Give us regional servers

[Backyard Employee]

Regional servers would provide the opportunity for Star Vault to better form the mechanics of the game. Anywhere from PvP to PvE content. This would also allow them the ability to vastly tighten things up rather than giving us buffers like that of ping normalization. Here are some objective facts, firstly the pros of having a single server; then the cons of having a single server. Then I will present the pros of regional servers, then the cons of having regional servers.

I ask that anyone who wishes to participate in this discussion to set aside your bias and want, whether it's to have a better advantage in-game or because you agree with the vision of a single world. Please put forward ideas and opinions that support a BETTER game. Any comments attempting to de-rail, bait arguments, troll, add nothing to the discussion, etc. will be reported and (likely) removed.


Pros of a single server

• A single server means a flat higher population inside of the game.
• Everyone can play together without having to choose a server / realm.
• Politics are much more interesting with the many different groups interacting.
• You get to meet people from around the world.
• There will always be players online (given a healthy population is present).
• Your actions in-game will have more weight to them, considering you can't just switch servers to start over

Cons of a single server

• Anyone who doesn't live near the server, will always be at a disadvantage in PvP & PvE.
• New players will be reluctant to play a game with no regional servers, given the ping.
• Combat has been significantly slowed down, and mechanics within it nerfed to give the appearance of 'fairness' to all players, which has resulted in a worse combat system.
• Much of the balance regarding PvP will always be done with the mindset that high-ping players should be able to play alongside others, which results in poor balance.
• Much of the balance regarding PvE will always be done with the mindset that high-ping players should be able to play alongside others, which results in poor balance.
• A decent majority of players you perhaps interact with will not speak your language.
• Inputs will more often then not always feel delayed due to how the ping normalization works, as well as given the server is an ocean away (depending where you're from.)
• Even with ping normalization, depending on where you are you will still encounter players or 'things' which are inherently laggy; or you yourself will experience a laggy, non-smooth gameplay experience. (i.e. Being in EU, and having to fight players in the Oceanic region.)

Pros of regional servers

• A more modern approach to server solutions.
• Players can play in their preferred region as not to deal with any potential latency / ping issues.
• Players can still choose to play on ANY of the regional servers, at any given time. (Allowing them the freedom of dealing with bad ping or not)
• Allows for the developers to better fine tune mechanics within the game, instead of altering / balancing them with high-ping players in mind.
• From a PvP perspective, it creates a more competitive, fair, and balanced gameplay experience for all. (Seeing as you wont be forced to deal with higher ping just to play).
• From a PvE perspective, content can be made much more complex and or harder to challenge the players rather then making them 'softer' due to high ping players not potentially having the ability to read or react to mobs.
• Regional servers is more appealing to newer players outside of the MO2 genre, which the game is aiming to attract.
• If you end up not liking the server you play on due to other players, guilds, etc. you can choose to play on another server. This could effectively save a player from being potentially griefed out of the game.
• Server cultures could form. (i.e. EU server is the PvP server, NA is a PvP server, Oceanic is a PvE server.) They wouldn't be -literally-, but players would flock to a specific server for a specific kind of experience but still have all of the same features in place after the players already in place labeled themselves as such in a majority.
• More character slots (via playing on a different server).
• If nothing is currently happening on your server, you can swap over to another server for the time being to play / have fun; or to entirely experience the different culture that has been created.

Cons of regional servers

• The developers will pay more in server costs, resulting in a need for more players to be present.
• The population (currently speaking) would be split across regions.
• Players would be less likely to interact with people around the world.
• Regional servers would make it difficult for pre-established friend groups, clans, guilds, etc. to all play together.
• The game would have an 'X' amount of "story lines" as each server would play out differently, losing the one world aspect.
• The game would have to exceed much more in its mechanics, rather then relying on its 'game hooks' (i.e. Open world PvP, full loot, hardcore, sandbox, crafting, skill systems, etc.) Meaning the base mechanics would have to be MUCH BETTER to pull players in.
• Favoritism could perhaps be a thing across regions. (i.e. EU has better GM Staff, where as NA GM Staff are rude, unhelpful, etc.)

