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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Head start servers, what's the point?
Marzzo
Member, Leader of Men, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
Some backers will be able to play on headstart servers (2 days head start I believe). After the headstart these servers will open up to the general public.
After the headstart new fresh servers will also open up for everyone.
I asked around a lot and not a single soul that was NOT eligible for the headstart said they would play there at all since they all wanted to start at the same time as everyone else. Also, many people who are eligible for the headstart (me included) don't want to play on a headstart server.
Headstart servers will be limited in many ways till "full release" but it still creates a big problem.
99.9% of non-headstart players won't pick a headstart server at full launch, they will all pick a fresh server. This will create a big divide (and potentially very dead servers later on) in the community at launch.
The solution? Make every single server headstart or scrap the idea completely.
After the headstart new fresh servers will also open up for everyone.
I asked around a lot and not a single soul that was NOT eligible for the headstart said they would play there at all since they all wanted to start at the same time as everyone else. Also, many people who are eligible for the headstart (me included) don't want to play on a headstart server.
Headstart servers will be limited in many ways till "full release" but it still creates a big problem.
99.9% of non-headstart players won't pick a headstart server at full launch, they will all pick a fresh server. This will create a big divide (and potentially very dead servers later on) in the community at launch.
The solution? Make every single server headstart or scrap the idea completely.
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Yes, and my guildies from some other games, over 100 asked. Not a single one was interested at all they hated the idea.
I think it is okay but most people just want a fair start.
Usually (based on other games) people pick headstart servers based on the knowledge that many newbies will join later and they will have advantages because they will be many levels ahead (free material farms and no competition for mobs). New players know this though and don't want to give the advantage and this way they almost always pick a fresh server.
Nodes will be blocked, which means that they wont be able to open up new quest zones.
They will do all the quests at the beginning, and then wait for everyone else to join....
Then they will have to wait for everyone to do their beginning stuff, or they will have to do all the expedition quests on their own.
Polling your own guildmates and friends means literally nothing.
You are essentially only talking to people who are like you. Who joined your guild to do thing you also like to do, who are your friend because you have alot in common, including really bad ideas on how polling actually works.
So what's happening is you're just confirming your own bias.
The reason games have a head start is to "soft launch" the game. I've been part of many head starts that were really "dead starts" because issues with the server were discovered. Stores do a soft opening all the time. Tired and true method.
Just because you don't want something and "100" other people who are predisposed to agree with or humor you also voted in your favor doesn't mean that thousands of others should cater to you.
Selfish and entitled. This is what I'm reading here.
Not my concern really.
What will I be able to do?
Travel, and get far away from the soon to be max influx of people on release day.
That way the area I am in could potentially be a little less populated for a few days in that, upon release, I doubt many people will actually care that there was a two day head start. I know it's an MMO, so there should be a lot of people about, and I want that too. But the mass congestion of starting areas is not something I will have to do with my first character, and that will be nice.
As for guilds, yeah, I get that. Because if you are in a tight guild and only 10 of hundred of your mates have access to a head start, I could see why waiting for them to pick a server would be best.
Yes was the lifetime sub that attracted my money that if delivered on has the potential to keep me playing for many years.
But! I also have some fears. Like in WoW classic the first servers are full, with big queues, but the new ones are less populated with less queues. If I chose a server what will be overpopulated, I can lose all of my advantage. Maybe I should restart in another server.
In this case my fears are not valid.
Thank you!
I think that they could fix that by giving everyone on those full servers one time server transfers. The main reason why people stay on such massively overpopulated servers is because they dont want to lvl a new character to the same lvl as their old one.
I also think that they did a good job with slowly adding more servers to the roster instead of starting with many at the same time.
This may good solution in a game like WoW. These transfers are not live from the first day. What if I can transfer to a server where my dreamed node is already a vasal of another node? In AOC each server will be different, with differently open. I know I can start a node siege, but how many chance I have as a new player there without friends.
But as unknownsystemerror confirmed there will not available to buy a headstart package, it is not my problem anymore.
life time sub for unlife ^^
I will most likely also join a headstart server as well even though i dont have a headstart xD
It is also important to note that people follow their friends. So if just one person has head start and has 5 friends, then those 5 friends will choose the head start server on launch. Of course, it does not end there, those 5 friends could have friends as well and the cycle repeats. Not to mention guilds with leadership going to a head start server could bring dozens or even hundreds of players to a server.
I expect the head start servers will be super populated. Which, for a player driven game, is appealing to me anyway.
And for those that want some information on headstart servers: just watch one of the probably hundreds of streams of players that have a headstart
Maybe find a nice location to attract my guildies so we get off to a quick start leveling it.
Would you mind telling me why?
A lot of people don't read forums, but they do still try to aim for a high populated server at the moment when they join. This kind of player will probably join whichever realm is at the top of the server list when they first jump into the game and sort by realm population. Once they make a character they are comfortable with, they'll stick through the queues even if they are hours long. They know the long-term consequences of joining a low pop server.
Another kind of player is the type that joins whichever server their friends are going to. These players need a server name to coordinate. They need a list of server names. If a single friend plays on a headstart realm, they'll probably end up being there with all of their friends and their friends' friends. These people can really snowball a server population.
Then there is the streamer and their followers. This one probably worries me the most. A single popular streamer could bring a lot of traffic to a realm. A headstart realm might be what they'll go for if AoC makes a splash in viewer interest. They also take a lot of people with them if they go out the door, sometimes leaving a void in the population.
If just one person out of a hundred says they are interested, that is 99%. In order to get 99.9% you need to ask 1,000 people and only have one person say they are interested.
Not a big deal, but if you're going to use numbers, use the right ones. If you don't use the right ones and get called on it (as you have been), then admit you don't know how numbers work, or that you made the numbers up.
I mean, it's not like you can claim a decimal point and additional digit is a typo.
62% of all statistics are made up.
Everyone will be on the same level due to the nodes not being active until launch, so in essence, every one new or old will be contributing as soon as the button is switched to live.
The flip side of this would be that there would be spots being farmed for resources and could deplete quickly or XP spots dried out. Also the open world PVP issue of knowing where newer players will be and campers.
I do agree with the down the road sentiment, servers could be lopsided for a bit as the population tries to even itself out. The only advantage I could see a smaller server having is the placement of the node, there would be more room for wiggle.
I will most likely either look for a headstart server and watch some twitch streamer explore it or i will find a normal server. I dont think that thos3 with headstarts will have such a big advantage as other people. They will have no nodes to advance like i said earlier after all and you need node advancement to unlock more quests.
"Each race has their own starting area (starting zone), featuring a divine gateway. The exception to this is the Tulnar, who have a starting area without a divine gateway.
Players will be able to choose their starting Divine gateway. This choice is not restricted by race.
There will be small NPC settlements at the starting areas. These represent scouts that were sent ahead of the main expedition back to Verra. These settlements are designed to acclimatize new players entering the world.
Starting areas have some distance between them."