How about a Fourth Shard!

[Justa Mirage]

Neutrality! (we have chaos and order and unity and blight)

They tried this in Asheron's call... why not here?

They made drastic changes to their XP pass up and monarchy system and actually made a new server to test what would happen if the entire world were to start new with no elder support with the new changes.

What would happen if you started a new server shard with all 1st level players and nobody owning any plots / lairs.

This might breath some life into the game as it would be a challenge for some to see just how hard / easy it will be to actually get that "gold" to pay for a plot.... and to buy a guild plot and build the guild house up on it, or a lair!

Be the first group to take down the named quest bosses...

Etc...

And because it is Neutral, you can RP or non RP to your hearts content.

Just my 2cp worth.

[Peaches]

but I wouldn't go to a new shard. Mine feels much like home right now.

[Aamer Khan]

I actually would be willing to try that!

Especially if we could go back through all the early events, free the satyrs and what not again!

[Nagafen]

We actually did exactly that with Savage Eden, albeit on a smaller scale. It ended up being quite successful. That doesn't necessarily mean it would work with Horizons, but it doesn't mean it wouldn't. Nonetheless, it's an interesting idea.

[Jayne]

So long as you start from scratch and no copies, I think that would be fun

[Duergos]

I would definitely be down wid it I had the idea long ago but I have no problem sharing my credit with Justa

[pevil2000]

I'd love to give it a go. Unity would remain my homeshard, and I would still spend most of my in-game time there, but it would be fun to feel like my crafting had a purpose, like my lair/plot may actually be of use, and that this weapon I just found may be the only one in existence for a short while.

I've always wanted to be in a true mmo from the start (only managed it with guild wars which doesn' tcount), and starting on a new shard would be good enough for me

[MadDwarf]

I gotta give ya'll credit. You would be willing to start the same grind over again ?

If you are going to try this idea its not simply good enough to create a new shard where everyone starts at 1 and no plots. You need to add a purpose to being in the game. You basically need to add a bunch of stuff before even trying this idea. Other wise it will fall flat for attracting new players and the older ones will get bored and go back to their old characters. Which will tie up even more resources adding more cost.

Its only a good idea if done right.

[Phillip]

I thought about this too. But then I thought: what if EI fix the client, which will help build the "dynamic war", add the art of adventuring, more racial structures, and re-release HZ?

Clean slate, all events do over. Soo much stuff to do!

[Vlisson]

if you would start all events from the beginning then this would be an option

(dragon event/satyrs/dryads/feladan/regal weapons...)

else i would not think 1 second about it

[Cobal]

This is a GREAT idea I think and could create interest in HZ again, IF all events are replayed that is.

if all events are replayed on this server smoothly, without the little problems we had when we originally did the events (like having to wait a LONG time for some dev to patch in cleaned up Feladan) it could be a nice showcase for the game.
Someone would have to sit at the ready to flip switches when needed (for activating dryads/satyrs as playable race for example) but thats a minor annoyance I'm sure.
Just chain a WM to his desk and let him monitor player progress :P

adding a section to the main website where the unfolding story is described in detail as it passes on the server could be some nice PR that might attract new players.

[Milandra]

I find all this quite interesting, but I agree with Phillip with the fact that this shard should be an opportunity to fix the client and bring some changes.
Otherwise, the impact over new players would not be so important I guess

Problem in all this is: what will be Blight's purpose?
Some people are playing down there, have their community and the shard can't be suppressed.It would simply not be fair.

Blight would still be used to test new content for live shards and Unity ?

Setting up a new shard sounds very interesting
The only thing is, does EI has enough staff to work on the new client and on updates for live shards ?
I also wonder if players can't help in any way(s) in building this new client, and improving the game ?

[Dhalin]

Hmmm. I wonder if we should focus out filling out the two existing shards before you go adding new ones, though.

There was a Merger in the past, for a reason. I was not there for the said Merger, but the only reason a company would consolidate servers, is if there were too few people playing on each shard in the first place. Usually, a game company adds new shards/servers when the existing ones are getting a little too full for comfort and adds the option to migrate your characters across the servers so that they can balance out the population a bit.

A "Neutrality" Shard and all is a good idea, but I wonder if we have a large enough playerbase to try this. If we spread our people any thinner, I fear to think what would happen to our current Chaos/Order/Unity's community and population. That, and there are some who just do not want to spend all of that time doing their character all over again unless it were a new race, maybe. I've already gotten one dragon through RoP and to Lv100 DCRA... I don't really have any desire to do so again, as it took quite a bit of work to do.

