Extensive Thoughts on The Future of MO2:

Emdash

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Sep 22, 2021
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This might not make much sense because I've been drinking heavily! No, actually, that's a joke, but I DID get a massive almost-migraine level headache after being griefed by the Queue. Twu story. I decided I would put some things into words, and this is going to be a long post. If you don't want to read it, then don't! The part about it not making much sense may be true. I guess it will test my ability as a writer on demand because I have a lot to say.

First off, it seems we have discovered a problem that is not fixable. It seems as though the server can only support a certain amount of people, and as TC time proved, there those who will gather mats in silence, pretending they 'own territory', etc, fight the other guilds who are there, but eventually, everyone will get bored. This will refresh a few times with new, less interesting people then the game will just die. There is a loop of 'control' and 'gains' in Mortal and people have been fiending for it for years, so they just hit the ground running and are still playing this game HARD. To them, it doesn't matter what is happening in to the game or how hard it is to get IN the game, they will continue to do it. That's not slinging shit, that's just the truth, and that's why we have a full pop right now.

I am not ready to consider that the queue is fake; I think it's just overloaded. I will let you guys know when I try, for the last time, tomorrow morning at some ungodly hour when I wake up, or if not that morning, then another morning. SOMETIME, I will have that info. SOONtm.

The question that follows this is WHAT SHOULD WE DO? Yes, I consider WE the Mortal Population, in the same boat as the Devs. If they ever split that relationship, they will be failing hard(er.) I believe that the first step into 'wrong direction' that they took, and maybe this was even before MO2 was conceived, was trying to appeal to the masses, trying to make this game into something that generates revenue and grows. I would like to introduce Henrik to THE STOCK MARKET. I feel that would be a much more reliable investment than an indie MMO. I would prefer he go back to his "MO is my passion project," excepting... with the ability to generate enough money to stay afloat and maybe skim a bit off the top. Now, one can say MO was a failed game and MO2 was aiming only for that, but I don't believe it.

Even if the game was working and letting players in, we have to accept that it was: rushed/unfinished, confused about its demographic, and, in a lot of ways... just kind of mediocre. HOWEVER, what they built is still there. I believe in lifting a lot of the adds or 'fixing' them (can talk about what in another thread,) but there is a solid foundation there. The foundation, even if it IS ten years later, is much stronger than MO1. That is probably why the game sold so much more (I think?) and flooded with people.

I propose that SV refund money to everyone who wants it, sans beta testers, no questions asked. Unless they significantly overdrew, they should be able to do this. I would also suggest they offer some compensation to beta testers who want to GET OUT. Then, I suggest, after they figure out what population their game can reliably hold (they really should remove haven, it's just taking resources, and maybe people flooding FROM HAVEN to mainland is what is causing this issue. Maybe that's how I went from q2 to 3511 or w/e because I was already ON mainland, just hadn't ever spawned in. If I hadn't deleted my chars, it might have been even better.) they should fill those spots. This means we can remove a lot of the noob friendly mechanics because attracting more people than you can effectively house MAKES NO SENSE. Obviously, not everyone can be logged in at all times, but there should be some formula they can generate that would allow for a mild queue (people have diff time zones, too) and be able to populate the game with, say... 3000 people. 3000 people is a lot of people. 3000 15 dollar a month subs, is that not enough? That means the one char model is KAPUT. Give us more characters, only allow one account per person up until every person who actually WANTS to play the game long term is in and then maybe let new people filter out when players leave, die, whatever haha.

The strength of this game is 'its history,' and 'its community,' even though some really toxic things have happened both inside game and out. I would like to be involved in said game, but I don't know how long I'd stay at a time. I certainly would sit on a waiting list and wait for a spot to open up. Because I am not really a LIFER. It's just not dynamic enough and it can't possibly be, but coming back to new events is always interesting, checking the forums to see who is doing what, etc. I have a hard time believing, assuming the game can hold theoretical 3k people, that they can stay at that number, anyway. If that number of people isn't enough to keep the game afloat, they are severely overdrawn. It's like the lecture I give people who are mad about losing hours of progress upon dying, they are living above their means.

In summary, time to go back into beta and rebuild the game back to its hardcore state, remove 1000 instances of haven. It's a huge black mark to take a game off the market, but believe in your product. It can be good and I believe those slots can be filled. Work more filling the seats you have and providing tools/content to them than trying to attract brand new customers when you can't support it with your infrastructure. The only reason I request re-beta is because I believe the game could use this time to actually figure itself out and 'become good' before it releases. There will be groans when it re-appears, but if you already have most of the proverbial seats filled, it's not an issue. You don't want to court 5000 people for the 1000 extra seats you have if it's going to just make your game a laggy, unplayable mess.

