A final plea to you, Tulga Games

[Kulamata]

It's as good to hear that your new home seems welcoming as it was sad to hear that you had to move.

[Cobal]

Just had a thought, a silly one probably but...

Would it be possible to somehow buy our accounts from GN?
We buy our account of GN who then dumps our accounts to an sql file and Tulga restores it to one of the US shards.
Then we log into the american site and resubscribe there.

[Deth]

It is my understanding that they use a completely diffrent database structure then the do here on the US shards. That was the reason it took so long to get the plot bug fixed, is it fixed. TG could not or did not make it compatable with your data base. So if it was brought it would take work to convert it over to a usable database. Then they would have to do the whole plot merge and such over again.

[Fratricide]

I honestly think that GN is probably collecting from the Bankrupcy that AE had. GN would have ( I imagine ) been paid for thier service obligations to AE/Atari. So when AE went bankrupt... the bankrupcy aggrement would've stated something to the fact that as long as the server stayed active and had patrons,they were to recieve $ from the settlement. Else... Why would GN not give up their rights to a loosing battle of keeping a playerbase with the horrible lack of service. I am sure that whatever service that is being issued is just token at best.

[Tzael]

It is my understanding that they use a completely diffrent database structure then the do here on the US shards. That was the reason it took so long to get the plot bug fixed, is it fixed. TG could not or did not make it compatable with your data base. So if it was brought it would take work to convert it over to a usable database. Then they would have to do the whole plot merge and such over again.

Only the accounts database is different according to Game Network (yes, I know, do we trust anything they say these days ?), the data schema for the game characters, items and so on are identical regardless of shard.

Even if all data schemas were entirely different between shards, there is an area where the character data can be provided in a universal format. Enable debug logs. Log in, open vault, open plot window, go to plot, open all plot structures. You've now got a backup of your character's data stored in the log files.

Taking that a step forward, Tulga could potentially write an addition to the game client that outputs these log files in an encrypted uneditable format so that we as players can't edit the contents prior to forwarding them onto Tulga for import to their shards.

This of course leaves the question of legal implications. I'm not going to go there. It would be much more preferable if as Cobal suggests there were some means for our accounts to be bought (either individually or as a whole) by Tulga. No doubt such a situation would involve additional cost to the players, afterall we're the ones who want to move our accounts to a company that offers support and costs less per month than Game Network's offering.

[Cerjar]

Something that people often forget: Most people on Unity can't play on a NA Shard. Even if they want to leave and let everything behind them, they don't have a Credit Card (from the people i know that would be about 70%), and in EU not everybody just gets a CC, just he or she wants one.

I have a account on both sides, EU and NA, but i will not leave my friends on Unity behind me. As someone in this threads said: I would feel like a betrayer, with leaving Unity and it won't help the people who want to play, but can't play on Chaos and Order...

And with all the people out there, just waiting for HZ to fail (and there are a lot, just read the forums of other games, e.g. "MMOs that die next" Threads), the closure of any shard of HZ, and even if its "only" the EU Server won't be a good press release at the moment. Nobody bothers to try a game where he just read that one servers had been closed. So it must be in Tulga's interest to rescue the EU Server Unity.

[Ophelea]

Gah, I can't imagine the time invested and then havng to restart but at least they loved the game enough to WANT to restart.

Yes, Tulga and GN have a separate contract than the old one from Artifact because Artifact no longer exists and therefor one would have to have been negotiated.

No, Tulga cannot simply TAKE the accounts away. Remember, they are the income of GN and therefore they BELONG to GN. Those are GN's customers and Tulga doesn't even have access to that information.

GN would be out of their minds to allow the players to shard hop, Tulga to buy the accounts or any other manner of moving those accounts to a Tulga supported shard because it would reduce their income and at some point their expenses reach a flat amount regardless of revenues. So, don't expect them to ever say "Here Tulga, take 50% of our income even though that reduces our revenues below our expenses!" *grins*

And as far as out clauses, only Tulga and GN know what those conditions are, if any.

[Ariadne]

The fact these people were WILLING to give up all that they had on Unity, probably a year or more of game time,

for most of us, it was actually close to, if not 2 years...

And we sorely miss our characters on Unity, but the support we have had already on Chaos has far outweighed anything we had on Unity..

A simple name change was actioned within 24 hours.. I'm sad to say this was truly a miracle in comparison with service we had become used to on Unity. Wonderful it was done, but sad because we should have had the same level of support on Unity.

oh, andI pay by DEBIT card not credit card.. and it works fine..

[Tzael]

And we sorely miss our characters on Unity, but the support we have had already on Chaos has far outweighed anything we had on Unity.

There's a hole in Unity that your guild previously filled [:(]

Since yours is the third guild I'm on friendly terms with that moved to the NA shards at around the same time, I've found it harder and harder to log into Unity each day. I feel like I am neglecting friends who currently still play on the EU shard, butso many good people up and left in such a short space of time that it was a bit of a blow to myself and to many others who had friends in those three guilds.

Last Friday, prime time on Unity (between 6pm and 10pm), max I saw was 53 people in the market channel, 94 showing up as visible with the player search. That didn't help the depression. Four weeks ago those numbers were approximately double during the same period.

I can't turn my back on friends still playing on Unity, but I bet they're already beginning to wonder if the situation on Unity is driving me away too. I've only clocked up 6 hours over the last week and a half...

[Guaran]

Tzael if you cannot bear to login to Unity, during those times come play with us on Chaos.

[Tzael]

Tzael if you cannot bear to login to Unity, during those times come play with us on Chaos.

