Future server merge plans

  • *Originally posted September 2014


    Dear Inhabitants of Taborea,



    For a while now, you have been discussing the population in some of the Runes of Magic servers. The topic was brought up to our Product Team as part of the community’s feedback and the situation was being analysed.



    The server merge topic has now entered the planning phase. Yes, this means we will merge some servers. Please understand that the planning and the technical preparation take some time and we won’t make it by this year. We will, however, use these last months to prepare everything needed for this.



    Now the next focus will be to work out the best combinations and solutions for servers with for example, different languages, and make sure the technical background is ready.



    We will keep you updated and we hope these are good news for all the Taboreans!



    Your


    Runes of Magic Team

  • *Originally posted February 2015


    Dear community,


    after some time gathering feedback and compiling a list of your important questions, we can finally release a general FAQ to the community about the server merges taking place in the future.



    General Plans Information

    Q1: The Server Merge was announced for Q1 – 2015, is it more likely to happen around January or March?

    We haven’t any defined dates yet. We are working on the merge process and we will communicate the dates as soon as we have one.


    Q2: Will the server merge affect the release of new game updates?

    No. The merge is a totally independent project being worked on by Gameforge. In the meantime Runewaker keeps working on the game itself and update should continue as they are now.


    Q3: Will there be server merges done in one region/language every quarter of the year?

    Right now we are focusing on the merge of the AU & US servers. Once this is done, and with the experience we gain from that, we will make plans for other merges.


    Q4: If the merge produces unforeseen issues for both the merged and the host servers, how engaged and motivated will the Server Merge Team be in addressing the problems and continuing the plans for remaining servers?

    We know the server merges are something the community has wanted for some time. We will do everything possible to go ahead and continue our merge plans.


    Q5: Which servers are you planning to merge and when?

    The current planning we have for the AU & US servers will result in 2 final servers as follows:



    Source Server Target Server
    AU-Thalia Artemis
    US-Reni Artemis
    US-Osha Govinda
    US-Grimdal Govinda
    US-Indigo (PvP) Govinda
    US-Palenque Govinda






    We don’t have a date defined yet, but when we have one it will be communicated.


    General Merge Information


    Q1: What are the criteria for an account to be considered active?

    There is one condition for an account to be considered active and therefore to qualify to be moved with the servers merge: it should have been logged into at least once during the last year.


    Q2: What will happen with inactive accounts and players who may come back after years of inactivity?

    There will be a backup of the accounts and characters available for 3 months after the merge. During this period, any returning player can get their account/characters transferred into the merged server. The player will have to submit a support request through our ticket system. After that period, the accounts which haven’t been moved will not be able to be recovered any more.


    Q3: Why are only active accounts being merged and not all?

    The bigger the amount of data, the more time it will take to merge the servers. Additionally, it’s always good to have a clean database to work with, improving several processes.


    Q4: Do we need to migrate our account or will it be done automatically?

    What we are doing here is a server merge, which means that everything will be done automatically, it is magic!


    Q5: Will the game be shut down during the merge or will it be done during a regular maintenance?

    The server merges will be done outside of the regular maintenance, and the servers being merged will have to be brought down for this.


    Q6: Can players decide to which server they want to move?

    Not for now. Their characters will go to the target server depending on the merge combinations. After the merge, we might implement a character transfer so you can choose a server, but this will be a separate thing.


    Q7: Are only 2 servers being merged into one, or will there be more servers coming together?

    There will be sometimes more servers coming together. As you can see in the plan for the AU & US regions, there are five servers coming together in one.


    Q8: Will servers across nations be merged as well?

    Yes, like in the first step AU is going to be merged into US. In regards of different nations within the same region, this might happen as well.


    Q9: Will other servers beside AU/US be merged as well?

    AU & US is the first step. After that we will check which other merge makes sense and continue making plans for the next step.


    Q10: How many servers will come together and what are the criteria?

