Magesty wrote: ↑Sun 25 Jul 2021 9:40 PM
The server is gone on August 31st and I don’t think that is going to change.
There is no reason for the Devs to keep the server up with a new one launching. If they stay up the population will be decimated when/if Atlas opens up. This way, once Atlas inevitably declines, they can launch a Phoenix 2 and capture that fresh server wave once again.
This choice is better for everyone as DAoC players( including the devs who fall into that category) as it will result in one large server rather than two with a split population. It also allows the Phoenix team to safely relaunch if they are interested in hosting a few thousand man-children again in 2-4 years.
Personally, I’m conflicted as to whether I will even play on Atlas. The rule set looks miserable and with OF on top of that… oof. Can’t wait to have to wander through unavoidable chokepoints with my 30m purge timer as a visible solo. That being said it is still clearly the correct choice if you’re a fan of the game to keep the population consolidated as much as possible. I’ll look forward to a not shit version of the game in a couple years if Atlas ends up being an Uthgard-lite. Hopefully those devs will have the same level of tact and opt to shut down in a year or two after launch once the OF nostalgia wears off and the population plummets.
Not everyone liked Uthgard, but same goes with Phoenix. I am not familiar with the Atlas' ruleset but I don't think choosing OF is a particularly bad choice, and I say that as a player who only played visible classes in solo. Purge on a 30 min timer was frustrating, so I just chose builds that didn't depend on Purge being up and I was quite happy with those builds. I did have some 30-minute RAs though, and always thought the cooldown passed relatively fast as a solo player, but I do understand that it might be different depending on how busy are the RVR areas where you'd usually go. I was mostly roaming so I didn't encounter enemies so often.
Uthgard's player base dropped after the initial hype (we're talking about 4500 players in prime time) to somewhere between 400 and 800 depending on days an time of the day. Of course there were people complaining on the forum, but most of them still belonged to a rather solid player base. I don't think the OF nostalgia is just nostalgia, OF actually have merits (and I tend to prefer OF, but I hear people who prefer NF for other reasons too). Uthgard population also didn't really plumet because of that: it did erode significantly over time, but nothing particularly unusual with a MMO with no content patches, and the deathblow really was the opening of Phoenix, not just further natural erosion of the player base. So there is hope with OF servers too, be it Atlas or Uthgard again maybe.
