Player poll: Prefered solutions to the density problem?

[Audark]

I have no problem with #4 at all Ronan, a plan is always good and I agree with #4 in concept. Until however someone finds a way to truly make DM matching "clear and present" i didn't think it was the option to choose. My mind drifted to the ever "not present" Calender of events.

I would perhaps suggest that if DM matching si to be made a focus that either a position be made for a "DM matching coordinator" or the responsibility be somehow fit into the admin structure as it stands. If the process was as simple as one person keeping an updated list of DMs and Campaigns running on each server, and being available via email or chat for meetings with players, I can see it working out. One person doing this on their own accord is likely to achieve more results than a forum that requires the DMs to post on their own time. Just a thought

[Mulu]

All I know is four out of five times that I would like to play on ALFA, I don't because there is nobody to play with on my current server of choice and traveling would not be IC right now.

So if your server was shut down, would you create a new PC, since s/he cannot travel ICly? Or if it was shut down would you travel regardless of whether or not it was IC?

Or did you mean you hopped shutting other servers down would bring more people to you?

My PC has traveled most of ALFA in her time; she's only recently settled down. Rerolling rather than moving would be rather dumb unless you were done with the PC. If TPI were selected to be shut down, I'd sell my ship and move, which would be IC. Taking a magic portal for a social trip if affordable would be IC too for that matter.

However, TPI is one of the few "active" servers left, so I doubt it's going to be an issue.

[Stormseeker]

Why not cut back to the three server's now? The most popular euro,american,and down under. Would save on resources,dm's and player's would be in a small area...and would bring back some of the old day's of being able to log on at anytime and run into player's/dm's.
We would also be able to try out some of the idea's for nwn2 under a "full load" so to speak. Maybe get some global plot's going and my idea of bringing another server online for a event could be tried.

[Mulu]

I'd love to see NWN1 ALFA reduced to a high density cluster of servers. Shoot, my ALFA play time would quintuple.

[Audark]

because to shut any server now is fruitless, with two months ot go until nwn2 shutting down someones server will just annoy some people to please some others. It is most definitely not a win win situation, especially since there are still more than one active server for EST-PST.

[Stormseeker]

I bet it will be 6 to 8 months after nwn2 before alfa switches over. Oh my idea would take care of player and dm density. Plus remind everyone what a truly live server was like, and jump start thier interest for alfa again.(mine included)

[Ronan]

Stormseeker, it would also cause a lot of people to quit. And probably some to come back, as well.

All I know is four out of five times that I would like to play on ALFA, I don't because there is nobody to play with on my current server of choice and traveling would not be IC right now.

So if your server was shut down, would you create a new PC, since s/he cannot travel ICly? Or if it was shut down would you travel regardless of whether or not it was IC?

Or did you mean you hopped shutting other servers down would bring more people to you?

My PC has traveled most of ALFA in her time; she's only recently settled down. Rerolling rather than moving would be rather dumb unless you were done with the PC. If TPI were selected to be shut down, I'd sell my ship and move, which would be IC. Taking a magic portal for a social trip if affordable would be IC too for that matter.

However, TPI is one of the few "active" servers left, so I doubt it's going to be an issue.

I'm a bit confused. Your PC was willing to travel, but you almost left ALFA because you were on a dead server? So you were willing to move from the server, but you wanted other servers to be shut down so that other people moved to you?

[Stormseeker]

*sighs* listen folks the only way to bake a good cake is to break a few eggs. The only way we can solve player/dm density in this old dog is to cut back server's..either that or open the doors to the community. Option two has no way of going thru..but cutting back the server's so close to the release of nwn2 WILL fix the problem.
Put it to a vote. Let alfa decide as a whole.

[Ronan]

*sighs* listen folks the only way to bake a good cake is to break a few eggs. The only way we can solve player/dm density in this old dog is to cut back server's..either that or open the doors to the community. Option two has no way of going thru..but cutting back the server's so close to the release of nwn2 WILL fix the problem.
Put it to a vote. Let alfa decide as a whole.

That is what this poll is all about. But please do not assume that everyone likes their cake the same way you do... I really doubt I'd be able to hold enough interest in ALFA if it was cut back to 4 servers to continue being an active admin.

[Murky Majare]

If we are to cut live servers from live and throw them into beta...

just exactly which servers do we do this to?

which DM team do we tell "you suxx... bye, bye" to?


Denisty problems isn't the error/fault of any DM Team or any server, and they should not carry the blame for it.

[MShady]

If a server is popular, wonderful. If not, and the HDM wants to keep it up, so what? They may be taking a bit of a break or working to make the server popular again. Either way, it does not substantially harm ALFA to have that server still on the Live vault. Removing it is not going to increase density.

If I was on a niche server and it was closed because there weren't enough people on it, I wouldn't be too keen on being crowded into a more "popular" server. Shutting servers down against the HDMs will is going to lead to acrimony, not making ALFA a better place.

Saying that we should close servers to "improve density" is a position that kind of begrudges players & DMs who run less popular places. You're not going to improve density by forcing players to go to a server they do not want to play on. Just as often, alot of those players when that happens leave as migrate, and Admin euthanizing a server probably won't help.

Once the server's Live, it should stay Live unless the HDM wants to take it down. Density should really be a matter of putting together a popular server/DM team. You get people or you don't, there's always an ebb and flow. Who gets cut will get really political. Some servers that have few people might be a "key geographic area" or something, but another may have equivalent traffic and get cut, etc etc. There is a myriad of ways for it to get ugly.

If people want to build a server for ALFA, and it meets standards, let it be live. Players can vote with there feet. Admin effort would be better directed at trying to coordinate cross server events from unusually dense places than cutting server A or B, to me.

Mike

[idoru]

Stick with Wynna's plan.

Seconded. Where was that poll option?

[Ronan]

Stick with Wynna's plan.

Seconded. Where was that poll option?

Effectively #2, a limit on the maximum number of servers. I thought a "moving" cap was implied, sorry if that was not clear. I'll tally up the "other" votes at the end.

[Stormseeker]

I did not say get rid of the dm team at all from these server's. What i am saying is by pushing all players/dm's of alfa to a handful of server's now would fix our denisty problem. Its not a fix for nwn2...just a way to get the resources we have now moved to a smaller area.
Oh the server's i like to play on would be lost to this idea, but for the sake of bringing back a little life into this place it is a Sacrifice i am willing to do.

[Twiggy]

The problem with that approach is that you'd have quite a few players and DMs that would simply go down with the ship. Might be more that stick and move to the remaining servers, might not.