Ah, one of those silly people who think "WoW Was the first MMo ever, its 100% original". WoW is a great game, don't get me wrong, but its far from being original. A lot of what they used was taken from other games, and it in no way shaped the genre of game. EQ had done that far before WoW came around.
Its neither a nail in the coffin or innovation. Just to make 77 feel special, WoW did a very similiar thing some time ago, a tactic used in other games before. Its a good way to draw new players in who might be hesitant.
The problem i've got with this move is that Trion wasn't honest about it, but again tried to wrap it up in another PR stunt.
Recently they closed/merged servers, that is in their PR language "opening(!) trial servers". People wondered: what do they need 40+ trial servers for? Then, just in Janury Trion cleared things up, reporting
"Bottom line is that we’re not merging any servers. The 11 shards in question are being turned into trial servers for a future large-scale trial promotion."
Ok, now they have a madness of like 40+ trial servers. According to their statement they prepared the latest 11 for a future large-scale trial promotion. But now the trial players can join any server they want?!
Why setting up "mo' trial servers" in first place when at the end of the day the trials can pick just any server?
They just closed those servers because they were dead. Despite people constantly spounting "but my chat is full!! the game is fine!!" the game unfortunately isn't doing very well.
I'm not saying that free to 20 thing is bad. But they used that momentum to cloak the closing of 11 more dead servers and tried to sell it to us as if they would expand the game instead.
Once again Trion is being "deceptive" because they are not doing things they way YOU like or using terminology the way YOU like. Its a shame the world doesn't revolve around you huh.
Rift isn't closing down old, underpopulated shards because it isn't really necessary. Shard A != Machine A. When the population gets thin in places they designate certain servers as servers that will no longer really be used. Ok, so they call them trial servers. Why? maybe to put a positive spin on not so positive circumstance that every mmo goes though? Maybe in the hope that there will come a time when they do get used again? Doesn't matter. What were you expecting them to call these servers? Dead Server? Would that make you happy? Mothballed Servers?
The real point is that instead of forcing people to move to a certain server because someone simply choose a server for you. "hmmm ok, server C merges with server T, Why T? Because... they sound similar?" Why not simply allow people to move to any server they want as long as it is one of the keepers? And instead of making them move by some drop dead date why not just let them move when ever they feel like going? or even not at all. If it really doesn't cost any significant amount of money for a few people to be left on an old server then why force anything on them at all. That's all thats really going on here. People move where and when they feel like.
And then maybe, some time in the future, when 2.0 comes out and there is an inflow of new people checking it out for the first time they won't need to create any new "Servers" all they will need to do is designate a few of the old servers as "new player recommended."
So yeah, perhaps calling them trial servers is "optimistic", perhaps it is simply an attempt to find a positive spin name to call it. But I hardly think it is part of some grand conspiracy to dup the public into an mmo based ponzi-fraud scheme. They are just concentrating the population into a healthy density on few "shards" without actually shutting old shards down. Get over it.
translation: "I'm very mad my game isn't doing well, so i carry it out on the posters who say so"
If you would have sticked to attack my points and not started your posting attacking me in person, hollering "YOU" a few times and include a side blow right in your first paragraph, you may have sounded more credible.
But let it all out, broh...just let it all out before it eats you up.
The problem i've got with this move is that Trion wasn't honest about it, but again tried to wrap it up in another PR stunt.
Recently they closed/merged servers, that is in their PR language "opening(!) trial servers". People wondered: what do they need 40+ trial servers for? Then, just in Janury Trion cleared things up, reporting
"Bottom line is that we’re not merging any servers. The 11 shards in question are being turned into trial servers for a future large-scale trial promotion."
Ok, now they have a madness of like 40+ trial servers. According to their statement they prepared the latest 11 for a future large-scale trial promotion. But now the trial players can join any server they want?!
Why setting up "mo' trial servers" in first place when at the end of the day the trials can pick just any server?
They just closed those servers because they were dead. Despite people constantly spounting "but my chat is full!! the game is fine!!" the game unfortunately isn't doing very well.
I'm not saying that free to 20 thing is bad. But they used that momentum to cloak the closing of 11 more dead servers and tried to sell it to us as if they would expand the game instead.
Once again Trion is being "deceptive" because they are not doing things they way YOU like or using terminology the way YOU like. Its a shame the world doesn't revolve around you huh.
