Server Changes

[Leanthar]

Hi folks,
 
 For various reasons we need to make a few changes and server merges. More details will follow, specifically on the day that they occur. Nibor and/or Orth will be the ones that post about the changes on that day, at least that is my guess right now.
 
 As a heads up the following is going to be happening within the next week or so, pretty much when the next update happens.
 
 The Quest server will be moved to 69.80.198.67 (it is currently on 69.80.198.72) but you will still refer to it as quest.layonara.com so nothing really changes for you there. Just a heads up.
 
 The east server will be merged on to the central server. Both are under utilized and this will merge them both on to one server box and that box will still be under utilized.
 
 The planes server will not be coming back online. Since the cut over to V3 we have had hak pak issues on that server and we are just going to drop the planes server. I wish to thank IceDragonDuvessa for creating the really cool areas and content that was on that server. She did everything there and deserves all of the credit for that great server. Thank you Ice.
 
 We are also merging the character server and the SQL server on to one box but this will not really affect anybody as it is a background service.
 
 Essentially we are going to be running on 4 world game servers like we were in early V2 and late Beta instead of 7 like we have been for the past year or two. This will be happening within the next week or so, if things continue to go as planned.

[D Blaze]

It is a shame, the planes were really amazing (even the Abyss, hehe), but very hard to reach... they will be missed.

Very nice work Ice

[lonnarin]

Sweet deal!  I always wondered that East & Planes were a bit under-used to warrant dedicated servers with so few people on them.  Hope this cuts down the hosting costs for you.

A few questions on the merger:

1) How will this effect the 17+ lvl requirement for the former East server areas?  Will places like Arabel/Arnax and its surrounding areas still be 17+ limited, or will the newly combined server have a new set level requirement across all areas?

2) Will house portals still have the 3 options to port to, or now just 2?

[Dorganath]

1) Level requirements now apply to geography rather than the physical server.  Basically, what was on East is still 17+.  For most purposes, this means Belinara.  The areas are being moved physically, not reduced in difficulty.  This won't change the fact that, say, a level 12 should not be on Belinara soaking up XP on a run through the XP-rich environments.

2) Just guessing here, but the portals may stay as-is for convenience, but again, I don't know what's been decided there.

[Interia_Discordius]

You could always still make it so it's unaccessible without using a portal or boat to east...Would be the same way, sort of

[Acacea]

Well... I doubt anyone would be able to just walk to Belinara, if that's what you were trying to prevent. There's sort of an ocean in the way, after all.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

This is actually good to hear (except about the Planes). You've been putting out enormous amounts of money, L, and not getting much aside from headaches for your trouble; I'm glad to hear you've found a workable way to reduce the hit on your wallet (especially seeing how many people who play on your dollar can't afford to pay you back).

Will the address for Central change, as it'll now be Central/East? Perhaps just renaming the servers West and East...

How will the complete loss of contact with the Planes affect characters with ties to them?

[LynnJuniper]

Stephen:

The planes were on roll out anyway as stated in the cross over from V2 to V3 and replaced with.....well I can't really tell you that, but The V2 to V3 thread said that they would be phasing out and that the characters with ties would be 'grandfathered'

What that actually means for them though, I'll let a Loremaster answer

[Acacea]

Yeah I was surprised 'they don't even exist in this form anymore' wasn't listed as a reason for getting rid of the Planes server in addition to the HAK thing, since that's a pretty good one. It'd have to be totally rebuilt and all that.

[Dorganath]

How will the complete loss of contact with the Planes affect characters with ties to them?

The planes themselves have not gone away...only the planes server.  There are still planes, but characters cannot reach them at the moment. As for the changes in the planes...well, the Planes are already quite chaotic, and so...change happens.

Unfortunately, I can't really go into any more detail, but the key answer here is that there were going to be changes in the planes even without taking that server out of commission, so this changes nothing in that respect.

[Skywatcher]

I have a suggestion on the issue of portals and the 17+ limit on Belinara.  If you change the default port location on Central to the Lor docks instead of Prantz then people could just port there and quickly take a ship to Belinara from there and it would only be a 4 area safe walk from where it is now.  In addition if you could have the ship captain in Lor check the character level before offering the option of going to Arnax that would enforce the level limit with no GM intervention.  Or alternatively have him offer the option but if a low level selects it have him respond with "Your a bit green for that trip ya lubber" or something like that.  Just a thought to make things still convenient for the players and easy for the team.

[Acacea]

I don't like mechanical level limits like that though, because sometimes there may be perfectly valid need to be in Arnax or something at a lower level. As well, it's hard to roleplay around such assumptions. There's not really any change in how to get there, from what I can tell, you know? It's just instead of being booted, you transition.

Then again, I dislike entrances of any kind with level limits. Including the advanced craft hall ones... Are there guards keeping my character from entering? How do they know she is below the required level? What if she is an apprentice, carrying goods to the craftsman actually using the equipment? I'd just as soon take the level limit off the door and put the level limit on the crafting stations instead to accomplish the same thing IC, heh. So... you can see I just naturally object to level limits on ship captains because I don't really like the "oh mister picky-about-his-money captain won't let me on his ship until I am more seasoned" situations. Probably just me, though.

We could also just change the portal dialogue to say "Take me to FortWhatchamcallit" "Take me to Prantz" "Take me to Arnax" instead of west, central, and east. And the Arnax portal could still just pop you there, as its kind of a long way IC.

[Dorganath]

Yeah, I tend to agree.  Mechanical limits like that tend to cause more trouble than they're worth, and they tend t be inflexible.

If you look at what we have on East now that's accessible and permissible to visit at any level, there's Arnax and the Great Library.  Now, with the exception of the ship to Voltrex which is already restricted, those are really the only two ways to get onto what is now East.  Adding logic to the portals and captains there wouldn't really accomplish the purpose of enforcing the level limits, and we'd have to add exceptions for these cases, which effectively eliminates the whole purpose in the first place.

[Skywatcher]

I can see that.  I am sure you guys will figure something out that is equitable and technically correct.  I can't wait to see the next update.  

[Hellblazer]

on a note though, I like the idea of moving the portal out of the city for one good reason, its a hassle to be riding your horse on central or bringing in your ox for mining at some places (if you are crazy enough to do it ), mainly since the only way is through Hurm but then you have to go through the mountain with some rather hard climb, your horse or oxe would most likely break a leg. It would be a good thing for that to have a place that is not in the city itself, maybe Half lake for instance, where the restriction on horses and oxes doesn't apply.

[Dorganath]

Um...Hurm is not the only way.  There's a boat that goes between Katherian and Lor and getting there doesn't involve any hazardous mountain climbs.