*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.
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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.