Are people leaving?

[Number Six]

On 12/28/2023 at 11:37 AM, kelika2 said:

server merges

 

But why? What possible benefit could that have?

 

Force people who like low-pop servers onto the high-pop server instead so you see a couple extra people wandering around during prime time? (until they quit because they hate all the noise)

[lemming]

1 hour ago, Captain Fabulous said:

The bunker they need to hide in after implementing the name release policy isn't finished being built. It'll be implemented once the bunker is completed and fully stocked with 6 months of supplies.

Ah, I expect a trickle of people flipping out, but it will be six months or further down the line.   No bunker needed, just a kiosk

[kelika2]

36 minutes ago, Number Six said:

so you see a couple extra people wandering around during prime time?

More bodies to fill task forces at all hours of the day for the most part.  My playtime fluctuates constantly and trying to form a wst when a ship/hami is forming or late at night even on Excel takes time.

And this is the first time I ever heard of someone thinking of quitting because there were too many people in an online game.

[Number Six]

39 minutes ago, kelika2 said:

And this is the first time I ever heard of someone thinking of quitting because there were too many people in an online game.

Because you like high pop servers and play on Excel, so you never interact with anyone who prefers a quieter experience.

 

Typically they don't phrase it like that no, but just today I heard from someone with a friend who no longer plays on HC because of the, and I quote "toxic behaviors from the PLing and LFG crowd".

 

We have free server transfers, people can play on Excel if they want. There's no financial benefit as I've explained before, since the shards share a hardware pool. So again I ask, why should we force people to move who don't want to, just to satisfy your desire for "more bodies to fill out task forces at all hours"?

[Apogee]

As for me, I rarely ever team now and I doubt I would team more after a server merge.  Likely I would simply stop playing altogether, especially if I lost my names. 

 

[uninventive]

2 hours ago, kelika2 said:

And this is the first time I ever heard of someone thinking of quitting because there were too many people in an online game.

 

Back on live, Freedom was a high population server with lots of teaming, task force and chat activity.

 

Regularly there were players transferring to a lower population server, like Infinity, Triumph, or Protector. Not a significant or overwhelming amount, but not negligible.  Some players are less overwhelmed and happier with smaller populations.  And like Six mentioned, there is no business motivation to cull underperforming shards and herd subscribing players onto more populated ones to save on expenses vs. income.

 

If you want more frequent teaming, you can decide if you and your friends want to make the leap to a more populated server or not, fee free.  Otherwise, live and let live.

[Captain Fabulous]

3 hours ago, lemming said:

Ah, I expect a trickle of people flipping out, but it will be six months or further down the line.   No bunker needed, just a kiosk

I think you underestimate the volume of incessant shrieking even a small number of people are capable of. See: beta forums.

[Luminara]

I left my clothes on the clothesline because it's raining.

[kelika2]

4 hours ago, Number Six said:

Because you like high pop servers and play on Excel, so you never interact with anyone who prefers a quieter experience.

 

Typically they don't phrase it like that no, but just today I heard from someone with a friend who no longer plays on HC because of the, and I quote "toxic behaviors from the PLing and LFG crowd".

 

We have free server transfers, people can play on Excel if they want. There's no financial benefit as I've explained before, since the shards share a hardware pool. So again I ask, why should we force people to move who don't want to, just to satisfy your desire for "more bodies to fill out task forces at all hours"?

I do not understand the "quieter experience" part.  Outside of optional raids/events, avoiding pocket d and not spending more-than-needed time in Atlas you uncommonly ever run into someone else.  My recent villain probably ran into 50~ others while leveling up to 50.

 

As for the "toxic" thing id probably just dismiss it due to how broad the accusations are.  people spamming to sit?  people rushing task forces? people charging for farms?  and what is the "lfg crowd"?  someone not taking in said complainants level 35 alt to a 50+4 itf?  too much shipraid recruitment spam?  LFG chat before General chat released?  Because if said person stopped playing over those things they probably did not really like CoH.  Also since the friend of a friend did not specify what server it would be even harder to pin down what they didnt like.

