ping decent on EU/Drach, aint really playable on US serves
4. Im allready on the most populated EU shard
5. Again ping is very bad

But let me say i understand all your reasons for not merging, and respect them, guess PvPers is just a dieing race

 

[phantus]

But let me say i understand all your reasons for not merging, and respect them, guess PvPers is just a dieing race

What you need to ask for is not a server merge but a pvp facet that links the EU servers into a contested area. It would have to be created by regions. A gate or dungeon level that shares a common point that doesn't allow crossover to the opposing shard. It has been mentioned before and should be a viable solution. It may not be something that EAMythic are willing to create however.

 

[Maplestone]

In order to have shared facets, they'd effectively have to merge the servers within a region, but just have different "home instances" for the unshared regions. Otherwise, the character transfer system has repeatedly been a source of bad stuff happening and I fear would cause great headaches if unscrupulous people had the ability to poke away at it for free by repeatedly transferring too/from a shared facet server.

Other than that, I like the idea

 

[Kariny]

Well, I'm probably the only person on this thread that would like a merge.

I'll give up my little house outside Luna walls and my junk. Once upon a time LS was so packed that the only housing to be had was in Fel swamps.

If they were to have to shut down a server for financial reasons I'd hope they would offer players the chance to merge/transfer to another shard.
Give them some perks to place in some non housing zones maybe.

 

[Gandie]

What you need to ask for is not a server merge but a pvp facet that links the EU servers into a contested area. It would have to be created by regions. A gate or dungeon level that shares a common point that doesn't allow crossover to the opposing shard. It has been mentioned before and should be a viable solution. It may not be something that EAMythic are willing to create however.

Well thats not a bad idea really.

 

[laurlo]

pros - greater populations

cons - history of a shard would be lost
all houses would need to be dropped to give a fair for all opportunity to place


I am sure there are more, but the cons seem to me to outweigh any possible benefits.

 

[Old Man of UO]

What you need to ask for is not a server merge but a pvp facet that links the EU servers into a contested area. It would have to be created by regions. A gate or dungeon level that shares a common point that doesn't allow crossover to the opposing shard. It has been mentioned before and should be a viable solution. It may not be something that EAMythic are willing to create however.

Ya, not a bad idea but way to easy to exploit. Instead of using x-shard transfers, you would just hop to the common area to swap goods. And who knows what other clever folks could think of. If there were a way to prevent abuses, it would be a great idea.

 

[Gheed]

I will gladly give up my little village for a 8x castle sized 8 story customizable private island and docks..... No spawn please.

 

[Redxpanda]

I think the merges should be completely voluntary. Everyone should have one free shard transfer token which will move all of their toons (and bankboxes) to the shard of their choice.

To prevent abuse, you will only be able to do this once in a period of time and you cannot use any other shard transfer tokens until that period of time has expired. Also, only one token can be redeemed per account period.

This way people who want to move to more populated shards (or emptier ones) can have the option to do so on their own without it costing them arm+leg and noone is being forced to do anything. Although this isn't quite a shard merge, it will make some shards emptier and hopefully a future merge wouldn't be that devastating to the housing market.

 

[In Flames]

As much as I'd like to see server's merged, it just isn't doable in UO.

If you really want something like that move to a higher population server yourself.

 

[MedeaDF]

I don't care how they merge shards as long I get my items with me. But I really hope they would merger, cause shards being so empty is so sad.

Now someone says "you can move to more populated shard". We only have 2 shards in Europa: Drachenfels and Europa, and both are pretty empty. I mainly PvP, and I do it with a mage so 140 ping isnt really an option... I would love to see Drachenfels and Europa merged.

I wouldnt care losing my 16x16, but I know many people have feelings for their house which makes things more complicated.

No, thank you. I don't want to lose my shard. Never.
We are alle somehow close to eacht other on DF, actually.

 

[Heartseeker]

I like the idea.

But then I like multiplayer games, while most in UO seem to enjoy playing solo on empty shards.

 

[Old Man of UO]

To prevent abuse, you will only be able to do this once in a period of time and you cannot use any other shard transfer tokens until that period of time has expired. Also, only one token can be redeemed per account period.

I understand what you are suggesting, but consider...

Player-A-Shard-1 agrees to sell a valorite hammer to Player-B-Shard-2 and takes it to the new merged shard to transfer to Player-B. Player-B takes it back to Shard-2 to use or resell. Player-A and Player-B could also be the same person on the same or different accounts. You could do this multiple times with temporary or dummy accounts to bypass any timer.

I still like the idea, just saying gotta fix the abuses first.

