Epic Portal between NFI and SFI

[Aeryck 862]

Let me first say that I don't actually know how Epic works. I've never been there and I may have this all wrong.

 

I am NOT proposing a merger of SFI and NFI. But rather, an Epic-Like portal that allows players to cross between clusters without items and a limitation on skills. Many players are social players and would consider playing on both clusters if they could keep a portion of their work and identity. Allowing us to travel between clusters and effectively having 2 accounts per character would be double the upkeep, double the spending, double the play time, and double the interactions with other players. One could choose their primary cluster and skill gain would be capped and half or one-third on the secondary server. This way you could play and level your character on both clusters.

 

I dunno, welcome criticism but it seems like we need to undo the rift that the new cluster rent in our community.

 

 

[kordethbludscythe 762]

naw i dont like this idea of capping skills i wouldnt mind being able to change clusters with my toons even if i couldnt take my stuff but to cap the skills i worked hard to get would be wrong

[Dorf 69]

Actually I wouldn't mind if both clusters could connect to Epic 

 

[Tor 523]

-1 i think it would be better to do a standard server connection properly or not doing it at all

[Coach 196]

4 hours ago, Aeryck said:

Let me first say that I don't actually know how Epic works. I've never been there and I may have this all wrong.

 

That's how Epic(SFI) and NFI work.

On 4/26/2022 at 9:23 PM, Keenan said:

So, let me shed some light on the possibility of a merge and what it will actually take.

 

There are technical challenges here that haven't been present in other clusters:

• NFI has a number of changes that have yet to be implemented on SFI. This was done intentionally to see the results long-term. I won't list them all here, but we need to review these changes and see what the results are.
• These changes have caused disparity in the code base making NFI and SFI currently incompatible with each other. A merge isn't as simple as opening the borders.

Then there are other concerns:

• What of the effects on the economies? In particular, SFI's economy would literally transform NFI's economy overnight - for better or worse.
• What of the effects on the people in both clusters? This thread is a testament to the fact that opinions are split.

These concerns and challenges are the primary reasons why a merge is not in the plans for the short term. Long-term remains to be seen, but we'd be talking beyond a 6-to-9-month timeframe if we do this. The sheer code work involved alone will require scheduling, and we have a lot of work on our plates already.

 

With regards to conducting a poll, one thing I've asked of the development team is to dust off the in-game voting mechanic and figure out a way to deduplicate votes from alts to have a more fair and accurate account of what the player base wants. I do not want a person with more money or silver to weigh more heavily than a person who simply keeps a single account going, so it's important to me to get that right. This isn't our highest priority at the moment, with the coming update taking precedence.

 

Edit: One other thing I would likely see us do before a merge is to allow travel to Epic first. Again though, there are code complications that must be handled first. This is why it isn't possible right now.

 

I hope this clears up my intentions with regards to a merge. The TL;DR is "it's not a 'never', but it's certainly not any time soon".