 

And to answer your question, all MMOs from live servers to private servers being on a smaller pop server was never attractive because of limited access to dungeons, instances and whatever other group content is there.  If Excel ever does start to shrink and there is zero hope for server merges that will be a legitimate fear.

[kelika2]

2 hours ago, uninventive said:

Back on live, Freedom was a high population server with lots of teaming, task force and chat activity.

 

Regularly there were players transferring to a lower population server

I dont know where archived City of Heroes news is to check but didnt live servers have a merge?

[Snarky]

13 minutes ago, kelika2 said:

I dont know where archived City of Heroes news is to check but didnt live servers have a merge?

not that i recall   they added a veteran server almost no one used.

[lemming]

18 minutes ago, kelika2 said:

I dont know where archived City of Heroes news is to check but didnt live servers have a merge?

There was a hardware merge, not a shard merge.

[lemming]

3 hours ago, Captain Fabulous said:

I think you underestimate the volume of incessant shrieking even a small number of people are capable of. See: beta forums.

I used to develop on a web game.  I'm well aware there will be people flipping out.  And yea, I read the thread when this was first proposed.

[Clave Dark 5]

On 12/28/2023 at 7:30 AM, Water said:

 

Haha, I heard this in the Winter of 2019 - the first Winter after HC launched ! Y'know what - population has never dwindled from the average in those 4 years. Sure there have been quieter times but then there have been busier times. It remains at a mean level in my experience.

 

In deference to you and Crumpet, because of my work hours, I play in the middle of the night often, and there's been a noticeable drop in pop during off hours.  I saw the same thing happening during Live.  Prime time?  Yeah, things are fine, but the edges are dropping off a bit...

[GM Crumpet]

3 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

In deference to you and Crumpet, because of my work hours, I play in the middle of the night often, and there's been a noticeable drop in pop during off hours.  I saw the same thing happening during Live.  Prime time?  Yeah, things are fine, but the edges are dropping off a bit...

I work security and do night shifts and day shifts so my play time is all over the place. I'm lucky, my job is such that I have a lot of downtime so can play when I am at work. I have alts on Excel for those tines I want a team or Hami or MSR and I have alts on Reunion for those times I just want a bit of peace and quiet and solo play. I'll have a day off and log onto Excel at 9am my time and find it's 4am EST and still have people running Tinpex. That's the joy of being international, dead on Excel? Reunion is probably humming. Dead on Reunion? Check the live numbers on discord and see where the cool kids are hanging out.

[Fade]

I'll chime in and echo Number Six's points. I play on Torchbearer now, and played on Triumph on the original servers. I prefer a smaller crowd for many reasons, which I don't have to get into here (I don't want to get into some kind of big server/small server slapfight). Suffice it to say, if I wanted to play on Excelsior, I'd be playing on Excelsior.

 

If there was only one shard from the very beginning, I imagine I'd be playing on it. But as the system works now, a shard merge would show a callous disregard for my personal preferences, and it would be a faith-killer in the Homecoming team. That's why Number Six says people would quit over having more people to play with - not because more people is bad, but because the choice is removed from players like myself. Its comforting to see that the Homecoming team is not considering such a measure.

[Starhawk32]

7 hours ago, kelika2 said:

I do not understand the "quieter experience" part.  Outside of optional raids/events, avoiding pocket d and not spending more-than-needed time in Atlas you uncommonly ever run into someone else.  My recent villain probably ran into 50~ others while leveling up to 50.

 

As for the "toxic" thing id probably just dismiss it due to how broad the accusations are.  people spamming to sit?  people rushing task forces? people charging for farms?  and what is the "lfg crowd"?  someone not taking in said complainants level 35 alt to a 50+4 itf?  too much shipraid recruitment spam?  LFG chat before General chat released?  Because if said person stopped playing over those things they probably did not really like CoH.  Also since the friend of a friend did not specify what server it would be even harder to pin down what they didnt like.

 

And to answer your question, all MMOs from live servers to private servers being on a smaller pop server was never attractive because of limited access to dungeons, instances and whatever other group content is there.  If Excel ever does start to shrink and there is zero hope for server merges that will be a legitimate fear.