Rift isn't closing down old, underpopulated shards because it isn't really necessary. Shard A != Machine A. When the population gets thin in places they designate certain servers as servers that will no longer really be used. Ok, so they call them trial servers. Why? maybe to put a positive spin on not so positive circumstance that every mmo goes though? Maybe in the hope that there will come a time when they do get used again? Doesn't matter. What were you expecting them to call these servers? Dead Server? Would that make you happy? Mothballed Servers?
The real point is that instead of forcing people to move to a certain server because someone simply choose a server for you. "hmmm ok, server C merges with server T, Why T? Because... they sound similar?" Why not simply allow people to move to any server they want as long as it is one of the keepers? And instead of making them move by some drop dead date why not just let them move when ever they feel like going? or even not at all. If it really doesn't cost any significant amount of money for a few people to be left on an old server then why force anything on them at all. That's all thats really going on here. People move where and when they feel like.
And then maybe, some time in the future, when 2.0 comes out and there is an inflow of new people checking it out for the first time they won't need to create any new "Servers" all they will need to do is designate a few of the old servers as "new player recommended."
So yeah, perhaps calling them trial servers is "optimistic", perhaps it is simply an attempt to find a positive spin name to call it. But I hardly think it is part of some grand conspiracy to dup the public into an mmo based ponzi-fraud scheme. They are just concentrating the population into a healthy density on few "shards" without actually shutting old shards down. Get over it.
translation: "I'm very mad my game isn't doing well, so i carry it out on the posters who say so"
If you would have sticked to attack my points and not started your posting attacking me in person, hollering "YOU" a few times and include a side blow right in your first paragraph, you may have sounded more credible.
But let it all out, broh...just let it all out before it eats you up.
Translation of Translation: "I'm very mad the game is doing well, so I carry it out on the posters who say so"
Not very constructive really.
VikingGamer does address your point in as much as a strictly opinion based rant can be addressed.
Once again Trion is being "deceptive" because they are not doing things they way YOU like or using terminology the way YOU like. Its a shame the world doesn't revolve around you huh.
Rift isn't closing down old, underpopulated shards because it isn't really necessary. Shard A != Machine A. When the population gets thin in places they designate certain servers as servers that will no longer really be used. Ok, so they call them trial servers. Why? maybe to put a positive spin on not so positive circumstance that every mmo goes though? Maybe in the hope that there will come a time when they do get used again? Doesn't matter. What were you expecting them to call these servers? Dead Server? Would that make you happy? Mothballed Servers?
How is this not deceptive:
MMORPG reports that Trion is merging their servers (this is a fact, this actually happened....even if it wasnt server a into server b, 27 servers into 16 is by definition a merge of traffic)
Trion responds back oh no no no we arent merging servers (lie), we are preparing trial servers for an upcoming promotion.
Now there has been two 'promotions' since. One did not require any extre servers that they didnt have (the 3 day return to rift weekend). And this Rift Lite doesnt even use the trial servers, only the regular servers (I just tried logging on an inactive account to check this). And we are at the point now where this mythical promotion is far enough away from the server merge date that it wasnt a necessary move at the time.
I have played RIFT for awhile and its a good game. Nothing ground breaking about it but better than most in nowadays muddy waters of mmo industry. This LITE version up to level 20 is good move by Trion. For does who never tried it before this is chance to give it a try and who knows, maybe they will get hooked to the game. Thumbs up Trion
Im a long time WOW player and just dont see Rift as a WOW clone.
The skill trees are the most similar aspect, but Rift's is much more advanced allowing far more freedom in class building/mixing.
Sure their similar in other ways as well but WOW pioneered the popluar MMO as we know it.
No. WoW POLISHED the MMO as we know it. They certainly weren't innovative. And while a lot of people point to the skill trees, they weren't the first MMO with skill trees. That happened in 1997 in the game Tibia. Tibia is still going btw. They weren't the first 3D MMO. That happened in the 1990s as well (Meridian 59). They certainly weren't the first MMO.
The Original NeverWinter Nights was an MMO that ran from 1991 to 1996. It cost $6 an hour to play and was accessed through AOL. The first true 3D MMO was Meridian 59, released in 1996. Meridian 59 is back and is F2P.
