f13.net

http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=673

About time.  Seems to be a reasonable way to manage it.

Yep, seems reasonable enough. Any guess on current subs these days?

More than EQ, less than WoW.   :grin:

I eagerly await to see how they manage to fuck up the server mergers.

 :why_so_serious:

It'll be pretty easy when all the characters of one faction cannot be transfered to the target server due to existing characters of the opposite faction.  Right now it's just three, but it's going to get harder and harder as they merge more.

What happens at that point?  Do they allow characters of differing factions on one server?  Randomly assign a server?  Delete characters?

They allow both characters to exist, but the character select screen no longer exists.  There's a big play button and the server randomly picks out what character you play.  With a  day lockout timer.

I believe that they are going to do what they did with DAOC, a lockout timer for logging in one faction to another. The only time it sucked was when you accidentally logged into the wrong faction, heh. I think they eventually did away with that timer though because of the very small population.

Really stupid thing to do if you want to increase retention.

Beats leaving the characters trapped in a dead server. They'll get a free transfer to fix this problem, so I don't see the issue.

Not necessarily, by merging and closing servers, you consolidate population and increase RvR on the target server.  In theory.

Methinks Lantyssa meant the mere use of a lockout timer.

At this point, anything they do to inconvenience getting in a game you want to be in is not a good thing for Mythic to do.

How long until it's just one server? What's the count now?

Yep.  Merges good if it increases population.

Lockout bad, if it means person can't play and gets frustrated with it.

Does it really matter at this point? Merging servers doesn't even remotely touch on the heart of the problem with the game. It's not even a band-aid.

The person can play and completely avoid the lockout, which doesn't exist, provided they use the free transfer their mismatched character gets after the merger, and move it to some place else. This is the "free transfer to fix the problem" i was reffering to.

Yes, that works right now.  Do you think this is going to be the last merge?  Also it can only go from the same server type to the same server type.  There aren't a lot of RP servers left for instance.  And what about people who wait for a year to see if the game is worth playing again?

I'm not talking about those who are in, playing, and paying attention.  I'm talking about people who have played, and may return at some nebulous point in the future.  Deleting their characters is a bad idea if you don't want them to walk away immediately upon returning.  So what happens after successive merges and these fail conditions kick in?

And I fully agree Schild, however should they get their act together, retaining customers will be important.  Since this is happening now, I'm curious how their transfer algorithm plays out.  (Also, I consider its implementation a symptom of why they've had so many design problems.)

If they want to, they'll transfer their characters,  which will be on a different server and with a free transfer waiting to be used, to the server they choose to play, through account management. No one said anything about deleting characters.
When they log, the servers that they have characters will be displayed first, so they'll be able to track down their characters.
Better this than the alternative.

You are assuming things not stated in the Transfer article. You might think that's the way they should do it but given that this is Mythic that's assuming a lot.

Exactly.

Thanks for that. I was getting worried that they might not be able to fuck this up.

Now that city invasions can derank a city if the invasion is pushed to stage II, its going to cause more population issues.  There is no reliable path to greater ward gear other than the PVE city dungeons, and if a city is dranked to 2 stars then access to those dungeons is cut off.  The only other way to get greater ward gear is to win a gold bag on a fortress assault (good luck with that), or extreme random drops off fortress guards during a fortress assault. So if your realm is on defense all the time and your city is deranked to 2 stars, then your access to greater ward gear is essentially cut off.

I hate wards, but being able to successfully assault or defend a city starts with greater wards.  With patch 1.2 and new epic mob bosses in those city invasion PQ's, ward gear is more important than ever. With wards the mobs can hit for 10k in one attack, without wards they can hit you for 25k damage. 

If they don't revise the ward system or make them easier to get, then its going to be hard for the side that plays defense all the time to ever go on the offense.

Actually it helps a lot with one of the key problems:  RvR (both scenario and open) are dependent on having enough people online at the same time.

Last mass merge had a noticable affect on my server -- "peak" time (i.e. when scenarios pop and there're enough people for keep fights) extended out an hour or two in each direction.

I understand what server merges help. But it doesn't even remotely (as in: not even a little) help us - as players - think that Mythic has any idea whatsoever about what they're doing. This isn't an economy to dick around in, and frankly, that's all they're doing. Whatever though, if it all goes to hell, it'll just be another company that falls apart due to hubris and shortsightedness.

Watching Warhammer from the sidelines as it flops around in the molten steel like t-1000 is actually a lot of fun.