 

[Surgeries]

Yes there needs to be mergers. I used to be able to run over to Britain bank and find a giant bustling community there. Now theres tumbleweeds and it makes the game boring. I tend to find those against the mergers are lil bratty kids who feel they are entitled to the giant castle they somehow weaseled into. Then again.... they probably feel coll running around on a shard, being able to say they are the most powerful one in the land.... yet no ones around.

OK...I have read enough of this thread to understand two very basic concepts:

1. WHEN the lands were full, there was really only one or two competitors to UO, as MMORPGs. UO had about the only lands you COULD roam, if you wanted to.

2. Today, there are so many competitors to choose from, that Saturation becomes a key concept. There are so many OTHER places to go explore/roam in, that now, people want to intentionally concentrate the population in UO, so they can have a more target rich environment, for PvP.

Hmmm.

Let's see...more people DON'T PvP, than do, I am guessing.

That being said, the people that WOULD mind losing their homes and homeland, to be uprooted, and moved to a new server, if they don't want to be, are likely to be quite a lot greater than the ones that just want lots of people to fight in PvP, and don't care about their home shard, etc.

At least, that's my take on it.

I vote Hellz No.

 

[Der Rock]

YES i am for server merges.
Merges Felluca and Trammel and let only faction/ guild and party pvp be possible.

Yes we can

 

[phantus]

I like the idea.

But then I like multiplayer games, while most in UO seem to enjoy playing solo on empty shards.

I like acting cool too. Only problem is sometimes I come off like a jackass that thinks he is better than everyone else.

Mergers are a great idea if all you game for is direct competition. If you want more out of the game than chest beating and screen shots then you may not like the idea.

 

[Der Rock]

let wait and see, what the new gate in SA bring forth

 

[Gellor]

Absolutely not.

Housing being the major issue. I've got one house that works perfectly for me that I know for a fact is taken on almost every other shard. Now you are telling me I have to pick a new spot? No thanks.

Just choosing two shards and saying "surprise, you are merged" as suggested doesn't work either. Using the Pac and Napa example, I've got 11 chars each on two account between those two shards... now you are telling me I have to pick 6 They all have their unique story and feel to them. No thanks.

I don't see a way they could do it without insulting and loosing a lot of accounts.

 

[Gandie]

I like the idea.

But then I like multiplayer games, while most in UO seem to enjoy playing solo on empty shards.

lol

 

[Tina Small]

But then I like multiplayer games, while most in UO seem to enjoy playing solo on empty shards.

I'm not so sure that it's true that most enjoy playing solo on empty shards. I think what's going on is that a lot of the folks who play UO but who don't enjoy PvP also don't like to have their PvM end up being nothing more than waiting in one line or another to get a chance at killing some slow-spawning monsters or being harrassed by a bunch of anti-social jerks. The way things stand now, there are very few places in UO for small-group PvM other than peerless and champ spawns, and those don't necessarily appeal to everyone.

I think that if EA/Mythic added a lot more PvM opportunities to UO that are suited for small groups of players and also added some other compelling reasons to want to do stuff in UO with small to large groups of players, then perhaps you'd see people more willing to consider something like a shard merger, as long as their storage needs were also satisfied when the merger takes place. However, I would guess that adding more group PvM opportunities to UO might bring back a fair number of players and maybe attract some new ones too so that people would quit suggesting shard mergers.

I'm thinking along the lines of some of the Ilshenar dungeons full of paragons but much more accessible for folks to form up a small party and do them on the spur of the moment, if desired. The sort of stuff that makes you want to wander a dungeon just to see what's on the next floor, but you know you can't get too far ahead of your companions or you might end up being lunch for something. The sort of experiences where your little group just really melds and becomes a well-oiled machine, ready to take on whatever surprise comes next. Or some of the random spawn ideas that Raven keeps pushing for. What we don't need more of are big elaborate systems that are designed for large groups or that require too much time to prepare or get into or out of. Just stuff to do that's a challenge for even experienced players but that you can grab a few guildmates and just DO IT without sitting around for a half hour waiting for everyone to "get ready" or take half an hour afterwards to spread out the crummy loot and roll the dice to see who gets the 3 or 4 good things that came out of the experience.

Bring back more stuff like that and yeah I don't really care where my houses are as long as they have sufficient storage.

My scatter-brained Monday-afternoon two cents, anyway, for what little they're worth.

 

[The Craftsman]

Okay i know its been up a "few" times over the years.

But! UO are so empty these days, and i think it would be really healthy for the game to do some server merges
.
And yes i know people will lose UO homes (should somehow get a large moving crate for stuff). But do people care so much for homes? Maybe we could even get a nice market for homes again with some server merges.