The big three of the first generation were: Asheron's Call, Everquest and Ultima Online. I played UO for a while, pre PvP flag. The quakers made it tedious with their exploiting you in 'safe zones' so I quit.
Then came the second generation. This does not include Wow. I played Earth and Beyond for a bit, but it sucked and failed a couple of years later. I had friends that played Ragnorak on-line (Aesir Guild). There was Lineage II (I played that briefly). Other second generation MMOs I played include Eve:Online and EverQuest 2.
Then came the third generation. Which became dominated by WoW. That took all the lessons of the past decade, learned them, and gave us a well polished, comptenet MMO just as high-speed interenet took off in America giving them the perfect storm of quality and opportunity. In short, some good work and a LOT OF LUCK.
And don't get me wrong, I'm happy for WoW even though I personally do not play the game as I don't like Blizzard's graphics. And I have found, over time, that I find their games tedious and boring so I had nothing to draw me in... But good for WoW. It's a great community and the game obviously meets the needs of a lot of people. Plus it is well polished and well run despite the occassional mistakes and constant whining...
But, anyway, no, WoW pioneered NOTHING. They just got on the scene with the right polish on a NEW product when high-speed internet was taking off and allowed a game like WoW to work. A year or two either way and they'd almost certainly be "just another MMO" in far broader and flatter MMO landscape.
I'm glad to get to check it out. However, I don't see this as any ground-breaking move. Just smart business. They want players, and in turn more potential subscribers.
There's also market pressure. If you own a dining establishment and the other guy down the street starts advertising free coffee refills... you offer free coffee refills.
+1: Trion has been extremely savvy when it comes to marketing the game and handling servers. From temporary price changes, to "new" versions that offer nothing extra aside from a unique mount- they keep existing players paying and give incentive for new players to try out the game. I would love to see what they could do with a hybrid game instead of a strictly on-rails themepark.
Regarding the OP, I wish they'd cap it at 30 instead- I'd play their instance PvP forever. At 20 though? I just don't enjoy Black garden enough for that.
I love people who don't think Rift is sucessful, it is in fact the most succesful MMO in years. 100 million in revenue destroys games like Aion,War, etc. Rift is getting huge i see new 50s everyday. Unlike most dying MMO it is very easy to pug raids in rift because the population is so healthy.
Games getting huge dont lose 3/4ths of their servers in less than a year. Rift is settling into a niche, not getting huge.
aha. so you wouldnt put up like double the servers for launch impact of tourists and cut it to the reasonable amount later?
i dont know a single company that would be so dumb. I know companys tho that are dumb enough to start with too few servers for initial player imact...
after hype is over you needto reduce the costs to the daily need.
--> merge/reduction of servers is NOT a sign of failure, just a regular move made by EVERYONE with a brain after your average mmo tourist drops out.
Trion have been very savvy about marketing Trion. Their last return for the weekend deal was timed to coincide with the end of SWTORs first free month (Jan 19-22), for people like me that didn't rate SWTOR it was a good opportunity to go back and take a look at what's been added. They got it right for me, I ended up re subbing and have been having a blast doing all the end game content they added, there are so many routes now to gaining end game gear, Chronicles, Raid Rifts, Slivers, Instant Adventures, Dungeons and extra Epic crafted items. Ember isle is a great addition to the game, haven't touched on half the quests there yet. The timing of Rift Lite fits right in too. Trion definitely aren't stupid. For a theme park strictly on rails (though Ember isle showed a little more openness, I hope they follow on that with further content) it's a great game, lots of no hassle fun to be had.
Originally posted by Leethe AoC had this feature way before WoW jumped on the bandwagon. The Halt XP feature is genius. Why every game doesn't have this, especially when they fast-track leveling so much, I don't know.
It can have severe effects on level-tiered PvP - if you lock your xp when you're at maximum level for a tier, and then pursue best-in-slot gear, you can lord it over the "normal" players.
That's why when WoW introduced xp locking as an option, they added the rule that xp-locked characters would only be matched up against other xp-locked characters in battlegrounds. I didn't see if Rift was using a similar system for its warfronts?
I love people who don't think Rift is sucessful, it is in fact the most succesful MMO in years. 100 million in revenue destroys games like Aion,War, etc. Rift is getting huge i see new 50s everyday. Unlike most dying MMO it is very easy to pug raids in rift because the population is so healthy.
