Your actions speak volumes...

[Doubtful]

The wipe didn't happen, no.

Family situation arose that meant I failed to find time to hook up with Saulus. Once we arrange a new date I'll pass the info on.

[Memnoch1962]

Rep is still good today as of 7:40 pm EST.

[roguethree]

I don't believe it did.

[nezzerscape]

I will try to login tonight. (need away for work... right after I got back form vacation... sigh).

Is it safe to assume that the temp vault wipe occurred?

[Mournas]

I have a new character that I'm interested in playing also.

[Kaybrie]

Any more word on when dis wipe's gunna be?

I actually know a few people who are eager to play again.

[Memnoch1962]

Logged in Sunday at 0840 EST. Rep is working. Just checking in.

[ManUtd4Ever]

Thank you for the heads up on the vault wipe experiment. Either way, I hope it reveals the root cause.

I am not a big fan of a level drop... I mean we already suffer from significant population issues, why make changes that could impact our new player birthrate?

Sundren is so well done I find it hard to believe anyone who has tried the game would want to crash someplace else for their role playing experience. That is my opinion and unfortunately, not all players agree with me because they came and went... we are now down to a mere handful of persistent players.

Other senior players and staff opine a level drop will improve balance... I suspect those opinions are based on their experiences before I started playing here in 2008 when the level cap was 15. My question is this... Will lowering the level to 14 or 15 make our population increase?

I'm not sure. I do believe fixing the rep issue will bring that handful of persistent players back into game, which is a critical first step in getting the server population back up. After that I say we roll up our sleeves and work to get our server's population back up through some grass roots recruiting.

But until then... no matter the changes the staff decides to make in the future, I like that they are starting by fixing the rep issue head on. Once this problem is solved and the server is stable, then perhaps the time will be right to discuss any ideas that will bring the server population back.

Cheers!

[Kaybrie]

If anyone's interested, there's a few of us online just chatting OOCly if you wanna come on and say hi.

[Doubtful]

As for the temporary vault wipe, could we receive a notice of when that will happen, so those of us who are interested can export chars locally as a backup?

Going to aim for Saturday Night (CET/Zulu+2) though it does depend on when I can hook up with Saulus. IF you've got time, backup today,

[Kitsunestume]

high level Balor-army-slaying festivals of blood.

We've had one of those. . . and then the Dragon came. Kit killed 8.

While I would be rather inconvenienced by a level-drop, I would agree that a lower level cap is probably healthier for the server overall. It would mean that meaningful challenged are more plentiful, as well as lowering the time to cap.

Another benefit would bringing crafting back into focus, since it was clearly designed for level 15 max, and was never updated even when PCs started entering epic ranged en-mass. As a result, the system became effectively obsolete for all but the most esoteric items (particularly when compared to faction gear). It still needs a rework, which I would be most willing to perform or assist with, but at least would become relevant again.


As for the temporary vault wipe, could we receive a notice of when that will happen, so those of us who are interested can export chars locally as a backup?

[Kaybrie]

As someone who's currently leveling up a character through the traditional Sundren content, I can say that it's a pretty smooth grind up, even solo. (I'm level 10 as of now)


If the level cap were lowered to somewhere around level 15 the area's that would need some number tweaks would be Whurst and IWD, if one even wanted to tweak them, since they would still be there as time goes by and players start to break through to the upper levels again through DM events and that vamp quest (It becomes available at level 16 doesn't it?) they would still have things to do/places to go, even if they go unused for a time.

Item-wise, I honestly feel like most of the faction gear currently in game (Legion/Eboncoin's absurd stacking-stealth gear aside) is actually fairly appropriate still even for a 14-16 range, with maybe the +4 enhancement / armor bonuses being dialed down to +3's. Though, I personally feel like these numbers are still fine as things stand.

Though, these are just my thoughts. You are absolutely right that making the server playable should be first.

[Doubtful]

You're not alone in wanting the level cap to go back down to a more mid-range setting. Less level spread, less OP end-game abilities and less balance issues are all good things to have.

However, the server has moved on since the heady days of the 15 soft cap in both terms of area and equipment content, setting a lower cap would mean a large rebalance of both.

This rebalancing, combined with the desire to jump the story forward X years, would take time to acheive. The aim for now is to find a solution to the current problem, answering the question 'will a wipe work?' is currently the foremost thing in my mind.

Handily, the week of new characters should also allow players to feedback to us exactly what areas would need working on should a permanent wipe take place, we can then focus on what's thrown up as the week or two passes.

[Kaybrie]

Would it be possible to lower the level cap back down from the 20 area where events are harder to run and keep relative in events, and PvP becomes a huge contest of who has the most stacked build?

A wipe gives a good opportunity to put this in, and give sundren more a unique flavor in being more about mid-level adventures then high level Balor-army-slaying festivals of blood. Powerful mobs in DnD could be powerful relative to the characters, rather then seeing players outright scoffing and spitting in their faces. (Or needing to spawn things like the Demoloth).

This all would be just from lowering the cap to 14 (I like even numbers so sorcerer's/natural spell casters get the same level spells as their wizardlike counterparts). Which wouldn't effect the faction-item system in place too badly, and still allow access for groups to most dungeons (Whurst and IWD exempt). Everyone I've spoken to is amicable to the idea of the level cap being lowered to some degree to help give Sundren it's own unique flavor again.

[Doubtful]

Right, sorry I've not posted this before but here's the current plan.

This weekend I'm going to try and meet up with Saulus and we'll backup then wipe the vault.

I'll hang around on the server as much as I can over the weekend post-wipe to help sort people out, run events and generally make the transition as smooth as I can.

The wipe will be temporary, if we can get people in and on for a week (or a max of two) to test out the rep system and its stability with an emptyish vault then great. When the test time is up we'll know if it's vault related or not.

If the rep issue continues following the wipe then we can restore the vault safe in the knowledge that a wipe isn't the answer.

If the wipe fixes the issue then great, we know it's vault related and we can discuss what steps to take (partial restore, rebuilds, etc) following the test.

I assume there'll be questions, so ask away.