I do want to level a biped, but I will level it on the same server as my dragon. Why? Because my dragon (and his lair) can help my biped level through those boring levels where the exp crawls at a snail's speed no matter what you do.

The new shard idea sounds cool and all, but I still say we should wait until we have a larger playerbase first...

--Dhalin

[Flindar]

I have been asking for a new shard for months....

Many reasons for it

player base on other shards is saturated with Hi-end players that can do and craft anything...

economy on existing shards is virtually dead since anyone can create anything and most do it for free.

a new shard with everyone starting at 1 and the new crafting exp system being implemented would create an economy where people would have a reason to work to be able to produce and sell goods that are actually needed

the new exp system would make the 100/100/100/100 in everthying so much more difficult that most people would settle for doing only a few and being exceptional in them

a new shard would perk new interest.... new players can join and play on a level playing field.... they wont be dumped into a game so saturated with hi end players that they feel left out.

and i know this is gonna make some squeal but... and even think of limiting classes ..... 2-4 trades that someone actually worked in would keep them plenty busy

[Royal]

This is a GREAT idea I think and could create interest in HZ again, IF all events are replayed that is.

new boar hide mask for Royall? )))

I just started play on Chaos. (brought some friends and n00bs with me) and yes, it feels good!
Also: make sure its not to hard for new players to Start and install the game. Bother them after a few weeks with billing isues not before... if they like the game they will pay, if they dont like the game or are not sure they won't even try.

And for the new shard! Would be great! I think 70% of the fans will return when they see there is a chance of getting their beloved items again!
Not to talk about the story-line to follow :-)
Nevertheless, i think its ver hard to redo every event becaus of the world changed so much, especially with the big merge patch....



ps. dont 4get the aop

[TheHaunt]

I was there for the great freeing of the satyrs (on Spirit)... it was quite an event. I also remember back then, that world building projects seemed to be more plentiful... or perhaps just more obvious somehow... I remember working on a bridge to connect the island that contains Sslanis (I think) with the continent that holds Dalimond... (it was long ago... I may be mistaken about the places) but I do remember that project being my passion... along with freeing the satyrs...

I think this is an interesting idea...

[Jayne]

Sadly from what I know we cannot go back to those events

Jayne

[Royal]

Sadly from what I know we cannot go back to those events

Jayne

Why not Jayne? Its not go back, its start over.. new beginnings new world new possibilities :-)
For char. creation they can even lock the satyr and dryads again. (and think of a real racial ability for satyr :P )

[Fridlekh]

Why not Jayne? Its not go back, its start over.. new beginnings new world new possibilities :-)
For char. creation they can even lock the satyr and dryads again. (and think of a real racial ability for satyr :P )

Because the events weren't scripted actions that were stored away once we were done with them... as long as the NPCs still exist, and weren't deleted once they became useless, then the old quest data might still be around, but it would take extensive testing to make sure everything still worked with all the changes that have been made since. At that point It would be better to re-implement the quests using the newer quest book system, where a quest is an item in the database rather than part of the persistent data of a particular NPC.

Also, there are some things that need fixing before some of this could even be attempted, such as certain AI scripts which have become broken. Generals, for one. At one point you could spawn a certain type of mob anywhere, and assign it a home region that it would head toward, collecting nearby MOBsin it's group as it went, then wander in or patrol normally with followers in tow. this doesn't work anymore.

Additionally, a huge amount of world editing would have to be done to re-blight areas, destroy structures, add/remove MOB spawn regions, etc. It would be essentially the same as an entire T1-T6 revamp of content distribution. Add the fact that this shard would have to be necessarily divergent from the other shards, and you now have to have a dedicated development server just for this shard, and possibly a second test server, assuming you want help checking for bugs that are introduced when trying to re-use very old content which uses depreciated tech.

It's not impossible, but Nothing I've seen so far indicates that it's remotely feasible at this time.

[CallakDW]

Also, there are some things that need fixing before some of this could even be attempted, such as certain AI scripts which have become broken. Generals, for one. At one point you could spawn a certain type of mob anywhere, and assign it a home region that it would head toward, collecting nearby MOBsin it's group as it went, then wander in or patrol normally with followers in tow. this doesn't work anymore.

That was soo wonderful when they did that. Changing the spawn system and breaking that capability is a crime in itself. (I'm guessing that got broke when they changed the spawn system.)