Games getting huge dont lose 3/4ths of their servers in less than a year. Rift is settling into a niche, not getting huge.
Not exactly true, at rifts release I think they personally had far to many servers, just like swtor does now with most of them being light. Expect swtor to close alot of servers soon and merge them due to virtually no population, its just what happens when the devs over estimate poulation. A mmo can be profitable and survive with less than 100k subs. Look at anarchy online, you honestly can't tell me that game has 50k subs yet alone 100k and they still making a profit and putting out content. WoW is kinda a crappy mmo, but blizzard is a genious at marketing and getting people hooked to their pointless raiding systems and such. Also, a large portion of wow's subs I think 60-70% are from the asian markets, the USA etc subs are actually only a few mil at best.
Being a pessimist is a win-win pattern of thinking. If you're a pessimist (I'll admit that I am!) you're either:
A. Proven right (if something bad happens)
or
B. Pleasantly surprised (if something good happens)
RIFT handled the server "closures" (ie: turning them into trial servers) really well. It was a good publicity move. Hopefully other publishers/developers like Bioware will learn from this and shrink servers appropriately.
Lol before we talk about Bioware go look at a WoW server status page and tell them to deal with their own low pop servers frist. If Blizzard everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr allowed server transfers for free it would consolidate their servers so damn fast it would make your head spin.
The problem i've got with this move is that Trion wasn't honest about it, but again tried to wrap it up in another PR stunt.
Recently they closed/merged servers, that is in their PR language "opening(!) trial servers". People wondered: what do they need 40+ trial servers for? Then, just in Janury Trion cleared things up, reporting
"Bottom line is that we’re not merging any servers. The 11 shards in question are being turned into trial servers for a future large-scale trial promotion."
Ok, now they have a madness of like 40+ trial servers. According to their statement they prepared the latest 11 for a future large-scale trial promotion. But now the trial players can join any server they want?!
Why setting up "mo' trial servers" in first place when at the end of the day the trials can pick just any server?
They just closed those servers because they were dead. Despite people constantly spounting "but my chat is full!! the game is fine!!" the game unfortunately isn't doing very well.
I'm not saying that free to 20 thing is bad. But they used that momentum to cloak the closing of 11 more dead servers and tried to sell it to us as if they would expand the game instead.
Merging and removing servers is always a good thing imo. No one needs empty servers and no one needs 50 servers. MMOs should try to upgrade their hardware and merge servers as much as possible ;P
I think Trion are doing some really amazing changes to this game. The free transfer feature is the ultimate solution to server problems. It may even results in servers becoming empty and the company removing unnecessary servers. People can only benefit from fewer servers.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
I don't like rift, mainly because it's such a wow clone.
but.......
I think they have done the f2p thing too early, I can see them grabbing subs back from SWTOR when people hit the 3 month mark, because while rift is a wow clone, swtor is a bad wow clone. What rift does for people that like these sort of loot driven raid grinding games is good, just not my thing.
The problem i've got with this move is that Trion wasn't honest about it, but again tried to wrap it up in another PR stunt.
Recently they closed/merged servers, that is in their PR language "opening(!) trial servers". People wondered: what do they need 40+ trial servers for? Then, just in Janury Trion cleared things up, reporting
"Bottom line is that we’re not merging any servers. The 11 shards in question are being turned into trial servers for a future large-scale trial promotion."
Ok, now they have a madness of like 40+ trial servers. According to their statement they prepared the latest 11 for a future large-scale trial promotion. But now the trial players can join any server they want?!
Why setting up "mo' trial servers" in first place when at the end of the day the trials can pick just any server?
They just closed those servers because they were dead. Despite people constantly spounting "but my chat is full!! the game is fine!!" the game unfortunately isn't doing very well.
I'm not saying that free to 20 thing is bad. But they used that momentum to cloak the closing of 11 more dead servers and tried to sell it to us as if they would expand the game instead.
Merging and removing servers is always a good thing imo. No one needs empty servers and no one needs 50 servers. MMOs should try to upgrade their hardware and merge servers as much as possible ;P
I think Trion are doing some really amazing changes to this game. The free transfer feature is the ultimate solution to server problems. It may even results in servers becoming empty and the company removing unnecessary servers. People can only benefit from fewer servers.
I fully agree with you there. Sorting out the servers is a healthy thing if done right. WoW needed it ages ago and in this department Trion is again some steps ahead of Blizzard.