I am not sure I understand why we would want to force people that solo or play with just a couple of friends onto a server with higher population.  It will not change the way they prefer to play, more likely they will quit.  If they aren't people that prefer to play in a quieter setting wouldn't they have already used the free transfers?  The game has been here for quite some time now

[JasperStone]

21 hours ago, Snarky said:

Why don’t you SHORTEN SYNAPSE

 

easy, lock all kill alls to the smallest maps.  
 

sorry…..it was bottled up in there.  Back to my coffin

 

SYNASP

...

I got chu!

[Scarlet Shocker]

16 hours ago, kelika2 said:

I dont know where archived City of Heroes news is to check but didnt live servers have a merge?

 

you may be misremembering. No servers were merged but around I19(from memory) when Freedom arrived, both NA and EU servers were conjoined. No servers were lost - in fact a new shard was created as the player bases were joined up.

[kelika2]

16 hours ago, Starhawk32 said:

I am not sure I understand why we would want to force people that solo

Because I cant imagine how this would happen unless said person likes to hang around Atlas, PD or in a raid.

If you are just solo spamming instanced content you wont run into others unless you tried.

[uninventive]

You have been heard: small pop shards should be merged.  I understand.  And politely disagree.

 

So, back to the topic: Are people leaving?  Yeah.  But no more than normal. 

• Burnout: folks who have been here since 2019 have likely seen all the sights by now, blueside, redside, goldilocks, and every alignment in-between.  Doesn't mean they won't come back and try some new alts, but on their timetable and at their leisure.  And they may return proper, or remember the burn and take another break after they reach an idealized build and max out their stats yet again on yet another main or five.
   
• Obligations: holidays make things weird.  Some folks come back with buckets full of time until January 3rd or so, and some may leave who used to be frequently around to meet family, friends, travel for a bit, then come back after the holiday is through.
   
• Attention Span.  Like the OP stated... there's newer games dropping all the time.  Some may be elbow deep in Baldur's Gate III, Starfield, or something else instead of this.  I, for one, have yet to dive into Zelda BOTW and TOTK myself.  Trying to finish Oracle of Ages/Seasons on Nintendo Online and Skyward Sword first as I heard those are spiritual 'precursors' to the current Zelda game universe over other titles.  (All springtime goals.)  So I'll likely fade for a bit after mid-January.  And that's fine.

Even with all three of the above, Homecoming won't be a graveyard.  Looking at Server Status right now, we're close to 2,000 accounts online tonight (even considering multiboxers and AFKs, there's more on now than most weeks).  I also don't think it will ever go back to the 2019-2020 peak of 2,800+ people logging in daily ever again, either.

[Oubliette_Red]

On 12/28/2023 at 11:37 AM, kelika2 said:

<snip>

server merges

<snip>

 

 

Folks that want a more populated server can move to a more populated server.

 

[Oubliette_Red]

On 12/29/2023 at 7:18 PM, kelika2 said:

I dont know where archived City of Heroes news is to check but didnt live servers have a merge?

 

The only "merging" on Legacy was when the EU server list was "merged" with the US server list.

 

[Solarverse]

Probably not a popular opinion (and don't really care) but my wife and I left due to bad interactions with other players who behave like asshats and/or how some people behave on forums...these forums included.

 

We now play games that don't require us to tolerate bad behaviors from other humans either in game or on forums. We do dearly miss our friends, but we have decided that the human race sucks and we want no part of it. If we are feeling this way, I can only assume others are as well.

 

So although not everyone who has left the game may have done so for our shared reasons, I am sure at least some of them have.

 

I swore off forums, but I do still read them and this is probably the only thread to pop up since I have stopped posting that I have felt was worth my time to respond.

 

Signed: Grumpy Old Man.

[Water]

1 hour ago, Solarverse said:

Probably not a popular opinion (and don't really care) but my wife and I left due to bad interactions with other players who behave like asshats and/or how some people behave on forums...

 

About the middle of 2023 I experienced a raft  of nasty, mean, abusive players and got so miffed that I took a 3 month break. When I came back I didn't encounter them again. I know the reasons we were suddenly invaded by a bunch of cretins but now I think they have all left. If the player base descends once again to that level I will probably go on another hiatus.