I'll also leave a poll on the thread for people to vote. If you believe you have an unbiased view point that could be added to one of the four sections, then PLEASE do say so. If I feel the point is biased, I will attempt to have a civil discussion as to why you think 'X & Y' should be added as a point.

Please do not flame anyone in the thread. All I want is real reasons, whether objective or anecdotal to back up your views on how you perceive this topic of interest.

I've also provided two additional poll options for players who would be okay with either outcome, as well as those who think the 'server by continent' idea is a good idea.

Server by continent essentially means when a new continent comes out, rather then host it in the EU; it would be hosted elsewhere in the world to benefit players from there. But many of the reasons above still apply to this idea (To a significant degree).

Thank you.

 

[ChrisRed]

Mortal Online had 1 server. Lasted for years and years.

 

[Backyard Employee]

Mortal Online had 1 server. Lasted for years and years.

Mortal Online - Steam Charts

An ongoing analysis of Steam's player numbers, seeing what's been played the most.

steamcharts.com

The game also had below 300 players for 5 years after hitting Steam. Though I've heard the argument that the Steam Charts was never accurate.

But being someone who played before it was on Steam and after, anyone who played knows the game had easily below 500 players for a very, very, very long time.

I don't think the MO1 servers being up is a fair point of view, considering they're still up. But lets use the past two years (2020 and 2021) as well, where the game had below 150 players and never went above that.

A server being up =/= Success.

I could go find other examples of games that have their servers up still, doesn't mean it makes them successful.

 

[Tzone]

They could also actually centralize the servers to east NA and lower most peoples ping anywhere by 40-80. Only russians would have slightly higher ping.

 

[Backyard Employee]

They could also actually centralize the servers to east NA and lower most peoples ping anywhere by 40-80. Only russians would have slightly higher ping.

This is a fair point / solution as well, though I feel this falls under the category of..

"Even if they move if and it's still a single server, there will still be issues."

Ideally, I would (personally) want the mechanics to be sharp, snappy, and feel good on top of everyone having reliable / good ping. I'm just not sure if the single server model can truly do that no matter where it is.

But if moving it somewhere more centralized provided an increase in sharper gameplayer as well as lowering the overall ping of players that's better then keeping how it is.

 

[Lord Hair Remover]

Yes. It's 2021 and forcing players on a single server with subpar features to boot isn't wise for game growth, especially after wanting better player retention.

 

[Kiki]

as a new player with a good ping: a bad ping would have probably kept me from playing this game. so my vote is a 'yes'

 

[Backyard Employee]

Yes. It's 2021 and forcing players on a single server with subpar features to boot isn't wise for game growth, especially after wanting better player retention.

This is honestly how I feel along with others. All pros / cons aside, players do not have a choice in where the server is currently. If they wish to play Mortal Online 2 currently they simply have to play on the single server available.. and yeah. I think as time goes on the 'bells and whistles' of MO2 will fade off from players and they'll begin to slowly pick apart the many flaws that begin to crop up. Some people find them quickly whereas others hold out for hundreds of hours before hopping off the horse.

as a new player with a good ping: a bad ping would have probably kept me from playing this game. so my vote is a 'yes'

I appreciate the honesty, and welcome to the community.

 

[pooternackle]

They could also actually centralize the servers to east NA and lower most peoples ping anywhere by 40-80. Only russians would have slightly higher ping.

This is the ideal solution, unless a miracle occurs and the game ends up being large enough to sustain multiple highly populated servers.

Although I’m not sure what the population of US west vs Eastern Europe players are, since these are the two main groups affected by something like this. I’d assume US west has more players, but if it doesn’t, the server should stay in the UK.

