server merges

Lineage 2: Revolution talks about server merges, new servers, and more content coming in May

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Server merges happen. You may not want them to happen for a game that you’re playing, but they’re sometimes just a simple necessity. Of course, if a game is doing well, you’d rather see new servers cropping up rather than merges. So how do you feel about both happening at the same time, which is exactly what’s taking place in Lineage 2: Revolution? (It’s fine if your answer is “confused.”)

Yes, the game is merging down several of its lower-population servers into new servers to help bulk up the game’s population and improve matchmaking, while also preparing for a new server for everyone who wants to start fresh at the same time. It’s just a little bit unusual. The good news is that characters will be deleted during the merge only if a player hasn’t played in 30 days, has no transaction history, and has no characters over level 10; otherwise, characters will possibly need renaming but nothing more.

The game is also preparing for castle sieges and new dungeons with its May patch, so there’s a good reason to get server populations up now rather than later. And considering that the game is apparently boasting about being a top-grossing mobile title, it’s clearly doing something right despite server merge oddities.

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Aion Europe prepares for server merges later this month

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The merges are coming! The merges are coming! Aion Europe players have under two weeks to prepare for merges designed to “populate Atreia more densely” and consolidate language-specific communities.

On April 25th, Aion EU is going to merge its eight servers down to four, creating one German, one English, one French, and one Polish server. Gameforge did give itself some wiggle room and warned of the possibility of a date change.

Players on affected servers can choose to transfer their characters to a specific shard through May 15th. Aion is planning to hand out relocation gifts to all players, including a greater minion contract and 30 days of hanging with a white tiger.

In addition to the announcement, there’s a more in-depth FAQ that answers specific questions.

Source: Aion EU

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The Soapbox: NCsoft’s bizarre silence on Aion’s server merges says everything you need to know

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NCsoft done messed up. Again. Yes, I know the studio has already had a few black eyes for other things throughout the years, but this recent punch hit closer to home. So close, it involved multiple family members. What happened? A debacle called Aion server merges. Yeah, I know all server merges tend to feel pretty rotten and are fraught with troubles by default, but there is a right way and a wrong way to go about them. And boy does it ever feel like NCsoft was all gung-ho for the wrong.

For example, as much as the ArcheAge server evolution affected me negatively, it was still is a shining beacon of doing more right — and that’s saying something! That merge left me feeling as if I could return to regular play sometime. The way the whole thing played out for Aion has chased an eager paying player away as well as a long time vet from the game, and who knows how many others who will be affected.

If nothing else, another black eye does not bode well for goodwill and trust, things NCsoft was pretty short on anyway.

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ArcheAge goes offline for two days for massive server merges, land rush scheduled for Friday

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We warned you about it back in July, and now it’s here. ArcheAge is merging (er, “evolving”) a dozen of its underpopulated servers down to four. This intensive process starts today and will require two days of downtime (even for unaffected shards) before the MMO comes back online September 9th.

When the game comes back up on Friday, these four servers will no doubt be the focus of an intense land rush as players and guilds seek to reestablish their claims. Trion Worlds said that it will gradually turn the shards back online one at a time and enable AFK kicking to keep things from getting too nuts.

You can check out the new server list for ArcheAge after the break!

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ArcheAge server merges will impact 12 realms

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Server merges are a nerve-wracking, anxiety-filled experience even on the best of occasions, but when an MMO offers contested territory and open world housing, it can become a nightmare.

It’s this nightmare that ArcheAge is preparing to navigate with its upcoming server “evolutions.” Twelve realms across North America and Europe have been tagged for this process, which will consolidate everything down to brand-new four servers when it goes down starting on September 7th and concluding on the 9th. And yes, this does mean that all affected will engage in a land rush, because that’s always heaps of fun.

The three fresh start servers get diplomatic immunity from the merges, as does five legacy servers. Trion Worlds is planning to allow players the option to transfer their characters to those legacy servers instead of going through the merges if they so desire. The free transfer period will run between August 16th and 29th.

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Blade and Soul announces server merges, hypes upcoming patches

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Major events are in motion over at Blade and Soul, illuminated by the game’s newest producer’s letter from Jonathan Lien. While Lien spent a few paragraphs touting the team’s progress over the past year, he had a few bombshell announcements that followed.

The first is that server merges are incoming for August 9th. These will impact both North American and European servers, taking the server count down to two for NA and three for EU. Server transfers are scheduled to be taken offline on July 26th, so if you need to move your character for some reason, you’ll want to do it today.

Lien also outlined the game’s upcoming summer updates: “Immediately ahead of us is the new Fortune Falls update. You’ll be able to explore a new event dungeon, where you can snag an awesome swimsuit set and valuable upgrade materials for a limited time! And on the horizon, you’ll be able to explore a new major update named Dark Origins. It’s got two brand new high level raids, a continuation of our story quests, a new dungeon, systems updates, and LOADS of new gear and cosmetics.”

Source: Blade and Soul

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Revelation Online server merges are incoming (with a new server launch, too!)

