Why not merge?

[R3ACT3M 489]

When looking for a district to join, most people know that you have to go to the advanced tab in order to find a populated server.

When looking at this list you can see that the servers are separated by location (generally west and east)

So with this in mind, why not merge both US and EU and separate the servers like:

US East
US West
EU East
EU West

Or something similar?

What are the technical issues that block this from happening? We keep getting told that the new engine will allow everyone to play with everyone and that's fine and dandy.

But what about server merges in the past? I understand to cut server cost is part of it. But doesn't it seem wiser (on a population stance) to do what I mentioned above?

Again what would be the issues with merging? Are they choosing not to do it because they believe they can get the engine out before they have to merge?

It is becoming more and more clear that the version of Unreal APB runs on isn't as black and white as people think. So it would make sense if they don't want to touch it in fear of breaking something completely random. Then with that said, what was broken with server merges in the past? If anything was broken?

[Frosi 722]

2 minutes ago, R3ACT3M said:

What are the technical issues that block this from happening?

 

Conflicting names are the issue, its been stated multiple times now as well as that their approach has changed, however, as you should know they are fully focussing on 2.2 so this new approach is likely not being worked on until later. People care about their names and G1's solution during their first set of merges did not work out and honestly just felt like a system that coinflipped who got to keep the name so why risk further community outrage by sticking with the old system. 

 

Also not to mention that "just merge the servers" isn't a black and white solution either, players will play with higher latency than usual, not everyone is going to like this, causing further complaints such as "why do I have to play on EU servers to level up waterfront" and so on. The old merge code wasn't flawless either, both major merges they did had multiple accounts wiped off data, something they had to manually restore and merge over again.

 

In short, yes a merge would do some good things but will also cause further issues, some of which you can anticipate and others which you just can't, its a monumental task that they will not want to tackle now. Appreciate the game for what it is, we all know its not in a good state but with everything you do on this engine you are treating symptoms, not actually addressing the issue as to why these issues are becoming a thing in the first place.

[Bambola 379]

Half of Jericho is on Citadel anyway, playing their already mid-high ranks. I know, that's not a solution, but works well as a temporary solution. 

[R3ACT3M 489]

46 minutes ago, Frosi said:

Conflicting names are the issue,

This is the best answer so far.

47 minutes ago, Frosi said:

Also not to mention that "just merge the servers" isn't a black and white solution either, players will play with higher latency than usual, not everyone is going to like this, causing further complaints such as "why do I have to play on EU servers to level up waterfront" and so on.

I'd like to argue though, that being able to play on a populated server is a much better solution than not being able too because literally 0 players are on waterfront. A trade off, which I guess they should just do away (if possible rn) with the quick district join menu.

49 minutes ago, Frosi said:

Appreciate the game for what it is

Can't if NA has no pop, so just playing other games atm. Been super into Cyberpunk and Darksouls as of recent. Wouldn't mind playing EU cause I already have 2 characters there. But not exactly itching to restart the grind after maxing my crim and enforcer XD. Plus all my good stuff is on NA so kinda stuck there. Plus Plus I get up super late in the day so most people have already gotten off EU.

51 minutes ago, Frosi said:

its a monumental task that they will not want to tackle now.

I'm assuming you mean with the naming situation and not merging in general. As I wouldn't call merging EU with NA "monumental" but tackling how names work would be.

46 minutes ago, Bambola said:

Half of Jericho is on Citadel anyway, playing their already mid-high ranks. I know, that's not a solution, but works well as a temporary solution. 

I'm well aware, i'd probably be more willing to play on EU but like I said, all my good stuff that I grinded for is on NA. It's not exactly exciting to go: OH BOY! HERE WE GO AGAIN THE GRIND TO 195! Cause let's be honest, once you taste the 195 life it's hard to go back XD.


Wasn't making the thread to complain but more as a, why can't they? The naming system honestly makes the most sense and isn't something I ever considered when thinking about merging.

[vsb 6171]

i'm fairly sure we were told at one point that a "traditional" server merge like colby/joker was too much data for one server, altho i can't seem to find where this was said

[R3ACT3M 489]

4 hours ago, xiphos said:

i'm fairly sure we were told at one point that a "traditional" server merge like colby/joker was too much data for one server, altho i can't seem to find where this was said

(If true) This + the naming situation makes not having the servers merge makes sense.

[Hexerin 1140]

9 hours ago, Frosi said:

Conflicting names are the issue, its been stated multiple times now

That has always been such an incredibly weak excuse. They have the database of names, simply run a check for dupes and then contact those players via email and/or ingame. Ask them if they'd be willing to change their name, and if they are, compensate them for their trouble (pretty sure most would be down with being handed a legendary or account-bound ARMAS weapon of their choice as compensation).

 

Hell, they'd probably find that most people they try to contact wouldn't even end up responding due to just not caring about the game anymore. Give them like a month to respond, and if they don't, can easily just change their names to a random string of letters/numbers.

[BlatMan 711]

Conflicting names should not be an issue. APB uses character IDs. The only issue I see is players getting confused, and possibly having issues using the /w and other name related commands. This can be solved by adding "-NA -EU" at the end of their names, and give those players a one time name change in case they don't like the NA, EU tag.

 

The database size I can see being an issue. I would say keep the databases separate, but the current game probably has hard coded crap that can only use 1 database, which would be a pain to sift though. Hopefully this is being fixed in the engine upgrade, otherwise I don't know how they're going to get phasing across NA and EU working. The databases aren't getting smaller.

 

I rather have them go back to a central NA location instead of splitting it between east and west. It would cut the server cost in half, and reduce the average latency between players. For me, west is unplayable, sometimes worse than playing on EU. My buddy out in LA has packet loss on NA east.

[Jilleroo 349]

19 hours ago, R3ACT3M said:

When looking for a district to join, most people know that you have to go to the advanced tab in order to find a populated server.

This is a travesty in and of itself.

 

I run a community with 5k members on Discord, and one thing I've learned is a lot of people are really dumb. I had a support link for the game itself and we had to remove it cause people were using it to report our private server issues there... I can't even imagine how many hundreds (if not thousands) of people just pressed one of the big buttons district buttons and sat there in an empty district for hours and then unistalled after waiting for opposition.

 

The merge can wait until the upgrade is done. Sounds like work and stress to patch a hole that might not even need to be fixed if we just make the game not outdated trash.