Vanguard gets another Server Merge
The loyal fans of SOE’s Fantasy MMO Vanguard: Saga of Heroes were given a shock today when the rumored Server Merge was confirmed to be more than a simple rumor. SOE announced that they would be merging all three of the remaining U.S. servers into a single server effective July 1st. The spin on this is obviously to make it so that the player population is once again more concentrated so that players can more easily find other players.
Unfortunately for SOE, anyone who has been playing in the mmo market for any amount of time really understands that the underlying problem here is low player population. This server merge will not improve that problem, it will only move the remaining fans into one server in hopes of them getting a bit more entertainment out of the game before they too decide to take the long walk out of their game world, Telon by name, and into a new and more successful mmo.
With titles such as DC Universe Online, The Secret World, and the ever popular The Old republic on the horizon, it is almost certain that the end is near for this title. It was a good run while it lasted and I personally enjoyed my stay in Vanguard, but sadly it was never able to recover from its initial bad experience based negative reputation.
Below is the announcement as made by Joel “Raijinn” Sasaki, the SOE Community Manager.
“Beginning July 7th, 2010 at approximately 10:00 AM PDT, we will start the process of merging the three current U.S. servers of Telon into one server. It is our hope that this integration will result in a more consistent and higher player population which will, in turn, lead to an even more enjoyable and beneficial player experience.
Additionally, scheduled in August, SOE is planning to merge the Halgar server into the consolidated server mentioned above. Please read the forums for the specific date and downtime, as it is yet to be determined. Please note that the processes outlined in this email will occur for both the July and the August server merge; if you have further questions regarding the implications of the two scheduled consolidations, please read VGPlayers.com.
We estimate a downtime of 24 hours to complete each of the two the merges respectively.
Help determine Vanguard’s future! We’ll be hosting a poll on the Vanguard forums, beginning Tuesday June 8th, to determine the new name of the consolidated world server. Click on the button below to give your input and vote for your favorite!
http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/p…_id=53367
Characters:
For the first consolidation, we will move any character that is over level 10 or any character under level 10 that has logged in between July 7, 2009 and July 7, 2010. When the Halgar server is merged, we will move any character that is over level 10 or any character under level 10 that has logged in 1 year previous to the date of the Halgar merge.
Character Naming
Character name priority is based on a combination of when the character was first created and last played. Each character that has a duplicate name after either of the server merges and does not have requisite priority to keep that name will be flagged, and upon the next attempted login of that character, the account holder will have to choose a new name before that character can login. If you have a mule character (a low level character used for inventory storage), we respectfully ask that you please delete it and create a new one in case there are other players who used that name on active characters on a pre-merge server so that they will have a chance to keep the character name they play with.
Guild Names
Each Guild has a separate ID and will not be affected by a move. Two guilds with the same name can exist on the server. Should a guild wish to change their name they can petition Customer Service.
Housing
In conjunction with each server merge, housing plot purchase price and current upkeep balance will be returned via mail to the most recently created character on the account owning the house. The building materials required to construct the house as well as the fixtures and items in the house will be returned to the owner via a housing escrow merchant.
Boats
After each server merge, boats will be flagged and upon the next attempted login of the character that owns the boat, the account holder will have to choose a new name for the boat.
VG Players issues
The data displayed in VGPlayers will continue to show the pre-server merge data for a short period of time after the merges occur. Within a few days following the conclusion of each of the merges, the data will update and begin displaying the new stats for all characters. Please be aware that this delay in updating will likely take from 2 to 4 days.
Mail
Mail will stay in the system and transfer over to the new server, so you do not need to do anything!
Corpses
All corpses will be purged and any items left on such corpses as of the date of each server merge can be retrieved at the altar. Experience on such corpse(s) will be returned to you.
Friends List
Your friends list and ignore list will be preserved.
Market Items
Items on the market will be pushed to escrow and any items in escrow will be available after the merge.
For all the detailed information regarding the server mergers, please visit VGPlayers.com “
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