So i'm not ranting on the merges/closings nor on the lvl 20 trial. I'd rather rant on Blizzard for NOT merging and for years being as arrogant as they are.
I just think Trion should have went right away saying: "Folks, we're all not new to the genre and you know how this works. After the initial rush subsides, we will have to close some servers. Instead of running 30 low servers, we rather merge them to provide a better ingame experience for you guys and invest the money saved elsewhere" -i'm shure that no one would have had a problem with that. People would even have cheered on Trion for being honest and rightfully so.
Trion in first place aimed for the players who were tired of other themepark-games after years, say mainly WoW. These players, after years, are sort of veterans in the genre. Yet Trion treats them like they are idiots to be fooled and tries to persuade their "trial servers", "CE upgrades", "we've never merged servers" and other PR spins on them. That's the griev i'm havin with them.
Originally posted by ShakyMo I don't like rift, mainly because it's such a wow clone. but....... I think they have done the f2p thing too early
They haven't done the f2p thing too early because they haven't done the f2p thing at all!
They have a free trial. All sub games that aren't really, really new have free trials. Some of them are time limited, some of them are level limited, some are both. Rift's is level limited but not time limited - same as WAR and WoW.
The problem i've got with this move is that Trion wasn't honest about it, but again tried to wrap it up in another PR stunt.
Recently they closed/merged servers, that is in their PR language "opening(!) trial servers". People wondered: what do they need 40+ trial servers for? Then, just in Janury Trion cleared things up, reporting
"Bottom line is that we’re not merging any servers. The 11 shards in question are being turned into trial servers for a future large-scale trial promotion."
Ok, now they have a madness of like 40+ trial servers. According to their statement they prepared the latest 11 for a future large-scale trial promotion. But now the trial players can join any server they want?!
Why setting up "mo' trial servers" in first place when at the end of the day the trials can pick just any server?
They just closed those servers because they were dead. Despite people constantly spounting "but my chat is full!! the game is fine!!" the game unfortunately isn't doing very well.
I'm not saying that free to 20 thing is bad. But they used that momentum to cloak the closing of 11 more dead servers and tried to sell it to us as if they would expand the game instead.
Merging and removing servers is always a good thing imo. No one needs empty servers and no one needs 50 servers. MMOs should try to upgrade their hardware and merge servers as much as possible ;P
I think Trion are doing some really amazing changes to this game. The free transfer feature is the ultimate solution to server problems. It may even results in servers becoming empty and the company removing unnecessary servers. People can only benefit from fewer servers.
I fully agree with you there. Sorting out the servers is a healthy thing if done right. WoW needed it ages ago and in this department Trion is again some steps ahead of Blizzard.
So i'm not ranting on the merges/closings nor on the lvl 20 trial. I'd rather rant on Blizzard for NOT merging and for years being as arrogant as they are.
I just think Trion should have went right away saying: "Folks, we're all not new to the genre and you know how this works. After the initial rush subsides, we will have to close some servers. Instead of running 30 low servers, we rather merge them to provide a better ingame experience for you guys and invest the money saved elsewhere" -i'm shure that no one would have had a problem with that. People would even have cheered on Trion for being honest and rightfully so.
Trion in first place aimed for the players who were tired of other themepark-games after years, say mainly WoW. These players, after years, are sort of veterans in the genre. Yet Trion treats them like they are idiots to be fooled and tries to persuade their "trial servers", "CE upgrades", "we've never merged servers" and other PR spins on them. That's the griev i'm havin with them.
Volgore nailed it.
They fooled people with the second collector's edition, and tried to fool people again here. Just be honest and people will praise you for it in this situation.
Comments
Ah, one of those silly people who think "WoW Was the first MMo ever, its 100% original". WoW is a great game, don't get me wrong, but its far from being original. A lot of what they used was taken from other games, and it in no way shaped the genre of game. EQ had done that far before WoW came around.
Its neither a nail in the coffin or innovation. Just to make 77 feel special, WoW did a very similiar thing some time ago, a tactic used in other games before. Its a good way to draw new players in who might be hesitant.
translation: "I'm very mad my game isn't doing well, so i carry it out on the posters who say so"
If you would have sticked to attack my points and not started your posting attacking me in person, hollering "YOU" a few times and include a side blow right in your first paragraph, you may have sounded more credible.
