Dear Winch Gate,
Assuming there is at least some humanity (Hominity?) left in a company that could consider genocide--and the effects on Atys as a result--in such a flippant manner, consider the responses in this thread--as well as this post--carefully. It may determine not only the standing of Winch Gate Property Ltd.--both financially and within the MMO industry, not to mention the actual open source community (of which google is not considered a part)--but the credibility associated with those who run it as well.
Since your source code has already been released, the only "virtually actual" property you now own--in terms of intellectual property--are the server configurations, the player accounts, and your standing in the MMORPG industry. All of which, along with much existing player cred, you are now considering simply deleting. You probably don't want to go the way of unix, and have to consider a total loss. Those like Linus Torvald and the resulting linux community will be happy to pick up the slack.
My notes say that it has been seven months since I last played this game...
Within that time, and the year previous, the real world has blown up. Maybe not--at least in the cities many of us reside in--in terms of glass, steel, and cement, but rather in terms of people and what they are capable of doing--whether that be in protesting governmental actions, or in attempting to appease or restrain said actions.
Over this period of time, I've been involved to varying degrees, in both sides of these conflicts.
Out of these experiences, I can say to some degree of certainty, that the people want informed stability, not traditionalism nor inflexibility, from those they are in some ways forced to rely upon or even trust.
With that said, if you continue with this poorly constructed course of action, adversely effecting an ambiance those other than yourselves created--whether you hire programmers or not, you did not originally develop this game, and are simply working off of what others have built.--I for one may find it rather difficult to forgive you.
I've had to forgive some rather heinous actions taken against myself and others...
Also, be aware that there has been at least one class action over far less (this only concerning virtual property/items).
Since you are simply the publisher, one can forgive such a poorly formed, reactive plan, in light of financial strain; however, to follow through with it after the majority of the active subscribed players have responded against it, is another matter entirely. I'm fairly certain that those who do not play, but still subscribe to support the game, or maintain a character, will simply stop paying without any notice...
Arguably the programmers on staff simply correct bugs, effect minor code changes, and are currently ill equipped to handle such drastic changes without help. There seems to be a number of game developers that might even volunteer their time if certain concessions were made concerning the aforementioned.
First and foremost, I'd advise not deleting the data of any player character or server configuration, etc. Again that's all you really have going for you, and storage is cheap.
At this point you may want to consider delaying the implementation--this would at the very least show that you are seriously considering player response. This would in some ways improve your credibility with players, existing or otherwise interested.
A small fee for character transfer to the new server could solve the issue of other non-related costs associated with the merge--one that you do not currently have. This is actual, immediate income, and not based on projected results, which in this industry can change drastically based on player response.
In all actuality, as far as we know, all that has been done so far is a forum announcement, a few very minor actions in-game as a result, and the resulting fallout as a result of said post.
Other suggestions:
avoid splitting communities between sub and f2p, let it remain a simple matter of level progression
avoid effecting game mechanics which may do well when there are many players on one server--in light of other MMO failures this game seems to do fairly well
Roleplay aspect:
Cataclysmic events in this world are not unprecedented, and it is not unlikely that Homins would have to react to them; however, give us a chance to stage a fighting withdrawal...
This could be an opportunity for a game-wide event in which the entirety of the players are overwhelmed and must retreat--eventually--to a much smaller area, perhaps Silan, perhaps not.
The aggressors could be the kitins, the goo-heads, or perhaps even a dragon or two, who knows...either way it must be an overwhelming force that would make even the most rock-headed of Fyros--eventually--take flight, or die fighting...
The event could be predefined or you could allow us to make our own strategies, but in the end the overwhelming aspects would force a consolidation in a single area.
Perhaps the goo could spread drastically as well...
The goo option could eventually cause those more adventurous players who like to go it alone to reconsider, face violent death, or perish in a wasteland--without the need for GM intervention.
Furthermore, after a Homin is killed in this event, you could simply not allow them to log back in until it is over, or re-spawn them in the retreat area, e.g. silan etc.
If no relog, then after the last Homin falls use that time for server downtime; better yet let us consolidate in the retreat area and then shutdown.
Much lore could be written about this, as well as much cred and perhaps items etc. for those who last the longest.
Game-wide events like these that have far-reaching and defining effects on the world usually gain a great deal of publicity.
News of this beforehand could also draw in new players as well.
If you simply must ignore sound MMO business practices and actually delete accounts, and server configurations, give us a chance to go out with a fight, rather than a flop. At the very least the Fyros will be happy...
