Share the love (one way transfer from NFI to SFI)

[Bloodreina 301]

Starting yesterday, when I've read the news about the new NFI server, I've thought quite a lot about this and, apparently, we're in a lose-lose situation. On one side, as the devs said, deed wise, Harmony and Melody are already cramped and finding a good spot can be hard, which may turn away many new (or returning players) who otherwise might stay. On the other side, player wise, the numbers are already starting to go down and even in my alliance are people that (probably) already quit the game, so while opening a new server would solve the current problem, but other time will lead to population thinning and generally a barren feeling.

 

That's why I thought at an idea - give the players from the NFI a one-way portal (just like the one from Harmony to Melody - which means the technology already exists) towards the SFI... this way, if they can't find a spot here they'll could at lest go and find one on the old, deserted (sorry to say it) servers; this way they won't feel trapped on a server that feels like is completely deeded, the old servers might receive some of the love from the new servers players, while we would also potentially mitigate the downside of spreading too thin on yet another server so fast.

 

You can easily say that there may not be enough people interested and that the problem would not be mitigated this way, and, indeed, that's very possible. Still, I think there are hardly any cons so it's worth to give it a try - do it for one or two weeks and if the problem persists then you can always still open the new server if the (remaining) population justifies it.

Edited August 16, 2020 by Bloodreina

[Lycanthropic 523]

Would be a good option, I can see no harm/exploit in letting NF going to SF in a one way trip.

+1

[Tpikol 1,057]

a posible problem is people complaining that they hate it and wanting to go back to northern freedom.

[Yldrania 1,425]

I would really love it. That way all the years working on our old deeds don't seem so useless cause the entire server is empty.

[Platyna 521]

I like this idea. However, I have noticed that after two dead weeks, people come back to Ind and even new people come. 🙂 This one way ticket would help further repopulation. 

Edited August 16, 2020 by Platyna

[Etherdrifter 2,518]

Sounds good to me, it would definitely "sweeten the pot" for those thinking of making the move.

[Skatyna 434]

just deal with it. south freedom islands will turn toxic islands at a rapid speed. You have to realise old servers are not already and will not be the dev team priority no more.. I played on epic all the time.. iv seen how epic was never getting any love in 10 years, more than anything just more and more screw ups as generic things would be implemented that was designed for freedom but had no way of working on epic. but they were still left as who cares about handful of players compared to the main stream. 

 

Well, that main stream now is steam. and the old freedom cluster is that handful nobody cares about no more. sad, but real news here

[Platyna 521]

@SkatynaYou are acting a bit like an older child who is angry and jealous because mom brought their new little brother home. I think it is too early for such a harsh judgement. We had to be prepared for that there will be a fad and a rush, but those do not usually last long and if suggestion like @Bloodreina's will come into life, I believe a considerable amount of people will migrate South. 

Edited August 16, 2020 by Platyna

[Skatyna 434]

2 minutes ago, Platyna said:

@SkatynaYou are acting a bit like an older child who is angry and jealous because mom brought their little brother to this world. I think it is too early for such a harsh judgement. We had to be prepared for that there will be a fad and a rush, but those do not usually last long and if suggestion like @Bloodreina's will come into life, I believe a considerable amount of people will migrate South. 

 

not acting anything. Simply just stating the reality. As i said i played Epic all my wurm career so im long used to this and dont care. for the last 3 months i play alone in server in general, so what lol. it just makes me laugh a bit that freedomers now putting hopes and expect something that will never happen. we had that for years. So just live with it. 

 

And yes, ur right, new ppl DO COME to old servers, they look around, see theres noone and leave. I had my alt logged at the starter in my server to check. you get about 2-4 new ppl coming to server a day and they all are gone after 15 minutes as theres noone around them lol. one might think "oh if they all stayed there would be 30 after a week and would keep growing"... guess what - they dont and wont stay no matter what 

[Badvoc 204]

OK confused why do we need a portal to the old servers?