Btw i play on EU shard, some im not on one of the smallest servers.

Great idea ... but what you are asking people to do is give up something (their house) for the good of the game so that the game has a better community in that there are actually more than 2 people per shard on at any one time. People will never do that ... they are far too interested in themselves and what they have, as has been proven by many of the responses.

 

[Duskofdead]

It does keep coming up, but it continues to be a bad idea.

Why?

It's not all about your houses you know. UO used to be a community game. Now it's just The Sims with tons of house add-on's.

 

[Fluffi]

First off, the idea was not to close down some servers and give transfer tokens out. But merge two+ servers together to a new one.

I can see the problems with houses, and that people got very different views and feelings about how importent houses are for them.

OK. Let's look at it this way....

Europa and Drachenfels are prime targets for a shard merge.

You have a Europa house, and for the sake of argument, my Drachs house is in the same location.


When the shards are merged, who gets the house location?
The options are:

1) All housing plots are available on a first-come-first-served basis. Neither of us will be happy with that.

2) Europa has priority, and Drachs players get a similar sized house in a "trailerpark". I won't accept this unless the "trailer park" has exactly the same resources as my current house - acces to mining, logging, spawns, etc.

3) Drachs gets priority, and Europa players get the "trailer park". You won't accept this unless you have the same reources on your doorstep as you do now.

4) The oldest UO account gets the site. Completely unacceptable - and I've been playing a long time.


Player housing is why shards cannot be merged.

For a merge to be equitable, housing locations on both shards should end-up just as good as they were prior to the merge, which effectively means "instanced" housing for Europa and Drachenfels - which is not the UO way.

Hmpf. Would hate to leave UO, best game out there. But for me its not fun to fight the same 15 people all the time.

Guess i just wait for SA and see how it turns out before i decide.

This has more to do with UO being a niche-market game than WoW / GuildWars / Eve / Conan / etc, than the population of indivual servers.

Let's be honest - Anarchy Online has worse gameplay, and nowhere near cutting-edge graphics, but I logged-on there tonight and found 72 players in one town... looking for crafters, looking for a team to hunt with, wanting to buy or sell, or just simply chatting. That doesn't happen anymore in UO, because it has become a bit of a joke within the gaming community.

 

[Belmarduk]

Just logged in earlier because I am getting ready for another 90 day inactive cycle (the term active cycle though is a joke...)
It was depressing - UO is really dead now sadly

Without new modern graphics this game wont last another year.Shame

This game needs a modern client (isometric view like KR/SA just will not suffice)
And advertisement....
Sadly I see neither happening - The number of good sandbox mmo`s is dwindling....

Edit: And the sad thing is it looks like the devs are trying to save the game - just overflew the recent patchnotes.But without advertisement and a modern 3D client it will be futile..

 

[Fluffi]

Just logged in earlier because I am getting ready for another 90 day inactive cycle (the term active cycle though is a joke...)
It was depressing - UO is really dead now sadly

Without new modern graphics this game wont last another year.Shame

This game needs a modern client (isometric view like KR/SA just will not suffice)
And advertisement....
Sadly I see neither happening - The number of good sandbox mmo`s is dwindling....

Edit: And the sad thing is it looks like the devs are trying to save the game - just overflew the recent patchnotes.But without advertisement and a modern 3D client it will be futile..

I beg to differ on one point...

A well implemented isometric client could, and would work.

KR failed because is was a badly programmed, badly implemented mess; which not only failed to bring-in new players, but also managed to alienate a fair proportion of the existing community.


UO 2009, with a GOOD isometric view, with WELL-DRAWN graphics, with its' inbuilt PvP switch via the Facet divide, with its' limitless character options, with GMs who are both knowledgable and available, and an intense crackdown on those who break the rules, would be marketable.

It might not pull-in the 13-year-olds who want the newest, shiniest thing; but the market does not consist solely of 13-year-olds.

 

[Maplestone]

*imagines an ad opening with a gargoyle standing, defiant and aged*

"We have been here since the beginning ...
We have soared in the light ...
We have stood firm through the darkness ...
We will always be here....

Join us.

Ultima Online."

(of course, the voice wouldn't be a gargoyle ... all the "To be here ..." lines would be too confusing)

 

[Amren]

The only way this would work is if EA made 2-3 new servers and merged everyone into those (servers which no one has ever played in). There would be no whining about houses since no one would have one.

It seems the in-game housing is the only reason people still play this. Pixel crack does not make up for sloppy gameplay.