You'd be surprised if you knew what my toon name on Chaos was [;)]

Most of the time my wife's using our NA account, but late at night I take advantage of it and hang out with her guildmates [:)] It's purely this contrast of the two services, Tulga versus Game Network that leads me to desire a solution for Unity players that would not result in everyone starting from scratch simply to get a good service. Unfortunately a lot of players have said that faced with the prospect of starting over they would rather walk away. I've got a lot of respect for those who have started fresh on Chaos or Order, it's not an easy thing to do.

In other news, GN's two support email addresses have not been working for some time. Definitely since the beginning of February, however one person informs me that they didn't work in the latter half of last year either. Can't confirm that, only know what I've checked out personally. http://forum.gnonline.net/showthread.php?t=46472documents what was discovered by some new players and verified by myself. I'll try sending new emails tomorrow to see if by mentioning the problem on a public forum the issue has been resolved.

At the end of the day I think everyone would like to see Unity flourish. The only way that can happen is by improving support, and I'm running out of options. Diplomacy, ranting, antagonism, ignoring, offering help, not sure what method to try next. Needless to say if we don't get it resolved soon then a few more folks will join the NA shards, and others will walk away.

[Mairynn Nalnair]

Buy the database[img]/Web/emoticons/emotion-5.gif[/img]

anyone that can change 50 cents

[Varangaard]

"I'd buy that for a dollar!" - Robocop

[Cobal]

I wonder what it would cost.

And then what?
Tulga probably does not have the resources to run another shard.
Best thing they could do is fish out the accounts and move them to chaos/order and then we resub at Tulga.
Well those of us that choose to use their credit cards at least.

[Tryagain]

umm I thought it would be obvious but I will tell you exactly whats going on.

Tulga wants the GN run HZ to die. This is the ONLY reason why they have said not word one as to the EU situation. Why do they want it to die ? GN owns the database to the EU game which includes the characters. I'm sure Tulga has already asked how much to purchase this database from GN and the response they got was out of their price range( to buy out the contract along with all its assets including the DB). So they are simply waiting for it to die and hoping that people do exactly what this guild has been doing. So for now its status qou under the old contract till the point where GN decides to close it down. I severely doubt the relocating players will ever see their characters transfered or anything from Unity for that matter.

Unless you all want to donate $$ so that Tulga can afford to purchase out the contract from GN which would include the database....

[AA0]

Its also possible they aren't legally allowed to discuss the contract... but thanks for thinking of it the worst possible way!

[Varangaard]

Uhh, I fail to see how Tulga would gain any considerable advantage of Unity shutting down. Yes, some have moved to US servers, but I suspect that 1) Unity's remaining population isn't too large to begin with and 2) not everyone would move over and start from zero; I don't think even half would.

As for my personal opinion of current situation, I suspect that while offers may have been made, GN's stance is they refuse to sell. If there's a chance they're going down, they'll make sure they won't go down alone.

[Tryagain]

Its also possible they aren't legally allowed to discuss the contract... but thanks for thinking of it the worst possible way!

lol there is nothing in any contract that would prohibit them from saying they are aware of the Unity situation and there is nothing they can do legally about it. No claus whatsoever... this isnt about national defense. Please lets not vault the game to those paramount heights shant we not ? ;).

Tulga would have a lot to gain from getting the EU subs. Mainly they would get the $12.95 a month and not GN. Last I checked Tulga needed every red cent. So clam up and wait for GN run HZ to die. Then clean up the last of the loyalists there and gain their subs. Its call good smart business practices. Happens every day in the corporate world.

But who cares really. If Tulga bled for the community as badly as some think they do I'm sure they would have been emotionally spurned to do something much like the orginal poster of this thread. After all they can read right ?

[Cerjar]

When Tulga really just want to let Unity die, why would they then support GN in any way? They still give GN the updates, they fixed some bugs for them (e.g. the one that you had been able to buy a plot with each character), they started the Unexpected Lunacy Quest, sometimes TG folks try to help Unity people if they ask politely in the IRC.

As there seems to be no new contract between Tulga Games (or their owner) and Game Network (or Digital Bros as their owner) about running HZ, they would not need to do this... the current contract that GN has is between them and Artifact Entertainment.

At least this is the information we, as players, have. Of course most is speculation, because nobody has ever really oficial confirmed the contract situation. We only know this:

http://hz.mystics.de/?module=News&id=15196(look at the quote from the IRC)

[Sigi1985]

When Tulga really just want to let Unity die, why would they then support GN in any way? They still give GN the updates, they fixed some bugs for them (e.g. the one that you had been able to buy a plot with each character), they started the Unexpected Lunacy Quest, sometimes TG folks try to help Unity people if they ask politely in the IRC.

You think they did they for free? just from the good of their hearts? You don't think GN pays Tulga a fee per player?
It could be that the pricedifference between Europe and NA is because Tulga wants his 12,95 dollar and GN has to pay Luca with the rest.

As there seems to be no new contract between Tulga Games (or their owner) and Game Network (or Digital Bros as their owner) about running HZ, they would not need to do this... the current contract that GN has is between them and Artifact Entertainment.

Normally when you take over a bussiness you also take over their contracts.
As far as the speculation goes...
Why would Tulga give the updates if they don't see anything in return? I personally don't believe in altruistic, free for nothing giving commercial compagnies. I agree with Tryagain on:

lol there is nothing in any contract that would prohibit them from saying they are aware of the Unity situation and there is nothing they can do legally about it. No claus whatsoever... this isnt about national defense. Please lets not vault the game to those paramount heights shant we not ?

At least this is the information we, as players, have. Of course most is speculation, because nobody has ever really oficial confirmed the contract situation. We only know this:

http://hz.mystics.de/?module=News&id=15196(look at the quote from the IRC)