    The number of servers coming together will vary from group to group, since the criteria we decided for grouping them is based on the server population.


    Q11: Is the server economy considered in the merge?

    The criteria with the biggest weight here is the server population. We consider there is no point in having a perfect server economy if you don’t have enough people to play with, so we have decided to value population over other aspects.


    Q12: Will there be more channels available in the merged servers?

    Not to begin with. If after the merge it seems necessary to add more, it will be reviewed.


    Q13: Will there be a review of the problems encountered and the solutions found?

    If there is something we will communicate it on the boards and we will be happy to discuss about it there!


    Q14: What will happen to PvP servers?

    Some PvP servers will get merged into PvE ones, in this case the character’s reputation will be reset to 0 and the PvE system will remain.


    Q15: How long will the servers be offline during the server merge?

    For sure the merge will take longer than a regular maintenance. But we expect it to be done within one day.


    ------

    Merge Specifics - Characters


    Q1: What happens with characters with the same name?

    When two characters coming together have the same name, the one from the target server will keep it, while the one being merged into it will have to be renamed. We will mark those characters, and when the account is logged in a character rename window will appear.


    Q2: What will happen to guilds with the same name?

    The same rule as for the characters will apply. Those guilds which are coming from the server being merged into the target one will be renamed.


    Q3: How are house number conflicts going to be addressed?

    The merged house will get a new number assigned and linked to the character. No, you shouldn’t end up with someone else’s house.


    Q4: If after the merge I have more than 8 characters in the same server, what will happen to them?

    If after the merge you end up with more than 8 characters in the same server, you will still be able to use all of them. The character selection screen will display all, but you won’t be able to create new ones in the server until you are again under the 8 characters limit.


    Q5: Will the server merge affect in any way the guilds (resources, castle, buildings)?

    The guild will conserve the level and buildings, however, anything which is connected with an inactive player (which doesn’t qualify for the transfer) won’t be merged. Additionally the fights history will get lost.


    Q6: Will the merge affect in any way the characters (items, gold, Exp, Tp, professions, pets, etc.)?

    No, everything connected to the character should be moved along with it.


    Q7: Will the server merge affect in any way houses or house maids?

    No, as the house and everything in it is connected to the character, everything will be moved together.


    Q8: What about friends’ lists, blacklists, relationships?

    All should be transferred and kept, although with maybe some different nicknames.


    Q9: What will happen to inactive guilds? Will they also be merged?

    Guilds will be transferred according to their leader status. If the guild leader qualifies for the merge, then the guild will also be moved. If the leader is inactive, the guild will not be merged.


    Q10: What changes will the merge make to the Auction House? Will this be closed and emptied prior to the merge?

    The auctions will not be merged. Before the process starts, all auctions will be cancelled and the items sent back to the sellers. You will have to put the item in the auction again later.


    Q11: Will the premium currency (diamonds & rubies) be combined if you have on each of the servers merged or can we expect a loss?

    If you have unused currency in the servers merged, it will be added up. You won’t lose any diamonds or rubies in the process.


    Q12: What about the furniture in the character’s house & guild castle?

    Everything connected to the character is merged. In the case of the guild castle, the furniture of those who qualify for the merge will be transferred; the furniture from inactive players will not be moved.


    Q13: What will happen with mail still in the mailbox?

    All mail will still be there after the merge.


    Q14: Are there any changes planned for the Siege Wars as a result?

    Nothing is going to change regarding the Siege War. The system works the same with more or less servers, so there is no need to adapt it regarding this.


    Q15: Will there be an option for a free Character Name Change after the merge?

    No. Only those characters mentioned in the [Q1] will get a rename.

  • *Originally posted April 2015


    Dear Community,


    As the process for the server merge kept on being worked on, some changes and additions need to be made in the FAQ above. Somepoints have changed, some based on your feedback, others were still not answered and some plans were modified as the merge gets closer to do this as smooth as possible.