MO is by far the most immersive video game I have ever played, so much that I can troll all of the people in game who hate role playing and say "You are role playing every time you log in." Everyone has their in game persona, even more than on-forum persona. That's just how it is. That's the beauty of the game. All the tools are there, lighten up on the heavy handed systems, fix some of the mechanics, and realize this game is not FOR EVERYONE. Support your base who played MO1. Expect that some people will still come in, fill to what you believe your capacity is then start a waiting list. You can work on infrastructure, too, to support those who are waiting to come in, but do not just open the flood gates when you are not ready to support it.

This way, MO wins on multiple levels. It becomes a game that you can play without (major) lag (yea no NA server is coming rip,) it becomes something that gains a reputation as a living, breathing world, AND it has a level of prestige that people are actually WAITING to get in until someone else drops out. I'm talking about in real life, not a queue ahaha.

First, though, I think ya gotta pull it and go back to beta. Unless you guys are already way in the red, I would be as liberal with refunds as possible. If you take my advice, I will even stay on. I would even support charging more than 40-50 for such a niche game ( I mean there are founders packages or w/e, but I mean as base price.)

CLIFF NOTES: RE-ENTER BETA, FIND OUT HOW MANY SLOTS YOU HAVE, FILL THEM WITH YOUR MOST INTERESTED CUSTOMERS, IF THERE IS ROOM LEFT, LET PEOPLE WHO ARE "JUST TRYING THE GAME" IN. THEN, BEGIN A WAITING LIST. Base this off of what you believe your hard cap, adjusted for time zones, is +/- some emergency headroom. Cuz crazy events may happen that cause aussies to get up at 3am and attend a siege.

There ya go. I mean the fact that you still got people who probably aren't going to stay in the game in the game, taking up queue spots (no offense, just being real,) is bad biz. And you probably have like 4000 of them.
 
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Tzone

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May 16, 2021
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It looks like people are being put in the queue ahead of us. Wicked was always about 1 place ahead of me in queue and we would go from 490s to 500s. I started the queue at 243 got down to 40 and then went back up to the 500s. Now Im sitting at 480-490.
 

Emdash

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Sep 22, 2021
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It looks like people are being put in the queue ahead of us. Wicked was always about 1 place ahead of me in queue and we would go from 490s to 500s. I started the queue at 243 got down to 40 and then went back up to the 500s. Now Im sitting at 480-490.

Like I said I bet Haven is the culprit. It probably always has been.
 

pooternackle

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Mar 21, 2021
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  • Added 2 more nodes to help balance the players better in the world. This makes it so that we can take in a lot more players.

There is a large queue (that still doesn't work and is an infinite loop) despite only 6k people in game (many of which are in the loading screen/haven)...... 100k, or anything remotely close to it, will never be possible.
 
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Najwalaylah

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May 28, 2020
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I have only one comment at this time, and it's a meta-comment: I forgive you for presenting me with a dozen paragraphs to read; it was not an offence, and I read them with relish and a dash of mustard. But there were 13 of them, and that first one —which was just an apology I didn't need for the length of the post— irked me.

Never apologise for length. It's a sign of weakness. ;)
 
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Emdash

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Sep 22, 2021
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I have only one comment at this time, and it's a meta-comment: I forgive you for presenting me with a dozen paragraphs to read; it was not an offence, and I read them with relish and a dash of mustard. But there were 13 of them, and that first one —which was just an apology I didn't need for the length of the post— irked me.

Never apologise for length. It's a sign of weakness. ;)

been doin it my whole life :*(**

lol Stry, all I have to do is see your name and I already know.

Edit: rofl you know u can't troll me mydude. It's funny tho. I wonder what makes you come here and rage out.
 
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Wollkneul

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May 28, 2020
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Can you please use Grammarly?
Your texts are always a pain to read because of their incomprehensible structure
 

Emdash

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Sep 22, 2021
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Can you please use Grammarly?
Your texts are always a pain to read because of their incomprehensible structure

I didn't really like school or have many mentors (I disliked the idea of school, and tbh they weren't giving me much,) but in 8th grade we were diagramming ridiculous sentences like the kind of stupid long division they made us do a few years before that. I complained to the teacher, who was one of the closest things to a mentor I had as a yunglad (he would play chess w/ me during lunch break, if not, basketball,) and he said, "You will thank me for this some day." He was right. It's hard for me to communicate with ESL people, but apart from some missing and arguably unnecessary commas, I think my stuff stands up. Also, as an aside, people were very surprised when I said I could not stand Henry James and his winding sentences. My best advice would be that my sentences have a mathematical backbone and, thus, should be looked at as formulae. People who have diagrammed sentences, who can 'assume' more than just the subject, tend to be able to comprehend it. I DO have this weird thing where I will write and just leave a word out, tho, because I can get careless when I am churning da words. If it looks like a word belongs there and it makes NO SENSE, it's probably because I left a word out. However, I do proof my shite at least once, believe it or not.

Edit: I'm sure @Najwalaylah would be happy to come in and offer a translated version. ahaha.