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The Phoenix will Rise, Again and Again!
Balanz
Member
Another short thread about Server Mergers got me to thinking about how Intrepid might handle the inevitable drops in Server Population some time after launch.
I believe the team has thought quite a bit about this, and that they've already given their answer in the title of the game: Ashes of Creation. Launch is not the only Phoenix that arises from the Ashes of Creation, but Verra arises again and again each time a Server falls below a certain population.
How might they accomplish this?
First, the lack of zoning suggests that server resources can be dynamically allocated. At launch, when income is higher, more computing resources can be allocated to handle more players, and as the population and income falls, fewer resources are allocated. This allows lower populations to remain economically sustainable.
The real solution is to avoid a population crash. If the server drops to say a thousand players, or fewer than ten players per node, the remaining population will leave until it is no longer financially viable to keep the lights on.
Or would it? Must a low population be the end, or could it be the beginning of another cycle? Could abandoned ruins Rise again?
For the sake of this thought experiment, let's assume that even a very low population server can be maintained for at least a few months without losing a lot of profit. How might this server attract new population?
Some games offer bonuses directly to new players starting on a low population server, but as this smells of Pay To Win, direct bonuses are out. The obvious attraction is opportunity, the ability to establish oneself without massed competition. Will this be enough, when new players likely gravitate towards more populated servers?
Maybe the Ashes of a Fallen Server are sweeter than they first appear. In the absence of gatherers, forests, crops, and herds will grow abundant, and perhaps elemental spirits could restore tapped veins of ore. Rivers and seas will swell with fish.
What of the now empty fields where once mighty cities and humble villages once stood? The vast hoards of coins gathered, the mighty weapons forged, the hard won histories? Have they come to naught but soon forgotten memories? Or do the dead still cling to their treasures? Are tales past now quests, unique to that server? Are ruined Freeholds haunted by the ghosts of their owners?
Who will answer the call?
Ashes of Creation will attract new players, but they may not be enough. While some players might dabble with freshly minted alternate characters, they likely have deeper commitments elseworld. Server Transfers could be seen as Pay to Win, or undermine the economy, but might in-game bridges between the worlds exist?
Might a Scientific Node exile their worst criminals to another World, soon to torment those unsuspecting citizens? Might ships thought to be wrecked by electrical storms far to the north be transported rather than sunk? Might whole fleets of enchanted ships deliberately brave such storms to cross the unmapped oceans between the worlds, their magic spent in the crossing? Perhaps there is an "Underway," far beneath the earth, a hazardous trail for those who dare cross?
I know not.
But where others might see only vines and brambles reclaiming the stones of once mighty cities, I see the Ashes of Creation.
I believe the team has thought quite a bit about this, and that they've already given their answer in the title of the game: Ashes of Creation. Launch is not the only Phoenix that arises from the Ashes of Creation, but Verra arises again and again each time a Server falls below a certain population.
How might they accomplish this?
First, the lack of zoning suggests that server resources can be dynamically allocated. At launch, when income is higher, more computing resources can be allocated to handle more players, and as the population and income falls, fewer resources are allocated. This allows lower populations to remain economically sustainable.
The real solution is to avoid a population crash. If the server drops to say a thousand players, or fewer than ten players per node, the remaining population will leave until it is no longer financially viable to keep the lights on.
Or would it? Must a low population be the end, or could it be the beginning of another cycle? Could abandoned ruins Rise again?
For the sake of this thought experiment, let's assume that even a very low population server can be maintained for at least a few months without losing a lot of profit. How might this server attract new population?
Some games offer bonuses directly to new players starting on a low population server, but as this smells of Pay To Win, direct bonuses are out. The obvious attraction is opportunity, the ability to establish oneself without massed competition. Will this be enough, when new players likely gravitate towards more populated servers?
Maybe the Ashes of a Fallen Server are sweeter than they first appear. In the absence of gatherers, forests, crops, and herds will grow abundant, and perhaps elemental spirits could restore tapped veins of ore. Rivers and seas will swell with fish.
What of the now empty fields where once mighty cities and humble villages once stood? The vast hoards of coins gathered, the mighty weapons forged, the hard won histories? Have they come to naught but soon forgotten memories? Or do the dead still cling to their treasures? Are tales past now quests, unique to that server? Are ruined Freeholds haunted by the ghosts of their owners?
Who will answer the call?
Ashes of Creation will attract new players, but they may not be enough. While some players might dabble with freshly minted alternate characters, they likely have deeper commitments elseworld. Server Transfers could be seen as Pay to Win, or undermine the economy, but might in-game bridges between the worlds exist?
Might a Scientific Node exile their worst criminals to another World, soon to torment those unsuspecting citizens? Might ships thought to be wrecked by electrical storms far to the north be transported rather than sunk? Might whole fleets of enchanted ships deliberately brave such storms to cross the unmapped oceans between the worlds, their magic spent in the crossing? Perhaps there is an "Underway," far beneath the earth, a hazardous trail for those who dare cross?
I know not.
But where others might see only vines and brambles reclaiming the stones of once mighty cities, I see the Ashes of Creation.
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