Regards,
HadrianKross
Assuming there is at least some humanity (Hominity?) left in a company that could consider genocide--and the effects on Atys as a result--in such a flippant manner, consider the responses in this thread--as well as this post--carefully. It may determine not only the standing of Winch Gate Property Ltd.--both financially and within the MMO industry, not to mention the actual open source community (of which google is not considered a part)--but the credibility associated with those who run it as well.
Since your source code has already been released, the only "virtually actual" property you now own--in terms of intellectual property--are the server configurations, the player accounts, and your standing in the MMORPG industry. All of which, along with much existing player cred, you are now considering simply deleting. You probably don't want to go the way of unix, and have to consider a total loss. Those like Linus Torvald and the resulting linux community will be happy to pick up the slack.
My notes say that it has been seven months since I last played this game...
Within that time, and the year previous, the real world has blown up. Maybe not--at least in the cities many of us reside in--in terms of glass, steel, and cement, but rather in terms of people and what they are capable of doing--whether that be in protesting governmental actions, or in attempting to appease or restrain said actions.
Over this period of time, I've been involved to varying degrees, in both sides of these conflicts.
Out of these experiences, I can say to some degree of certainty, that the people want informed stability, not traditionalism nor inflexibility, from those they are in some ways forced to rely upon or even trust.
With that said, if you continue with this poorly constructed course of action, adversely effecting an ambiance those other than yourselves created--whether you hire programmers or not, you did not originally develop this game, and are simply working off of what others have built.--I for one may find it rather difficult to forgive you.
I've had to forgive some rather heinous actions taken against myself and others...
Also, be aware that there has been at least one class action over far less (this only concerning virtual property/items).
Since you are simply the publisher, one can forgive such a poorly formed, reactive plan, in light of financial strain; however, to follow through with it after the majority of the active subscribed players have responded against it, is another matter entirely. I'm fairly certain that those who do not play, but still subscribe to support the game, or maintain a character, will simply stop paying without any notice...
Arguably the programmers on staff simply correct bugs, effect minor code changes, and are currently ill equipped to handle such drastic changes without help. There seems to be a number of game developers that might even volunteer their time if certain concessions were made concerning the aforementioned.
First and foremost, I'd advise not deleting the data of any player character or server configuration, etc. Again that's all you really have going for you, and storage is cheap.
At this point you may want to consider delaying the implementation--this would at the very least show that you are seriously considering player response. This would in some ways improve your credibility with players, existing or otherwise interested.
A small fee for character transfer to the new server could solve the issue of other non-related costs associated with the merge--one that you do not currently have. This is actual, immediate income, and not based on projected results, which in this industry can change drastically based on player response.
In all actuality, as far as we know, all that has been done so far is a forum announcement, a few very minor actions in-game as a result, and the resulting fallout as a result of said post.
Other suggestions:
avoid splitting communities between sub and f2p, let it remain a simple matter of level progression
avoid effecting game mechanics which may do well when there are many players on one server--in light of other MMO failures this game seems to do fairly well
Roleplay aspect:
Cataclysmic events in this world are not unprecedented, and it is not unlikely that Homins would have to react to them; however, give us a chance to stage a fighting withdrawal...
This could be an opportunity for a game-wide event in which the entirety of the players are overwhelmed and must retreat--eventually--to a much smaller area, perhaps Silan, perhaps not.
The aggressors could be the kitins, the goo-heads, or perhaps even a dragon or two, who knows...either way it must be an overwhelming force that would make even the most rock-headed of Fyros--eventually--take flight, or die fighting...
The event could be predefined or you could allow us to make our own strategies, but in the end the overwhelming aspects would force a consolidation in a single area.
Perhaps the goo could spread drastically as well...
The goo option could eventually cause those more adventurous players who like to go it alone to reconsider, face violent death, or perish in a wasteland--without the need for GM intervention.
Furthermore, after a Homin is killed in this event, you could simply not allow them to log back in until it is over, or re-spawn them in the retreat area, e.g. silan etc.
If no relog, then after the last Homin falls use that time for server downtime; better yet let us consolidate in the retreat area and then shutdown.
Much lore could be written about this, as well as much cred and perhaps items etc. for those who last the longest.
Game-wide events like these that have far-reaching and defining effects on the world usually gain a great deal of publicity.
News of this beforehand could also draw in new players as well.
If you simply must ignore sound MMO business practices and actually delete accounts, and server configurations, give us a chance to go out with a fight, rather than a flop. At the very least the Fyros will be happy...
Regards,
HadrianKross