 

When you make a character you get to choose, you can already choose where to start.

 

Fact is Most people want the feel of a fresh server, to help shape and design the history of the new lands, add to the fact these northern lands don't have the taint of RMT and decades old accounts and I can see why people choose the new lands.

 

The reason why so many people like wurm is the freedom in it, the freedom to choose and well the people have spoken and chosen the new servers, i really cant see any real influx into the old servers to be honest and @Skatynamade a very good point, this has been seen all before with epic.

 

Given the choice between 8 people on a whole server or at this moment in time 350 on a new one, guess which people are going to choose, I for one have told my friends and family to stay away from the southern servers at all costs, to settle the northern lands more so with a 3rd server coming and if we merge they can check out the old servers then.

 

Its like to completely different games north and south to be honest and think the wurm devs have played a blinder with the north lands, even with leaving my stuff behind on exo i wont look back, the only toxic players I met was funny enough on southern lands and have met nothing but good peeps on the northern so far, since i was worried steam may bring trolls very happy that is not the case at all! 

[TheTrickster 2,284]

10 hours ago, Badvoc said:

I for one have told my friends and family to stay away from the southern servers at all costs, to settle the northern lands more

 

 

Oh, so you're the problem!  😜

 

Actually, if the South is not leveraged to take some pressure off the North, new players will not stop in the North, either.    Landrushes  are all excitement and bustle, but not sustainable.  Early addition of new large servers will result in a lot of existing people leaving Har and Mel, but leaving behind their deeds.  New players will either go to one of those, find a moderate population but nowhere to put their own deed, forcing them into joining a village rather than it simply being a choice among several, or they will go to Cad where there will be room for deeds if they travel far enough away from the boom-town spawn points.

 

I get the need for devs to do something about opening up undeeded land.  After all, one cannot to promise an ability to "claim" a portion of Wurm and then plonk new players on a server with nothing left to claim.  A new large server, though... probably not the best approach (but let's also acknowledge that devs are trying to keep up and maybe get a bit ahead - as much as people say this stuff should have been planned, I think the response is actually well beyond what was predicted or even hoped).

 

A one-way move to the South could be a good option to have amongst the others.  Maybe instead of a full teleport, make it a clone, taking only non-drops and skills/attributes.  Leave behind a toon in the north for the player to use if they choose, and a new one in the south to try on.   

[Radni 1,089]

-1

[Ekcin 2,407]

+1

[Ecrir 887]

17 hours ago, Badvoc said:

OK confused why do we need a portal to the old servers?

 

It's really simple. If a player regrets their choice of going north after some time and wants to go south then he/she can't. The sunk cost fallacy will also prevent them from making a new character for that most of the time.

[Badvoc 204]

1 minute ago, Ecrir said:

 

It's really simple. If a player regrets their choice of going north after some time and wants to go south then he/she can't. The sunk cost fallacy will also prevent them from making a new character for that most of the time.

 

Make it a paid transfer then like what wow does?

 

There is choice at the start, I regret testing the game out on the old servers, I wish with hindsight to have waited and used that money spent on my deeds on indy and then exo on the northern lands as for me its a completely different game, having to travel half a map to find another active player isnt fun, but it was my choice and i made a new character with new costs to play on a better server, why should development time be wasted on something that can be done quite easy in game, don't like your cluster reroll on the different one.

 

Also what if a new player picks the southlands decides thats not for them due to some of problems the southlands have, lack of players, dead deeds with years of upkeep on them, mines that are a mess and all mined out, this player can see theres a portal for players who choose the northlands to go south he may wonder why he cant go the other way, surely if you allow transfers one way you have to allow players who made a mistake go the other way also, its only fair.

 

 

[John 254]

I agree that people should be able to transfer from the Northern to the Southern cluster of Freedom servers, or even to the Epic cluster. However, I don't think it's a good idea for a new player to go to Southern Freedom. There is plenty of space, technically - just live in somebody else's village. Everyone shouldn't have their own deed, and nobody needs to have their own deed.