Well, they couldn't say "Get ... Out" any clearer.

What do you do when they merge everything down into that one final server, and you have both Alliance and Horde (or what the fuck ever) guys on the closing servers? WHAT THEN?

See my delimma in the other thread (http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=16052.msg607522#msg607522).

link (http://vnboards.ign.com/warhammer_online_age_of_reckoning_general_board/b22997/110458668/r110459925/)


I thought WAR had roughly 6,145,934 separate quests, with RVR rewards that encourage players to avoid the opposing faction and focus on PVE NPC keeps.  Guess I was wrong, the crazy bus ride continues.

Whats amazing is that he is still trying to get people on the bus at the VN boards. He has his own forums, why the fuck does he need to convince VN folks (who rip him a new one, some good responses after his post) when he can have folks kiss his ass and grind faction on their own forums?

Most MMOs have a shelf life of about 4-5 years, this one will be 1 (if they're lucky). 6-7 more months to watch the servers dwindle down to life support, at best, and let's see how he spins that crap.

What is a PCU?

Paying character unit?

Peak Concurrent Users

Ah ha, thank you. 

WoW has been around for so long that I forgot that was a marketable statistic.

link (http://www.edge-online.com/features/107/acti-blizz-bullish-wow-hero-duty-prospects)


So that's where the salt goes.

In the eye?  That's gotta sting.

I wonder if MJ will bite this time?

Fuck his posts are so fucking meaningless. UP COMPARED TO WHAT?

I'll stick this here instead of creating a new thread, but I have a couple of friends playing and they say the merges and such are improving the game. While swearing I'd never play again after seeing that idiot's horrible tone deaf video about firing all those devs, my anger has decreased a little, and my friends are playing and really having a good time.

So I just get an email from Mythic offering 10 days free to check out all the changes.

And I think great.

Except you don't get 10 days free.

Ten days free to check out a failed game that says its fixed itself is great. 10 extra days on your first month after you resubscribe and spend more money? That's not so great. And that just pissed me off wicked. No they don't owe me anything, but if they want me back they better come up with something better than a deceptive offer with the reality hidden in the fine print.

The absolutely incredible tone deafness of the company is simply astonishing.

Wonder if with the number of paying subs are they going to re-hire their recently unemployed?


Oh wow, maybe that's where Mark is getting his "number of paying subs went up again yesterday" from? What a cheesedick.

Hahaha wow, they can't even give things away right.

Like I said in an earlier post it's the "Mythic Way". They can't do anything the "normal" way, they always have to put their fucked up spin on it.

http://war-russia.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=143&Itemid=55

:facepalm:

That just screams professional.

Who? Somebody bought the annual recurring billing option?

(http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/704154/up.jpg)

I think the WAR bashing has biased all your comprehension skills.

Please note that returning players will need to reactivate their accounts and update their billing information when they re-enlist. No purchase is required for the 10 free days, which begins upon reactivation. You may cancel at any time during your free play, after which the normal billing cycle will begin.

This is no different then some other games that have given out 10 days free. 

They should've also said that you can roll slayers and choppas come next week.

That graph was hilarious.

Same mail, but apparently my allies all left.

Also they're boasting about the increased speed of Tier 3 in my mail.  Guess Tier 4 still sucks. :awesome_for_real:

Bueck of Destruction

You are ordered by Tchar'zanek himself to return to the front lines! As a loyal soldier in the armies of Destruction, your strength is needed once again! There is no time for rest at rank 16. Join in Public quests scaled to match population and skill. Your allies are still in the battle! Rise now, and bear the banner of Destruction to the very heart of Altdorf! To arms, and to glory!

Not a word about tier 2, hrm. I had no friends, so those allies are a mystery.

Maybe than some games, but what it should have been is "Click this link here to get 10 days free!", not "Enter your credit card so there's a chance you forget to cancel and we can legally rip you of fifteen bucks!" It resonates badly with people because it seems like a scamming attempt and makes Mythic look like one of the companies that do that kind of thing.

Really, if you intend to give away stuff that's perceived to be in fairly bad shape, don't be dicks about it.

Also, if you read carefully, when you cancel your free period they'll start your normal billing cycle.

To the day before yesterday, of course. /napoleondynamite GOSH!

That was not part of the email I got.

Actually, LOTRO didn't require a credit card from me until I actually activated my paid subscription. The 10-day free trial never asked for any type of payment.

