Producer Letter: Addressing EQII Server Populations

Greetings Norrath!

I want to address questions around concerns with lower-population servers. First, as a community-focused team, we’re listening to feedback and we want to tackle population health issues on some servers.

After we launch the two new Time-Locked Expansion (TLE) servers, we will proceed with creating a merge process for the US servers that need it most. We hope to start doing merges within the next few months. We’ll give you specific dates as we get closer. This is very challenging work that will branch off from our Cross-Server Dungeon work. Luckily, what we plan to do for true Cross-Server Dungeons & Battlegrounds logically helps us merge characters to new servers. We’ve already had our incredible coders working on the foundation of cross-server processes for a few months already. Our database changes earlier this year were the first step.

Once we've addressed server populations for the US, we are going to work on some options for our international servers which is an even bigger challenge given the multiple languages, but we’ll be sharing news on that as we get closer.

What does this mean for you and our plans for the year? We are working in writing a merge process ahead of creating Cross-Server Dungeons. This effort will delay that somewhat, but it’s still on our calendar for this year along with the campaign content release and live content.

We want to do the work that is needed to ensure a rewarding and fun stay in Norrath.

Sincerely, as always,

Holly "Windstalker" Longdale

Personally I think this is good news. It's getting harder and harder to solo end content and get pick-up-groups on Oasis. I look forward to some new blood in the decorating pools too

So it'll be Antonia Bayle and what will the other server be called?

This will definitely be interesting. I have a few questions about mergers, and how some basic stuff needs to be handled. I was away from game when Najena merged into Unrest.. and came back to toons which had lost most everything faction wise and all mount but their carpets... but had kept their names fortunately!

1) Names: names are a big deal. I have been Elyana and Lyrielle forever and would hate to lose my names to someone who created a toon on the server mine is being merged into whose has not had it as long as I have. So, how will names be kept.. or lost? Will the creation date be the determining factor?

2) Guilds: will guilds on the server being merged transition over?

3) Factions and Discoveries: do those merged get to keep these or not?

4) Houses: will these need to be packed up or will they transition ok?

It is with some trepidation that I see mergers announced.. but trying to keep positive and be upbeat about the potential! I agree the new blood in the decorating pool will be nice Edelphia as my guild is very much about casual play and decorating!

I am more curious as to which servers are being considered for mergers. Is there a list already in place?

From what I remember, the houses will transfer okay. Dungeons and guilds will not. I really hope ours is not one to be lost... The thought of re-leveling the guild from scratch... losing all the Heirloom items that were donated from players long since past... Not an endearing thought...

Just let me keep my name.

Freeport

Once again, screw everyone else, let's just cater to the US. Thanks a lot.

character age should not be a get out of rename free card. if i've possessed a name the whole life of my character and someone merged in with the same name if their current name is not their original name on creation then they should not get it.

I don't want to loose my name because someone used a name change potion to take the name regardless if it was their intent to steal my name deliberately or not.

Thank you Holly for deciding for merges. Any other options like voluntary free transfers from crowded servers to less crowded servers or from low pop to medium pop only lead to issues like guilds breaking up and people having to decide whether to follow their raidforce or staying with their guildmates etc.

Thank you also for not forgetting the international servers. Deciding what to do with them will not be easy...personally I'd just merge Splitpaw, Valor and Storms into one English language server and have language channels for LFG/General/High, but some German and probably a lot more French people would disagree...

For the servers that need some help this is a welcome announcement. Even though international servers will have to wait it's still good they will also be addressed.

That's not what was said... my god, read, man! The Euro servers have language issues that need to be addressed before they can be merged. They intend to address those issues. SMH...

You can't put us Brits on a server with those EU chaps - that's not going to work!

More seriously, having already been on Runnyeye and merged with Splitpaw, you can't expect us to go through the guild-building process AGAIN.

if the beta for TLE server wont even begin until July I think you need top consider merging the servers first

What I am wondering is: How will Nagafen be taken care of? As the only PvP server and the only one I am on, this is a concern for me.

Any estimated time scale on this?

Are we taking 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, a year later?

Splitpaw is already suffering and summer hasn't even started yet.

I wouldn't mind having to change the guild name if necessary, long as the level and hall can stay the same. Finding all the original guildies to create a new guild would be a pain also. We have such a good time now and I would hate to lose that to a server merge.

Hopefully the p[layer made dungeons will transfer over ok too, as I have too many items to store in houses!

So a couple more months before you discuss the plan? It's been too long already.

The TLE servers are going to suck even that much more of the population out of regular servers.

I'm working really hard to lvl my guild and having to start over would most likely cause me to give it up. Also as far as name changing, I had a toon that had an X addied on and I would really like to get rid of the X if possible. I'm on Oasis and have been forever and though I don't group usually or raid at all (too many years of constant raiding on EQ1, EQ2 and WoW), I feel for the people who love to group or raid and have problems because of low population. My hubby went back to EQ1 because he got fed up with having to redo his UI's and AA's. Hopefully you won't put us all through that again.