There are plenty of recruiting villages out there, and if you can't find a spot on your own there is nothing wrong with joining up with someone else.

[Ekcin 2,407]

1 hour ago, Badvoc said:

There is choice at the start, I regret testing the game out on the old servers, ..

To say now you regret not to have waited other four months (you seem to have started this character in March, 2020 given it is your first one) sounds bit pathetic to me, but anyway ..

 

Quote

Also what if a new player picks the southlands decides thats not for them due to some of problems the southlands have, lack of players, dead deeds with years of upkeep on them, mines that are a mess and all mined out, this player can see theres a portal for players who choose the northlands to go south he may wonder why he cant go the other way, surely if you allow transfers one way you have to allow players who made a mistake go the other way also, its only fair.

 

Well, there are always reasons to be disenchanted. This does not say anything about the recent population pressure on the new servers frustrating new players and making them quit. And in fact, initially the northern servers have been called "Steam servers" by almost everybody making the southern servers a much less likely choice. I already wrote that a transfer portal should be made bit roleplay wise as an "emigration office" with some texts and links showing not only grandiose pictures (that too) but also introducing to the drawbacks and giving advices to  beginners in the south.

 

And as to the chance to change mind, I think it could be a good idea to offer a free transfer to all accounts started after July 24 to either northern or southern cluster in the marks store, for the value of 6 months subscription or so, similar to faith or meditation change. Characters started before the launch should be excluded - sorry for you lol, but targeted to lock out high level account transfer. Also there might be (temporary) restriction of bank account transfer, maybe capped at 20s, 1g, or even zero iron. No ingame money transfer north-south to avoid exploits, maybe no item transfer either.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Ekcin
correction

[Etherdrifter 2,518]

2 hours ago, Ekcin said:

 And in fact, initially the northern servers have been called "Steam servers" by almost everybody making the southern servers a much less likely choice.

Justify this remark with an academic source please.

[Ekcin 2,407]

3 minutes ago, Etherdrifter said:

Justify this remark with an academic source please.

Butthurt?

[Badvoc 204]

3 hours ago, Ekcin said:

To say now you regret not to have waited other four months (you seem to have started this character in March, 2020 given it is your first one) sounds bit pathetic to me, but anyway ..

 

 

 

Thats your view, truth is I saw the game on steam as coming soon, googled it and saw it was already active, decided to give it ago, spent way too much money ( enjoyed the game play and the reason I am still here) but the difference between an active world and a less active one is stark, the northern servers are light years ahead in the gameplay for me at least.

 

I wish the money I spent on southern lands I had spent on the northern ones, I was not expecting the game play to be so different, thought I would see the northern lands and then go back to exo, but not a chance now, i have seen how much better the game is when active villages and an active trade.

 

My deed on exo has over a year in upkeep, my character there is prem for a year and he will snooze on that deed for the whole time, I may once in a blue moon pop back, see if things change but I very much doubt playing there again.

 

The simple fact the chance to shape a world far out weighs the chance to rummage through some ruins.

[Ecrir 887]

5 hours ago, Badvoc said:

Also what if a new player picks the southlands decides thats not for them due to some of problems the southlands have, lack of players, dead deeds with years of upkeep on them, mines that are a mess and all mined out, this player can see theres a portal for players who choose the northlands to go south he may wonder why he cant go the other way, surely if you allow transfers one way you have to allow players who made a mistake go the other way also, its only fair.

 

 

 

Then that player is screwed as the devs dont want accounts and items from south to be able to travel north. I guess you could allow it with a full and permanent inventory and skill wipe.

 

It sounds more like you want to keep those players locked to the north cluster out of spite rather than out of fairness, which is honestly quite toxic and sad.

[Badvoc 204]

6 minutes ago, Ecrir said:

 

Then that player is screwed as the devs dont want accounts and items from south to be able to travel north. I guess you could allow it with a full and permanent inventory and skill wipe.