But let it all out, broh...just let it all out before it eats you up.
Translation of Translation: "I'm very mad the game is doing well, so I carry it out on the posters who say so"
Not very constructive really.
VikingGamer does address your point in as much as a strictly opinion based rant can be addressed.
How is this not deceptive:
MMORPG reports that Trion is merging their servers (this is a fact, this actually happened....even if it wasnt server a into server b, 27 servers into 16 is by definition a merge of traffic)
Trion responds back oh no no no we arent merging servers (lie), we are preparing trial servers for an upcoming promotion.
Now there has been two 'promotions' since. One did not require any extre servers that they didnt have (the 3 day return to rift weekend). And this Rift Lite doesnt even use the trial servers, only the regular servers (I just tried logging on an inactive account to check this). And we are at the point now where this mythical promotion is far enough away from the server merge date that it wasnt a necessary move at the time.
I have played RIFT for awhile and its a good game. Nothing ground breaking about it but better than most in nowadays muddy waters of mmo industry. This LITE version up to level 20 is good move by Trion. For does who never tried it before this is chance to give it a try and who knows, maybe they will get hooked to the game. Thumbs up Trion
No. WoW POLISHED the MMO as we know it. They certainly weren't innovative. And while a lot of people point to the skill trees, they weren't the first MMO with skill trees. That happened in 1997 in the game Tibia. Tibia is still going btw. They weren't the first 3D MMO. That happened in the 1990s as well (Meridian 59). They certainly weren't the first MMO.
The Original NeverWinter Nights was an MMO that ran from 1991 to 1996. It cost $6 an hour to play and was accessed through AOL. The first true 3D MMO was Meridian 59, released in 1996. Meridian 59 is back and is F2P.
The big three of the first generation were: Asheron's Call, Everquest and Ultima Online. I played UO for a while, pre PvP flag. The quakers made it tedious with their exploiting you in 'safe zones' so I quit.
Then came the second generation. This does not include Wow. I played Earth and Beyond for a bit, but it sucked and failed a couple of years later. I had friends that played Ragnorak on-line (Aesir Guild). There was Lineage II (I played that briefly). Other second generation MMOs I played include Eve:Online and EverQuest 2.
Then came the third generation. Which became dominated by WoW. That took all the lessons of the past decade, learned them, and gave us a well polished, comptenet MMO just as high-speed interenet took off in America giving them the perfect storm of quality and opportunity. In short, some good work and a LOT OF LUCK.
And don't get me wrong, I'm happy for WoW even though I personally do not play the game as I don't like Blizzard's graphics. And I have found, over time, that I find their games tedious and boring so I had nothing to draw me in... But good for WoW. It's a great community and the game obviously meets the needs of a lot of people. Plus it is well polished and well run despite the occassional mistakes and constant whining...
But, anyway, no, WoW pioneered NOTHING. They just got on the scene with the right polish on a NEW product when high-speed internet was taking off and allowed a game like WoW to work. A year or two either way and they'd almost certainly be "just another MMO" in far broader and flatter MMO landscape.
+1: Trion has been extremely savvy when it comes to marketing the game and handling servers. From temporary price changes, to "new" versions that offer nothing extra aside from a unique mount- they keep existing players paying and give incentive for new players to try out the game. I would love to see what they could do with a hybrid game instead of a strictly on-rails themepark.
Regarding the OP, I wish they'd cap it at 30 instead- I'd play their instance PvP forever. At 20 though? I just don't enjoy Black garden enough for that.
Blizzard is doing just the same in their upcoming expansion:
Black Garden-like battleground...
PVE Scenario's...
[FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="1"][COLOR="SandyBrown"]Lotro:[/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE="1"][COLOR="Wheat"]Rolhad[/COLOR] - [COLOR="Wheat"]The Nine[/COLOR] - [COLOR="Wheat"]Evernight[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
aha. so you wouldnt put up like double the servers for launch impact of tourists and cut it to the reasonable amount later?
i dont know a single company that would be so dumb. I know companys tho that are dumb enough to start with too few servers for initial player imact...
after hype is over you needto reduce the costs to the daily need.
--> merge/reduction of servers is NOT a sign of failure, just a regular move made by EVERYONE with a brain after your average mmo tourist drops out.