When I did the free trial for WoW before resubbing, all Blizzard made me do was log into my account and click 'apply trial'.  None of this credit card or subscription that you need to cancel foolishness.

same for SWG and CoH (pretty sure)

I don't recall having to use a CC for a EVE trial.

Not EQ2 nor AC1 required CC to try them either.

Edit:
In Turbine's case, you're even allowed to have multiple trials on the same account. I have three on my US account.

The CoH free weekends don't require you to resub but those only last for 3ish days (Friday through server maint Monday morning).

Hehe, that's pretty damning.  Yet again the MMOG industry has changed and Mythic can't keep up.

Mark said the PCU is based on each server.

However, you know damn well the PCU didn't go up on any of the 40+ servers that got closed down/merged.

Which means the only servers the PCU went up on are the ones that... ARE BEING MERGED TO.

Wow! Who would have thought?!?!

No spin my ass.

I have no doubt that the subs blipped up a little after the 1.2 announcement, as I'd imagine they  do after every patch announcement.

Hence the cheeky graph (plus, I couldn't resist, for other reasons  :why_so_serious: ).

Lol.  Just lol.  Those tools are the public face of that company.  That's got to be embarrassing

Paul Barnett and Mark Jacobs are on a collision course with wackiness in "Turdmunchers Go East!" the great new comedy from the risen Don Knotts and Nipsy Russell.

I can't stand to watch the whole thing. Please tell me they mentioned mail order brides.

This is far worse, I skipped the middle as I got bored stupid but a few great quotes in the first and last few minutes.

http://war-russia.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=123&Itemid=55

And people wonder why that Putin fellow seems a little cranky and that Russia deserves more respect.

I'd say MJ needs to stop talking where people can hear/read him - but that just leaves tweedledum and tweedledee.

Can they not get some professional PR?

Jesus christ hearing Mark talk makes me want to punch babies.

"I think we are on track to having a great system"
"I hope we've hit a home run with this system just as we have with things like the tomb of knowledge, public quests, and other things in our game that are really going to set a new standard for MMOs"

 :awesome_for_real:

I rather liked the Tomb of Knowledge...

I liked the whole anti grinding section, way to go finding the point on a side element of the game and then totally missing it again on the main gameplay part.  Also the whole we aren't doing a recipe based crafting system, there's nothing wrong with recipe based crafting systems, but everybody does them so we want to be different.  How's game design based on standing out from the crowd, as opposed to actually working well, turning out?  I liked PVE players being mentioned further up the importance list than RVR players later on as well.

My god, what's wrong with his voice?

Since I'm currently in a boardgame stint, I will quote Bruno Faidutti, a renowned board game designer; :why_so_serious:

No surprise that all along they would count on opening in another new market before the next quarterly call.

This is EA/Mythic's version of check kiting. Just keep opening in a new market before each quarter ends. Spin ensues.

Korean WAR site (http://www.warhammer-online.co.kr/)
Taiwanese WAR site (http://www.warhammer-online.com.tw/)

Japan and other parts of mainland China are coming as well.

Really?  Do that many people sit around clicking "refresh" on their browsers to see what is going on with Mythic and their dirty laundry?

I bet most people that felt the game sucked just rode off into the sunset and will never come back.

So what hackneyed PR scheme is going to accompany this?  What is Paul going to dress up like, a Chinese coolie from the early 1900s?

No, they just check their e-mail.

He'll dress up as a Samurai for Japan and Fu Manchu for China, of course. There will be rice and chopstick jokes galore.

I look forward to the Internet traffic ban China will institute the first time Mythic lets Taiwanese players cross-post.

"Less than EVE", more like.

I'm picturing something along the lines of the south park episode "The China Problem"

(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a88/SomeDude49/orry.jpg)

Anyone else have tons of fails on the xfers?

3/12/2009         Ulthuan     Vortex     Failed     
3/12/2009       Ulthuan    Vortex    Failed    
3/10/2009       Chaos Wastes    Dark Crag    Failed
3/10/2009         Sylvania     Vortex     Failed     
3/10/2009       Sylvania    Vortex    Failed    
3/10/2009       Sylvania    Vortex    Failed    
3/10/2009       Sylvania    Vortex    Failed

Cannot tell where my former order f13 char ended up if it even made it :/

Mine failed on one character, not sure why. But my character from Uthuan ended up on Volkmar.

How can you fail transfers? Does that mean your character is stuck on the old servers?

You'll fail if you already have characters of the opposite faction in the destination server. In this case, you can just log into account management and pick the server you want.

Checked that first, no options. Just ton's of fails in my xfer logs huzza!