 

It sounds more like you want to keep those players locked to the north cluster out of spite rather than out of fairness, which is honestly quite toxic and sad.

 

 

No I want the clusters kept apart, I like being on a cluster that is 100% RMT free from the get go, with accounts that havent been passed on year after year via sales. Open up a portal how soon before the cries of merge get stronger, once you start down that route where does it stop?

 

No one can stop new players from going south, they have a choice at the start its simple and you use your quote "Then that player is screwed" if they wasted 2-3 days and realised they dont want to be on northern servers, but then again, to be honest 2-3 days is nothing in wurm time and its super easy for that player to reroll south. No one on the north cluster is locked there either, super easy to reroll and we can have multi accounts.

 

Please explain how not wanting to have the servers connected is sad or toxic, i started on the new world because they aren't connected and shouldn't be ever in my view.

 

Anyway asked in my local and asked around and not one person I spoke to is interested on the south lands, more are interested in the new server thats coming and thats the place new players should also go in my humble view, wurm is a sandbox let them play in a lovely clean sandbox and not one thats full off ****

 

Seems you have a touch of jealousy to be honest at how active the northern lands are, no matter what the devs come up with most new players and returning ones want to shape the world around them, not live in a well past its sell date cluster. 

 

You old accounts are just going to have to make your own bricks from now on

 

To quote the op in game just now:-

I asked would you use the portal to south cluster.

 

[13:40:16] <Bloodreina> Definitely not I made a self concious decission to join north vs south

 

 

[Wilczan 2,048]

Suggestion is about transfer from North to South.

 

And if it would be an option, why not?

 

+1

[Bloodreina 301]

I haven't commented anything since my original post, but now, that a lot of things were said, I'd like too add a few things.

 

1) I always thought that, as long this doesn't adversely affect someone, is good for people to have options, and that's exactly what my idea was - an option. It may suit some, it may not suit others, and that's perfectly fine - those who will like it could take advantage of it and those who don't like it can simply ignore it.

 

2) Some people may argue that we already had this option on the tutorial portal, but i heavily disagree with this - the information provided at that point was minimal and definitely not enough to allow someone to make an informed decision. Considering that the huge afflux of people was a surprise even for devs (hence the apparition of the second and now third server), it's very logical that it was a similar surprise for players too; at least I know that it was for me. So giving them a second chance to change their mind could only help. And please don't say "just reroll another character"... some people really care for their username and some players (especially new players) may not afford or be willing to spend money for a second premium account on the other cluster.

 

3) Even after careful consideration I can't see who would suffer from this... players would have a choice, old servers would benefit from the fresh blood and the new servers would get a bit of breath... so it really sounds like a win-win situation for everyone.

 

4) Don't forget that different people have different preferences and whatever feels right for you may feel wrong for someone else and viceversa. Some people like to live in a village, while some other people like to have their own deed. Some want it small, others want it large. Similarly, why not admit that some people may want an active, crowded server that feels "alive", while others may want a quiet server where they don't need to invest 100 silvers in a deed to avoid having neighbors in local. Giving them all option can only help.

Edited January 7, 2021 by Bloodreina

[Sovos 220]

On 8/16/2020 at 8:48 AM, Platyna said:

We had to be prepared for that there will be a fad and a rush, but those do not usually last long and if suggestion like @Bloodreina's will come into life, I believe a considerable amount of people will migrate South. 

 

Newer players want servers that are in no way linked with the old ones. Everyone starts out fresh, that's part of the allure as to why both new and old players are creating characters there. I keep seeing threads like this with these hopeful whispers of linking the servers together or schemes to funnel brand new players into a server that's been established for years; but what you're forgetting is that they want the experience of carving out their chunk of the land and putting work in, just like you did when you first started playing.

 

I don't know about you, but there's no leveling the playing field between new players that can barely attach a trowel handle versus veteran players that can bench press a caravel and assemble bridges in seconds.