 

[Farligbonde]

I would vote for regional server after launch when mo2 has a stable playerbase and SV a steady income. Once that is set then its easier to make decisions like this. Doing this pre launch ( only 2 months left) could be a bad idea.

 

[Backyard Employee]

I would vote for regional server after launch when mo2 has a stable playerbase and SV a steady income. Once that is set then its easier to make decisions like this. Doing this pre launch ( only 2 months left) could be a bad idea.

That's honestly fair. I'm just worried that the initial impression will actually do more harm then good.

 

[ElPerro]

Mortal Online had 1 server. Lasted for years and years.

If Henrik wasnt loaded, MO1 would have been shutdown ages ago. It had like 100-200 max players online for 5 years. Thats less than a rust server...

This is the ideal solution, unless a miracle occurs and the game ends up being large enough to sustain multiple highly populated servers.

Although I’m not sure what the population of US west vs Eastern Europe players are, since these are the two main groups affected by something like this. I’d assume US west has more players, but if it doesn’t, the server should stay in the UK.

The miracle is called adding regional servers. Of course if they keep 1 server only there wont be enough ppl to fill more servers, nobody wants to play with shit ping.

 

[Backyard Employee]

If Henrik wasnt loaded, MO1 would have been shutdown ages ago. It had like 100-200 max players online for 5 years. Thats less than a rust server...


The miracle is called adding regional servers. Of course if they keep 1 server only there wont be enough ppl to fill more servers, nobody wants to play with shit ping.

Yeah I'm not really sure where people attribute MO1 as a success? It was a super niche game, with horrible reviews, and a die hard fan base that clung to it. It wasn't raking in riches by any means.

If this was 10 years ago, I'd probably not argue the single server.

But I should clarify it still isn't excusable, even 10 years ago.

 

[Xunila]

One server per continent would solve all problems. But everybody would have the change to get in contact with players from all over the world. I loved this global alliances in MO1 very much.

 

[Tzone]

One server per continent would solve all problems. But everybody would have the change to get in contact with players from all over the world. I loved this global alliances in MO1 very much.

My only issue is that sarduca is a PvE cont and Nave is a PvX cont. kinda content gating people based off of Ping. But if they dont centralize the servers to NA east which is usually where international servers are then they can put in herbalter and make that a NA server.

 

[Backyard Employee]

My only issue is that sarduca is a PvE cont and Nave is a PvX cont. kinda content gating people based off of Ping. But if they dont centralize the servers to NA east which is usually where international servers are then they can put in herbalter and make that a NA server.

This is also the issue I take with the continent idea is that from what we know of MO1 (Played, learned, watched, etc.) Sard. was a heavily PvE based continent with massive open spaces with just tons of travel resulting in an almost dead & empty feeling land.

It would be a very, and I mean very bad design choice to funnel players based on regions into continents that are specifically designed for X or Y. I think that would only make people resent SV more.

I'm not really sure it's the right solution.

 

[Najwalaylah]

Sard. was

It will be interesting to see how an entire continent changes, just as it was with Myrland.

 

[Backyard Employee]

I don't think I could justify continent servers unless the continents were equal in content, layout, etc.

But then how are you supposed to make them different from Myrland?

There's always going to be a preferred continent for content reasons alone, so. It's just a slippery slope.

 

[finegamingconnoisseur]

Regional servers may make sense from a technical standpoint, but it would split the playerbase and destroy part of the vision of Mortal Online 2.

I would much prefer SV keep to one global server but move it from London (or France, I can't remember) to somewhere like the US where the ping will be more evened out for the majority of players including myself.

The only other alternative I would accept is a regional server for different continents that requires travel by sea on ships to reach them. The perfect compromise where players from different parts of the world can play on a continent server closer to them, yet still travel to another continent in keeping with the one world vision.

 

[Deleted member 44]

I like everyone being on one server, but I would like if each continent was located in a different region of the world. I would really like if Sarducca was in NA and say Herbalter was in Asia.