What is the current 'official' stance on a server merge for PvE?

[Lews Therin Kinslayer]

<p>There is a topic somewhere on these boards, I can't remember for the life of me which sub-board it is, but it's there. </p><p>The title is "I am alone". </p><p>When you read something like that and the subsequent body of text that outlines an incredibly lonely existence for a new player, you begin to wonder about PvE server merges.  What is the official word here? Why have Sony been so resistant to do this? Or is it the player base? I certainly think merging a few servers would be an excellent idea, because a MMORPG without the 'multiplayer' is really just a big - pretty - empty space. </p><p>And that is by and large what most of the lower tier zones are.  Ghost towns, sad reminders of forgotten - yet great - content. Thanks to Guild halls even the higher tier zones aren't that populated.  Would a server merge solve these problems completely? No.  Would it stimulate more general chat, more players out and about in the world - creating a sense of being a part of something that is massively multiplayer? [Removed for Content] straight it would. </p><p>So, is there any current official word on if Sony are considering server merging some of the PvE servers to consolidate population? Are players generally against this? For this? </p><p>Interested to hear your thoughts. </p>

[Errolflynn]

<p>Just say no to server mergers, my 2cp.</p>

[Lews Therin Kinslayer]

<p><cite>Errolflynn@Befallen wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Just say no to server mergers, my 2cp.</p></blockquote><p>Which is a valid opinion to have, but would you mind explaining why you have that stance? I get this nagging feeling that one of the largest contributors to new players not sticking around is the highly distributed and sparse population. </p><p>I'd rather see this game get fresh blood as often as possible. Fresh blood that stays. </p>

[Lorzus]

<p>Official word on a few threads is a resounding NO! Although from what I've read on the forums it seems like some servers need it.</p>

[Dasein]

<p>Merging servers won't do anything for lower-end population, as the diversity of content available, along with the speed of levelling, keeps the population spread pretty thin. over time, more and more of the population will pool at the upper end of the level range, and there's nothing tha can be done about this, nor should we expect anything to be done about this.</p><p>Further, with TSO being nearly entirely instance-based, there's simply not much of a visible population, even if server populations are high. In other words, it's a perception issue, not a population issue.</p>

[Errolflynn]

<p>As others have said, one of the main reasons is that the world is so big there's plenty of room to lose people.</p> <p>You should also remember that I'm in the UK playing on a US server at non peak times and still see plenty of people around.</p><p>My best advice to anyone who feels that the world is empty is too join a guild that fits their play style.</p>

[Bratface]

<p><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's all well and good to tell people to join a guild that suits their playstyle but not ever server has that option available to players.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On my server we are stretched thin for groups and raids, teh raid guilds are fileld and set with their line-up, anyoen wanting to raid has to do pick up or alliance, which is very very hard on a server with low population. Getting a body on a raid to fill it is hell on players who have to teach and fail numerous times because of low skill and ability of the general poulation. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And honestly not everyone wants to raid or has the  ability to handle raiding, just because there are players does not mean there are available raiders or even groupers.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I used to want a server all to myself, I even said years ago that I would happily PAY for the ability to not have to deal with other people, but now I have had a change of heart and I do things with other people. But the problem is that it is very slim pickins for "other people" on my server, and most servers.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So until you walk in the shoes of those of us who have trouble fining people to fill out a raid force don't tell me or anyone else how to resolve a problem, because frankly you just don't know what we are talking about. You know your expereince, not that of others.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At the very least they should open up free character and guild  xfers for a short time, and then see how the dust settles after that. But honestly just merging some servers would be great in lieu of free xfers.</span></span></p>

[Errolflynn]

<p>I never mentiond the 'R' word. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" /></p><p>I offerd advice nothing more.</p>

[Senr]

<p><cite>Lews Therin Kinslayer wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>When you read something like that and the subsequent body of text that outlines an incredibly lonely existence for a new player, you begin to wonder about PvE server merges.  What is the official word here? Why have Sony been so resistant to do this? Or is it the player base? I certainly think merging a few servers would be an excellent idea, because a MMORPG without the 'multiplayer' is really just a big - pretty - empty space. </p><p>And that is by and large what most of the lower tier zones are.  Ghost towns, sad reminders of forgotten - yet great - content. Thanks to Guild halls even the higher tier zones aren't that populated.  Would a server merge solve these problems completely? No.  Would it stimulate more general chat, more players out and about in the world - creating a sense of being a part of something that is massively multiplayer? [Removed for Content] straight it would. </p><p>So, is there any current official word on if Sony are considering server merging some of the PvE servers to consolidate population? Are players generally against this? For this? </p><p>Interested to hear your thoughts. </p></blockquote><p>Consolidating servers isn't really likely to fix this issue. The lower tier zones are empty because the game is old enough that everyone is past them. Frankly, it is also really easy to level anymore. So even when you are in the lower tier zones, you are not there for long. Double the number of players on a server and you go from 2 to 4 people in a newbie zone, which is still not going to help, but will create too many people in the higher tier zones.</p><p>If Sony thinks it is a problem, they just need to create a reason to stay in the newbie zones. Something more compelling than the reasons to level. It isn't exactly common to find a group until you're 80, because that is where all of the grinds happen. Thing you won't outgrow right away.</p><p>Maybe what Sony could do would be create a couple of new spell lines for each class. Make the spells no-trade mob drops. Make it so no one can zone into the instance after the initial party zones in, to eliminate selling of loot-rights. Make the zone not function with mentored characters. Make the spells the non-upgrade sorts. And then have them every 15 levels. Give people a reason to have to stop and grind things while leveling up.</p>

[Yimway]

<p>There is no plan to merge / consolidate / or allow free transfers on any PVE server at this time.</p><p>This has been stated in many threads the past month, and I expect Kiara to swoop in with a lock as soon as she finishes coffee...</p>

[Kiara]

<p>There are no plans for this.</p><p>Chai, Atan...  Coffee is only for extreme emergency days and then it needs a ton of syrup and milk to make it palatable.</p>