Trion have been very savvy about marketing Trion. Their last return for the weekend deal was timed to coincide with the end of SWTORs first free month (Jan 19-22), for people like me that didn't rate SWTOR it was a good opportunity to go back and take a look at what's been added. They got it right for me, I ended up re subbing and have been having a blast doing all the end game content they added, there are so many routes now to gaining end game gear, Chronicles, Raid Rifts, Slivers, Instant Adventures, Dungeons and extra Epic crafted items. Ember isle is a great addition to the game, haven't touched on half the quests there yet. The timing of Rift Lite fits right in too. Trion definitely aren't stupid. For a theme park strictly on rails (though Ember isle showed a little more openness, I hope they follow on that with further content) it's a great game, lots of no hassle fun to be had.
That's why when WoW introduced xp locking as an option, they added the rule that xp-locked characters would only be matched up against other xp-locked characters in battlegrounds. I didn't see if Rift was using a similar system for its warfronts?
Not exactly true, at rifts release I think they personally had far to many servers, just like swtor does now with most of them being light. Expect swtor to close alot of servers soon and merge them due to virtually no population, its just what happens when the devs over estimate poulation. A mmo can be profitable and survive with less than 100k subs. Look at anarchy online, you honestly can't tell me that game has 50k subs yet alone 100k and they still making a profit and putting out content. WoW is kinda a crappy mmo, but blizzard is a genious at marketing and getting people hooked to their pointless raiding systems and such. Also, a large portion of wow's subs I think 60-70% are from the asian markets, the USA etc subs are actually only a few mil at best.
Being a pessimist is a win-win pattern of thinking. If you're a pessimist (I'll admit that I am!) you're either:
A. Proven right (if something bad happens)
or
B. Pleasantly surprised (if something good happens)
Either way, you can't lose! Try it out sometime!
Lol before we talk about Bioware go look at a WoW server status page and tell them to deal with their own low pop servers frist. If Blizzard everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr allowed server transfers for free it would consolidate their servers so damn fast it would make your head spin.
Merging and removing servers is always a good thing imo. No one needs empty servers and no one needs 50 servers. MMOs should try to upgrade their hardware and merge servers as much as possible ;P
I think Trion are doing some really amazing changes to this game. The free transfer feature is the ultimate solution to server problems. It may even results in servers becoming empty and the company removing unnecessary servers. People can only benefit from fewer servers.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
Wow copied it from Warhammer Online.
*insert troll comment here* That should do since i don't want to get banned again.
I don't like rift, mainly because it's such a wow clone.
but.......
I think they have done the f2p thing too early, I can see them grabbing subs back from SWTOR when people hit the 3 month mark, because while rift is a wow clone, swtor is a bad wow clone. What rift does for people that like these sort of loot driven raid grinding games is good, just not my thing.
I fully agree with you there. Sorting out the servers is a healthy thing if done right. WoW needed it ages ago and in this department Trion is again some steps ahead of Blizzard.
So i'm not ranting on the merges/closings nor on the lvl 20 trial. I'd rather rant on Blizzard for NOT merging and for years being as arrogant as they are.
I just think Trion should have went right away saying: "Folks, we're all not new to the genre and you know how this works. After the initial rush subsides, we will have to close some servers. Instead of running 30 low servers, we rather merge them to provide a better ingame experience for you guys and invest the money saved elsewhere" -i'm shure that no one would have had a problem with that. People would even have cheered on Trion for being honest and rightfully so.
Trion in first place aimed for the players who were tired of other themepark-games after years, say mainly WoW. These players, after years, are sort of veterans in the genre. Yet Trion treats them like they are idiots to be fooled and tries to persuade their "trial servers", "CE upgrades", "we've never merged servers" and other PR spins on them. That's the griev i'm havin with them.
They have a free trial. All sub games that aren't really, really new have free trials. Some of them are time limited, some of them are level limited, some are both. Rift's is level limited but not time limited - same as WAR and WoW.
Volgore nailed it.
They fooled people with the second collector's edition, and tried to fool people again here. Just be honest and people will praise you for it in this situation.
The only way Rifts can get more players if they update their combat gameplay like Kingdoms of Amalur.
As right now their combat looks and feels so old for me.
Pardon my English as it is not my 1st language
Superb game, not sure why this is necessary. People can't appreciate a good thing and that's why Vanguard is in limbo.