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Revelation Online is preparing for server merges next week, but they might not be for the reason you think.

The team announced that eight US and EU servers are scheduled to be merged down into four (two for each region) on Wednesday, June 14th. While your first thought might be declining server populations (which isn’t unreasonable and may also be true), My.com says that the merges are taking place because new improvements to the tech is allowing for much higher capacity than before. It also sounds as though the team wants to get its ducks in a row before rolling out French and German localization on these servers.

Now here’s the bizarre twist: At the same time as the server merges, Revelation Online will also be flipping the switch on a new North American server named Divine Overlook. “This server will allow new and old players alike to start a fresh new journey into Nuanor by having a clean slate when it comes to economy, seal-breaks to tackle, along with everything else Revelation Online has to offer,” the team said.

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EverQuest II’s PvP progression server is merging with PvE

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So much for PvP progression play: If you are on EverQuest II’s Deathtoll server, be prepared for a change of address. The PvP server is merging with the PvE version, Stormhold. Players can get a jump on the move planned for Tuesday, April 5th, by transferring over to the PvE server for free as soon as Wednesday, March 9th. By 3:00 p.m. EST on that date, all characters on Deathtoll will receive a free transfer token in their in-game mailbox. Those who want to take advantage of the move before all characters are moved to Stormhold on April 5th may want to check out the transfer FAQ as regular transfer restrictions still apply.

Source: Deathtoll merge announcement

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Rumor: SWTOR datamining leads to megaserver speculation

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According to the Star Wars: The Old Republic player-run datamining site TOR Community, the current “PvE and PvP servers are being replaced with PvE and PvP instance types,” leading to speculation of server merges or the creation of one megaserver.

A possible change in character naming conventions only adds to the evidence that we will eventually see a major overhaul in the server structure. TOR Community claims that players will be able to add spaces in their character names when Update 4.3 launches. There will have to be three letters before the space and three letters after, and of course, the structure of whispers will have to change, as well.

When looking at the actual datamined information, there is no clear indication of how the servers will be structured, but it is clear that BioWare has at very least been experimenting with a change to its current sharded server system.

Source: TOR Community, Datamined string tables

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Aion’s European server merges will take place February 3nd

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Server merges are a great time to meet new friends, find new enemies, and get intensely annoyed at the fact that the larger population also comes with more crowding and competition for names. Aion‘s European servers are going to be merging in a couple of months, so the production team has put together a series of answers for players about what will take place on March 2nd February 3rd (they tricked us with their European date! Sorry!).

Players whose ranks will drop as a result of the merged servers will be compensated with free equipment, while houses will be made available for everyone to purchase after one or two weeks of waiting so that everyone has an equal shot at getting a new house. Faction balance will remain roughly the same overall, although some merged servers may experience a slight shift. The hope, as always, is that the influx of new people to play alongside will offset the inevitable irritation of dealing with the usual server merge hassles.

Source: Official Site (EU)

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WildStar is merging its PvE servers back together today

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A few weeks ago, Carbine merged WildStar’s post-F2P servers back with their originals. Now it’s PvE’s turn.

The studio announced on Twitter yesterday that the PvE shards will be reunited today. “On Wednesday, December 9th starting at 4:00 a.m. PST, all servers will be down for regular weekly maintenance for approximately 2 hours,” Carbine posted. “During this time Entity, Entity-2, Jabbit, and Jabbit-2 players on each set of servers will be brought back together.”

The merges come in time for two big WildStar events: the Ship Chase on that begins today and the Winterfest Extravaganza on December 16th.

Source: Twitter

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ArcheAge elaborates on the game’s post-server merge environment

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If the land rush at launch of ArcheAge was the least fun you’d had since you started playing the game, you probably don’t want to take part in it again. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what you’re going to need to do in the post-merge environment. New posts on the process of server evolution have clarified that every character post-merge will be placed in the starting zones with tutorials disabled to promote land rushing. So you’ll want to fight your way through and get out there promptly if you want some land.

The full set of questions also includes more information about compensation for player resources, including refunds for certain materials and taxes paid. The developers also clarified that land owners will get a single compensation pack regardless of size or number of lands controlled; the average landowner will be coming out ahead, overall, with the compensation pack.

Source: Merge Q&A, Land owners and packs; thanks to Anon for the tip!

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Here’s ‘everything you need to know’ about ArcheAge server merges

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Trion’s latest ArcheAge website update purports to tell us everything we need to know about ArcheAge’s upcoming server transfers. Now, my first thought was that everything I need to know about ArcheAge’s upcoming server transfers can be summed up in one word, and that word is drama.

Jokes aside, the company has provided a fairly specific explanation of the process, complete with several options for players on affected shards. Details are somewhat sketchy as to how the limited land minigame will play out, though. Trion says that it “will be providing full kits to all land owners as well as an additional compensation package. The exact items that will be provided in this package are still being determined by Trion and XL.”

Source: Everything you need to know

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