    Regarding the characters and guilds:


    We've seen your concern about losing your nick to alts or to newly created chars/guilds, so we have modified the rules of renaming them. For characters, we will consider the level as the first check, the character with the highest level (in any of the classes) will get to keep the name. In case both have the same level, then the play time will decide it, the character which has been played the most will keep it.



    For guilds, a similar rule applies. The guild with the highest level will keep the name, and when the level is the same then the one in the target server will keep it.



    Regarding the questions about the magic wardrobe:


    The Magic Wardrobe itself won't be merged. Instead, the items you have in the original server will be mailed to you in packages along with the items used to put them in there in the first place, and any additional diamonds you had spent to unlock new pages will also be reimbursed.



    Now, about the plans. We will split the US/AU merge in two, since this will be two different processes. First, we will go ahead with the region merge between AU and US and merge Thalia (AU) into Artemis (US). After this, the rest of the merges within US will take place. And later on, we will continue with the plans for EU



    About the date, as you know we didn't make it within Q1, but the first merge is close!



    On April 14th, Thalia will be merged into Artemis.



    We don't have an estimated date for the rest of the US merge though.



    Remember that only active accounts will be transferred, so make sure you log into your account before April 14th!



    The Runes of Magic Team

  • *Originally posted May 2015

    Server Merge – The Next Steps for the USA and EU!




    Hello Taborean,



    Work on the server transfers is moving ahead. On 14/4/2015 we completed the first move of the Thalia (Australia) server to Artemis (USA). Now you're no doubt excited to hear when the servers in the USA and Europe are to be moved. Work on regions with more than one server will take longer, however, as we first intend to change the way Diamonds can be topped up.



    In future, you won't only be able to purchase Diamonds for one server, but instead they will be stored centrally on your account for all servers. Each of your characters from within one region will thus be able to use your balance.

    However, to ensure that everything is properly checked and tested, we don't expect this development to happen before autumn.



    Keep your eyes on the forums and our website. We'll have information for you there as soon as there are any developments.



    Have fun in Taborea!



    The RoM Team

  • *Originally posted October 2015

    Server Merges in November




    Hello Taboreans,



    The names for the new US servers have been decided: Mithras and Erebos! We would like to thank you for your help in finding the names and we hope you enjoy your time on the new servers.



    It all starts in November! After the US server merge, the EU servers will soon follow:



    • Server 11 (Claiomh) and Server 16 (Solas)
    • Server 12 (Sciath) and Server 15 (Ridire)
    • Server 18 (Saoraid) and Server 20 (Perun)
    • Server 22 (Midir), Server 3 (Smacht) and Server 1 (Siochain)
    • Server 2 (Macantacht) and Server 13 (Isiltir)
    • Server 7 (Cogadh) and Server 19 (Scabtha)



    Here too, we welcome your suggestions for new server names.



    Keep an eye on our boards and our website. We will be announcing any news that we have to report on this topic there, as soon as it comes.



    Have fun in Taborea!


    The RoM Team



    NOTE: This information was left off of the original announcement.



    The server names and each server that will be merged in will be:



    Mithras <- Artemis + Reni + Thalia (which was done earlier this year)


    Erebos <- Palenque + Govinda + Indigo + Osha + Grimdal

  • *Both originally posted November 2015


    Hello Taboreans,



    the server merge for Reni and Artemis (new name Mithras) is taking place on November 10th! We hope you enjoy your time with your new fellow players.



    The RoM Team


    and


    Hello Taboreans,



    the server merge for Indigo, Palenque and Erebos (server name will be Erebos) is taking place on November 17th! We hope you enjoy your time with your new fellow players.



    The RoM Team

  • *Originally posted February 2016


    Dear players,



    We would like to remind you, that according to our Server Merge [News] , our support of transfer requests for not merged game accounts will end soon.



    If you like your account/character to be transferred into the merged server, please send a support request through our ticket system until 17th February 2016.


    After this date we will delete not merged data and hence won’t be able to recover your account/character.



    RoM Team.